The Secret Trinity: Reign (Fae-Witch Trilogy, Book 3) (20 page)

“Keep dreaming buddy,” I said patting his shoulder.
Even though I did, I would never admit to it.

His grin turned mischievous now.
“It’s cute how you keep forgetting that I can see right through you.  You’ve convinced me, one quick rinse off and then we’ll go back to Grant’s,” Clay bent down and swiftly picked me up, hoisting me over his shoulder, he began to carry me
toward
his en-suite shower.

“Clay!”  I squealed, laughing and kicking at him, but before he reached for the bathroom door handle, I teleported us back to Gran
t’s house.

The dust from the disintegrated podium had been cleared, but my
tongue
still
felt dry in my throat as I approached the
new
podium.  I tapped on the microphone and the feedback hurt my eardrums.  Clay was sitting next to his Mother and King Bryan was absent again.  The King was too ill to attend the meeting, leaving me alone to run my first one.  Maybe I should have worn my crown to show my authority, but when I put it on with my dark jeans and black long sleeve shirt, I felt silly.  I guess plain o
ld Ari would have to be enough.

“Hello everyone, and thank you for coming,” I said, copying Fiona’s greeting at
the Witch Council meetings. 
“The King sends his regrets that he is not able to attend this afternoon’s meeting, so I will be leading
us through today’s proceedings,”
I said, surprisingly confident as everyone eyed each other
,
growing concerned with the King’s health.  I was concerned too but
I couldn’t let them see that.

“Does anyone have business to discuss before we begin with our defense discussions?”  I asked anxiously, concerned that William would take this time to say something rude.  I looked over at him and he seemed pretty content to pout in his seat.  I sig
hed, relieved to be moving on.

“I will allow this time for an open floor discussion.  If you have any ideas regarding how best to proceed with the
Famorii
King, now would be the time to share them.  We are currently at a standstill in finding the proper break-
sealment
spell, so I think it’
s time we brainstorm for a plan B.  I fear King
Liam is closing in on
Draí
ochta’s
location
so the sooner we act
,
the better,”
I said scanning the room, internally groani
ng when William rose to speak.

“Why don’t we fly some
Eartha
over there, and they can bring the cave crashing down.”  William said.  I clamped down on my tongue so hard to keep from screaming a
t him that I pierced the skin.

“That is not a viable option.  We have innocent
Fae
being held captive in there, and those numbers are growing larger ever
y day,
”
I said as calmly as possible.

“Part-
Fae
,” William said not
so subtly under his breath.
I immediately felt the golden waves of anger radiating off of Grant as Morgan clutched onto him to keep him from sta
nding up to punch William out.

“Regardless of how human they are, William, I think you would be hard pressed to
convince a certain
Eartha
, who
would be required for an avalanche of such grandeur, when it also means using that power to commit murder on helpless lives.”  I stated, purpos
efully looking at Clay who held
the most power
ful of
Eartha
abilities in
Draí
ochta
.  He smirked and nodded at me
so I would know he had my back.

“Just because you and that said
Eartha
have rediscovered the rose colored glasses of your
sealment
, doesn’t discount the fact that we are at war, and hard choices must be made.”  William stated
this
firmly, and I about flipped my lid.  Man this guy knew how to push my buttons.  I saw Clay’s
jaw flex, also contemplating
joining Grant to pumm
el William after this meeting.

“I’ll advise you to never to refer to mine and said
Eartha’s
sealment
again.  You’re a traditionalist William, so I don’t have to tell you what a sacred thing it is to find your Soul Keeper.  Just because I shared something personal with the Kingdom
,
and now
that my memory has returned it i
s as clear as day, that does not mean you are ever allowed to pry into my private life when it suits your argument, is that clear?!”  I swear I sounded just like King Bryan right then, and I felt a twinge of pride.  I couldn’t wait to tell him later.  Will
iam nodded, clenching his jaw.

“Now, Clay aside, how many
Eartha
here would like to volunteer to go murder at least on
e hundred innocent
Fae
?”  I asked,
scanning the room for a hand to go up, but as I suspected not a single wave.

“Sit down, William, we’re moving on from this idea,
” I said sternly, and he shrunk a little when some Court members eyed him with disgust.  I was thankful I took my crown when I did, because if this was the plan William had wanted to execute, I would have had a hard time stopping myself from zapping him into oblivion.  The meeting continued with little else in the
way of new ideas, but we did receive some suggestions about how to fix the spell
,
which Fiona recorded for our future study session this evening. 

“If there is nothing else to discuss, this meeting is adjourned,
and I bid you a lovely evening,
” I s
t
a
te
d graciously, deciding the best way to fake my way through these meetings was to copy what I’d seen.  Before I could step down, Jeremy
walked up to me at the podium.

“Hi
Jeremy.
  I’m sorry I bailed on you and
Bree
the other night,
but I heard you two hit it off,
” I said with a knowing smile, and he blushed. 

“Yeah, I guess we did, but
I want to a
pologize for my Father today,” Jeremy said, looking ashamed.

“Don’t apologize for William.  I know how to handle him now.”  I said waving it off.

“Yes, but I wanted to apologize because I told him about
Bree
last night, and this is just his way of lashing out.  I know my Father.  He didn’t really mean what he said.  There’s been a lot of change in a short time and he d
oesn’t know how to deal with it,
” Jeremy said sadly, and I felt bad, assuming the news about his new love interest was met wi
th less than a warm reception.

“He’ll come around, Jeremy,” I said patting his shoulder.  Clay came
up and slung his arm around me.

“What are we talking about?”  Clay asked
us casually
but he wasn’t fooling me.  He had his Jeremy and Ari are touching radar on.

“I was just asking Jeremy if he had any interest in going down the hall with me to Fiona’s office and having a make-out session on her couch.”  I said it as serious
ly
as I could, and Jeremy’s face turned beet red.  Clay’s face turned red too, but not of embarrassment.  He knew I was mocking him a
nd his hands-off-my-girl vibe.

“You can relax, Clay.  Jeremy turned me down.  In fact, he was just saying that I should go easy on William because he told him last night
that he has started dating
Bree
,”
I explained, resisting the
urge to jab Clay in the ribs.

“Okay, I’ll see
you guys at the library tonight,
” Jeremy said awkwardly, the red subsiding from his face.  He turned quickly to escape from the uncomfortable tension
growing between Clay and me.

“You think you’re pretty hilarious, don’t you,” Clay said in a grumbling
tone.  I turned to face him,
putting my hands on my hips.

“The best part was that you actually considered it for a second before realizing I
was joking.  You’re ridiculous,
” I said, smiling at his silly jealousy.

“
I was not jealous,” Clay said with
a borderline pouty voice, and I pursed my lips trying not to laugh.

“It’s cute how you keep forgetting I can see right through you,” I said.  He rolled his eyes at my mirroring the same statement he had made a couple of days back.  I leaned forward and popped up on my tip-toes to give him quick peck on the cheek, before turning to see that everyone in the Court was standing there, staring at us.  No, I shouldn’t say they were staring at us.  They seemed mesmerized by our outlines and the bright light of our intertwined energy when we had a loving exchange like that.  I suddenly felt naked in the middle of the street, and now I was the one with a beet red face.  I scurried down from the platform and hooked elbows with K
ayla, ready to exit, and fast.

I was sitting next to Morgan at the library table while we shared a new spell we had found.  As much as I didn’t want to leave Adam behind at Grant’s, his house arrest was still not lifted, and we needed access to more books to
filter through the Court member
s
’
suggestions.  Adam said he understood and that it didn’t bother him, but I could tell that this unlawful arrest was getting to him.

“How’s Adam been doing at the house?”  I asked Morgan while
she made a note in her binder.

“He’s okay, just going a little stir crazy.  I can tell he wants to
get out and start exploring
Draíochta
.”

“Yeah, I don’t blame him.  I’d be going stir crazy too.  I’m glad you and Grant
are there to hang out at least,
” I said regretfully.
 
“Maybe we should have him moved to the cottage for a while so he can have a
change of scenery.”

“I don’t think that is the best
idea,”
Morgan said quietly.

“Why not?”
  I was trying to keep my voice just as quiet
,
but her response surprised me.

“Hmmm, how do I put this?  The cottage is three bedrooms right?  So if Adam moved into my old bedroom where would Clay stay?”  Morgan asked rhetorically.

“Oh,” I said, understanding crossing my face.

“Don’t get me wrong.  We are all really happy for you, including Adam. 
It’s just having
to be around yo
ur intense Soul Keeper energy every
night could be difficult when it’s your sister,” Morgan said, and my face burned.

“I think Clay and I
can control ourselves,
” I said defensively.

“Sure you can, that’s why you two secretly made-out on who knows how many occasions before becoming official.  Don’t forget who won the bet in that pool.”  Morgan said
this
with a proud smirk
,
basking in how well she knew me, and I couldn’t help b
ut stick my tongue out at her.

“
Alright, you’ve made your point,
”
I said, and decided
that at the next Court meeting I wouldn’t adjourn the session until they agreed to free Adam.  I knew it was a little dictator of me, but I didn’t care
,
I was so
fed up with his house arrest.

“Any luck?”  Jeremy asked Grant and Clay who came to sit down with us at the table, but they just shook their heads.  They had been searching for more books that might help us with this spell, but I guess they came up empty.  It didn’t surprise me since we had piles upon piles of them stacked up next to the table or spread out on top of it.  I think we cleaned out the whole library of possibilities.  Fiona scri
bbled away in her note
book, and I continued to share with Morgan, but I felt pretty useless.  Clay looked pretty unenthusiastic too, although I got the feeling that him and Jeremy, maybe even Grant now, were looking for a different solution.  Clay said we would figure this out together
,
but I was starting to think that what he meant was, he would figure it out, and then tell me the plan. 
I was sure this new brilliant plan
would never have m
e returning to the
Famorii
cave.
H
e was grasping at straws.  I sighed and
scratched my head.