The Secret Trinity: Reign (Fae-Witch Trilogy, Book 3) (9 page)

“You’re going to drop that bomb on me about my birth Mother, and then just leave me here in the dark?  To answer your earlier question, I wouldn’t count on any public displays of affection, or in private for that matter.”  I said crossing my arms in a huff.  Even in the dark I could see his white smile. 

“I’m not leaving you.  I just wanted to check something quick.  I woul
d never leave you in the dark.  I
n fact, I encourage you and me
spending time
in the dark.  I find it lowers your inhibition
s, so no backing out on the PDA
s now.”  Clay said, still smiling, and even in these black surroundings, I rolled my eyes so hard I’m sure it made an audible sound, or he at least saw the whites of my eyes.  His head disappeared, and I sat there reeling from the informa
tion he had just dumped on me.

Clay’s Father and my birth Mother were each other’s Soul Keepers, but they never acted on it and married other people instead?  This was insane!  My life was officially the soap opera of the paranormal.  I mean, I couldn’t even imagine how much restraint Clay had to develop over the years while watching me date jerks in high school.  I couldn’t even stand
Penni
trying to give him one kiss, and yet somehow they married other people, and had their own children, and lived their lives apart.  Honestly, even though I didn’t
see
Clay as my
Soul Keeper, like I should, I
did
n’t think apart would be an option for me now.  As much as I tried to fight it, my heart wouldn’t allow
‘
apart
’
, even if my soul was
still
clueless.

“Yep that’s definitely a
first,
the entire city is in a blackout.  The only light left is coming from the lantern tree leaves on the main strip
and that’s because they’re magic
.  I changed my mind about my earlier wigging out comment.  Lay it on me next time, because when you internalize,
it’s
way worse.  I may end up with a busted eardrum, but I’ll take the hit for the sake of our city’s power.”  Clay said, plunking down beside me.

“Now what?”
  I asked
,
a little embarrassed that I had managed to blackout the city in one short moment of letting my energy take over my emotions. 

“Now nothing.
  The back-up generators will start to kick in and a power plant foreman will get called out of bed to go reset the city.”  Clay
laid
down, taking me with him until my head was tucked in the spot between his sculpted chest and shoulder, hugging me against his side.

He propped a pillow under his head adjusting for comfort as he spoke, “That’s some party trick you have going.  I’m glad we’ll be able to use that to our advantage if we ever want some privacy, although I suggest
for the sake of our future PDA
s, that you work with
Bree
to figure out how to harness it and get room specific
,
so the foreman can get some sleep.” 

Clay brushed the hair off
of
my face with his free hand, gliding it through its length
, sending
a pleasurable shudder through me.  He laced his fingers with his other hand so I was even closer and I draped my top leg over his
,
leaning into him on my side.  I could hear his heart beating in my ear and I was tempted to fall asleep, but I had a million questions. 

“Why would they do that?  How could they do that?”  I asked
,
ignoring Clay’s attempt to lighten the mood.  I was not able to comprehend how my birth Mother and King Bryan could ignore the Soul Keeper connection. 

“Honestly Ari, their decision to stay apart is something I will never understand.”  Clay rested his chin on the top of my head and sighed into my hair. 

“It’s so weird.  It’s like I want to be mad at them for doing that to each other and yet if they didn’t marry other people we would never have been born,” I said scrunching my forehead at the conundrum.

“Welcome to my world.” 

“Why didn’t you tell me?” I asked. 

“I was always going to tell you, but you have so much going on, and since this didn’t directly affect your life as it stands, I was hoping to wait until after this mess with Liam was over.  I mean I didn’t want you feeling guilty about being
born on top of everything else,” h
e said in a worried tone. 

He was right, because another internal struggle had begun brewing inside my heart the moment Clay told me what could have been between our parents, making me feel instantly guilty.  How much more could I endure with these constant internal struggles?  Clay should check to make sure I didn’t black out all of Ireland by mistake.  At this point, it was as if these hits had become easier and easier to take.  Every time I turned a corner, a new struggle landed in my lap and I was being tested by the heavens to see if I could handle it.  The more obstacles that were thrown at me
,
the stronger I’d become, as if they’re training me from afar.  And the stronger I became, the closer I was to being capable of defeating Liam.  Either
that,
or I was born as some sort of cosmic joke, my life, a reality television show for the gods.

“Clay, I know you want to protect me, but you can’t continue to keep things from me.  It’s hard for me to hear about my past and all the pain and turmoil, but it has made me better too.  I feel the more I know and the longer I’m here, the more I am becoming myself and
becoming
the Trinity
Fae
.”  I said.  Draping my arm over
him to hug his waist, I buried my
face deeper into his chest hoping a softer approach would get me a confession, and he kissed t
he top of my head in response.

“You’re right, Ari.  I promise I’ll work on it.  It’s hard for me
,
when every instinct I have conditioned myself for in the past six years has been about your protection.  I like that everyone is finally
getting to see the Ari I know.”

“Who’s the Ari you know?”  I questioned his statement because we had only known each other in real time for a short while.  Even if we were connected through our souls, I didn’t really understand it, because I couldn’t feel it.  I wondere
d how I looked in Clay’s eyes.

“The Ari I kno
w is the special secret Ari, who until recently
would only reveal
herself to me and her
two best friends.  The Ari I know doesn’t let people dump on her and refuses to take their crap
,
or care too much about what they think of her.  She loves her friends and would do anything to see the ones she cares for happy, even if it means sacrificing her own happiness.  She’s funny, smart, and not to mention, sexy as hell, which makes it difficult for me to control myself when I see her.”  I could feel him smiling int
o my hair, hugging me tighter.

“I would hardly say that you’ve been controlling yourself, Clay, but thank you.”  I said shyly at his flattery
,
while slowly tracing my finger over the carved out lines of his stomach to see how
much restraint he really had.

“I could go on, but I do
n’t want you getting a big head,” h
e said hoarsely, and with my head still pressed to his chest
,
I could feel his heart rate pick up as I moved my
fingers gently over his shirt.

“True, I think your ego is already cramping up this small space.”  I responded mockingly, and he caught my wrist to stop my tracing fingers.  He removed his arm as my pillow and pressed my wrist above my head which forced me to lie on my back.  He grabbed my other wrist and put it above my head too
,
so my chin tilted up at him
,
hovering over me only inches from my fa
ce.

I couldn’t really see his eyes, mostly just his massive outline
.  H
is breathing became rapid, his chest meeting mine with every breath as the weight of his frame pressed into me.  His energy became so intense
,
he actually started to glow a subtle gold.  It all looked so hazy to me still
,
like a cloud get
ting hit by the sun as it set.

“What is it, Clay?”  I said
,
starting to worry.  I tried to move my hand to touch his face, but hi
s grip held firm on my wrists.

“Ari, I...I am...”  He began, and my breath caught in my throat.  I knew he was trying to tell me.  His stilted words became stale as he continued to hold me like
I would run away when he did.

I waited patiently, too afraid to push him to confess, suddenly unsure if I was actually ready to hear this.  I panicked when his glow began to fade, feeling as if the moment was passing.  I arched my back and lifted my head until my lips found his.  He released my wrists and held my face the full athletic weight of his frame pressing into me.  He rolled us until I was on top of him releasing his weight from my chest
,
and he moved his fingers into my hair pulling me further into his passionate embrace.  I wrapped my arms around him and kissed him deeply, over
whelmed by what just happened.

He wasn’t going to tell me tonight, but in that moment
, I felt something.  I had g
ot
ten
a glimpse of something I didn’t want to let go of.  So we rolled into a sea of kisses instead, because if I let myself brea
the, and took it all in, I
really
might
be tempted to run away.  It wasn’t what I saw in him when he glowed, but what I had felt in my
heart.  Soul Keeper or not, whe
ther I could
see
him or not, I realized that somewhere along this road I had fallen in love with Clay, and that terrified me
, almost
more than the
Famorii
King himself.

I looked over my outfit and decided it was innocent enough, but when I looked at my lips I could swear they were fuller than usual, exposing me.  I touched my fingers to my mouth and closed my eyes remembering why they were so puffy.  I guess that’s what happens when you spend half the night in a lip-lock with someone.  My “made you look”
sealment
dream woke me up again
this morning.  I had fallen asleep in the tree house snuggling with Clay
,
and when I woke up, I had exited as quickly as possible.  He was right about the dark.  The li
ght of day complicated things.

I was on my way to Morgan and Grant’s to see how the study session went without me.  I was sure by n
ow everyone was buzzing about me
kissing Clay in public last night
,
and before I could think about the inquisition about to come down on me, I teleported into their living room before I
wussed
out.  I scanned the room
,
relieved that Jeremy
wasn’t with them.  I
wanted to talk to him privately, hoping I hadn’t hurt his feelings by hiding my feelings for Clay, especially since he had asked me point b
lank about it a few weeks ago.

“Hey Ari,” everyone said simultaneously, with insinuation all over their tone.  I scanned over Grant, Morgan, Kayla and Adam who all somehow managed to wear the exact same mischievous grin.

“Hey,” I said sullenly
,
a
lready dying of embarrassment.

“How did the library go?  Did you guys find a way to tweak the spell?”  I asked, hoping to avoid the pink ele
phant in the room.

“
Nuh
uh, no way are we not talking about what you did last night!  I need a little clarity here because one girl from the Witch Council was describing your bra to me.  She said yellow with rhinestones and another guy told me white with flowers, so which is it Ari?”  Kayla asked, totally amused because she knew the bra talk was
so far from the actual truth.

“
Ewww
, I don’t want to hear about my sister’s bra!”  Adam said thro
wing his hands up to his ears.

“
Relax,
no one saw my bra, not even Clay.”  I said to Adam, and he slowly lowered his hands.

“So what’s going on?  Are you two a couple now?”  Morgan asked, and I sat
on the sofa beside her, raking my hands over my face.

“Oh my god, why does everyone insist on me breaking down each tiny detail and analyzing it to death.”  I said exasperated, slumping back in the couch, hoping they couldn’t sense the change in my energy after finally admitting to
mysel
f
how I truly felt about Clay.

“
Sorrrry
, I didn’t realize you were so sensitive.”  Morgan said, l
ike I was being a drama queen.