by Kali Willows
“Tell me what you want.” She sensed the emotional pillar the Furies played on, the teen stuck on how he never felt loved or cared about. Beneath the layers of resentment and hostility, there lay a deep-seated sorrow and…guilt? Emotions she was all too familiar with. “Who did you lose, Brody?”
“Get out of my mind,” he screeched and, gripping his palms over his ears, he dropped to his knees.
Trinity moved from behind the tree and slowly approached. Cemil grabbed her arm, and she raised her palm. “I’ve got this. It’s okay. Trust me.”
Cemil let go and pursed his lips before he nodded.
Trinity moved toward the boy with her hands open in front of her in a show of support. “I feel your grief, Brody. Your father?”
“Stop it. I can’t take the voices anymore.” He yowled and curled into a fetal position on the ground.
A crack of lightning struck a tree feet away from them, the top branches bursting into flames.
“Get out of here,” Cemil hollered over the commotion of the wind.
Trinity glared at him and motioned with her finger for silence.
“The three women in your head?” She knelt on the ground beside Brody, careful to use a calming voice. “I can see them.”
“Yes, they’re telling me to do terrible things,” he wailed.
“They want you to destroy things and hurt people.”
“They want me to strike you with lightning and burn you alive,” he whimpered helplessly.
“I know. I also know it’s not who you are. You’re not a violent person. They hurt me, too, Brody. I can help you make them stop.” Reaching out, she rested her open palm on the side of his head. “I know it hurts. It feels like a knife stabbing through your brain.” She winced, trying to ward off the secondary pain.
“How? I can’t block them out, my father—”
“I can see what they’ve done. They’ve made you think you killed your father.” She caressed his arm.
“I did! It’s all my fault. I got mad at him then I blew up the furnace.”
“No, Brody. Open your eyes and look at me, right now,” she commanded in a firm, but calm voice.
The teen complied, forcing his eyes open as he panted with fear.
“Brody, listen. They did the same to me. They make us see things that aren’t real. That is not how your father died.”
Trinity motioned Cemil to come closer. She closed her eyes, searched his thoughts for the information she needed, and she found it. “Brody, your father died in a car accident. Do you remember that?”
Another flare of lightning lit the sky, the crack of thunder pierced her ears, and rain dropped in a sudden torrential downpour. She sensed the shift in his emotions—she was breaching his wall of rage and piercing the veil of sorrow that fueled the Furies’ wrath.
“Brody, you know this. Think back, before they came to torment you last night. You’ve been here all week. You’ve worked with Cemil to get past your loss. It was an accident. You were in school when it happened. It wasn’t your fault. There was no explosion, no furnace. You did nothing wrong.”
The downpour lessened, and the wind died down. Thunder rolled in the distance, and Brody released his death grip on his ears. He stared up at Trinity as tears spilled down his face. “That’s right. I wasn’t there.”
“Sit up.” She shushed him and sat cross-legged. Trinity collected the teen in her arms and hugged him tight. “You did nothing wrong. I’m so sorry you lost your dad.” Tears stung her eyes. Her sorrow crashed to the surface and met his. She really did understand his emotions.
Brody melted in her arms, curling up like a baby as he wept—they both did. For the first time in months, Trinity released her sadness and tears she’d worked so hard to mask. He clung to her neck and unleashed his concealed sorrow. “That’s it, sweetie. Good job, Brody. They can’t hurt you anymore. They have no power over you.” She rocked him back and forth until his sobs lessened. “They have no power over either of us anymore, I promise you.”
Chapter Nineteen
The rain stopped, the winds calmed, and Brody settled back into a normal adolescent with swollen red eyes and puffy lips from his emotional release. “I’m so sorry I caused all of this.”
“Hey,” Trinity prompted him with a finger under his chin to meet her gaze. “No more guilt, for either of us, remember?”
“I promise.” Brody threw his arms around her neck and held on for a long hug.
“After I take care of a few things, we’ll spend some more time together before we have to go home, okay?”
“Deal.” The gangly lad’s freckled face lit up with the first smile she had seen from him.
“All clear here, sir,” one of the armed men spoke into the radio unit.
“Be advised, we are heading to you now. Stay put.” Rekkus’ voice crackled.
“Copy that,” the bald para replied.
“And stay out of sight,” Rekkus ordered.
“Yes, sir.”
“This isn’t over yet. He shouldn’t be here any longer, in case they try something else.” Trinity offered caution to Cemil. An inner strength she had lost sight of for a long while resurfaced, along with her confidence.
“You’re right. I’m gonna get Brother Nature back to the barracks.” Cemil grinned and tucked his arm over the boy’s shoulder. “Rekkus and the guys will be here in a minute.” He nodded to the armed men in cargo pants and jackets. “These two guards will stay with you until they arrive.”
“Take care.” She winked at Brody and waved good-bye.
Cemil and the lad headed out to the open field. A glimmer on the ground caught her eye. She bent to examine and discovered a silver necklace had fallen on the ground. She opened the rectangular locket and found two small photos, one of a baby and the other of a man who looked very much like her new young friend. “Oh, this must be Brody’s,” she gasped. “I’ll be right back.”
Trinity bolted out into the field. “Brody, you dropped this.”
Cemil and the teen turned toward her. Their weary, yet light-hearted expressions morphed into ones of horror.
“Trinity, look out!” Cemil pointed to the air.
“Get down,” the men behind her yelled.
Before she could spin around to see what the commotion was about, flaps of wind rushed over her and sharp stings pierced both of her upper arms. A brute force lifted her up from the ground. The security guards gripped her ankles and tried to tug her free, but they dangled in the air and slipped, landing on the ground with thuds.
Trinity screamed and, twisting her head upward, she shrieked at the hideous creature carrying her high up into the clouds. Two more flew on either side of them. The Furies!
They carried her toward the forest.
“Put me down,” she screeched with rage.
“Soon enough, we will leave you to your accord, but for now, we take you away from those who interfere with our duty,” the one on her left with dangling red serpents for hair hissed.
They carried her through the deep forest and set her down on a branch on top of one of the tallest oak trees. Standing on the thick limb, she clutched the trunk tight, terror ripping through her chest.
“You can’t kill me,” she scowled. “I know all about you.”
“So you may think, half-breed.” One landed on the edge of the branch, causing it to waver. She spanned her decrepit wings to steady herself.
The other two landed on nearby limbs as they took turns taunting Trinity. Each of the former beauty queens were now horrid winged women, all draped in tattered black cloth, their repulsive jagged teeth dripping with ooze. Their previous features and figures, which would have made movie stars swoon, had been replaced with hair of hideous hissing serpents, one yellow, one red, and one black. Their black eyes all dripped with blood. Their wings of pale gray were reminiscent of rotting skin. A wretched odor emanated from them, reeking of death and decay.
“We do no
t kill. We simply give you a reason to take your own life.” The one in front of her crowed.
Instead of petrified, as Trinity had expected to be, she was desperate to piece the last several weeks together to make sense of it all. “Did you steal my clothes at the hot springs?”
“Yes,” Red hissed.
“And my bathing suit?”
“We did, along with everything else you couldn’t find,” her tormentor snarled. “Including your precious talisman.”
“For what reason?”
“What better way to drive someone mad than to make them believe they have misplaced everything?” Yellow Snakes cackled. Her malicious giggle crept down Trinity’s spine.
“And to steal their memories, don’t forget, dear sister,” the hag with black serpent hair declared.
“Why are you doing this?”
“We follow our masters’ orders. You shall die by your own hand,” the yellow one bit out.
“I know all about my grandmother Aileen, and my grandfather is crazy. This ends now.”
“A banshee who bedded the mortal empath; ’twas unfitting of a Bean Nighe.”
“So you go around and punish the innocent because a jealous psychopath said so?” Trinity spewed with hatred.
“We serve the justice, but it is the curse handed down by a begrudged husband. You are the last of your mixed line. Once you are dead, no other shall live, and the curse will be done,” the one in front of her snarled.
“I know everything now. You have no more power over me. You can’t drive me mad anymore.”
“Oh, but we will, my pretty,” the yellow one taunted. “We have plans for your brooding para hunks, too.”
Desperation mounted. Not them, too. Not because of me. A bleak possibility clouded her weary brain. “If I don’t fight you, if I let you punish me for the sins of my grandmother, will you leave Arawn and Kane alone?”
“That, we cannot.” The black snaked one scowled.
“Why?”
“More justice. It is no concern of yours.”
“The hell it isn’t,” she roared. “Tell me now. How can I end this?”
The red serpent-haired sadist waved her triangular ring toward Trinity and let out a venomous hiss. “Die.”
A flood of crimson washed over Trinity’s vision. Fire burned through her head and her chest. Flashes of her immortal and her gargoyle saturated her brain with stabbing pain. Images of a bloody massacre, skin peeled from their bodies sliced open from neck to sternum, the hounds of hell with red ears, feasting on their flesh.
Driven by instinct, she crouched on the branch and outreached her shaking hands. From deep in her solar plexus, she let out a horrific wail. She screamed so hard and so loud, her eardrums nearly shattered. Heated wetness trickled from her eyes and streamed down her face. Her locked muscles loosened as she expelled the last of her cry. Trinity panted for breath and hugged the trunk of the tree. Her throat stung from the wail.
No,” she screamed. “Not them, by the gods, not them.” She wept hysterically.
“Trinity?” a deep voice roared.
“It’s him again,” the red one sneered.
“No mind, the deed is done. She has foreseen the death of both her mates. Leave her to him.” They took off, flying into the air, leaving Trinity grief-stricken.
Her mind spun. Her vision faded, and she lost her balance, toppling over and dropping out of the tree. Her stomach bottomed out as she plummeted, but a sudden grip around her waist halted her in midair.
“Trinity,” the deep husky voice called to her.
She glanced up to find a gray-winged mass encased her. “Kane,” she whimpered.
“Your eyes,” he growled. “Hang on.” He swooped down with his massive wings and carried her to the field. Her vision cleared as the red faded away. Her chest tightened when Arawn ran over and scooped her up into his arms. She glanced back to find a huge gargoyle staring at her, his eyes filled with sadness.
“Rekkus needs you for air support to make his plan work. You’re the only wings we have right now, Kane. She’s been hurt, badly.” Arawn’s voice was strained.
“Stay here in the open.” Kane hovered as he looked her over.
Arawn radioed in. “Rekkus, we’ve got Trinity, over.”
“Copy that,” his voice crackled. “Kane, be advised, we have it ready, over.”
“He’s on his way.” Arawn clutched the radio and wrapped his arm around her.
“I’m close by. I have you in my sights, I swear it.” Kane stared at Trinity then darted back into the air and flew away.
“Are you okay?” Arawn cradled her in his arms and whispered into her ear.
“Stay away,” she sobbed hysterically. “You’re going to die because of me.”
“Princess, your eyes, you’re bleeding.” He traced her cheek then showed her the bloodied pad of his finger. “Are you hurt?”
Trinity’s head stabbed with pain, her chest constricted, and she wheezed for air. Then, his words sank in. “My eyes? Tears of blood?” A sudden angry calm washed over her, and she sat up. She swiped her finger across the wetness lining her eyes and trailing down her face. She examined the crimson, a flash of her parents and grandmother piercing the foggy veil of panic encasing her mind. “Banshees don’t cry tears of blood, but the Furies’ eyes drip with the blood of vengeance,” she recited.
“Yes, you gave the banshee wail…. Are our deaths what you saw?”
“Those evil bitches.” She clambered to her feet and bellowed, “It’s not going to work, you hear me, you sadistic hags?”
“Whoa, stay with me,” he pleaded and tugged at her hand.
“I know your trickery, I’m done with you, come out and face me, you wretched cowards.” She thrashed her fist in the air.
“Arawn,” Rekkus called over the radio. “I need you both to head back into the forest, over.”
Trinity spotted three dark shadows dart across the sky, way up in the gloomy clouds.
“Copy that,” he hollered into the walkie-talkie. He grabbed Trinity’s hand. “Can you run?”
“I think so.” Her upper arms stung. She glanced down to find several puncture wounds across both her biceps. Her knees were weak, but adrenaline coursed through her veins. “I’m fine.”
“Come with me. Let’s end this now.” He bolted toward the trees.
Trinity’s legs strained to keep pace with him. Mere seconds into the clearing, the shadows overhead darkened. The Furies made a frantic descent toward them. Their claws extended, they dove down fast.
“Arawn, I’ve got her,” Kane cried out from up ahead. Just before the winged hags reached her, he swooped down and clutched her in his grasp. “I’ve got ya, darlin’,” he called out in a voice much deeper than usual.
Trinity glanced back to find Arawn face down on the ground, the Furies in hot pursuit of her and her gargoyle. He flew fast and furious toward the treetops.
“Kane?” She gripped his arms with fright.
“Don’t worry. This is gonna work.” He wrapped his leathery wings around her and spiraled toward a small gap between treetops. “Now,” he roared.
A clatter of branches cracking and leaves rustling sounded behind them, but from inside his protective wings, she saw nothing. Hideous screeches cried out. Kane opened his wings and landed on a thick limb of a tree. He set her down.
“It’s over,” he rumbled and nodded down toward the ground.
Trinity glanced down to the sea of lavender, a massive heap of netting entangled over the hags.
“Got ’em.” Kane scooped her up and headed down to Arawn.
Chapter Twenty
Sitting on a bale of hay inside the entrance of the kennels, Trinity cringed at the sting of topical treatment Arawn applied to her open wounds. “Ouch!”
He winced. “Sorry. Almost done, babe.” He bandaged her arms with skill and precision. “Good as new. Now, Sage told me to make sure I give you this.”
He held up a small brown bottle and removed the squeeze top to reveal a dropper filled with dark-gold liquid.
“What’s that?”
“Oil of oregano. The puncture wounds could be contaminated. Who knows what infestation those hags are filled with? It goes under your tongue.” He aimed into her open mouth and released three drops. “She called it nature’s antibiotics.”
A sharp sting spread through her tongue, and spice tingled over the sensitive skin of her mouth as the pungent flavor overtook her senses. “Oh, gross.” She shuddered.
“That’s my girl. It’s no ouzo, but it will help fight infection.” He twisted the cap back on and placed it along with the bandages back into the first aid kit.
“So, explain to me what in Tartarus just happened.” She willed away the residual nip of the oil.
“Rekkus and Kane set a trap for the Furies.”
“I missed most of it.” Confusion rolled over her fatigued brain.
“He had Sarka and her coven weave netting made from hemp. They anointed it with rosemary and dragon’s blood oils, a magical assist, if you will. Kane flew up to help set the nets in the trees.”
“How did Rekkus know they would be there?”
“Myron saw it in the cards.” He grinned.
“Of course she did,” she snickered.
Kane skulked into the entrance of the kennel, stood by the door, and avoided eye contact with her. “Are you okay?” His voice was low.
Trinity studied him. Now in his human form, his aura held a faded gray of worry and fret. She joined him. She permeated his thoughts which she found, sadly, filled with shame.
“Kane,” she murmured. “I do see you differently since I’ve witnessed your shift.”
“I know. It was a chance I had to take. I couldn’t let them hurt you.” He turned to leave.
“Wait,” she demanded and pulled at his shoulder. “Face me.”
Kane complied but cast his gaze to the ground.
