The Secret Trinity: Reign (Fae-Witch Trilogy, Book 3) (26 page)

“Oh crap
, are we dead?”  I asked as his eyes went wide.

“You promised,” he said, squee
zing my hand tight, horrified.

“I promised I would keep us together.  I didn’t say in what realm that would be,” I pointed out, and he clenched his jaw.

“You are not dead,
only visiting.
”
A voice called from the distance.  Clay and I turned to face the voice, and a man materialized before us.  I recognized him immediately.

“Brody!”
  Clay called out
in surprise
and broke from my hand to hug his big brother.  They embraced for a long moment, finally reunited, before Clay stepped back to look at him.  I remembered him and how he shared many of Aileen’s features, but he was different somehow
, his energy unearthly bright.

“You’re an angel,” I stated, figuring out this new remarkabl
e energy.  He smiled and nodded once.

“Where’s Father?”  Clay asked, looking at his big
brother with a new found awe.

“I requested this assignment, but I do have a message from Father and your parents,” Brody said looking at me
and then Clay,
I held my breat
h.

“They are at peace, as am I, and they want you to forgive yourselves.  They always knew of their fate and they chose to follow its path.  The reward for their sacrifice has been bestowed,” Brody said thoughtfully
,
lifting Clay’s hand and placing it in mine.

“And what about you, did you know?”  Clay asked in a shaky voice, and Brody nodded once.  Brody reached out
,
resting hi
s hand on his Clay’s shoulder.

“We all had our parts to play and I’m proud of you, of both of you.  You have fulfilled your destiny
.  The evil that imprisoned
our blessed ones has finally come to an end, making way for the next evolution of gifts
,
as intended.  You have been given a second chance, don’t waste it on remorse.  It would bring us much joy if you simply cherish one another.”

Clay and I looked at each other, his love filling my senses.  I would always cherish Clay, in this life
and the next.  We both returned
our eyes to Brody and nodded to his request.  Brody
smiled
,
his angel light blinding me.

“Now close your eyes,” Brody instructed, pu
tting his palm to my forehead.

“When will we see you again?”  I asked looking cross-ey
ed at his tingly palm on my head.

“When the time is right,” Brody answered cryptically in that annoying
Fae
-Witch-Angel way
,
and
I
sighed, feeling Clay suppress his urge to laugh, amused by his brother’s answer.  I com
plied with Brody’s instructions.
C
losing my eyes, I gri
pped Clay’s hand tighter as the
sleepiness took over
and I drifted off into a haze.

***

I slowly peeled my eyes open, trying to take in my surroundings.  I felt itchy and I looked down at the hospital nightgown I wor
e.  I was instantly alert and shot upright in bed.  Clay was
laying
in the hospital bed next to mine.  I saw his eye
s
flutter as he tried to open them.  I sprang off of my bed and collapsed heavily on him, overtaken by dizziness.  He coughed and rubbed his chest, o
pening his eyes to look at me.

“Ouch,” h
e said in a hoarse voice, and I smiled, knowing he was faking it.  I snuggled up beside him and he brushed the hair from my face.  I bathed in
his golden light letting it soak into my skin
.  He pulled on my arm until I was situated on top of him. 

“You know now that we’re bound, you’re going to have to start being more careful,” Clay said jokingly,
holding my face in his hands.

“We’ll see,” I
said grinning
, leaning in to kiss his soft lips, but room’s door forcefully slammed open
,
and I flinched.  We whipped our heads around to look up.  Morgan stood frozen at the door, her coff
ee a spilled mess at her feet.

She looked at us in shock for a long moment before she opened her mouth to speak.  “They’re AWAKE!”  Morgan screamed from the door, before disappearing down the hall
to find the others, hearing, “q
uick, they’
re awake!” echoing in her path
. 
Clay and I both smiled thoughtfully at each other.  Our lives were once again about to change except this time for the better, because as my Mother had hoped, I was free to love Clay, and in turn we had freed
our
Draíochta
.

“Here we go,” Clay
said, pulling
me in to give me a tender kiss.  It would be our
final private moment for a long time to come
,
a
nd I savored it, cherished it.

“What are you up to, Clay?”  I asked suspiciously as we walked down
the glittering sidewalk of
Draíochta
.  I
t felt like he had been hiding something for days.  As we strode casually through the town’s center I noticed it seemed unusually empty this evening
,
and I looked around wonde
ring where Clay was taking me.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about
.
I’m not up to anythin
g.  As I said
we’re just going out for a nice dinner
,
”
h
e answered, biting h
is cheek so he wouldn’t smile.

“You swore you wouldn’t do anymore scheming behind my back,” I said
,
yanking my hand away from his.  I stopped abruptly on the sidewalk to face him. 

After Clay and I woke up in the hospital, I found out how they were so successful with their ambush on the
Famorii
cave
and the rescue of the prisoners who had since been reunited with their families
.  Once I teleported Li
am
there, the Court easily over
threw the
Famor
ii
left
in the Counci
l Building and
quickly gathered volunteers to execute the plan Clay and Jeremy had been scheming all al
ong.  They had an overwhelming number of Court members and Citizens to help them. 
Surprisingly, William was one of the first to volunteer, and we had since made amen
ds as he came to terms with
Draí
ochta’s
next generation
, including his son and
Bree
.  William happily continued to help run the bank alongside Clay as I opted to start a new intensive dance program at the training center instead
.  It worked out for the best because
I wou
ld have died of boredom if I were
stuck with that
particular royal responsibility.

Following
the battle any Ashen or
Famorii
that remained were trapped in their
own bunkers as the cave imploded in
to the ground.  When I felt strong enough
I visited the spot, and
for a long time
,
stared
at the crater that was Liam’s grave, feeling at peace.  We were finally free, ou
r souls were finally free. 
Draí
ochta
was a new Kingdom, not so isolated from the world. 
Fae
and Witches could explore outside of the city, without fear of death or capture and they would
always have a safe place to
come home to, even
Penni
.  I kne
w Clay’s plan had helped us win the war against evil, but still, I didn’t like the idea of him keeping secret
s from me.  As the other half of our Royal Clan,
he was supposed to be open and honest with me, his Queen.

“The tour went well with your parents today.  My Mother said Fiona showed them a masking spell and their eyes about popped out of their heads when the purple sm
oke came out of the cauldron,”
Clay said chuckling
,
pulling me from my thoughts
,
and I punched his arm.

“Don’t change the subject,” I said sharply
,
and he rubbed his shoulder pretending it hurt.  He grinned flirtatiously and stepped
toward
me, knowing his closeness always had a way of melting my conviction.  The comfortable night air swept over my neck and a pleasurable shudder hummed down
my spine when he brushed my
hair past my shoulders
,
tracing his fingers down my bare arm.  He reached out behind me and plucked a glowing red leaf from its t
ree, tucking it behind my ear.

“Don’t you trust me,” he said softly, his lips only inches from mine.

“Never,”
I replied, but
the words
fell flat as they croaked out of my
thr
oat and my heart began to race.

“You are so stubborn,” h
e said smiling while shaking his head.  He stepped away and grabbed my hand
,
pulling me down the sidewalk, my lightweight dress stretching out from our lengthy strides.  The fuzziness he had caused fell away and I started my second attempt at retracting my hand when he suddenly stopped, opening the door to our favorite pub.  I scrunched my forehead
in confusion.  This was where he wa
s taking me to di
nner?  It didn’t even look open.  I
t was pitch black inside.  Clay held the door and moved his other hand across the small of my back
,
pushing me forward until I crossed the
threshold.

“Surprise!”
  A chorus of cries shouted out, and I jumped back into Clay’s chest from the shock.  The lights were flipped
on
and the pub revealed all my friends and family sta
nding before me as they clapped
and whistled into the air.  They all began to sing and I noticed the big sign hanging from the ceiling tha
t said, “Happy Birthday, Ari!”

I put my hand to my chest and
my mouth fell open as
I absorbed it, completely surprised.  I waved happily at all the familiar faces
,
and my adoptive parents, Joann and Tom, rolled out a
table with Adam’s help.  On its top sat the biggest birthday cake I had ever seen.  I recognized the castle shaped cake, lit up with sparklers, and turned to face Clay. 

“Is that our glass sandcastle from the river?”  I asked him, amazed by the frosting covered replica, and his smile gleamed.

“I told you it would be ours one day,” Clay said teasingly, and I poked him in the ribs trying to hide how touched I was.  He laughed
,
seeing right through me
, and took my hand
walking me
closer to the crowd.

Joann put her arm around me, lovingly, and steered me toward the nineteen candles which stuck out near the front
of the cake
.  Tom had his arm around Adam and they watched me expectantly.  My
adoptive
parents had been the first full-blooded
humans ever to step foot in
Draí
ochta
.  I was so happy they were here, and a part of my life again, my real life as a
Fae
.  They had taken to Adam like a son
, just as I knew they would.  I could tell he felt that
he had a whole family for the first time in
his life, which wa
s exactly how I felt too.

“Make a wish, Ari,” Joan
n said, squeezing my shoulder.  S
he had finally started calling me
Ari, acc
epting that I was all grown up.  I smiled at my friends surrounding the cake, waiting for me to blow out the candles
,
and I looked at Clay.  I only had one wish left tonight, because my life with my fr
iends and family, living in
Draí
ochta
, an
Aira
Queen, was more than a
dream come true.  I bent
down and blew out the candles
while a thunder of clapping shook the room.  T
he party had officially begun.

S
ince things had settled down here
, the guys had
formed a
new band together,
and
they
were playing for tonight’s entertainment.  They rocked it out on the small stage
,
and after two pieces of cake
,
and hours of dancing with Kayla, Morgan, and
Bree
,
I was spent.  I excused myself to grab a glass of water and
take a seat for a while.  Halfway into my drink
,
Clay hopped off the stage and began walking toward me as Grant moved into his lead singing spot and began to play a slow song.