The Trinity Sisters

by Kristin Coley

  “Did …?” My gaze switched between Kai and Sinclair as my question trailed off.

  “Yep.” Sinclair grinned at my startled awe. Her gift was amazing. The ramifications of what she could do were huge.

  “That is so cool,” I finally managed to say, completely impressed by my big sister.

  “Damn,” Milo muttered. “It’s the silent Kai. Can we keep him?”

  “Dude, I can hear you, and don’t think I’m gonna forget. It’s not like I want you to be able to hear me.” Milo grunted as the invisible Kai knocked into him. “He looks nothing like me either. I’m much better looking.”

  “Whatever you say.”

  “Who’s next?” Sinclair’s gaze landed on Portia, and she stepped forward. We moved from person to person that way, until everyone had a doppelgänger, finally finishing with each other.

  “This has got to be the weirdest thing yet,” Milo said next to me. I couldn’t see his face, but from the sound of his voice, he was staring at his mirror image, which had his arm around my mirror image. The sight was disconcerting to say the least.

  “I look good.” Sinclair’s illusion of herself rolled her eyes at Garvin’s statement, and I laughed. “What? I’m on point. Even my hair looks good, and you know we had an early morning. I can admire myself.” He huffed, and I could practically see his arm wave.

  “Now comes the hard part: Getting out without running into anyone or losing each other.” The cloaking spell did an admirable job of making each of us disappear, but it meant we couldn’t see one another either. “Remember they can still hear us and feel us if we brush against them, so be careful.”

  “Why do I feel like you’re looking at me when you say that?” Kai whined.

  “Because I am,” I retorted mildly. “The tricky part will be getting out the door. Each of us needs to keep up with the person in front of them. If we become separated, meet up at the coffee shop two blocks away.” I gave them directions and told them how to undo the spell if necessary. We slipped out the door, keeping watch on the lobby, as we timed our exits to when no one was looking toward the conference room.

  I brought up the rear as I slipped out seconds behind Evan. I trusted him to keep up with Patrick who’d gone ahead of him. He was our guide to the SUV, since he knew where it was parked. We made it out the door to the street and the sudden onslaught of people to avoid distracting me. A warm hand grasped mine and tugged me to the right.

  “Evan?” I had no idea who held my hand, the grip felt masculine, but without being able to actually see them, I wasn’t sure. He didn’t respond, which felt odd, but a group of students on a field trip almost walked into us, and I had to move to avoid getting trampled. I let the hand guide me, figuring it was Evan or Patrick with me. Moments later, I spotted Scott walking behind us, his gaze frantic as he scanned the street. The thought that he was looking for me crossed my mind, but a whiff of sulfur had me spinning around. We had cut down a side street, to the SUV I thought, but from the smell, we’d been intercepted by our enemies.

  “Well, look what we have here.” They came from both sides, more than I could count. My hand slipped from the one that held mine, no longer sure if it was friend or foe. The way their eyes skimmed the area, I knew they couldn’t see me through the cloaking spell. It was my only advantage, since I was severely outnumbered.

  The fight was short-lived, as they figured out where I was. I managed to take out six of them before they surrounded me. Two sharp jabs felled another one, and as I attempted to slip through the crack he’d created, I felt the needle pierce my arm. Whatever was injected worked almost instantly, the blackness enveloping my vision before I hit the ground.

  Chapter Twelve

  Milo

  “Where is she?” My stare was black as I glared at Evan and my father. Neither they nor Kincaid had made it to the SUV, so we’d gone to the coffee shop to regroup. Evan was waiting for us, and Patrick had shown up seconds later, but Kincaid was nowhere to be found. The pulsing in my blood told me she was in danger, and one of them knew something.

  “I don’t know, son.” My rage notched up at the word son. My mate was missing, and there was a possibility my father knew where or why. His use of the word son did nothing to calm me. If he’d harmed her in any way, I’d kill him in a second. He held his hands up. “The street was crowded and I was afraid we’d get separated. I told Evan to head left, and then go to the black SUV on the next street. I figured one of us would uncloak, and he’d be able to recognize which vehicle. But I lost him and Kincaid.”

  “I heard you talking, Patrick, but I didn’t catch the words. Kincaid had my hand, but then there was a group of school kids. We were separated. I decided to head to the coffee shop.” Evan paused, his face haggard as he looked every inch of his sixty years. “I saw Scott on the street. He appeared to be looking for something or someone. I thought she was safe. The cloaking … no one should have been able to see her.”

  “Unless she broke the cloaking spell.” My father shook his head, even as he said it. “But that makes no sense. Why would she do that? And who would have been close enough to recognize her?”

  “Scott. He was on the street,” Evan said, exhaustion making his words heavy.

  “Could he have taken her by himself?” Portia asked curiously.

  “No,” I replied distractedly. This felt wrong. Scott had been with Kincaid for years. Yes, she’d dumped him, but why would he go after her? I knew he wouldn’t have a chance against her in a fight. If someone took her, they would have needed an army.

  “Are we sure someone took her? Maybe she left on her own.” Luke obviously didn’t want to be the one to mention it, but the point had to be made.

  “No way.” Kai rested against my leg, his words reverberating in my head. “Someone took her. The same ones who had Evan. Now whether it was Evan, your father, or Scott that led them to her, I don’t know. But I do know she’s in danger.”

  “Can you track her?” I kept the words inside of my mind, not entirely sure if Kai could telepathically communicate with me the same way he did with Kincaid.

  “Yep.”

  “Go.” His weight left my leg. I’d never lifted the cloaking spell from him, because there were so many people around. A customer opened the door, and I watched her stumble slightly, as if something had brushed past her.

  “We need to get off the street,” Portia murmured, as her hand rested lightly against my arm. I gave her a tight nod, and we all headed to the SUV somberly. I waited till everyone had piled in before I stepped back.

  “I’m going to check the area around the building. See if I spot something. You go ahead, find a hotel, and get checked in.” I patted my pocket where my cell phone was stashed. “Call me and I’ll meet you.” Portia gave me an uncertain look, but a quick glance toward Evan and my father had her nodding. I hadn’t forgotten his apparent ability to read minds, and until I knew for certain I could block him from reading me, I needed to avoid him. At the moment, the only one I trusted with Kincaid’s life was Kai.

  “Anything?”

  Kai had led me to a nearby side street. As I examined the area, I could see signs of a struggle. She’d brought down a few of them, based on the amount of blood staining the street, but she was nowhere to be found. I pushed back the fear that she was lying dead on the ground next to me and I just couldn’t see her, because of the cloaking spell.

  “The cloaking spell would end if Kincaid died?” The question slipped out before I could stop it, and if a wolf could look sympathetic, Kai did.

  “We’d all know if she’d died. Since the trinity’s magic has been triggered, if one of them dies, it will create a void—a noticeable one. It’s part of the reason so many want to get to one of them. They could potentially steal the power of the one killed. Magic would feel the loss. However, we are her protectors, guardians, and we’d feel her death on a different level.”

  Kai’s words gave me cold comfort, even as the idea of her death made me desolate.
r />   “I can’t imagine a life without her.”

  “You won’t have to.”

  His cryptic words drew my gaze, and he sat down as he stared at me steadily.

  “You’ve completed the bond with her. Touch was all that was needed. If either of you die, the other one will as well. Right now, you’re our best link to her. Your magical abilities have merged, bonded. You should be able to get glimpses of her, what she’s feeling, what she’s sees, even what she feels.”

  “But I’ve got nothing. I didn’t even know she’d been taken!”

  “They might have drugged her.” He stood up and nudged me. “We might as well go. There’s nothing else here. They left in a vehicle, and I can’t track her that way.”

  “Scott was around here. Maybe he was part of it. He might have seen something.” I kicked a piece of trash as I gave a frustrated laugh. “It’s a needle in a damn haystack. She was fucking invisible when she was taken. Only a few knew that.” I didn’t want to think about the fact that it was likely my father or her grandfather was part of this, but there was no escaping the logic.

  “If they are responsible, they will be dealt with.” Kai sniffed the ground. “I don’t smell a scent I recognize. The sulfur is too strong.”

  “You can smell it too?”

  “Yes, only because of Kincaid though. It’s damn inconvenient at the moment.” Kai’s connection to Kincaid was impressive. It was almost as if they shared the same consciousness.

  “Maybe if we go to the street?”

  “I could probably trace Scott’s scent, if he was on the street like Evan said.”

  “Alright. But we need to disguise you. A fucking wolf walking through downtown is going to attract attention.”

  Hours later, and we’d followed more dead ends than I cared to think about. Scott’s scent had traced over itself multiple times. I wasn’t sure if was intentional, or he’d actually been looking for Kincaid. Either way, we’d found nothing. Even when we checked Evan and my father’s trails, they led to the café. We’d lost both at different points, before picking them back up again. We couldn’t discount either as a suspect yet.

  I stood in the parking garage, fighting the urge to go back to the street and keep looking. She’d been here, and even as logic told me she was long gone, I wanted to stay where I’d last seen her.

  “We won’t find anything here.”

  “You reading my mind?”

  “Just saying what I’m thinking.”

  “It feels wrong to leave.”

  “We will find her. I can promise you that, and when we do, we’ll kill everyone that had anything to do with harming her.”

  I glanced at Kai and nodded. Neither of us would allow them to live, not after this, not even if it meant the death of our own blood.

  I slid into the car with a sigh.

  “I still need to be able to block Evan from my thoughts.”

  “I can help you with that.”

  I raised an inquiring eyebrow, and Kai’s tongue lolled out as he gave me a look.

  “I know what Kincaid knows. I can tell you a spell to block him, if you think you can manage it?”

  “I’ll make sure I can.”

  “You’re going to need a couple things, and we need to do it before we meet up with them.”

  “I know the place.”

  I took Kai to the overlook I’d taken Kincaid to the first night we’d talked, after picking up the ingredients Kai had told me about. He’d explained the process, and after I secured my own mind, I could easily do the same spell on the others. I built a small fire the old fashioned way, determined to use what little spelling ability I had for the important spell. After mixing the herbs and letting them steep, I chanted the words Kai gave me.

  “How will we know it worked?”

  “Well, you shouldn’t be able to hear me any longer.”

  A sharp glance at him revealed a serious look on his face.

  “It’s an all or nothing spell. It’ll block any telepathic communication.”

  “But will that mean my connection to Kincaid will be gone?” I had yet to have any flash of her since she’d been taken, and it worried me. Kai seemed certain I would be able to connect to her, but so far, nothing.

  “No, that is by blood and magic. It’s a bond that can’t be altered by any magic. But my connection to you … our telepathic conversations should cease with this spell. We can remove the spell when we believe it to be safe.”

  I gave a rough chuckle. “Seemed like you wanted me not to hear you earlier?”

  “Yes, well, you’ve proven yourself useful. I can still hear and understand you if you speak aloud. It’s only our mental conversations that will be lost.”

  “Yeah, well your inability to talk is a bit of a hindrance.”

  “This is more important.”

  “Agreed.”

  I lifted the cup to my mouth, but paused for a second as I heard his last words to me.

  “You are the one I would have chosen for her. There is no one better to care for her than you. Believe this.”

  I drained the cup, but felt the same. A moment later, I felt a gentle nudge as if someone was trying to get my attention, but it was in my head. My eyes shot to Kai’s, his gaze curious as I shook my head.

  “I can’t hear you. I felt it, but there’s a barrier now.”

  He gave a short nod and saw his relief. It had worked.

  A minute later, footsteps caught our attention, and Scott appeared around the trail.

  “Don’t hurt me!” He stopped short of the makeshift campsite I’d created to brew the spell, eyeing the ingredients. “I want to help you find Kincaid.”

  “How did you find us?”

  “I hid in the trunk of the car. I watched the others leave the coffee shop without you, and figured you were looking for me or Kincaid. I didn’t want to talk to you there. Too many eyes.”

  “You’ve got my attention. If for no reason than I’ll kill you to find her.” He swallowed hard at my words and Kai’s low growl.

  “Trust me. I don’t want her hurt. I never did.”

  “Perhaps you should explain.”

  “I’m not a warlock. I have no ability with magic. My family does though.”

  “And why is that?” I knew it was possible for a family member not to have any ability with magic, but it was rare. Usually, they had some tiny inclination and with the trinity’s power unleashed, even those who’d had a mere trickle would have seen their ability increased.

  “I’m adopted.” A quick glance at Kai revealed his surprise, and I cursed the inability to communicate with him telepathically. Perhaps I should have waited to drink the spell.

  “My family adopted me, thinking I might have magic. My adopted mother died when I was ten, and my adopted father pinned his hopes on me to have magic. But I never did. Puberty came and went with zero magic. He was upset.

  “Why? It happens. Even if you’d had the slightest magic, what difference would it have made?”

  “My adopted father is part of Mitchell Davis’s coven. A collection of dark witches and warlocks who seek power; any way they can, including stealing the abilities of others.”

  “That’s not comforting at all. So why are you here? Why were you with Kincaid?”

  “My father disowned me when he realized I was useless to him. But I’d been a part of his life. I knew what he really wanted: A weapon to use against Mitchell; some way to gain more power than him.” I leaned forward, curious about the apparent deceptions inside Mitchell’s circle. “They all practice dark magic—blood magic, sacrificial magic. A witch can lend their power to a coven, or they can have it taken. Mitchell controls his coven tightly. He controls their magic. Don’t get me wrong … they’ve all benefited, but some are not content with Mitchell’s reign. My adopted father is one of them. He’s wanted a way to break free for years. The only way is with one of the trinity. But they’ve always been well hidden.”

  “But you were engaged to one. No wa
y you didn’t know that.”

  “No, I knew.” He shook his head, ashamed. “I used her to get back into my father’s good graces. I kept an eye on her. Made sure she didn’t run and hide again.”

  “Why didn’t your father make a move before now?”

  “The trinity wasn’t complete before now.” His gaze was direct, as it met mine. “It was … it has always been about the long game for him. Controlling one of the trinity, the seer …” He sighed heavily. “It’s power; power he can use against Mitchell.”

  “Unless Mitchell gets one of the others and uses their power.” I shot that theory to hell in a second. Mitchell had already gone after Sinclair, and if Scott’s father had Kincaid, it wouldn’t do him any good, not really. We still didn’t know where Quinn was, either. “Are you telling me your father has Kincaid?”