Trinity Found: The Lost Daughter Of Angor Series - Book 1

by Settle Myer

  The rooms are decorated with nothing more than a bed, bathroom, and shower. They could at least add cheap art from Target on the cold, white plastered walls. I set my stuff down on the drab grey bedding then set out to find Julian’s room. Hey, Chanel said nothing about visiting him.

  I close my eyes in search of his energy. It's a familiar aura I've come to crave. It reminds me of that nostalgia you get when hearing a song from your childhood or inhale a scent that recalls a happy memory. The anima mate leads me down the hallway, one right turn and one left turn to a corner room. It has to be the furthest room from mine. Well played, Chanel. Well played.

  The door swings open as I lift my knuckles to knock. I stand with my mouth wide open. Julian grabs my raised arm, pulling me inside. He snakes his hands around my backside, tugging my body against his. He teases my mouth with his sweet lips as if finding the perfect place to plant his kisses. But the moment we’re about to give in to the constant sexual tension between us, there’s a knock on the door.

  We separate immediately, just in time for Rosie to come barreling through the door.

  “Aha! Chanel thought we’d find you two together.”

  “Seriously? We weren’t even doing anything!”

  I stand with my hands behind my back and roll on the balls of my feet. My face is hot, I can only imagine how red it is. I glance over to Julian, who covers the front of his jeans with his palms.

  Rosie regards us, darting her eyes back and forth before saying, “Mhm.”

  She nods her head towards the hallway. “Come on, Trinity. Let’s have a chat.”

  I hunch over and drop my arms halfway to the ground as dramatically as possible. Julian covers his mouth, laughing up a storm.

  “How are you holding up?” Rosie asks as we slowly walk down the drab hallway.

  I shrug my shoulders. “Better than day one.”

  She smiles. “You’ve been through a lot. And I don’t think you realize how strong of a woman you’ve become in a matter of days.”

  I shy away from her kind comments. I was never good at getting compliments.

  We arrive at an elevator, and Rosie pushes the button to go up. Waiting less than a minute before the doors ding open, we get in, and she hits the button labeled ‘roof access.’ The ride up takes about thirty seconds since the building only has about ten floors. The doors open to an empty helipad. We walk across it until reaching the concrete ledge.

  “Wow,” I whisper.

  Before us – sparkling skyscrapers light up in the clear night sky. A warm spring breeze swirls around us, whipping my hair around my face. I close my eyes and inhale the crisp air, untouched by humans or car exhaust. In the distance, the sounds of rushing vehicles on the highway. A party in someone’s backyard blasts country music and a few bursts of laughter from people out at nearby bars.

  “I met Reed here. On this roof,” Rosie says after a few minutes of us taking in the sights. “It was five years ago. Chad and I arrived in Memphis then took a helicopter here for our assignment. Reed was waiting on the roof the moment we landed. He was our caseworker. Basically, giving us everything we would need to travel to New York City and join the NYPD, like money to rent an apartment and documents. I’m glad I didn’t have to share an apartment with Chad.”

  I laugh at the thought. Chad cracks me up, but sometimes I need a break from him. He’s an extrovert through and through, and he gives off this hyper energy that puts my nerves on edge. Nothing bad about it. Just overwhelming.

  Rosie takes a pack of cigarettes out of her pocket. She fishes one out, then lights it with her zippo. “We all went out for drinks that night. Me, Chad, Reed, and a few other team members who were joining the ranks of the NYPD alongside us. Reed and I clicked. We spent the night talking about our lives. Our hardships growing up without parents. Having no other family members to turn to during difficult or lonely times. I connected to him in ways I never thought possible. I wouldn’t say it was love at first sight. And it’s nothing near what you and Julian have with the anima mate. But I do love him. I was thankful he was assigned to the New York City team a few months after I arrived.”

  “Are you two no longer together?” I knew they weren’t. But I wasn’t going to tell her I know more than I should about her love life due to my invasive mind-reading training.

  She shakes her head. “We both decided a couple of weeks ago to take a break. With your birthday approaching, we knew you'd possibly be found. We had to be ready for anything. Setting aside our emotions would keep our minds clear, prevent our personal convictions from getting in the way of protecting you.”

  She rubs my back while blowing out smoke from the corner of her mouth.

  “What I’m trying to say is sometimes things are worth the wait.”

  I nod, slightly embarrassed, knowing she’s talking about giving in to the anima mate. Yes, we know. Sex is bad. What I find funny is how Chanel always preaches about how dangerous it would be if Julian and I were to have sex. How he could get caught, and the rebels would use the anima mate to draw me out of hiding. Do they not know I would go ballistic if Julian were to be caught now? That I would absolutely come out of hiding to save him? Sex or not?

  Let me change the subject.

  “I’d love to see the romantic side of Reed. Oh! And I want to see him smile and laugh more. I heard him laugh once. Other than that, I get nothing but disgruntle employee from him.”

  She waves off my comment. “He’s a big ole teddy bear underneath that resting angry face.”

  We both crack up laughing. I sigh at this strange warmth spreading throughout my body. It's acceptance. It's family. My new family, you could say. It's what I've been looking for my entire life.

  Chapter 12

  I wake up the next morning to a note next to my head.

  Getting us breakfast.

  - J

  I smile at Julian’s near-illegible handwriting, not even caring that he somehow broke into my locked room. I only hope he’s loading up on sausages, muffins, and coffee. My stomach growls in response. I decide to distract my hungry tummy by showering while Julian is away. I pull a clean t-shirt and jeans from the pile of new clothes the command center left for us and set it in the bathroom with a towel and my toiletries.

  The piping hot water is welcoming. I let it cascade down my hair and over my face and contemplate making the shower my new home, staying there forever. All my worries are fading away with every molecule of water lost in the stream and disappearing down the drain. I pick up the soap and rinse down, letting the flower scent fill my nose with the sweet hints of spring. The shampoo and conditioner I use next then transport me to the tropics.

  I'm seconds from turning off the water when that static electric surge I've come to long for wraps around my body. It's then replaced with Julian’s strong arms. He brushes my wet hair off my neck and kisses the nape. The lights flicker with every slow peck along my skin.

  “You know this will not end well.”

  “I can’t help it. The anima mate is getting harder and harder to resist,” Julian says.

  "I know,” I breathe, barely getting the word out of as the need for Julian takes me over.

  I turn around, naked in front of the only person I hope to ever let see me this way. He uses his finger to race a water droplet down the front of my body, in between my breasts, and down to my belly button. The power is going crazy. Turning off and on like the room is haunted. I grab his finger before it goes any further.

  Julian reaches behind me and turns off the shower. He dries me off with my towel, and I know sex is as intimate as it gets, but surely this ranks up there. He leads me out of the bathroom and stands me in front of the bed. He hands me my clothes and turns around.

  I smile at how considerate he’s being. Despite just seeing me head to toe naked, he still gives me privacy to dress. I envy his strength because every ounce of me wants to jump him right here and now.

  “You two are getting brave, huh?” Chanel says the moment w
e walk into the lobby of the command center.

  My eyes widen, and Julian’s cheeks turn pink. I glance around, but the place is near empty except for a few security guards at the door and front desk. Thankfully it’s six in the morning, still too early for the place to be filled with workers.

  “Yeah, you really need to work on the energy bursts. Cause if you’re trying to sneak around, the power outages are giving you away,” Chanel adds.

  Shiloh, Skyler, Chad, Rosie, and Reed march in, refreshed and ready to fight.

  “Hey, did anyone else lose power earlier?” Skyler asks. He sees Julian and me holding hands, our faces painted with embarrassment. “Oh, never mind.”

  “My lights flickered this morning, too. What was that?” Shiloh asks.

  “At least some of us around here are getting action,” Chad quips, winking at Chanel, who rolls her eyes in disgust.

  “Am I missing out on some inside joke or something?” Shiloh responds.

  “Every time these two bone, we lose power. Lights flicker, and it’s like we’re being haunted by horny teenage ghosts,” Chad says with a hint of jealousy.

  “We didn’t bone, thank you very much! And who says bone? We know how dangerous it is to have sex-” I snap my mouth shut. “You know what? I will mentally stab every last one of you if we keep talking about this.”

  “Okay, okay. Time to move out, folks,” Chanel barks.

  “So violent,” Julian whispers next to my ear. He grabs my hand, and we walk out the front doors behind the rest of the team.

  Commanders Dyson and Myers wait in the dimly-lit parking lot, standing next to two black Suburbans.

  Commander Dyson nods to our group. “Good morning, everyone. I hope you all got some rest. Glad to see that strange power glitch earlier didn’t put us behind schedule.”

  “Some of us got some behind this morning,” Chad whispers to Skyler standing next to him. Skyler snorts and covers his mouth.

  Chad didn’t realize his whisper carried to the back where I stand. I send a telepathic kick to his nuts, and he topples over to the ground. He writhes in pain and glances over his shoulder to me, to which I blow him a kiss.

  The Commanders share an exasperated look before Commander Dyson continues. “The transport team carrying Hyde is an hour east of Nashville. We’ll arrive in Memphis at the portal ahead of them. As you all should have been briefed last night, the plan remains the same. We send in Trinity, alone. We expect that to draw out rebels waiting for her arrival. We'll capture those rebels and replace them with our team members. Once the transport van arrives, we’ll have soldiers ready for the attack.”

  Commander Myers takes over. “We don't expect Hyde and his rebels to go down easily. This will turn into an all-out battle. Some of us may die. Most importantly, Trinity must be protected at all costs.”

  “Don’t worry about me. I can protect myself.”

  The always-professional leader nods to me, pride beaming back. “Of course, your Grace. However, we will have soldiers specifically assigned to act as your shields. To guard you when you are not able to fight back, if that so happens to be the case.”

  Commander Dyson adds. “We have set up wards around the area, masking it from the humans. We will do everything possible to hide this fight from their world. But we do have mind erasers on standby.”

  “So, why don’t we go kick some rebel ass!” Commander Myers yells. The group cheers, giving each other high fives.

  My adrenaline revs up as we pile into the SUVs, only for it to be depleted during the three-hour drive from Nashville to Memphis. By the time we arrive at the portal, exhaustion nips at my soul. How can I be so tired when I slept well last night? I knew it was the nonstop barrage of new information and people trying to kill or capture me that is constantly overwhelming my tiny little body. Or maybe it was because of mine and Julian’s morning make-out session.

  We park behind a staging area near a massive silver pyramid by the mighty Mississippi River. I'd read about this structure in my high school geography class. It’s been used as a sports and entertainment arena, a Bass Pro Shops megastore. And, apparently, the portal to Angor.

  “This is it?” I ask, gaping at the hundreds of feet tall tomb of doom.

  “Hidden in plain sight,” Rosie says, walking past me.

  Julian appears by my side, taking my hand in his like he always does. It's his way of letting me know he’s never far away.

  “The man who came up with this design was from Angor. His name was Martin Slate. And he was obsessed with Egypt. Memphis is actually named after the ancient capital of Egypt. Anyway, Martin was one of the first Angorians to pass through the portal when it opened nearly a century ago. Then when Hyde went crazy and Angorians were fleeing here to Earth, Martin’s design was used to hide the portal from the rest of the world. It opened in 1991 to the public and is now owned by the city of Memphis. However, that’s a ruse. It really belongs to Angor,” Julian informs me.

  We start walking to a white tent which is a few yards away, slowly as if that would prolong the inevitable. The team goes ahead, gathering around a table full of monitors. There are about a dozen people packed in the area the size of about four parking spots. Commander Dyson points at a few monitors, likely pointing out possible rebel sightings. I was sure we should be there with them, but I’m still in the denial stage of my grieving the life I once had. Or maybe I've retreated back to the denial stage. I've accepted my new life. At least, I think I do.

  “It will all be over soon,” Julian says quietly. We stop walking, and Julian squeezes my palm. He’s come to sense when my apprehension is reaching critical levels, pressing that calming button just in time to bring me down to the safe zone.

  Julian leans in for a kiss when a blast throws us back several feet. I land on my side on the hard concrete, my head bouncing off the rough surface. The heat from a massive ball of fire and smoke at the command tent envelops me.

  Hyde knows we’re here.

  I hold my throbbing head as if that would stop the deafening ringing. Warm liquid runs down the side of my face from a cut I got after hitting my head on the ground. I frantically scan the parking lot for Julian. He’s struggling to stand, just a few feet away. I run over to him.

  “I'm okay,” he says as I wrap my arm around his waist. His chin is scraped, and blood peeks through a rip in his pants at the knee. “Are you hurt?”

  I shake my head. Julian purses his lips, clearly seeing the wound on my forehead. He tries to attend to it, but I slap his hand away.

  “Your Grace!” Reed yells from the leveled staging area.

  “The team!” I say to Julian and rush over to where the tent once stood.

  Reed frantically picks up piles of debris in search of me. Soot covers his clothes and face, but not a scratch on the man thanks to his invincibility virtue.

  “Reed! I’m here. I’m fine!” I blurt out, arriving at the massacre.

  The manly, never-show-emotion Reed grabs his chest, his entire body sighing with relief at the sight of me. He pulls me into a hug then holds me at arm’s length, scanning me for serious injuries before ruffling my hair.

  “I’m going to call for help,” Reed says, grabbing a cell phone from the debris. He checks to make sure it works despite the cracked screen and then runs away from the destruction.

  I turn around to survey the damage, tears welling up as I count about six dead bodies. Then, I see Rosie and Commander Dyson in a pile of mangled metal and concrete. Next to their lifeless bodies, Shiloh is face down. I run to his side and start shaking him.

  “Shiloh, Shiloh, please be alive!” I cry.

  I roll him over and find Skyler underneath him. Skyler moans then coughs before sitting up in the rubble. He holds the back of his head. Good, he’s okay. I turn my attention back to Shiloh, checking his pulse, and listening to his breathing. His heart beats, but it’s weak. His breathing is shallow and strained. Blood soaks the ground, and I tilt him up. He has a laceration at least six inches lo
ng across his lower back.

  I lay him back down and pat his cheek, gently at first. “Can you hear me? Shiloh, I’m going to find you some help.”

  “He saved me,” Skyler says numbly. “He jumped on top of me, without even thinking.” Skyler tucks his legs into his chest and sobs into his knees.

  Julian arrives by my side with a limping Chanel and Chad, clutching his upper right arm. Blood drips down to the tips of his fingers then onto the concrete.

  I stand, letting tears of relief that they’re alive run down my face. Chanel glances over my shoulder at Rosie and Commander Dyson’s body. Her eyes widen, and she looks back at me questioningly. I shake my head, no.

  Reed jogs up to the group with a young man who carries a medical bag. He rushes over to Shiloh and Skyler to begin patching them up. Reed places a hand on Chanel’s shoulder. His nonverbal way of letting her know he’s glad she’s alive. He nods to Chad and Julian.

  “Medics are on the way, five minutes out,” Reed says, his voice shaken. “The rebels must have planted the bomb in the sewers underneath. There could be more survivors down there. We have a recovery team on the way to search the rubble.”

  “How did they know the command unit would be set up here?” Chad asks.

  Reed shrugs, shaking his head. “They must have had a mole.”

  Chanel glances around the wreckage. “Where is Commander Myers?”

  “I saw her walk off shortly before the blast,” Chad adds.

  “Maybe she is the mole,” I offer.

  “Where’s Rosie, Commander Dyson?” Reed inquires, glancing around the ruins. He stops cold after spotting them buried underneath crumbled concrete. Rosie’s face and shoulder stick out, covered in grey dust. She’s barely recognizable.

  Reed stumbles over to their bodies in a trance, collapsing by Rosie’s side. He leans his forehead on hers. He squeezes his eyes shut then belts out the loudest roar that would rival any lion out in the wild. My heart breaks into a million pieces. The typically emotionless man just showed me a lifetime of fury that he will surely redirect to the battlefield.