Kiss at Your Own Risk

by Stephanie Rowe

  The prism took the shape of a person, and a rose-colored arrow was glowing in its hand. The image hurled the fiery spear, and the weapon slammed into the left pinkie claw of the approaching beast. The spectral version of the creature promptly exploded in a cascade of colorful fireworks.

  Blaine leapt to his feet and a spear made of pink fire flared in his palm. He flung it at the lead attacker that was mere yards from his face. Its teeth grazed Blaine’s forehead just as the arrow made contact. It exploded nearly on top of Blaine, and the light show was dazzling.

  He didn’t even flinch, didn’t bother to duck. He held his ground and began firing arrow after arrow at the bats-from-hell coming after it.

  “Hot damn, girlfriend.” Reina raced up beside her. “That’s brilliant!”

  “I can’t believe it worked.” Trinity sank to her knees in stunned relief as she watched Blaine take on the swarm of killer birdies, his aim unerringly precise. Point for being cursed by the black widow!

  “Guilt is a fantastic motivator, as is trying to save the life of someone you love.” Reina knelt beside her, resting her hands on her thighs as she watched the show. “Trust me, I know. Makes the reward feel awfully good, doesn’t it?”

  “You bet.” Trinity grinned at Reina. “Makes it better to share it with you too. I know you understand.”

  Reina hugged her. “Oh, I do, sweetie. I really do.”

  “My darling.” Olivia finally caught up to them. She braced her palms on her knees, trying to catch her breath. “What a wonderful use of your skill. I’m so pleased you’ve found a quality outlet for it.”

  “Nigel!” Blaine’s voice rang out powerfully in the night as he continued to hammer ruthlessly at his attackers with more arrows. “Vulnerable spot is the left front claw, lateral digit.”

  There was no reply, but a moment later, there was a cascade of rainbow colored sparks from the top of the building. Then another and another, until it was like the Fourth of July.

  Trinity sat back on her heels and raised her face to the sparks. They sizzled on her skin, and she didn’t care. It just felt so good. She’d saved Blaine’s life with her power. She’d done something positive with it. The pain felt wonderful, a reminder that she was alive, that her soul was still breathing.

  Blaine suddenly turned toward her. His face was dark, and she saw the accusation in his expression. The hatred. The utter betrayal.

  She scrambled to her feet. “Blaine! I had to go—”

  Blaine threw a pink flame dagger at her, and it cut through the air, right toward her heart.

  Seriously? Wasn’t that a bit of an overreaction to her walking out on him? Talk about an oversensitive guy!

  “Trinity!” Her mom screamed. “Watch out!”

  Watch out? Was she kidding with that? Trinity threw up her hands to protect herself (yeah, pretty much the textbook definition of useless gestures), and the blade hurtled toward her chest—

  Then the arrow collided mid-air, inches from her body, with a pink star.

  A pink star? Trinity covered her head as the two weapons exploded in a cascade of fireworks. A second flaming pink knife sailed over her left shoulder, so close she felt it singe her hair. She spun around in time to see it bury itself in the chest of Augustus, who was digging a second star out of his pocket.

  His eyes widened, and he fell to the ground, clutching his chest. “My heavens,” he gasped. “How impressive of him to think of using pink fire.” Then he keeled over and the scent of bananas filled the air. He coughed once, and then was still.

  Reina raced over to him and crouched beside him. “He’s not dead,” she announced. Her eyes were still blue. “He’s not even close. I’m guessing he’s back up again in less than five minutes.” She looked over at Trinity and her eyes widened. “Um, Trin—”

  A well-muscled arm hooked around her throat and she found herself yanked back against a hard body. “And now we’re even for the tip on how to kill the puppies.” Hot breath seared her cheek, and the scent of burned cotton assailed her nostrils. “But we are far from even for you betraying me.”

  “I didn’t!” She tried to wiggle out of his grasp. “Let me explain—”

  “No time.” He hauled her over to his bike. The seat was charred from the fireworks. “The witch is probably on her way to save her precious smut monster. We’re going to find her, and you’re going to take her out. Got it?”

  She struggled to free herself, but his grip was unyielding. “But what about the smut monster? We have to kill him too, or my dad dies.”

  “Screw your dad. You cost him his life when you walked away.” He threw her onto the bike seat.

  “No!” She tried to twist out of his grip, and he slammed his hand over her thigh, pinning her to the seat. She looked over at her mom and Reina, who were being amazingly unhelpful. They were chatting with each other while they were watching the scene. “Mom? A little help?”

  Her mom waved. “Good luck with the Chameleon, darling. I know you can figure out a way for Blaine to kill it for you.”

  “Um, hello? Are you blind? You think he’s going to help me?”

  Blaine shouted up at the roof for his team, and his whole body shook with the effort. His muscles were trembling and there was blood seeping out of an assortment of wounds on his body. Not that it seemed to be affecting his strength. Shouldn’t a man this injured be too weak to hold her captive with a single hand?

  Reina inched forward. “Um, Trin, don’t forget Death is probably on his way over there to protect the Chameleon and Angelica. So be careful.”

  Blaine jerked his head around to look at Reina. “Death’s involved? Why?”

  Reina set her hands on her hips. “In your haste to lump Trinity in with all the other women you’ve known, you neglected to ask her where she went, didn’t you? Didn’t even take note of the fact that she came back for you, of her own free will, did you? Might want to consider that, big guy.”

  “Tell me about Death.” He was talking to Reina, though. Pretending Trinity didn’t exist.

  Jerk! She smacked the back of his head, right on a burn mark.

  He ducked and blocked her hand. “What was that for?”

  “You! You say I have this great heart, and then judge me without giving me a chance?” She smacked him again and grinned when he swore. It felt fantastic to stand up for herself. “You’re an arrogant brute who’s too caught up in his own past to realize quality when it hits him on the back of the head!” And then she hit him on the back of the head one more time, just in case he was too obtuse to pick up on her point.

  Blaine caught her wrist and turned to look at her. He didn’t look happy. “Don’t hit me.”

  “Then don’t be a bastard.”

  “Me? You left.”

  “I came back! You’re the one person who has seen me as remotely good, and then you took it back! I’m the good person! You’re the jerk!”

  She stopped in surprise at her own words. Had she really just yelled that she was a good person? It had felt true when she’d said it. Maybe she was. Maybe Blaine’s arrogant belief in her had finally sunk in. She grinned. How good did that feel?

  Blaine shook his head in disgust. “Women.”

  “Women? That’s all you can do? Compare me to the sluts who tortured you and left you behind—”

  He whirled around. “My mother wasn’t a slut.”

  Trinity went still at the hostility on his face, at the fury in his tone. At his defense of the woman he claimed to hate so much. Was there more forgiveness, more hope in his heart than he’d revealed? She touched his cheek. “Blaine—”

  “Hey!” Nigel and Jarvis came racing out of the front door of the building. They were both limping, and Jarvis had dozens of new scars on his chest. Nigel’s bandana was tattered and bloody, but both men were grinning.

  “That kicked ass,” Jarvis said. “Did you see how fast those gnats turned tail when we started killing them?” He pumped his fist. “Those are the witch’s best creations and we d
ecimated them—” He saw Trinity then and his face darkened. “What the hell are you doing here?”

  “I saw how to kill them,” Trinity said. “You’re welcome for coming back and saving your butts when I didn’t have to.”

  Jarvis snorted, but Nigel raised his brows at her. “Why’d you return?”

  She met his blue gaze. “Because I thought Blaine might need me.”

  Jarvis glared at her, but Nigel studied her. “Interesting,” was all he said, but Trinity suspected he saw far more than he was saying.

  “To the bridge,” Blaine said. “I suspect the witch is heading over there to get the Chameleon, and apparently Death is too. First one wins.”

  “On it.” Jarvis and Nigel sprinted over to a Hummer parked on the side of the street.

  Trinity wrapped her arms around Blaine’s waist. She wasn’t getting off the bike, no matter how mad he was at her. The monster had to go down, and it was up to her to do it, no matter how it had to happen. And it didn’t matter if Blaine wanted the witch to die first. She was the one in charge of her powers (at least hopefully), so she would decide the order. Please let me be strong enough to control the spider.

  Blaine revved the engine, the wheels were just starting to roll when Trinity’s mom touched his arm.

  He looked down at her hand, and for a second Trinity thought he wasn’t going to stop. Then the bike jerked to a halt, and he let the engine idle. “What?”

  Olivia squeezed his arm. “Dear boy, on the back of your bike is the most precious thing in the world to me. I owe her my life, and I beg of you to bring her back to me with her soul intact. Don’t let her sacrifice herself to save her dad. She’ll do it, and we aren’t worth it. Make sure she saves herself.” Her voice broke. “Please.”

  Blaine stared stonily at her, and Trinity felt her throat tighten. “Mom, it’s not up to him. I can’t live with anyone else dying because of me. I’ll do whatever it takes to make sure Dad lives. If I die, it’s because I’ve failed, not you.”

  Blaine started to let the bike roll and heartache made her mom’s face crumple as she realized that Trinity really was going to do it.

  Then Olivia raised her chin and got a hard look on her face. The kind she always got when she was going to lever an ugly truth on someone. Kind of like the time when she’d sat Trinity down and told her that she’d been cursed with the black widow and she was going to have to deal with it. No tears, no feeling sorry for herself, just step up and cope with it. Trinity started to shake her head. “Oh, no, Mom, this isn’t the time for one of those discussions—”

  “I sold you to Angelica,” Olivia blurted out.

  The bike slammed to an abrupt stop. “What did you say?” Dark anger laced Blaine’s voice.

  Trinity tightened her grip on his waist. “Mom? What are you talking about?”

  “I was dying from childbirth complications, and Angelica said she would save my life if she could borrow you for six months. We agreed.” Olivia met Trinity’s stunned gaze, her face stoic and determined. “I was scared of dying, Dad was terrified, and we lied to ourselves about the cost of our choice.”

  Trinity suddenly couldn’t feel her feet. Her hands. Her nose. Just numbness buzzing around in her brain. Blaine set his hand on Trinity’s thigh, his palm a warm, reassuring pressure as she fought against the sudden tightness in her chest. “It’s your fault I’m cursed?”

  Reina let out a low whistle. “I always wondered why your parents were so forgiving of your death tendencies. I thought it was awfully progressive of them. Totally forgot to check out the guilt angle.”

  “It’s completely our fault,” Olivia agreed. “The minute Angelica left with you, we realized what a horrible thing we’d done. I was still too weak, but your father searched for you every day. Every night we laid awake praying for your safety, and then when we got you back, and you seemed fine… we were so happy.”

  Trinity’s stomach roiled. “Until I killed Joey Martin after I lost my virginity to him.” What a night that had been. He’d gotten her drunk, seduced her on the top bleachers (and it was so not romantic to be getting sexy amid old paper cups and gum, no matter how good the view of the moon and stars had been), and then she’d shoved him off the bleachers to his death. An accident, she’d thought for sure, until her parents had informed her otherwise. Discovering she’d murdered him hadn’t helped the trauma of a bad deflowering. “I thought you’d worked so hard to save me because you loved me. Not because you felt guilty.”

  She couldn’t look at her mom. Couldn’t stand the scent of earth she’d always associated with her. The smell of grass was too thick. The trees too close. The vibration of the engine between her legs was too harsh, like a swarm of bugs crawling in her pants. She wanted to stumble off by herself, to think, to breathe. Her tulip suddenly hurt even more intensely. The brand of the betrayal. She dug her nails into it, desperate to claw it off, to cleanse herself, to—

  Blaine grabbed her hand and pressed it against his chest. The heat from his tattoo burned her palm. His scar was a symbol of his own survival. She held tight, as if he were the only solid thing in a world that had suddenly fallen away. She breathed the oil of his bike, the leather of his new seat, felt the heat from his body fighting its way into her cells.

  “It was a one-time mistake when we were too young to know better,” Olivia protested. “We changed our minds the minute she disappeared with you, and we searched for you every day. We love you—”

  “No.” Blaine’s voice was hard, and he set his other hand on Trinity’s leg. Pulled her knee against his thigh. “You don’t get to say that anymore.”

  Olivia’s cheeks reddened, and she folded Trinity’s free hand in both of hers. Her fingers were cold and clammy. Numbly, Trinity stared at the hands that had comforted her so many times in her life, the same ones that had willingly set her in the arms of the psychopath who had infected her.

  “That’s why you can’t sell your soul for your father,” Olivia said. “We don’t deserve it.”

  “No. You don’t.” Blaine flicked Olivia’s hands off Trinity. “You lose.”

  Trinity stared at her mom. At the woman she’d loved for so long. “I don’t understand how you could do that to me,” she whispered.

  “Hey.” Reina stepped forward and shook Trinity’s shoulder. “Give your mom a break. It was one mistake and she’s been paying for it her whole life.” She met Trinity’s gaze, and allowed her own pain to show. “I know what it’s like to live with that kind of regret. It doesn’t mean she doesn’t love you. She does, and she’s doing everything she can to fix it. Don’t judge her the way Blaine blames his parents.”

  Trinity stared at Reina. “But you’re different. You never lied to anyone about what you did.”

  Reina shook her head. “She loves you. Don’t you dare let that go, Trinity. It’s a gift and—”

  “Trinity!” Tears were streaming down Olivia’s cheeks. “I’m so sorry, darling, I truly am, but Reina’s right. You have to know we both love you and if there was any way to change it, we would have, a million times. I tried to get the witch to curse me instead, and she wouldn’t—”

  “I can’t hear this right now.” Trinity’s face felt wet, and she couldn’t think. She pressed her face to Blaine’s back and closed her eyes. “Blaine,” she whispered. “Please take me away.”

  Blaine revved the engine and he peeled out, jerking her out of the arms of the two women she loved, the only two women who had stood behind her despite the trail of dead bodies behind her.

  She looked back over her shoulder as Blaine sped down the street. Reina had put her arm around Olivia’s waist, and the two of them were watching.

  Olivia raised her palm in one final entreaty, and then Blaine turned a corner and they were out of sight.

  Chapter 23

  The last thing Blaine could afford to feel right now was empathy for the woman who’d walked out on him.

  But Trinity was hanging onto him like she was afraid the earth would sw
allow her up if she let go, and he couldn’t stop thinking about her stricken expression when her mom had made that hellacious confession.

  He’d had only four years with his mom before she’d betrayed him. How much deeper did the treachery dig after having built a lifetime of trust with someone?

  He glanced in his rearview mirror and saw Nigel and Jarvis were on his tail. They had no time to stop and deal with this crap. But he couldn’t off either the witch or her garbage man without Trinity’s help. He had to be sure he could count on Trinity when the cockroach party started, and right now he wasn’t sure she was capable of standing upright, let alone knocking off two unkillable opponents.

  Shit.

  He had to deal with this situation, didn’t he?

  Damn Angelica’s buck-toothed snapping turtles and their penchant for male nipples for forcing him to be aware of how emotions impacted everything.

  Emotions were for sissies. Not warriors.

  But he flipped off Nigel and Jarvis, and then pulled the bike over to the side of the road in front of a row of brownstones. Two minutes. That’s all he was giving this, and it was only to make sure the battle went the way he wanted it to go.

  That was it.

  He turned off the bike, as Nigel and Jarvis drove past and double-parked the Hummer just ahead. He could feel Trinity’s body shaking against his, and she was gripping him so tightly he was pretty sure she was successfully tourniqueting all the bleeding wounds on the lower half of his body.

  Jarvis jumped out. “What’s—”

  Blaine sliced the air in front of his throat with his hand.

  Jarvis’s eyebrows shot up, but he folded his arms over his chest and leaned against the back of the truck. Privacy? None of them had had quality alone time in a hundred and fifty years.

  Nigel shoved the passenger door open and hopped out. He had a sketch pad and a charcoal crayon. He immediately sat down cross-legged on the cobblestone sidewalk, gave them a thoughtful look, and then began to draw.