The Secret Trinity: Reign (Fae-Witch Trilogy, Book 3) (2 page)

“I don’t have time for a nap before we meet everyone, but I could use a shower.”  I said, turning
toward
my room.

“Yeah, you could,” Clay said, and I looked back over my shoulder to glare at him.

“Shut-up, you’re
one to talk,” purposefully scanning his sweaty after-training self to make my point before I turned again to head for my bathroom.  Suddenly, Clay caught my wrist and spun me back to face him, circling his hands around my waist, bringing me up against him.

“You’re right, I could use a shower.  Want some company?”  He said seductively with a mischievous twinkle in his eye.  I bit my lip nervously when his mouth curled into a sexy grin.  I was having trouble keeping the sparks at bay.

“I’m pretty sure your own shower will be plenty adequate.”  I said, trying to conceal the shaking in my voice from the thought of showering with Clay and what it was doing to my senses.  My comment only morphed his grin into a wickedly naughty smile.

“I won’t argue wi
th that, let’s go.”  Clay said this,
taking my hand again while pulling me in the opposite direction of my private bathroom
toward
his own.

“Clay!”  I said, trying to sound stern and not laugh, “That’s not what I meant and you know it.”  I dug my heels into the carpet to hinder any more steps
toward
his shower.

He whipped back around to face me, smiling hugely, like he was going to say something to match his inappropriateness.  I opened my mouth to verbally cut off his efforts, but he swooped in, kissing me passionately and instantly shattering my conviction.  My heart thumped loudly against his chest and sparks flew from my lips in reaction to their connection with his.  It had been so long since I had felt his lips against mine, and my mind went fuzzy.  I couldn’t bring myself to pull away as I melted further into his mouth.  He pressed his hand to the base of my neck and the other to the small of my back as he dipped me down, like a ballroom dance couple’s final pose.

“You can’t blame a guy for trying,” he said in a whisper against my cheek when he separated from our kiss.  He pulled me back up from the dip, winked at me, and walked away.

I was having trouble catching my breath and my balance had become wobbly.  I collapsed on the couch to get my bearings.  How did he recover so quickly?  Maybe my touch didn’t create the same sensations that his did for me.
Immediately my insecurities
returned.

I slumped back against the couch, hearing the shower turn on in Morgan’s en-suite bath.  I should really start calling it Clay’s room, since he had unofficially moved in there when Morgan decided to live with Grant.  This came as no surprise since she spent most of her time there anyway.  Clay said he didn’t like staying in the main house because it reminded him too much of Brody, his deceased brother.  But I thought his real motivation was to keep an eye on me, as if he was afraid I’d run off on another suicide mission in the middle of the night without telling him.  His paranoia wasn’t totally off-base, because I did plan to return to the
Famorii
den, whether he liked it or not.

I had made a commitment to my Kingdom, to my family and friends, and there was no turning back.  I had made the choice to take this path, to save Clay and the ones I cared for, no matter what happened to me.  He had already sacrificed so much of his life to watch over me, I
refused to let him die protecting me too.  I let out a big sigh and sat upright, staring at the closed door of his room.  I’m sure he had noticed how distant I have been toward his touch since I re
turned to
Draíochta
.  Besides the
weak moment of kisses in the tree house when I first got back, I had blatantly avoided those kinds of encounters with him.

I found myself blushing at the thought of him in the shower.  I shook it from my head and stood up, walking to my room.  I couldn’t let
Clay catch me off guard anymore
because his lips always had a way of clouding my head.  If the Kingdom found out about our lip-locks I wasn’t sure what would happen, but I did know that William would do everything in his power to use it as an opportunity to work against me.  I couldn’t afford not to have the Court on my side right now.  I had to stay focused.  That was what I always told myself in my head, that I was keeping my distance for the sake of my Kingdom.  Deep down, I knew that it was for the sake of my
heart, but
I couldn’t let my emotions obstruct the tough decisions I needed to make or
let them
get in the way of my mission to destroy the
Famorii
forever.

“Hey guys,” I said from the door, waved at my friends as I passed, and walked over to the reclining chair where Adam sat to give him a hug.  Finally having the only person from my
Fae
blood family safe, I hugged my brother every day, unsure of how much time we would have together.  I had made my peace with the fact that I probably wouldn’t get out of this war alive, but knowing that Adam and my friends would be safe made the fight worth it.  I did worry about Clay sometimes, though.  He had said once, when your
Fae
-mate died, a part of you died with them, but I still didn’t understand how extreme this was, or if that was more of the dramatics of
Fae
-mate story telling. 
Ahhh
!  I had to stop doing this to myself.  Clay did not get to consume my every thought, because I was starting to go loony from it.   He’d be fine when I passed on.  He could move on and be happy.

“So how’s it been going over here?”  I asked, sitting down on the couch beside Kayla.  Everyone simultaneously shrugged, not a good sign.  Since Adam and I had returned from the
Famorii
den, we had been trying to figure out a way to break the
sealments
Liam has forced with the helpless part-
Fae
prisoners.  Now that we had Adam as an ally, he had truly been an invaluable resource, providing tons of insider information about Liam, his labyrinth prison cave, and everything about the
Famorii
’s
plans and abilities.  For once I felt as if we had the advantage over Liam.  Now that we knew what he was planning and how he’d become so powerful, I felt like we were a step ahead.

We had begun working with Fiona, who was the head of the Witch Council, in order to find a counter spell to the Black Magic which had allowed Liam to conjure an unnatural
amount of power, along with an
ego to go with it.  His kind of confidence was also very frightening.  It fueled his dark power, making the task of disarming him seem all the more daunting.
 
Because of Adam’s great knowledge of the
Famorii
and Ashen Witches, together we had been trying to come up with a spell I could use on Liam, to strip him of his new abilities so I could be strong
enough to defeat him.  So far, though, our
Fae
-Witch magic had been no match for the dark realm of Ashen Witches and their Black Magic.  All of us, including Fiona, had been willing to experiment with Ashen spells, but when it was brought up at a defense meeting a few days ago, the arguments got so heated I thought the Court was going to erupt in a brawl.  No thanks to William and his outbursts, we managed to walk away without burning down the building.  It made my blood boil to think of William and the thorn he had become in my side.

It was bad enough that he was the main influence in keeping my innocent brother locke
d up on house arrest at Grant’s
like an undeserving criminal, when in reality Adam had saved my life and had given up everything he knew to be true in order to do that.  But even more than that, when William spoke at the Court defense meetings, I could see the dimness surrounding his soul.  This dimness had become more obvious of late, telling me that when he was supposedly rallying for the
Aira
Clan and the safety of
Draíochta
, he in fact only cared about taking the
Aira
title.  William didn’t take into consideration that maybe he wasn’t the best one for the job.  Unfortunately for him, I wouldn’t relinquish my title until he was standing over my cold, dead body.  I shuddered, remembering that moment might not be as far off as I thought.

Right then, Jeremy came through the front door
,
pulling me from my thoughts.  Jeremy was such a nice guy, and I felt sorry for him having to deal with a Father like William.  I wished I could say that I was happier to see Jeremy then I was, but I knew that he was here to meet
with
Clay.

Since revealing my plan to return to Liam’s lair, Jeremy and Clay had become reluctant allies in the name of making a new plan that didn’t compromise my safety, much to my annoyance.  I gritted my teeth and plastered on a smile, waving Jeremy over in a welcoming manner, trying to pretend that their scheming didn’t bother me.  I decided that it was pointless to argue about it, if only for the one pure fact that they could barely stand each other and still they were working together.  That alone told me it was useless to object.  Even if they did come up with something, it didn’t mean I had to act on it.  Besides, I thought I had fought enough with Clay already and I didn’t want to start that routine with Jeremy as well.

“Afternoon folks, hey Ari,” Jeremy said with a big smile as he walked in and plunked down on the couch, squeezing snuggly next to me into what could hardly be considered an open
spot.  In order to make more room for Kayla, Morgan, and I on the couch, he put his arm over my shoulder and tilted his body at an angle.

I couldn’t decide if he was being a genuinely flirtatious guy, or if he just used any excuse to touch me because he had feelings for me beyond friendship.  His demeanor was always so polite and happy, and it was matched with classic good looks.  I didn’t know if it was all a part of the package or if he just turned it on for me.  What I did know was tha
t I could see his soul, and it wa
s as bright and sunny as he was on the outside.

My eyes quickly found Clay standing frozen in the doorway and I took a hard gulp.  It was as though he honed in on his special Soul Keeper senses to particularly alert him whenever Jeremy was making physical contact with me.

Clay’s neck muscles were tense when he spoke, “Thanks for waiting for me.”  He didn’t even try to hide the agitation spreading over his face as he not so subtly glowered at Jeremy’s arm over my shoulder.  Because my powers were no longer suppressed by masking spells, I could certainly take care of
myself and didn’t need Clay’s g
uard services anymore.  I enjoyed the freedom of coming and going as I pleased, but Clay wasn’t shy about how much it bugged him that he no longer had an excuse to irritate me all day.

“You were in the shower and I didn’t want to barge in on you,” I said with a shy smile, suddenly blushing at the thought of his earlier
proposition that led to a knee-
weakening kiss.

“I wish you would have,” Clay said with a private smile, obviously thinking about the moment too, which only caused the red to deepen on my cheeks.
  He had become brasher
with me in public since I had returned, at least in front of our group of friends, obviously no longer caring what they thought.

I felt Jeremy’s grip on my shoulder tighten almost imperceptibly, and I wondered what he was seeing in Clay’s energy when he looked at me that way.  I wish I knew if Clay wanted to feel that intensity when he thought of me or if he secretly loathed the feelings I stirred in him.

“Clay dear, may I come in?” Fiona said from somewhere behind Clay.  His tall, muscular stature had blocked her from sight behind the doorway in which he still stood frozen.  Clay stepped aside allowing Fiona to walk through, and he planted a hello kiss on her cheek
as she
passed
,
the kind
one would g
ive a Grandmother
.  Fiona turned to him, pinched his cheek, and gave it a couple of friendly taps with her palm.

“Sweet boy, come in and join us instead of letting in all this cold air.  Ari, would you be so kind and start a fire?  I’m afraid this chilly rain we’ve been having is making my old bones creak,” she said smiling, and I nodded, standing up from the couch.

I went to the small stone fireplace on the opposite wall where Grant was leaning against the mantel.  He watched in anticipation as I held my hand out, and a small controlled ball of green light pulsed from my palm, landing onto the kindling in the fireplace that instantly began to roar.  Grant looked at me with amusement and gave me an approving thumbs-up.  He always got a kick out of seeing my powers because they were so different from those
he had ever encountered at the Arts and Training Center
he helped his family run.  I had been spending more time with him because I was there training almost every day now.  Because my energy was no longer suppressed by Clay’s masking spells, I had much more control over my gifts and wasn’t scared
to use them in public anymore.

I really liked Grant.  He was Clay’s best friend, but they seemed so different.  The thoug
ht made me smile, because that wa
s exactly what I would say if I were describing me, Morgan, and Kayla.  How did we get here?  How did this all happen?  It still felt like a dream sometimes and I was tempted to pinch myself just to make sure.