“Evan! Are you okay?” Her question drew my attention to the man in question. The one they’d thought she would sacrifice herself for. My eyes narrowed at the sight of him, my muscles tensing as magic strengthened them again, a fight brewing inside of me.
She tugged the gag from his mouth, going around to untie his hands, and his own eyes widened as they caught sight of me.
“Milo.”
“You were allowed to live, because you weren’t a part of this.” I growled, and gesturing around us, I continued. “But this … this was a setup to get to her. So, what exactly are you playing at, Evan Davis?”
Chapter Nine
Kincaid
“What?” I looked between the two of them in shock. They obviously knew one another, but I couldn’t have heard them correctly. “Evan Marshall. His name is Evan Marshall.”
“No, it’s Evan Davis,” Milo corrected, never taking his eyes off the man tied to the chair in front of me. He looked ready to kill him, and the man I called Evan Marshall looked defeated, almost resigned to the idea.
“Explain.” The last tie binding Evan to the chair fell, and he rubbed his wrists. I met Kai’s eyes as he shifted around behind the two. He would go for whichever throat he deemed necessary, based on this conversation. Anger coursed through me as I considered the fact that I might have been once again betrayed.
“Go ahead, Evan. Tell us who you really are.”
“My name is Evan Marshall Davis.” He looked up at me, a pained smile on his face. “I’m your grandfather.”
Shock rolled through me, as I considered the ramifications of his words. He must be my father’s father, and I had no idea what his intentions were. He’d been kind, but was that only to get past my defenses?
“How did I miss that?” I whispered the question to myself, as I stumbled away from him. Had I risked our lives for a man that would use me for his own gain? My father was the enemy—I’d know that for years and acted accordingly—but Evan, I didn’t know his place in this farce I called family.
“Kincaid.” They both said my name, but the sound of their voices blurred as a vision came over me. My eyes glowed as I saw more men headed our way.
“We have to go.” I threw a sharp glance at the man who called himself my grandfather, a man that had never been a part of my life before six months ago, “You’re coming with us.”
He gave me a jerky nod, standing on unsteady legs, as I headed for the door. I heard him say, “I mean her no harm, not any more than you do.”
I glanced over my shoulder to see Milo assist him, a suspicious expression still lingering on his face. Kai followed behind them, protecting my flank as I led us away from the men coming. It hadn’t escaped me that my grandfather had known who Milo was, or that Milo had ‘allowed’ him to live.
I trusted Milo had no desire to see me dead, but I also knew it meant nothing if he wanted to use me for his own purposes. What was his history with my grandfather? And what did it mean if they knew each other? Why was Milo here?
I could hear them coming, and I looked back, mouthing, “Hurry.” Milo nodded, understanding. Evan was between us, but he was slow, obviously weakened after being tied to the chair for who knew how long. Milo stopped him, and my grandfather looked at him cautiously, uncertain of his intentions. Milo bent over, and unceremoniously threw Evan over his shoulder before running toward me.
“Don’t stop moving. The spell should blur us,” I told him, slamming the door open in front of us. We raced down the sidewalk, Milo following behind as he carried Evan. “Where, Kai?”
He turned in the opposite direction of the car, loping down a side street. I trusted him to lead us away from the new threat, and looked back toward Milo. He kept pace with us, not seeming tired, even though he had a two-hundred-pound man slung over his shoulders.
A few more turns, and we were back at the car, Kai leaping in through the door I held open as Milo slid Evan off his back. He grunted, obviously not overjoyed about being carried around.
“I’d like to never repeat that,” he muttered, swaying as he stood next to the car.
“Get in,” I barked, moving to the driver’s side. Milo got in the passenger side, his eyes sweeping the road around us. Evan clambered into the back seat next to Kai. He didn’t seem surprised or bothered by Kai’s presence.
“We need a place to go.” The street was clear as I did a U-turn. The entire place looked like a damn ghost town, and it made me itchy.
“My place,” Milo replied, and I shot him a disbelieving look. He gave me a laconic look in return. “I’m not going to hurt you. You know that. We both have secrets, and maybe it’s time we started sharing them. Sharing is caring after all.”
I couldn’t really argue the point. We all did seem to have secrets, and glancing in the rearview mirror, I saw a tired old man sitting there. My instincts told me neither would hurt me, and maybe it was time for me to start trusting others. I’d made a decision to trust Milo and, glancing over at his profile, I knew I hadn’t had a choice. Our lives were linked, whether I liked it or not.
“Fine,” I sighed. “Where to?”
He gave me directions before lapsing into silence. No one spoke as I drove us to his house, and I considered the things I’d learned. Evan was my grandfather. He possibly was attempting to have me kidnapped by my dad, and Milo knew my grandfather and had ‘allowed’ him to live, indicating he knew more about me than he’d let on.
As I pulled up to the small house tucked into a hill, it felt familiar, homey almost. We weren’t in the nicest neighborhood, and the place needed paint, but it was clean and, more importantly, it felt safe. We exited the car, looking at one another warily.
“Come on, there’s beer in the fridge.”
“Best offer I’ve had all day,” Evan muttered, following him slowly. I stood there, knowing if I went inside I’d have to accept them and whatever they told me. Secrets and running had always been my default. The only reason I’d stayed where I was for so long was because I knew my sister would find me here. I wasn’t sure what would draw her to this town, but I couldn’t leave until then. If I did, we might never find one another.
The fact was, I hadn’t really bargained on a grandfather or some fated mate, and my first inclination was to leave, run away once again and ignore their presence in my life. But curiosity compelled me to stay, and as Milo’s eyes flickered back to mine, I admitted to myself, so did he.
“Who wants to go first?” We were settled in his living room, each of us with a beer and a few sidelong glances.
“Age before beauty, I guess.” Evan attempted a smile as my gaze switched to him. “I’m your paternal grandfather, and the last time I saw you, you were two years old.” His smile was reminiscent. “You and Sinclair were such smart, happy children. Beautiful girls that lit up any room you were in. I thought your father would finally be satisfied. Content with his life, but …” He shook his head. “He was not. I found that out the hard way.” He leaned back in the chair and studied me. “My magical gifts aren’t strong, some slight mind reading, a fair hand with simple spells, and the ability to help things grow. They are nothing compared to you and your sisters. Truthfully, no one on Earth can compare to what you three girls can do. A fact my son is well aware of.”
“How did you know?” My gaze bored into him. “How did you know he wasn’t content?”
“I read his mind, a rarity I assure you. He’d learned to block me years before when he’d begun to dabble in the dark magic—blood magic. His mother died when he was sixteen, and it changed him. Turned him down a dark path. One I could never pull him from.” Milo cleared his throat, drawing our attention. He dodged our gazes, gesturing for Evan to continue.
“He spoke of a third child, seemed almost giddy about the idea. I can only reason that was why he slipped, and I saw what he didn’t want me to see. One word. Trinity.” He winced, rubbing a hand over his face as if he could erase the memory. “I’d heard the stories, hell, I’d told him the storie
s when he was a boy. Passed down from my own mother.” He gave me a faint smile. “She’s the one you inherited those golden curls from, by the way.”
I fingered the curls he mentioned, and spared a brief thought for a woman I’d never met, family long gone from me, but a part of me nonetheless.
“It had never occurred to me he would try to create the trinity himself. Two children are rare in magical families, three almost unheard of. We’re not a fertile bunch. I confronted him. Demanded to know what he thought he was doing.” He shook his head, a pained disappointment reflected on his face. “It’s difficult when you realize the lengths your own child will go to for power. The crimes they’ll commit, the people they’ll hurt. We argued. I told him he was on a foolish path, one that would see his family destroyed. I had no idea just how far he’d already gone down that path. He refused to listen.”
“I attempted to go to your mother, but Mitchell worked a dark magic, one I could never break.” He pointed at me. “In fact, I believe you broke it.”
“Me?”
He nodded. “When your power came to you, I imagine it broke any spell worked upon you, including the one that banned me from ever seeing you. That was the spell he cast, one that prevented me from seeing you and your sisters, of being around you in any way. He was afraid of what I knew, of my influence. I deeply regret what your mother had to go through to protect you. I wish … you have no idea how I wish … she could have come to me for help. But the same spell that banned me from your presence did the same to her. I never even saw your sister, Quinn.”
“Your mom came to my grandmother and father for help.” Milo’s low words picked up as Evan trailed off. “But she refused to help her. A decision my father did not agree with, but your father had a reputation already for power and dark magic. He had to have knowledgeable friends on the Council.” He caught my questioning glance. “A group of our elders who preserve and keep our history. My grandmother was on it, and eventually my father would have been too, except your father killed my grandmother and my mother.”
“Why?” I stared at him in horror, having been unaware of the lengths my father would go to, or of our connected past.
“Because he believed my grandmother knew something of your whereabouts. My mother was nothing more than a casualty of war. It’s been suspected he killed your maternal grandfather as well.” There was a note of pain in his voice when he spoke of his mother, but he pushed on, keeping his voice even. “My father changed after that. He made it his mission to prevent your father from ever being able to use the power of the trinity.”
“That’s why you allowed Evan to live?” I was trying to piece together Milo’s role in this, what his father’s end goal was.
“Yes, he didn’t know where you were, and he didn’t agree with your father’s choices. We let him live, hoping he might be able to provide us with information one day.” His eyes cut toward Evan, who just shook his head.
“You left your father’s cause, and if you think for one second I’d tell your father where any one of my granddaughters are, you’re stupid.”
A grudging nod from Milo had me glancing between them exasperatedly.
“Clue me in.”
Milo examined me, propping his elbows on his knees as he leaned forward, his dark hair slipping over his forehead. He licked his lower lip, the smooth dart of his tongue mesmerizing me. I focused on him as he spoke.
“I’m not proud of my father’s intentions. I can only be grateful he never found a Davis girl.” I frowned not liking where this was going. “He took an extreme approach to how the trinity problem should be taken care of. He believed only if one of the girls were killed would that stop Mitchell from being able to control the trinity.”
“What? He wanted us dead? Your father? And what about you?” I leaped from my seat, magic crackling around me as I paced. The idea of Milo’s father, of Milo, hunting for me with the intention of killing me or my sisters was horrifying.
He held his hands up placating.
“I never agreed with him. I have a sister, younger than you. There was no way I would ever let anything happen to her, and I felt the same way about you and your sisters. My father was lost after my mother’s death. He made emotional decisions. I think he had good intentions, but he wanted to go about them the wrong way. Your father lost any chance of controlling the trinity when your mother separated you. I figured that out, and I think my father has always known it. When I was eighteen, I left my father, went to school, and I found you.”
I was stunned by his admission and paused in my pacing to stare at him. He gave me a rueful grin.
“I saw your picture. I actually had no idea who you were. At least not until I saw you, specifically your eyes. Those eyes of yours are a dead giveaway.” I sat down with a plop, my eyes never leaving his. “It was ironic. I’d spent better than half my life hunting for you and when I stopped, there you were. As soon as I saw you, I knew.”
“Knew what?” My voice was barely above a whisper, but he heard me.
“That your life would always be placed above my own. The connection we shared, it was one of life not death. I would do anything to keep you safe. Give up everything for you.” Sincerity shone from his eyes, and I could feel the truth in his words. “I’ve watched over you since then, keeping you safe.”
“Why didn’t you come to me then?”
“I was afraid you’d run away, disappear, that somehow my father would find out about you, use me against you. It wasn’t the right time. Can you understand that?”
I nodded slowly, wondering why now?
“Why now?” My words echoed my thoughts as the question slipped out.
“Fate. I didn’t intend to seek you out. You were there at the gas station, standing two feet from me and muttering to yourself. And I was done.” He waved a hand toward Evan, who had been silent during our conversation. “Why did he show up in your life now? The only thing I can believe is that the prophecy is finally unfolding.”
“I would second that.” Evan glanced between us. “I didn’t look for you, as much as it pains me to admit that. After your father’s spell, I became depressed, hopeless. I threw myself into work in an attempt to forget I had a family once. Seeing you was the equivalent of seeing a ghost. You look very much like my mother, but it was your eyes that told me the truth. Eyes are the windows to the soul, and yours are filled with magic. When you warned me about the Declan group, there was no doubt. I left that day trying to figure out a way to get close to you. To somehow explain who I was. You turned me down, but I was determined to stay close to you, to protect you now, the way I hadn’t when you were a child.” His smile was sad. “The hopes of foolish old men.”
“You went to see my father.”
“Damn it, Evan, you know better.”
“Yes, but until you have a son of your own, you do not know what it is like to desperately want to see your child redeem himself. Instead, I led him straight to you. Trust me when I tell you I had no involvement with his plot. I did not reveal anything about you, even I’m not as foolish as that. But he was always a cunning boy.”
“Kincaid, you said something earlier about the story of the three sisters. What did you mean?” Milo’s question caught me off guard, and I gave him a startled glance.
“It’s a fairytale. One I’ve always known.”
“Someone told it to you?”
“No, at least I don’t remember anyone telling me the story.”
“Can you tell us the story?”
I nodded, clearing my throat as I gathered my thoughts. I suspected what they did; that the story of the three sisters was another version of the prophecy.
Once upon a time …
In a time, not so different from our own, two daughters were born. Their family celebrated, overjoyed to have two daughters when magical children were rare. However, not all were content, and one lusted after the power a third daughter would bring. Years went by, though, without another, and the two sisters basked
in the joy they brought to their mother.
When the oldest daughter turned six, they learned a third daughter would be born. Their mother rejoiced in the blessing of a third child, and excitement filled their small home. The two daughters couldn’t wait to meet their newest sister, unbeknownst of the dark portents that would accompany her birth. As the birth of the third daughter grew near, the two sisters discovered they possessed magical gifts, one the gift of illusion and the other the gift of sight; both rare and powerful magical abilities for ones so young.
Their mother grew concerned and hid her daughters’ gifts, knowing they would be coveted. On the cusp of the third daughter’s birth, their mother discovered the most horrifying of truths. These three daughters were conceived to be a prophesied trinity, their combined gifts powerful beyond measure, and a singular darkness stalked their home. She knew the danger they were in, and raced to make preparation. Her beautiful blue-eyed daughters could never be allowed to fall into the cradle of darkness, their souls destroyed by one man’s lust for power.
The Trinity Sisters Page 24