Sinclair nodded. “We believe you have the ability to find her.” I suspected as much, but I’d never had a vision of Quinn. The first glimpse I’d had was when she’d come into her magic, linking all of us. I wondered if I could use that in some way, like a homing beacon. My thoughts were interrupted as the door flew open.
“What exactly is going on here?” my boss demanded to know, taking in the assortment of individuals around the table along with the cat and dog.
“Can I bite him? Please!” Kai begged, his blue eyes eager as he stared at the irate man in the doorway.
“Go ahead,” Milo muttered, and even though I knew Kai hadn’t intended for him to hear his plea, he moved like that was permission enough.
“Nope.” Kai paused, his tail drooping at my sharp reply.
“Nope? What exactly do you mean, Miss Kincaid?”
“On second thought.”
“Yay!” The gleeful reply was contradicted by the low growling emanating from his throat as he stalked my boss.
“Call that thing off. Seriously. I’ll have you arrested. Stop him.” His protests were cut off as he hopped through the door, slamming it behind him before Kai could attack.
The silence was broken by a small chuckle, which grew into steady laughter, as we watched him stare at Kai through the glass door. Kai lunged at the door, and my boss stumbled back, hitting the ground and sending us into further peals of laughter.
“That’s one way of getting rid of the pompous windbag,” Evan managed to say between laughs.
“Where did Scott run off to?” Milo’s question cut through our laughter, and I realized I hadn’t seen him since I’d run out to greet Sinclair.
“I’m not sure.” I rested my hand on his forearm, noting the flex of his muscle as I did. He was tense at the idea of Scott having witnessed the arrival of my sister, and I gathered he was apprehensive of Scott’s motives. “Scott isn’t an issue. I’ve known him for years. He doesn’t have magic.”
“That doesn’t mean he doesn’t have other plans. Evil isn’t confined to magic.” His eyes were gentle as they met mine, but I didn’t miss the tiny tick of his jaw.
“I’ve never caught a whiff of evil from him. Trust me, I would have noticed. Magic or not, there’s no mistaking the stench of hellfire.”
A small smile creased his face at my words, and I felt the tension in his arm disappear. “Alright, I trust you know him better than I do.” His eyes went to the door, narrowing slightly, and it let me know he might trust me, but he still didn’t trust Scott.
“Who’s Scott?” Sinclair’s question burst the bubble we’d found ourselves in.
“My ex-fiancé.”
“This sounds good. Dish.” Garvin sidled up next to us, and cast an admiring glance over Milo’s tight t-shirt. I leaned around Milo and gave him a pointed stare. He rolled his eyes at me and said, “I can appreciate the view, can’t I?”
“So long as that’s all you do,” I muttered, gripping Milo’s arm a little more firmly. I didn’t understand where my sudden possessiveness was coming from, but I had no doubt I’d bitch slap the rainbow into next week, if he made a move on my man. I caught the twitch of Milo’s lips as he fought a smirk at my behavior. I pinched the skin under his arm and heard a satisfying yelp come from him. He widened his eyes at me, attempting innocence.
“Garvin.” The warning in Sinclair’s voice was clear, but he just chucked her under the chin and grinned. “Can we get back to Scott, the ex-fiancé?”
“Sure. Not much to tell. We were engaged. I met Milo and knew it wouldn’t work out with Scott. I gave him his ring back yesterday.”
“Yesterday? And you’re not upset? Why were you with him?” Garvin’s questions were pointed as he scrutinized me. It was easy to take him for a fool with the bright colors and attitude, but I didn’t miss the sharp mind, or the caring reflected in his eyes. He wasn’t my sister’s best friend for nothing. “And he’s here? Shows up at work after getting his ass dumped like it’s no big deal? Hmmm.”
“We both work here. I think we just clung to one another because it was easy. We’d been together for a while, and it was convenient.”
“So where is he now?”
“That’s what I want to know,” Milo interjected, his eyes scanning the lobby through the glass wall. “He brought coffee in, and then Sinclair showed up. He disappeared after that.”
“He brought coffee?”
“Yeah.” I gestured to the tray on the table with the three mugs still sitting there. Evan went to pick up his cup when Serafin leaped over his arm causing the tray to topple and the coffee to spill.
“Serafin doesn’t do anything without a reason,” Sinclair murmured quietly, as we watched the coffee drip down the edge of the table.
“Can you ask her why?” My question took her by surprise.
“What do you mean?” Luke asked the question she was thinking and Garvin muttered behind us. “Oh, no. That freaky cat done got even weirder.”
“I mean … doesn’t she talk to you?” My experience with Kai was he didn’t shut up. From the time we’d figured out we could communicate, it had been nonstop. Sinclair had spent years with Serafin, and I assumed it was the same.
“No.” Sinclair gave me a worried look, and I chuckled when I understood she thought I was a little nutty. “She’s always there, and I can see what she sees. She can show me memories, but we don’t talk.”
“I don’t think Serafin is the same as Kai. I think she’s more an actual familiar. Kai is a guardian. They’re different,” Milo told me, the arm he had wrapped around me squeezing gently.
“Wait, Kai is a guardian?” Patrick sought him out eagerly, not showing a trace of fear as he walked over to Kai. “My goodness, I never thought I’d actually get to meet a guardian.” He shot us an awed look. “So much of magic has been missing. You’re bringing it all back. It’s a blessing.” He turned back to Kai and held out his hand, causing Kai to sit up straight. He set his paw in the outstretched hand carefully and allowed it to be shaken.
“I like this guy,” Kai projected, and I heard Milo mutter, “Of course he does.” I bit back a smile and told Patrick, “He said he likes you.”
“Thank you. You’re a fine guardian, and it’s a privilege to meet you,” Patrick replied to my wolf.
“I believe your coffee was laced with a sleeping agent.” Portia’s words drew our attention as she stood up from the crouch she’d been in. She’d been studying the coffee trail, and I felt the faint whisper of a spell.
“A tracing spell?” I was puzzled at her use of spell. I’d done a similar spell before, but it was to trace the path of someone, not discover if a drink had been tampered with. She flushed at my question and stammered her response.
“Yes …. I did a trace on the coffee, following it, and noticed there was a separation. Further investigation leads me to believe the other liquid is a form of sleeping pill.”
“Clever use of a spell. Why didn’t you use an ingredient spell? Would that not have told you the same?”
“Yes, but I’ve never mastered it. I know a few spells my father taught me, but they’re mostly limited to hunting. Ingredient spells are usually a household spell. Taught by mothers.”
“Of course.” Discomfort washed over me as I considered what she’d said. She’d never had a mother teach her spells, and her father would have deemed an ingredient spell a waste of time. Portia’s soft smile took away the sting of my momentary embarrassment.
“At least both of you know spells.” Sinclair’s lack of knowledge was a sore point for her, based on the ferocious frown I spotted.
“But neither of us can do what you can do,” Portia said easily. “I’ve seen you in action. What you can do is pretty amazing.”
I fought down the momentary jealousy I felt. Portia knew more about my sister than I did. We hadn’t had the opportunity to show each other what we could do or really talk about our lives. I’d spent months waiting for her to arrive, but she had her own fr
iends and a life that I knew nothing about.
“It takes time.” Evan read my mind, and my head jerked toward him as he smiled at me. “We’ve all missed a lot, but we’ll make up for it. We’ll find Quinn, sort everything out, and we’ll become a family.”
“Uh, yeah, he can read minds. So you know,” Milo mentioned to Luke, to his astonishment.
“Good to know.” He chuckled and shook his head. “I really shouldn’t be surprised anymore.” He took in Milo. “What can you do?”
“I’m strong.” He flashed a grin at him. “Like freakishly strong. Not too good with spells though. They tend to backfire on me.”
“So, no challenging you to an arm wrestling championship?” Luke joked back, apparently not bothered by our freaky abilities. I still couldn’t figure him out. He had no magic but was my sister’s protector. It had me puzzled.
“Maybe we should get back to the coffee that was tampered with? The same coffee served by the jilted boy toy.” Garvin brought us back on point, and I could understand Sinclair’s fondness for him. Once you got past the dizzying attire, he was all business.
I shook my head. “I don’t understand. It couldn’t have been him. He’s never smelled like sulfur to me. Not once in four years. Maybe someone else did it, and he just brought the coffee. Maybe they’re setting him up.”
“Sometimes, the simplest explanation is the correct one.” Garvin’s quiet reasoning was an effort to make me see the conclusion they’d all come to, but it wasn’t working.
“No, I don’t believe it.” My insistence on Scott’s innocence was borderline fanatical, but I could not believe he’d betray me. I’d never felt unsafe around Scott, or had any type of vision of him hurting me. You didn’t see this. The words whispered through my mind before I could stop them. Maybe your gift is wavering. I shoved the thoughts from my mind. I saw what I needed to see. It had always been that way. If Scott was a danger to me, I’d see it.
Garvin glanced at Sinclair, but she shrugged helplessly.
“I never saw him. I couldn’t tell you if he had any shadows.” The reminder of her ability to see evil instead of smell it had me whining.
“It’s completely unfair that you see shadows around evil people, and I get to smell the equivalent of hell farting.”
This had everyone chuckling, until Luke commented, “I wonder how Quinn knows? It seems to be a sense, sight and smell for you two, but there’s sound, taste, touch. I wonder which one belongs to her.”
She would know now. Her power didn’t just come in because she hit puberty or had a birthday. It was because she was in such danger that she needed her magic. My eyes met Sinclair as we had the same thought. We had to find her, protect her from our father, and teach her what little we knew—it would be our only hope of surviving what was to come.
“We’ll find out.” Sinclair’s determination had us all nodding. She glanced at me. “You’ll be the one to find her.” Her sympathy washed over me, even as I worried about the fact that I hadn’t had a vision of Quinn, ever, not even after seeing her last night when her power came in. If I couldn’t find her, we might never unite as the trinity.
“At the moment, we need to consider Scott unknown and dangerous.” I glared at Milo, but he refused to back down. “We don’t know what his intentions are, and I’m not willing to take a risk with your life. These enemies don’t want to kill you, Kincaid. They want to use you.” His concern was unmistakable, and I couldn’t deny the shiver I felt when he mentioned our enemies. There were worse things than death, and there was no doubt what awaited me, if they successfully captured me.
“We won’t let them.” Portia’s low words held weight as she met my eyes. “I swore to protect your sister, and I swear to protect you. The trinity needs to exist. I believe you will bring the light to us. You’ve already triggered magic even the elders have never seen. We can’t stay in this state of neutrality any longer. We have to fight for the right thing. Inaction only makes the evil stronger.”
“You never cease to amaze me, sis.” Milo reached over and dragged his little sister into a hug. “And you’re right. If Kincaid’s prophecy is right, the light will win out.”
“Yeah, but not without a fair amount of devastation.” Remembering the lines of prophecy that had followed my telling of the three sisters, I couldn’t help but dread what might happen.
“What prophecy?”
“Past, present, and future blend,
The earth rumbles, the wind wails,
The flames burn as the rain pours.
Three form the trinity,
United, bound, and found,
Together create the light
Darkness cannot break.”
Garvin broke the silence that followed my recounting. “Definitely sounds prophetic. Kind of an end of day’s vibe you have going there.” I watched Sinclair shiver before pasting a smile on her face.
“We win.” She sounded resolute. “That’s what it says. We win. There will be a battle.” A hard swallow, followed that statement before she continued. “But he can’t break us, and that’s what matters. Together, we will defeat him.”
“Girl power!” Garvin pumped his fist enthusiastically, and I laughed.
“Do you miss not having a vagina?”
“You could not handle me if I had a vagina.” There was no mistaking the sass in that head shake. “Not to be a buzzkill, but what now?”
“Perhaps, we should take this somewhere more private. If Scott is an enemy, then the enemy knows where we are.” Evan nodded toward the window where our motley crew was catching more than a few curious glances.
“Well, that nixes my apartment.” I managed to say it with minimal bitterness. I wouldn’t risk my sister’s safety, even if I didn’t believe Scott was the enemy.
“Evan’s house is out, since Mitchell suspects his connection to Kincaid. After our little rescue, I’m sure they will keep an eye on his house, or any place he frequents,” Milo stated.
“We didn’t leave anyone alive to talk,” I argued, tucking one of my wayward curls behind my ear impatiently.
“Exactly why I think they’ll be more prepared when they make the next attempt. And they will scour Evan’s life to see where he made the connection to you. We aren’t safe here. We’ve got your sister now, so there’s no reason to stay here.”
“Then that leaves your place. No one should know about it.”
“I’d rather find a place none of us have ever been. No ties to any of us. It minimizes the chance someone will discover it.”
“Like a hotel?”
“It might be our best option at the moment.”
“Let’s go then.”
“If your ex-fiancé sees us leave, he might follow,” Portia piped up. The difficulty in sneaking eight people, a wolf, and a cat out of a glass conference room and through a lobby did not escape me.
“Then we make him think we’re still here.” Sinclair’s smile was devious, and I couldn’t help but wonder how we were supposed to accomplish that. I asked her, and she seemed surprised before it dawned on her. “You’ve never seen my gift.”
“We’ll need to leave without being seen though. Your illusion can’t do that,” Luke reasoned, and Milo replied, “Kincaid can cloak us. The same way she did Kai when we came in.”
“We can take our car when we leave,” Sinclair said, counting heads. “Everyone should fit in the SUV. It’ll be tight though.” She glanced at me. “It’s bullet proof, which has come in handy.”
“Just so long as you don’t drive,” Garvin interjected, making the sign of the cross.
“You didn’t die.” Sinclair stuck her tongue out at him, and I giggled. The exchange was so unlike the image I’d built in my mind of Sinclair. She was supposed to be tough, serious, and focused. Instead, I found she was happy, and more open than I’d imagined. The soft glance she shared with Luke clued me in that maybe he was the reason for her attitude. Our protectors seemed to have the ability to protect us from ourselves, as w
ell as from others.
“The timing will have to be perfect.”
“Can you cloak everyone in the room at the same time or individually?”
“Either way. It’ll probably be smoother if we do it individually.”
“Yes, I can project the illusion of them as you cloak them. It won’t be as noticeable.”
“Start with Kai. He’s harder to see from the window.”
“Okay.”
I whispered the spell to cloak him, and for a split second he disappeared before suddenly reappearing. It was such a perfect duplicate, I questioned if the spell had worked. He moved back toward the door, tail wagging.
The Trinity Sisters Page 28