Terra's Victory (Destiny's Trinities Book 7) (5 page)

Cole rolled the base of the empty champagne glass around on the mat in front of him. “It’s not very fair,” he said in agreement. “It
is
safer, though. Think about it, Brady. How did the family react when you suddenly changed your mind about me and Zoe and started visiting on a regular basis?”

Brady scowled. “Jess was pissed. Said I was letting everyone down. Not that I cared,” he added stoutly.

“Yes, you did,” Zoe said softly.

Brady sipped his brandy, not looking at her.

“Imagine that reaction, amplified across the town,” Cole said.

Brady frowned. “Huh?”

“If Jess and Carol and the rest of the family, all of them who live in Revelstoke, knew about us and about the Grimoré, it’s likely their behavior would change a lot, just as yours has, yes?”

Brady’s frown deepened. “I guess…yes.”

“You’re one of the leading businessmen in town,” Declan said. “Carol is the chief medical director at the hospital. Jess is on a dozen boards, she’s on the council and there’s talk about her running for mayor next year. David runs the biggest law firm in town. What do you think would happen if all of them started behaving oddly, making what appears to be really stupid decisions, say, for example, insisting on a sunset curfew?”

Brady blanched. “When I suggested that to Jess, she looked at me as if I was out of my tree.”

“Exactly,” Cole said. “The war with the Grimoré will end soon and after that, then perhaps we’ll talk again about letting the family know about Declan. Until then, think of this as being on a war footing, because we are.”

“We’re keeping the town safe, Brady,” Zoe said softly. “You can’t see it because we don’t work where people will notice, but we
are
working at it.”

“You haven’t seen any more of the white-faced men, have you?” Cole added.

Brady sighed. “No, thank God.” He held up his glass. “And a very merry Christmas to you, too.”

* * * * *

After Brady’s truck pulled away from the house, heading back to town, Zoe started on the dishes. The silence in the kitchen made her look over her shoulder.

Cole was sitting at the table by himself, watching her.

“Where’s Declan?” she asked.

“He dropped out of sight a few minutes ago.” He smiled. “Pee break, maybe?”

She laughed and went back to stacking the dishwasher. “Pity, I wanted to ask him about Zack’s wounds and vampire healing.”

“You’ve seen me heal.”

“It wasn’t like your wounds, that just close up and disappear,” she said. “It was like watching a human heal, only a thousand times faster. Even then, it took a while. Hours instead of days or weeks.”

Cole drew in a slow, deep breath. It was unusual for her to notice him breathing. He didn’t do it unless he needed to speak, generally. She looked over her shoulder, then turned to look at him properly, for he wore an expression she recognized from the hundreds of times they had made love. He was aroused. She could see his cock stirring, shifting the fabric of his pants.

“Cole?”

He cracked open an eye, then closed it. “Mmm….”

“What’s going on?” she demanded.

Cole sighed and straightened. “I think you’re about to find out.”

She jerked up into a straighter posture as hands cupped her breasts. Invisible hands…and it was as if she was naked. The hands were touching her bare breasts
through
her clothes. Two strong thumbs stroked her nipples, bumping over the tips and making her hips jerk.

Hot arousal rushed through her, making her clit throb. “Oh…my….” she breathed.

Cole was leaning back, a hot, feral look in his eyes as he watched her reacting to Declan’s invisible teasing.

Lips touched the nape of her neck, forcing Zoe to close her eyes. She reached out for the sink, for something to hold on to and keep her upright.

A hand slid under her jeans, to cup her mound. The tips teased between her legs, stroking her pussy with little touches that made her moan.

The heavy beat of the opening bars of Queen’s
Another One Bites the Dust
ripped her attention away from the delicious touches on her breasts and pussy. That was the alert notification for anything related to the Grimoré, on Cole’s phone.

Her own phone was vibrating on the table, walking itself toward the edge, the screen glowing.

Cole grabbed her phone first and held it out to her, then picked up his own.

Declan appeared, sitting on the chair they always left pulled out for him. “Talk about the worst timing ever,” he complained.

“It’s from Beth,” Zoe told him.

“It’s Christmas Day,” Declan pointed out.

“I dare you to bitch to Seaveth about it,” Cole said.

Declan crossed his arms. “What’s the message?”

Cole grinned.

“A general meeting. All hands. Tomorrow noon, New York time,” Zoe said. “There’s news.”

“Noon New York time is nine a.m. here. So, we have lots of time,” Declan said and promptly disappeared again.

Zoe caught her breath as her hand was picked up and tugged toward the door. “I’m being abducted by a ghost,” she told Cole.

“I want to see that,” Cole said, following them.

The all-purpose room in the bunker looked big when it was empty. Now, it barely contained everyone.

There were a dozen tables set up at the far end of the room, for the people who needed to eat, if they chose to sit while they were eating. There were very few of them sitting at the tables, though.

Everyone else was standing in the large open space between the tables and the other end of the room where a microphone and lectern had been set up on the low dais.

All twelve of the trinities were here, plus the representatives of the elves, elders from the Earthwing Clan here in New York and representatives from the Blackarcher Clan in Toronto, who also had to be invited to the meeting because one of their clan members, Coralee, was part of the trinities.

Also in attendance were the Bloodraven Clan from the west coast and the Wildhammer Clan from northern Mexico, who had been drawn into the war with the Grimoré by the vampeen migration south and more recent events. As there were more vampires in the room than any other species, the two new clans to the war effort looked comfortable enough. They weren’t clumped together in protective groups as far as she could see.

There were some key rangers here, too. The solo and group hunters and fighters who were not part of trinities had originated with the vampires. Now every species fielded rangers, including demons and sub-demons. Beth kept a careful eye on the demons in the room. They were not clinging to each other in any way. They were moving around the room as freely as the others, even if they did get startled glances here and there.

There were also oddities among the people here, including Gilbert, the bear shifter who had been brought here by Diego. He had proved to be a useful consultant on shifter habits in general, acting as a conduit between the shifter races and the primary fighting forces. Shifters, who were always outcasts and loners, resisted being folded into formal fighting organization. Gilbert made a difference, though. Beth could see him standing by the buffet table, his shaggy head slightly higher than most of the people around him, his soft brown eyes wary. He was uncomfortable in a room full of strangers.

She sipped her glass of champagne, letting a dribble slide over her tongue, while she estimated the degree of ease in the room and was mildly happy. Even the newest of the trinities, the trio from Mexico, were not standing to one side. She could see them talking to the Canadian trio, with Alex and Diego hovering nearby to keep an eye on them.

* * * * *

“…and this is Declan,” Remmy finished. “Yes?” he added, looking at the man who thrust his hand out toward Ángel.

“Declan Stewart, yes,” he confirmed.

Ángel took his hand and shook it. He had a mild headache. It was humid in New York compared to Chihuahua and he had spoken nothing but English since getting here just over an hour ago. His English was improving rapidly, just in the last few weeks, yet he still had to concentrate when using it.

He studied the man he had been introduced to, trying to guess what species he was. It had become a game. Declan’s skin was pale. So was Zoe’s and Cole’s, the two in his trinity, who were standing in the little group that had formed around them. Cole had already mentioned they were from Canada.

Ángel guessed Cole was the vampire of the three. He was not eating or drinking. So he looked at Declan, letting his hand fall away. “Vampire, human or elf?” he asked. “Or something else? We met an incubus, back…” He waved over his shoulder.

Declan grinned. “Ghost,” he said.

Ángel stared at him, reassessing. “
Of course you are.” He glanced at Remmy, who was grinning. He was remembering the conversation they’d had about the Day of the Dead, then, too. “It is not even not even the fifth of May. My felicitations,” Ángel told him.

The other two, Zoe and Cole, looked puzzled.

Octavia just laughed. “We’re still getting used to all…this,” she told them in her husky voice, waving her hand to take in the whole room.

Zoe nodded. “So are we,” she admitted. “I was minding my own business right up until four weeks ago.”

“Me, too,” Octavia said. “What was your business?”

“Housewife,” Zoe said. “You?”

“Undercover DEA agent, posing as the mistress of the psychopathic son of a Cartel boss.”

“My brother,” Ángel added.

Remmy just smiled his slow smile.

Zoe’s lips parted and her eyes grew wide. “Umm…well….”

Octavia leaned forward. “The cartel is
nothing
compared to the Grimoré and the vampeen.”

Cole rested his hand on Zoe’s shoulder. “Or the hounds,” he added.

“We’ve heard about them,” Remmy said, “We haven’t seen them. They’re strong, I’m told.”

Declan brushed short locks of Zoe’s red hair off her forehead. “You should consult with the hunter, here. She has gotten very used to tracking them and dealing with them.”

Ángel studied her with new appreciation. So did Octavia.

“What are their weaknesses?” Octavia asked her. “Do they always work in packs? Do they have an alpha?”

Zoe blinked. Declan took her empty glass from her. “I’ll get a refill. You’re going to need it.”

* * * * *

Diego relaxed when he saw the conversation between his trinity and Alex’s grow more intense, more focused. The initial ice had been broken.

“They like each other,” he observed. “I wonder how much my three will get on with the Pennsylvania trinity?”

“Because the Pennsylvania trinity is Lindal’s?” Alex asked. “I don’t think it works that way.” He rolled his eyes again. This time it was because a pixie landed on his shoulder. “Hello,” he told the little man. “Are you looking for someone?”

The pixie bent and examined Alex’s face.

Diego scowled. “They’re like mosquitos.”

The pixie looked at him.

“Yes, that’s the dark one called Diego,” Alex said, smiling.

Diego shook his head. “Every time they get scared, they run to Sera for comfort and
everything
scares them. It’s getting so I can’t kiss her without clearing out the room of pixies, first.”

“I hear it’s the same for Lindal,” Alex said. “They have an affinity for elves.” He looked up at the pixie, who exchanged a glance with him. Then he laughed. “No, he doesn’t look dangerous at all.”

Diego growled.

The pixie gave a little yip and disappeared.

* * * * *

Ángel dropped thankfully back into Spanish. “Vampires, elves, a ghost, incubus, succubus,” he said, counting off the species on his fingers. “Full-blood demons, shifters, pixies—”

“The pixies are so cute!” Octavia interrupted.

“And useful, too, I’m told,” Remmy added.

“Hereditary hunters,” Ángel continued. “I heard there are tree dryads, who help when they’re out among trees. The dryads won’t leave their trees, so there aren’t any here.” He dropped his hands and looked at Octavia’s beautiful face and Remmy’s clear-eyed gaze. “I feel as if Octavia and I are the only simple humans in the room.”

Octavia shook her head. “Seaveth is human.”

“None of you is merely human anymore,” Remmy said, his voice low and rumbling in his chest. “Or you would not be here.”

* * * * *

Alex had to search to find Mia and when he did, he realized why it had been hard to find her. She was talking to her trinity and all three of them towered over her. Alex had met them only briefly.
Hades was a six-hundred-year-old vampire with old-fashioned ideas about a woman’s place in the world. Barrett was a third generation human hunter with odd ideas about the superiority of hunters. Ekota was the son of a full-blood demon and a human woman and with that pedigree should have been the most unstable of the three. As it turned out, though, he was the thinker, corralling the other two and giving them a direction.

It took all Mia’s energy to keep them focused. She was talking to them now, her tone quiet but furious. Alex extended his hearing as he approached them, sorting out her voice from among the hundred or so others in the room.

“…don’t give a shit what other demons think of you, Ekota. You’re in a trinity now and that comes with responsibilities they don’t understand, so tell them to shove their sensibilities up their ass. Better yet, tell them to come see me and
I’ll
deal with them.”

Ekota smiled. “Can I quote you?”

“Knock yourself out,” Mia told him dryly. “Barrett, if I hear you talk about simple-minded humans one more time,
this
simple minded human is going to knock you into next week.”

Barrett’s gaze flickered the short length of her, from the low-heeled pumps to the pretty dress she was wearing, to the sable-colored tangle of hair around her shoulders.

“Do
not
test me,” Mia added. “Hades, I think you can guess what I’m going to tell you.”