A cry brought my head up, and I watched Cicely stumble and fall. The sight broke the despair I felt, as rage filled me instead.
“Help me.” The words were no more than a whisper in my mind as I forced myself back up. She would not die in vain. The raven cawed behind me, and I remembered Gloria said ravens were messengers.
A trace of power trickled into me, and then it became a river. My vision doubled as I saw the fight in front of me, but also two women, my sisters. They held out their hands, and blue threads of light surrounded us. The power flowing into me was incredible, and I knew it would be enough to save us all.
Again, I focused, using their power as a beacon. I could feel the tingle as my body prepared to teleport. The feeling was odd. I still hadn’t gotten used to the ability to move myself with my mind alone, and now I was about to move several.
Two men appeared behind the two women, and the flow of magic changed, became more steady and manageable. I had the thought they were my sisters’ version of Dane, when I saw the women reach out their hands to me.
I grasped their outstretched hands, and then everything was gone.
Chapter Twelve
“Quinn! Quinn!” Dane shook me roughly, his worry threading through me.
“I’m okay.” The words were barely a whisper as I felt like I was awakening from a dream. My stomach rumbled, and I placed my hand over it, feeling like my stomach was going to eat itself.
“Where is everybody?” Desperate fear forced me up as I wondered if it had worked. Had I brought them all with me? Or had I failed?
“They’re here. All of them. Even Cicely and Peter. I don’t know how you did it or where you brought us, but you saved us.” His quiet words unleashed the sobs that had been building inside of me since I spotted the man who called himself my father.
He rocked me as the tears flowed, all of us huddled together on the ground. The realization that we were sitting on grass had me glancing around curiously.
“Where are we?”
My question elicited shrugs and Dane said, “We hoped you knew.” He gave me a lopsided grin. “We aren’t in Kansas anymore that’s for sure.”
The sight of a huge white plantation house in the distance reminded me of something. The staircase and the gardens, it looked like…
“Tara? I transported us to Tara?”
“Gone with the Wind, Tara?” Gloria’s calm voice had me throwing my arms around her.
“I don’t even care so long as you’re here.” I cried as she patted my back.
“Hush, child. You did so good. I’m so proud of you.” Her words felt like a balm to my soul, and I clung tighter. She forced me to loosen my hold and examined me closely. “What were you thinking? The amount of power you used was dangerous.”
“My sisters helped me. I drew on their power.”
Gloria’s eyes narrowed as she looked back toward the house.
“Were you thinking of them when you transported?”
“Yes, I used their power as a beacon.”
She laughed and took my head in her hands, forcing our eyes to meet. “You are amazing.”
“Thank you.”
“So, what are you implying, Grandma?” Dane asked the question I wanted to know and waited eagerly for her answer.
“Well, I believe Quinn brought us right where we needed to be. To her sisters, if I’m not mistaken.” She pointed to the house, and I felt hope swell like a balloon in my chest. If she was right the brunette and the blonde women might be there, the ones who’d offered me their hands with no hesitation.
My sisters.
A low caw distracted me and I saw a raven peeking at me from a nearby bush. The same raven I’d seen at Gloria’s house. I was sure of it. I wasn’t sure if I’d transported him with me or what, but it looked like he was here to stay.
“I hate to be the one to ruin the party, but we can’t be sure Mitchell didn’t hijack Quinn’s magic.” Vincent’s low rumble drew our attention and sent a shiver down my spine. “He might have figured it out and done something. Sitting out in the open like this isn’t safe.”
“Vincent’s right. We can’t be sure.” Gloria seconded, pushing herself up from the ground. Her eyes strayed to Tori, who was sitting blankly next to Peter’s body, holding his hand. “Tori,” she said gently, walking over to her. “Sweetie, we need to move.”
“Why do they keep jumping in front of me? Why?” She looked up at Gloria, pleading. “Why don’t they just let me die? Why do they keep dying instead of me?”
“Because they thought you were worth saving. Just as I do.” Gloria answered, smoothing her hand over Tori’s face.
“But Peter….he didn’t even know me. Not really. But he still jumped in front of the spell.”
“Sometimes the choices people make are impossible to understand, but we have to honor the choice he made. He saw something in you that made him believe you were worth saving, Tori. Honor that. Fight for that.”
Tori stared at Peter’s lifeless body for a few seconds longer and then stood up. We watched her struggle for composure and Gloria wrapped a supporting arm around her waist. Happiness warred with despair inside of me. I was grateful we’d gotten away from Mitchell, but we had still sustained too many losses. I hadn’t really known Peter or Cecily well, but they had essentially lost their lives because of me.
Vincent went over to Peter’s body and picked him up, settling him carefully over his shoulder. He gave me a considerate nod and said, “You brought them with us. The least we can do is bury them with dignity.”
Dane gathered up Cecily and we started toward the house. Vincent cast wary glances around, but my skin felt fine. No burning or redness beyond the existing blisters I’d sustained from Mitchell and his coven.
“I think this place is safe.” I murmured, not really speaking to anyone in particular. The raven had followed us, flying low over our heads and causing Dane to duck on one occasion.
“You sure?” Vincent was right to be cautious so I held my arms out to him.
“Built in evil meter right here.” I informed him, and caught his sympathetic wince at the sight of the blistered skin. “So far so good.”
Dane walked directly in front of me, Vincent at point with Gloria and Tori trailing behind me. They had me surrounded, each of them placing themselves in the line of fire. We reached the porch then, and hadn’t seen a single soul as we’d hiked what felt like a mile to the house.
“I’ll ring the doorbell.” Vincent said, setting Peter’s body down carefully. Dane did the same with Cecily before taking up position in front of me again. He wanted his hands free if whoever answered the door was foe instead of friend.
He pressed the doorbell and instead of a normal chime, music started to play. We glanced at one another and I asked a bit disbelievingly, “Is that?”
“Let’s Get It On by Marvin Gaye? Yep. It is.” Vincent answered, fighting not to grin.
A moment later the door swung open to reveal the most flamboyant person I’d ever seen. Even Vincent seemed taken aback and I’d yet to see anything fluster him. He opened his mouth and closed it as a tall black man wearing a banana yellow shirt and purple pants gave him a long onceover.
“Well, isn’t it my lucky day? Where did a long drink of sweet tea like you come from?” There was no mistaking the interest in his eyes as he held out his hand to Vincent who grasped it firmly, standing eye to eye with him. “You must have dropped straight out of the sky since the guards didn’t alert me.” The warning in his words belied the interest he’d shown and I could see it drew Vincent’s respect. The man might be more colorful than a peacock, but he wasn’t a fool.
I eased out from behind Dane and the movement caught his eye. As our eyes met I saw a flare of awareness in his, and the flash of bright white teeth against his dark skin.
“Roe, Roe. I think your sister found you.” He called singsong over his shoulder and we heard the sudden clatter of feet running. He looked back at Vincent with narrowed eyes. “P
lease don’t tell me you belong with her? My radar may be rusty, but it’s not that damn off.”
Vincent shook his head, a small smile playing around his mouth as he pointed to Dane.
“He’s the guard dog.”
“Whew, what a relief.” A slight arch of his eyebrows accompanied him drawing his gaze back over Vincent again and I glanced away feeling a tad uncomfortable. Dane wrapped his arm around me and even Tori seemed distracted from her grief. “I’m Garvin, by the way. Like Marvin Gaye.”
Vincent nodded, a sexy half smirk twisting his lips. “Explains the doorbell then.”
Garvin stumbled forward suddenly as two woman came barreling into him just then.
“Why are you blocking the fucking door, Garvin?” The brunette cried, shoving him. “You can’t say something like that….” Her voice trailed off as she saw me and she came to a halt causing the woman behind her to run into her. I knew it was the blonde one even though I couldn’t really see her behind the brunette in front of me.
“Quinn?”
I nodded, answering the question that wasn’t really a question. There was no mistaking the blue eyes, but how did she know my name?
“I’m Sinclair.” She told me slowly, moving over as the blonde elbowed her.
“And I’m Kincaid.” She looked up at the woman next to her, Sinclair. “She goes by Quinn?”
She nodded to her and I answered, “Yes. My name is Quinn.”
It was so weird seeing them in person. Their blue eyes were identical to mine and seeing them in a face other than my own was somewhat bizarre.
“Dang, that is one hell of a gene pool.” Garvin said, eyeing me. “One of each flavor.”
I snorted, unable to stop myself. This guy was something else. He was clearly batting for the other team, but I could feel Dane bristle next to me over the comment. A commotion at the door drew my attention as two men and what appeared to be several other people crowded in the doorway.
“Sir,” Gloria started a bit tartly.
“Garvin.” He responded helpfully and I pressed my lips together to stop my smile as she gave an impatient sigh.
“I heard you. I’m old not deaf and I would hope your mother would have raised you with better manners than to make your guests stand on the front porch.” She glared at him, clearly not impressed and Sinclair burst into laughter.
“We should come inside. We can talk.” Sinclair said, gesturing to the door, her eyes hopeful as she stared at me. I nodded but came to a halt as I remembered Peter and Cecily. I didn’t think leaving dead bodies on the porch was polite.
“Um,” I started, swallowing back the grief. “A couple of our friends were killed.” I paused, and gestured to their bodies propped up on the porch. “We were able to bring them with us, but…” I had no idea what I wanted to ask, but before I had to Garvin clapped his hands excitedly.
“I can test out my Body Disposal Plan.” He exclaimed and Dane instantly stepped in front of me, his stance protective.
“You’re what?” Dane asked aggressively with Vincent stepping forward to stand shoulder to shoulder with him.
“No, no, no.” Sinclair was waving her hands, seeing our concern. “He doesn’t mean it.”
“I do too.” Garvin replied indignantly. “After the whole thing with Evan, I figured I should have a plan since he clearly wouldn’t be the last dead body. And I was right.” He indicated Peter and Cecily’s bodies and Sinclair winced.
“I don’t know why you bothered, I can just burn them like I did evil Gramps.” Kincaid chipped in, looking offended.
“But what if you’re not around? Hmmm?” Garvin shot back as we watched them.
“We don’t kill people.” Sinclair said, almost shouting over them.
“Well….” Garvin started and Kincaid gave her a sideways glance.
“Stop helping!” Sinclair shouted, arms thrown up. “Or I will bring out the clowns.”
Not entirely sure what to do about the fact that my sisters were apparently insane, but since I was also starving, I stepped around Dane, silencing them. He tried to grab me, but just then I doubled over from hunger pains.
“At the moment, I don’t care. Do you have food?”
Dane kept me from keeling over and used his body to force his way through them into the house.
“Kitchen’s on the right.” Garvin cried out from behind us and Sinclair hovered next to me.
“I’m so sorry. I should have realized. You used so much energy getting here.”
“Kitchen?” Dane asked pointedly, the directions ‘on the right’ not super helpful in what appeared to be an enormous mansion. The freaking foyer we’d just entered was bigger than my room at home.
“Oh, this way.” She glanced back to make sure we were following her and I almost collapsed. Dane scooped me up into his arms and gave me a lopsided grin.
“If you wanted to be carried you should have just said so.”
I grimaced at him, the pain too sharp to appreciate his attempt at humor. A glance over his shoulder revealed a train of people. It looked like everyone was going to the kitchen with us. It seemed a little odd for so many people to be living in one house, and I really wanted to know what the relationship was between Sinclair and Garvin. They acted like siblings and I wondered if she’d also been adopted.
We finally reached the kitchen after what felt like a mile long hike. Sinclair set a bowl of fruit in front of us as Dane sat down in a chair at the longest table I think I’ve ever seen. Everything about this place was on a massive scale. Vincent lowered himself in to the seat next to us and I could see the strain on his face. He was trying to hide it, but he was on the verge of collapse as well. He’d expended a ton of magical energy fighting back Mitchell’s coven and had to be feeling it by now.
Garvin grabbed a tray of pastries and set it in front of Vincent. I didn’t think Garvin was a witch…warlock, but he understood what we needed so he must have been in on the secret. More food appeared as Sinclair emptied the refrigerator and pantry. Sandwiches were slapped together assembly line style and I saw Kincaid and Sinclair ripping into a couple as they made them, at least until two men pushed them into seats and took over.
It was hard to tell since I’d only had a brief glimpse of the men standing behind them, but I thought they were the same guys. If so they were to my sisters what Dane was to me. I continued to scrutinize the people around the table wondering who they were and what brought them here.
I counted twelve people, thirteen if I was included. Even with so many we were still outnumbered by Mitchell’s coven. We’d managed to kill a couple of his coven but it hadn’t made a dent in his numbers.
Once most of the food was gone from the table and I didn’t feel like I was about to die from hunger, I wiggled off Dane’s lap and sat in the chair next to him. He let me go, but kept his arm around my shoulder protectively. No matter if these people were family, there was still a little mistrust.
“So how did you get past my guards?” Garvin asked, more curious than anything. Apparently my movement was the cue to start the questions.
“What guards?” I asked blankly, sharing a glance with Dane. We hadn’t seen any guards the entire time we were here.
“The guards at the gate and patrolling the perimeter.” Garvin exclaimed, standing up. “There better be guards out there.”
“I think we bypassed the guards.” Vincent interjected with a smile. “I don’t think they were looking for people to teleport in the middle of your yard.”
“Probably not.” Garvin admitted, his finger tapping his chin as he considered the hole in his security.
“How do you know Sinclair?” I asked, and glancing around a slew of other questions spilled out. “Who are all of you? What can you do? Do you have one of these?” I held up my wrist showing the trinity symbol emblazoned on my skin. “Do you know how to defeat Mitchell? He ordered my parents killed and Dane’s mother. He tried to kill me.”
Sinclair blinked hard, her emotions raw as
she processed everything I’d revealed with my questions. The rest of the table was silent as the three of us studied one another. Kincaid laid her arm down on the table revealing a matching symbol and Sinclair followed. They were virtually identical and one more strange thing on to add to my list.
“I can cast illusions.” Sinclair answered carefully. “Plus other things, but I wasn’t raised around magic so I’m very much a novice.” The knowledge that she was just as ignorant as me was a relief. “Garvin and I are friends. We have been for years. He’s kinda of like a rash you can’t get rid of.” The man sitting to the right of her snorted and Garvin shot them a narrow glare.
“Uh huh, I’ll remember that.” Garvin muttered crossing his arms across his chest.
“Are you colorblind?” I blurted out to everyone’s amusement. The man’s snort turned into out and out laughter at my question and Sinclair widened her eyes and nodded, leaning back out of Garvin’s line of sight.
“I enjoy dressing in bold colors as I feel it reflects my personality.” Garvin replied haughtily which caused me to shrink back into my seat. Then he winked at me and said, “Plus I’m colorblind as fuck and just don’t care.”
I glanced over at Kincaid and she smiled.
“I’m a seer. I can see the future.” She explained, shoving a blond curl out of her face. “I was adopted by a witch and her husband after being left at an orphanage. They taught me spells and magic, but I didn’t come into my magic until I was sixteen and my adoptive parents were killed.”
“That sounds like what happened to me.” My eyes strayed to the man next to her. He had magic. I could sense it. It was almost as if being near my sisters had enhanced my natural ability. He noticed my stare and smiled gently.
“I’m Milo.” He gestured to my tiny blonde sister. “I’m her mate, protector, whatever you want to call it. I’m a warlock as well. That’s my father, Patrick.” He nodded to an older man, mid-fifties maybe. “That’s my sister, Portia, also a witch.” A brunette at the end of the table nodded to me. “Strength is my ability. My sister has a tendency to disappear in plain sight and our father, well he has a gift for knowledge.”
The Trinity Sisters Page 45
