“You get used to it.” Sinclair said over her shoulder. “Ugh, when I was on the streets as a kid, I literally couldn’t steal enough to eat. I used illusions to earn money, but of course I was always starving.”
I paused, thinking about her words. “You lived on the streets?” I asked uncomfortably. She gave me a gentle smile.
“I did from the time I was twelve. That’s when my magic came.” She lowered her gaze. “It wasn’t the best situation and I figured the streets were the better option.” She met my eyes again and said, “I survived and things have been good for a long time.”
“Garvin?” I questioned and she nodded.
“He was determined to be my friend when I’d never had a friend and had zero clue what to do with one.” She smiled easier now, shaking her head. “But there’s no telling that man no.”
“Truer words have never been spoken.” A voice drawled from the doorway and I watched Vincent step into the room. “He insisted on telling me how he got his name and now I picture it every time I close my eyes.” He admitted with a shudder. Sinclair clapped her hands over her mouth to try and stifle the laugh that was bubbling out of her. Vincent gave her a laconic look as he said, “Go ahead.”
The laughter poured out of her as I glanced between them in confusion.
“Do I want to know the story?”
“NO,” was the emphatic reply I received from them both.
“I don’t actually know it myself.” Sinclair revealed. “But Luke was unfortunate enough to hear it from Garvin’s mother.” Vincent’s eyes widened in horror and he shook his head reflexively. “Yeah, he had a hard time with it. Suffice to say Garvin was named after Marvin Gaye, and yeah, I never got the whole story and I avoid the possibility at all costs. You should too. Consider it your first sisterly advice.” She told me with a grin and I nodded.
We spent the rest of the night sitting around the table talking and watched as dawn broke over the horizon. The rest of the gang trickled in not long after including Dane. He walked straight to me and wrapped his arms around me.
“Thanks for stealing my underwear, darling.” He whispered against my ear, reminding me I still only wore his shirt and boxers. I glanced down at the jeans he had on.
“Does that mean you’re commando?” I teased him.
“What do you think?” He said with a mock glare.
“It’s my lucky day?” I offered, grinning.
“Minx,” he growled, slapping my butt.
Garvin came strolling in a few minutes later, dressed impeccably in a violet colored shirt and bubble gum pink pants.
“Why is everyone up so early?” He muttered, glaring at the room. “You do realize the birds are still sleeping?”
“Caw!” Tap, tap, tap.
We all turned to the window to see Edgar sitting on the edge, one beady eye trained on me and if a bird could look disgruntled this one did. I pushed the window open and he hopped in, fluttering his wings disdainfully.
“What are you doing? This is not a bird sanctuary. Shoo, bird, shoo.” Garvin waved his hand at my familiar, but didn’t attempt to get close cause Edgar was eyeing him as if there was nothing more he wanted to do than peck him.
“Garvin, meet Edgar.”
“Edgar? You named a black raven, Edgar?” He stopped and stared at me, his disgust no longer with the bird and instead with me.
“I did not name him! Apparently that’s what he goes by.” I told them as Dane rubbed his mouth in a lame attempt to hide his smile.
“It’s a fine name.” Gloria spoke and the room’s attention turned to her. “Now, we need to discuss our plans.” She gave Edgar a firm stare. “I trust you won’t be relaying this to our enemies?”
“Caw.” He fluttered his wings again and flew to the back of my chair.
“Now then, we know when Mitchell plans to take your power, but he needs you to do it and we don’t know when he’ll strike. Patrick and I have been going over the prophecy, plus the rhyme Sinclair learned from her mother and the prophetic lines Kincaid spoke.” Gloria paused when I raised my hand. “Yes, dear?”
“Catch me up on what they are?”
“Yes, of course. Sinclair, you first.”
“Three sisters born, a trinity formed. Illusion, sight, and flight, together will fight. Good and evil battle, when three sisters unite.” She recited obediently.
“That seems rather straightforward. It’s what Kincaid revealed that is in question.” Gloria commented as she nodded for Kincaid to tell her part.
“Past, present, and future blend, the Earth rumbles, the wind wails, the flames burn, even as the rain pours. Three form the trinity, united, bound and found, together create the light darkness cannot break.” She said the words neutrally, but I still felt a chill race through me. It sounded bad, almost apocalyptic and the idea that we were responsible for it? Not good.
“Kincaid’s seems to reveal more of what will actually happen, but we’re not sure how. The past, present and future blend. Earth, wind and fire.” Gloria stated before being interrupted by Garvin.
“You’re a shining star, no matter who you are, shining bright to see, what you can truly be, what you can truly be.” He crooned, doing a little shimmy. We all stared at him and he threw his hands up. “What? She said it.” He pointed to Gloria.
“I wasn’t talking about the musical group.” She retorted sharply, still not on the Garvin bandwagon like the rest of us.
“No, you were talking about the girls.” Garvin replied, rolling his eyes. Gloria looked at him and he gave her a disbelieving look. “You don’t see it? Really?” He crossed his arms and smirked as he leaned back against the counter. “Well, when you’re ready to ask, I’ll be so kind as to tell you.”
“Garvin,” Sinclair said placating, but Garvin shook his head, eyes locked with Gloria.
“She can ask.” He said pointing to her.
“Fine, explain your little theory.” Gloria finally demanded and Garvin raised his eyebrow. “Please.” She bit out between gritted teeth.
“Earth.” He pointed to Sinclair. “Wind.” His finger moved to Kincaid and as he said, “Fire” everyone automatically looked at me and the red hair that looked like flames.
“Now, I’ll be honest. I thought we couldn’t get any weirder, but if you three can control the elements, y’all better be practicing outside. I don’t need you destroying my house.”
“Told you.” Sinclair whispered sotto voice. “Never let me live it down if we destroyed the house.”
“The past, present and future.” Gloria murmured looking between us.
Kincaid raised her hand, “Pretty sure I’m future.”
“Sinclair is the past.” I answered as they glanced between us. “She’s the one that remembers. Which means I’m the present.”
“Okay,” Gloria rubbed her hands over her face as she absorbed the new revelations.
“What do we need to do to complete the trinity?” I asked, unsure about what was expected.
“You just need to touch one another. Link hands.” She replied, but with a quick glance around she added, “Just maybe not inside.”
“Uh, yeah, you can take the magic stuff right outside.” Garvin made walking motions with two fingers and Sinclair narrowed her eyes. Garvin glanced at each of us ‘witches’, but when his gaze landed on Vincent he started shrieking. “Sinclair! Stop. That’s not even funny.”
We glanced at one another and Vincent but couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary. Sinclair was laughing, but managed to say, “What were you saying about magic?”
Garvin grumbled, trying to stare her down but quickly losing the battle when he glanced back over at Vincent and shuddered. “The destructive magic needs to go outside so we all still have a place to live. Thank you and please.”
“That’s better.” She said, leaning back and Garvin sighed.
“Damn clowns.”
Vincent leaned around to look at Sinclair. “Do I want to know?”
“I
made him think you were dressed as a clown.” She said with a smile as the others started to laugh. “But no one else could see it.” She assured him and he chuckled.
“I actually used to dress up as a clown for little kid’s parties.” He admitted as Garvin stared at him in horror and the rest of us laughed harder.
“But when they helped me teleport everyone here we linked hands.” The thought was bugging me, if we’d already linked hands why wasn’t the trinity complete?
Patrick answered me. “It wasn’t physical. What you experienced was on a magical plane, one I suspect very few have ever seen. Once the trinity is complete a circle will form inside the trinity symbol.” He said pointing to my wrist. “But you need to be firmly committed to it and to one another.” He glanced between us carefully. “I would recommend you take the time to get to know one another first. Spend time together, talk, because you will need to have absolute faith in one another to work the magic it will take to stop your father.”
His words resounded through us. We’d just met and this morning we’d formed the first tentative bond, but to trust my lives to them? I wasn’t sure I had that much faith, not yet. My hand found Dane’s and I clung to it, wondering if we could do this.
As I met their eyes I saw the same questions reflected back at me.
Chapter Fourteen
We laid Peter and Cecily to rest in the afternoon. The dark warlock who’d hitchhiked had been disposed of with Garvin’s ‘Body Disposal Plan’ to his delight, but we wanted to pay our respects to Peter and Cecily. Everyone gathered around the bodies we’d laid out. We had decided to burn them once we said our goodbyes.
There were only five of us who spoke, since the others hadn’t known them, but they stood by respectfully. Peter and Cecily had lost their lives fighting for us, for the trinity, and magic. I couldn’t even say I knew them well, but their deaths marked me as deeply as my parents.
“I called Peter’s mom and told her.” Dane said gruffly, the conversation weighing on him. He shook his head. “He saved my sister. How do you repay that?”
“By living.” I replied, sliding my hand in his. “We will succeed. His death will not be in vain.” I promised, my eyes burning, not from tears but from fierce determination. “Nor will Cecily.”
“Grandma called her daughter yesterday evening.” I hadn’t realized Cecily had a daughter and grimaced at the thought of what she must be going through. “She’s in college. She’s a witch, but she was too far away to help us. I’m grateful for that. That she didn’t have to witness her mother’s death.”
Gloria finished blessing the bodies and we each said a few words. Tori choked up as she tried to speak, but she pushed through to say a few words about Peter. Other than Dane, she knew him best. Vincent and Gloria spoke about Cecily, and promised to spread her ashes into a garden. I wondered about it, but lost the thought as they stepped back.
I stepped forward then and laid my hands on the cloths they were wrapped in. I wasn’t entirely sure if I could do what I planned, but I felt the need to try. Garvin’s acknowledgement of the elements we represented wouldn’t leave me. Each day we uncovered another layer of our ability and I wondered where it would end, or if it would. Individually, we were extraordinarily powerful and that knowledge gave me pause. What was to stop any one of us from going too far, assuming we knew best?
Never happen. The thought whispered in my mind and I realized I’d been projecting my fears and Dane had heard them.
How do you know? I questioned fearfully.
One, I know you. Two, your sisters. They balance you as you balance them. Together, you will be what magic needs. You can guide it and I have zero fear that you will allow darkness in.
I blinked back tears at his absolute faith in me. He grounded me and together I knew we could do anything. I released the breath I’d been holding and with it the paralyzing fear.
Breathe in, breathe out.
Two more times.
“Fire.”
The flames that consumed their bodies was soundless, not a single hiss or crackle like you would hear with normal flames, but that wasn’t the most remarkable thing about them. No, it was the fact they were blue.
“Wow.” A few more oohs and aahs accompanied the single wow as we watched the flames dance over the bodies. The blue varied from a deep navy to almost white, but no heat emanated from them. Within moments the bodies were reduced to ash and the flames disappeared without a trace.
“We’ll put you in charge the next time we light the fireplace.” Garvin muttered, his eyes wide.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like that.” Gloria agreed, walking to the pile of ashes that used to be Cecily. “Sinclair, I would ask that you spread Cecily’s ashes. As earth is your element, I think you’ll know the perfect place.” She carefully scooped the ashes into a bowl and handed them to Sinclair who accepted them with a nod. “Kincaid, he dreamed of traveling the world. Can you spread his ashes to the wind?”
Sinclair stepped back, cupping her hand over the ashes she held as Kincaid lifted her hand. For a moment nothing happened, until steadily Peter’s ashes rose in a tight spiral. Higher and higher they went until not a speck remained on the table.
“Around the world you go. Settle where you will.” She whispered and flexed her fingers. The wind caught the ashes and we watched as they disappeared to the four winds.
“There’s not even a singe on the table.” Garvin marveled, running his hand over it.
“Magical flames.” I said with a shrug. I had no idea what I was doing, but didn’t want to admit it.
“Sinclair.” Gloria’s voice drew our attention and Sinclair nodded for us to follow her. We made our way to a small meadow, the long grass brushing our ankles as she flung the ashes in her bowl out over the meadow. They should have made an arch or blown back on us from the wind, but instead we watched the ashes drift out over the meadow completely before sinking to the ground.
“Wait.” Sinclair whispered, her eyes closed. We stood in silence, the sun warm on our faces as the grass rustled under our feet. Slowly, so slowly I had difficulty comprehending what I was witnessing, the meadow bloomed. Where there had been simple grass was now a riot of color. Wildflowers of every kind and color bloomed throughout the meadow and I remembered Cecily’s gift for making things grow.
Dane snapped a picture of the field of flowers and I knew he was sending it to her daughter. I discreetly brushed a tear from my cheek. Their lives had been honored in death, but part of me wondered about my parents and Dane’s mother. We hadn’t been able to give them the same and it tore at me. Their lives had been lost violently and unnecessarily. They deserved to be laid to rest as well.
“We will honor our parents as we honored Peter and Cecily.” Dane whispered, hugging me tightly. “But for now, we need to do what they would have wanted.” He read the question in my eyes and kissed me gently. “Complete your destiny, Quinn.”
I shivered as he said it, and tightened my arms around him. He was solid as I rested my head on his hard chest. A wall protecting me from the rest of the world. He held me as the others wandered away, only releasing me once they’d all left.
“Was it only five days ago you showed up in my bathroom?” He asked as we walked back toward the house. I did a little mental math, finding it difficult to believe our lives had changed so much in such a short amount of time.
“Yes.” I finally answered, as unbelievable as it sounded. “Do you regret it?” I’d wondered about it, if he regretted my showing up and turning his life upside down.
“Nope. Not for a second. You have always been my life, Quinn. And I’ll take the good with the bad so long as you’re a part of it.” He gave me a knowing look. “What’s really bothering you? You know I’m not going anywhere so what has you questioning things?”
“We’re this big powerful trinity, but we couldn’t save Peter or Cecily or my parents or your mom.” I burst out, the doubts and fears flowing from me as I questioned if
we could do this. “I don’t know them. How am I supposed to trust my life, and…and everything to them? To us? What if we can’t do it?” I looked at him, not feeling like some powerful witch, but like the eighteen year old girl I was. The one who’d lost too much and depended on the man next to her a little too often. Nothing had prepared me for this and while I desperately wanted to be what they needed part of me wasn’t sure I could be.
He laughed.
I stared at him dumbfounded as he laughed at my fears until finally I punched him in the arm.
“Ouch!” I cradled my hand, not having expected how much it would hurt to punch someone.
“What the…?” He shook his head at me and reached for my hand. “Why would you hit me?”
“You were laughing at me!”
“Because you’re being ridiculous.” I balled up my other fist to punch him again, but he caught it in his hand. “You have a right to be scared but, Quinn, you are majestic.” He chuckled, his thumb running over my aching knuckles and making the pain disappear. “That sounds like overkill, but it’s not. I look at you and I am in awe.” He tilted my chin up to meet his eyes. “You are strong and capable. Talented and powerful, but it’s your heart, Quinn, that makes the difference. You love with everything in you. Your fight and your passion bring me to my knees.” He grasped my shoulders and shook me lightly, my head bobbing as he said, “You and your sisters will succeed, you will complete the trinity and kick Mitchell’s ass. Anything less is impossible for you. Now, we’re going in that house and you’ll going to get to know your sisters so we can finish this and go home.”
“Home?” I whispered, an ache in my voice.
“To the farm.” He bumped his forehead against mine. “I don’t know what will happen once Mitchell is gone, but the farm is our home. It always has been and I’m ready to be there with you again. A wedding in the garden, babies in your lap, kids playing in the yard, and teaching magic to a new generation. Traveling with your awesome ability.”
My chest tightened painfully as hope blossomed inside of me. I could see the future he painted, strawberry blonde kids, Gloria in her garden, even my sisters visiting.
The Trinity Sisters Page 48
