“Ignore them, Quinn. You’re stronger than them. They need you and they fear you. If you stay in the circle, you’ll be safe.” Dane stood directly in front of me and I knew he’d die there, protecting me.
I refused to let another person die, but how could I save them? I didn’t know any magic. Two weeks ago, I’d been an eighteen-year-old who’d just graduated from high school. There was no such thing as magic and witches. Evil was something other people dealt with, not me. I had no idea what a trinity was, much less that I was part of one and a five-hundred-year-old prophecy.
My fingertips and toes tingled, the first sign I was about to teleport. I fought it, unwilling to transport myself to safety while they fought for my life. My body reacted to danger, to the evil that raised red blisters on my arms, by fleeing. I’d been practicing control over the past weeks, but I’d never been in danger like this. It took all my strength to stop it.
Dane sent me a quick glance, and hope suddenly crossed his face.
“Jump, Quinn. Go. Save yourself. You can do it.” I shook my head frantically. No way was I leaving him behind. We were bonded, he helped me with my magic, and it was impossible for me to leave him. I stretched out my hand, imploring him to take it. Together, it was the only way I would go. He shook his head, and I saw his eyes slid to the others. He wouldn’t leave them, any more than I would leave him.
I wasn’t even sure I could transport both of us. We’d practiced it, and I’d managed it once, but only a short distance. We would need to go miles to get away from my father. That would take a lot of power, power I possessed but hadn’t really been able to tap into. It scared me honestly, but as I glanced around and saw Peter’s dead body, and the people who fought for me, I knew I had to try.
If I wouldn’t leave Dane, and he wouldn’t leave them, then I had to take everybody.
I focused, remembering the exact feeling of transporting myself, and then pictured the people around me, each of their faces, their smiles and their hopes. My feet were planted on the ground and the magic swirled around me, glowing brighter and brighter. I could see their forms shimmering.
It was working!
But suddenly it snapped and I collapsed on the ground, drained to the point of exhaustion.
“What are you trying to do? It’s too much, Quinn, do you hear me?” Dane’s voice was frantic, seeing me collapse, and I managed to nod at him to let him know I was okay. “Don’t worry about us. It’s you they want. Get yourself to safety, we’ll be fine.”
“You won’t be fine.” The words dragged out of me. The exhaustion was worse than anything I’d ever felt as I’d pushed my power to its absolute max. “He’ll kill you all just because he can. To prove a point, to make an example. If I leave you, I’m signing your death sentence.”
Tears streamed from my eyes as I saw the truth of my words on his face.
“I can’t do that.”
Resolve filled me. I would get us out of here. It was working. I just didn’t have enough power on my own. The memory of the women I saw the night my eyes turned blue came back to me.
My sisters.
We were supposed to be the all-powerful trinity. If they could give me power, then maybe it would be enough. But I didn’t know how to reach them. How could I ask for their help when I wasn’t with them?
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 caw of a raven drew my attention as it circled above us, and I remembered the witches 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.
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 them reach out their hands to me.
I grasped their outstretched hands and then everything was gone.
“Quinn! Quinn!” Dane shook me roughly, his fear 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 trying 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.”
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.” 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 does it mean, Grandma?” Dane asked the question I wanted to know and I waited eagerly for her answer.
“Well, 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.
Stay tuned for Quinn’s story coming Spring 2017!
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~Other books by Kristin Coley~
The Anderson Brothers Series:
Finding Ford
Chasing Colt
Loving Livie
The Hidden Series:
Hidden Truths
Hidden Lies
The Trinity Trilogy:
Unbound
Found
Unite – Spring 2017
Found (The Trinity Sisters Book 2) Page 16