Icarus; The Kindred (A Paranormal Romance) (25 page)

"I don't care what you want!"

I wake to the sound of Jacelynd's raised voice. He's in the hall and obviously pissed off. I roll over and check the clock on the nightstand. It's nearly midnight. Something moves beside me and I turn to see Lucan, still out like a light. Poor little guy's exhausted, and it's only going to get worse from here.

"Please, just let me see that Lucan is all right!"

Wonderful … it's Trinity. This ought to be good.

I struggle to my feet and make my way to the door. The pain from my wounds has lessened enough for me to be lucid. Though I don't know how long that will last.

"A third of the Earth is dead," Jacelynd hisses, "an unbeatable army is being ushered into the world my family died protecting and you want mercy from me?" He barely flinches as I open the door behind him. "Go to hell, Tristan."

Trinity grips the wall behind him in shock as I step into the hall.

I say, "Lucan doesn't understand what's going on, Jace. He doesn't know what really happened. He thinks Iris is to blame for everything and I don't think this is how we want him to find out. He's had enough betrayal in his life already."

"You're alive," Trinity gasps. He doesn't even try to stop the tears. He looks to Jacelynd in question, as if he wants to ask why Jace didn't tell him. But we all know why.

"Alive? Jessica and
my
son are both bound by the guardians of the gate because of your hunger for power." Jacelynd's strong frame shakes with anger, his form held rigid, his posture defensive.

Trinity looks at me in horror.

"Show him, Jace," I say.

Jace unbuttons his shirt and bares the mark on his chest.

"Iris took me that night because I'd just told her that I was pregnant," I tell Trinity. "She knew Jacelynd would eventually go back to the gate, like he did with his father ages before. She promised them both Jacelynd's and Lucan's souls in exchange for the gift that was supposed to have only passed to me. Blake was right, Iris wasn't born with power in her blood … but she certainly has it now. Iris didn't just set me up, she set us all up."

"I
felt
the Tithe break. I
felt
you die. I heard you scream seconds before." Trinity bravely reaches out to touch my cheek and I'm stunned that Jacelynd lets him.

"Imagine," Jace says, "ten years of never knowing for certain. Of hearing her scream
your
name in agony and being completely unable to reach her." His eyes flare bright green.

Trinity moves to sweep my jaw with his thumb and opens his mouth to speak, but his words don't come and I know that it's because Jacelynd has made it possible for him to see my immortal wounds. He pulls away his hand.

"I knew you'd come, I knew it! I totally said you would." Lucan pushes past me. Trinity scoops him up into his arms, then buries his face in Lucan's shoulder to hide his grief. Lucan's youth is finally evident as he wraps his legs around Trinity's torso and clings to him. For a long moment they stay that way, Lucan's hands gripping Trinity so tightly they lose their color.

"Lucan, there's someone here who you should … " Trinity's voice breaks as he sets the boy back to his feet, keeping his large hands on the boy's shoulders. "Your father is here."

Lucan turns around and eyes Jacelynd. "My real dad? I thought you didn't know my real dad."

Trinity closes his eyes and I'm about to say something to spare Lucan the pain of learning about Trinity's deceit when Jacelynd does the honors.

"We just met," he says. The look that crosses between him and Trinity tells me that Jacelynd means more with this simple phrase than Lucan understands. Jacelynd pulls an iPod from his pocket and hands it to Lucan. "I believe this is yours."

Lucan nods and stares at it in his hands. Jacelynd seems just as lost and unsure what to do as little man, but finally reaches out and touches Lucan on the cheek and crouches down to see him better. They both smile that crooked smile and I think my heart might just fall out of my chest. Not that it would matter … I'm pretty sure I don't have a pulse right now.

"Jess—I mean mom—said that you'd waited for me … "

Jacelynd laughs through his tears and says, "Only for about eight hundred years or so."

Lucan throws his arms around Jacelynd's neck and hugs him. I'm reminded then that Trinity had told Lucan his father had walked out on him and Iris. This is exactly what he needs to hear to begin to repair that damage.

"I'm so sorry, Lucan," Trinity breathes.

Jacelynd, Lucan still in his arms, says, "He didn't know, Lucan." With tears rolling down his face, he looks up at Trinity. "He didn't understand."

Lucan
is back in bed, where he should be at 1 a.m. We've moved into the den, along with Quinn, Blake, Liv and Nico. Trinity mistook Nico for his twin, Oran, at first and that was fun. And bloody. Now we're listening as Quinn fills in the blanks for me on our Celtic heritage. Trinity sits on the couch between Blake and Nico. Quinn leans against the wall behind them. Jacelynd and I are on the love seat, Liv nearby in the recliner.

" … the stories are numerous and run together—enough to fill whole volumes of myth and lore. The druids worshiped our parents as gods. Then, after the druids' time had come and gone, our people were seen as abominations … feared and exiled because of our differences. The religious wars of the human world only made things worse."

Tristan rises to his feet. "That religious persecution led to centuries of our people being burned alive and having their heads lopped off. A great many fled to other countries to escape the massacre."

I can't stop myself from adding, "Like … Transylvania? Isn't that where the stake thing originated?"

They all look at me with censure in their eyes.

"Look," I say, "we have less than twenty-four hours to figure out how to stop my beloved sister from using a certain undead army that
someone
brought forth from the dredges of hell to enslave not just the rest of humanity but every living creature on this planet. Caen told me the army would betray her. He indicated that we're basically on the eve of the apocalypse and there isn't anything we can do to stop what's been set into motion. I don't know about you, but I'm not giving up and I can't recall a single time in the last ten years when my sense of humor hasn't saved my ass. So, spare me the attitude. Besides, with the two of them here together," I motion to Jace and Trinity, "there's enough tension as it is to last until the end of time." Of course, the "end of time" might be tomorrow night.

"We make it to the gate … then what?" Quinn asks. He looks to Trinity as if he has the answer, but I know better.

"You truly broke the Tithe this time, so you're really not connected to either of them?" Blake asks. I nod. "I hate to suggest this but—"

"Oh, hell no. And make myself that vulnerable again? Sorry, boys, you're both on Tithe restriction. I will agree, however, that you all need some of my blood in your system before we go to the gate. You saw that thing at Hades, you know what we're up against."

Jacelynd clenches his jaw.

"I know you don't want my blood because you fear it being evil, blah blah blah. I get it. But, hello, end times warrant a change of plan, don't you think? Plus you're already pimped out with whatever powers the guardians gave you, so … oh. Wait." Now that I think about it, mixing those freakish powers with whatever darkness lurks in my veins probably
isn't
such a great idea.

Jacelynd lifts one brow. "I take it you've realized what a bad plan that is."

"Am I to assume you're useless now without my blood?" I look at Trinity, who folds his arms across his chest.

"I'm not useless," he huffs. "Just less effective than when we were Tithed."

Not. Effing. Happening.
"Then it's basically me and Jacelynd against Iris."

Then an idea comes to me and since I'm not on any sort of mental leash, no one can hear me.
If I can make it to the gate by myself, maybe I can open the gate before Iris does and maybe they'll respond to me. Maybe that's what Caen meant.

Jacelynd says, "I know that look in your eyes and I don't think that's the answer."

"There's no way you know what I'm thinking this time."

"The darkness isn't something you can control. You see where we are after Tristan made the mistake of thinking that." Jacelynd puts his arm around my shoulder and pulls me closer.

"You mean after you both made the mistake of thinking that? That mark on your neck and the one on your chest … you went to the gate. How is what I'm thinking any different? What other choice do we have? Tell me about the gate and the blood. What's the deal there? How does it work?"

"Your blood is like a key—it brings from the gate what you ask of the guardians," Blake says. "Iris, knowing that Trinity has made the trade and created the army, can simply go to the gate and summon it. To pull that kind of force over from the other side, though, will take tremendous strength from her. It'll likely drain her."

What the hell is my sister thinking? "How does she expect to control the army, then? Would it have done the same to Trinity had he summoned the army?" I ask.

"No," Blake says. "Not with your Tithe to him. And I have no idea how she expects to command it. Maybe she doesn't realize what it will do to her."

"That explains why Iris tried to kill me."

"What are our chances of defeating this army?" Liv asks Trinity. "If it makes it over?"

Trinity rubs his forehead with his thumb and forefinger. "A handful of soldiers … maybe a prayer. A whole army … no chance whatsoever. Whoever rules it rules this world in its entirety."

Quinn walks to the back of the couch and leans down to glare at Trinity. "You had no backup plan then, in case the shit hit the fan and you lost control of this demonic force?"

In typical Trinity fashion, he simply ignores Quinn and stares straight ahead with feverish heat in his eyes.

"There has to be a way," I insist. "I refuse to accept that we're doomed."

No one says anything right away. Finally, Liv suggests that we all try to get some rest, we have a lot ahead of us in the morning. I can't argue with that. I mean, we're not exactly making any headway sitting here arguing. Liv and Quinn take one of the guest rooms. Blake and Nico leave for the other two. Eventually, Trinity, Jacelynd and I are alone again. Awkward isn't a strong enough word.

"I have a hotel room nearby," Trinity says. He won't look either of us in the eyes—hasn't for a good two hours or more. The way he stands, his arms slack at his sides, his shoulders slumped, his thumbs hooked into the pockets of his jeans, he seems so lost. Like a child standing in the middle of a room full of broken toys. "You have my cell." He turns to leave.

"Wait," Jacelynd says. "Why don't you stay here with Lucan."

Trinity, still facing away from us, asks, "Why the hell are you doing this? Is it just to highlight for Jessica what an asshole I am?"

Jacelynd appears stunned by his words. "No," he says simply. "And I can't imagine what kind of life you must have lived to even consider that an option."

Trinity finally turns around again, his eyes red and glassy. He's tired so I can see it all over his face. "I took
everything
from you," he whispers. "Your family, your wife, your son. Why don't you hate me?" Knowing Trinity as well as I do, I can't tell if he's pissed that he hasn't gotten to Jacelynd as much as he'd thought he would or if he's genuinely perplexed.

"I did. I've been waiting to avenge my family's death for five hundred years. But I've realized something since meeting Lucan. Do you want to know what?"

Trinity shrugs indifferently.

"The woman I've spent those five hundred years with, whom I worship and adore, doesn't hate you. Without knowledge of your past sins, she respects you. My son loves you like a father. That tells me that somewhere beyond the politics and the personal issues you have with me, there is a different man who perhaps in another life I might have also come to trust and respect. It isn't about us, Tristan. I don't think it ever was. Our parents' world was put to ruin by our ancestors' need for power and control. They brought that need with them and at some point, brought us into their feuds, whether we wanted their blood on our hands or not.

"I know also, without question, that had you been with Jessica all this time, had you married her when you were supposed to, this would never have happened. You wouldn't be who you are now. She brings out the best in people and I doubt you're an exception to that. And she loves humans, even with all their shortcomings and finiteness. She showed me a different side of this world. You would have eventually seen it as well." He walks closer to Tristan. "Not to mention that I've hated you for an act you weren't even present for—blamed you for something that I genuinely thought you knew about before it happened. But you didn't, did you?"

I stare at Trinity, dumbfounded, as he answers.

"No, I didn't know about what had been done to your family until afterwards. I came for Jessica that day because I was grieved by my father's actions. But seeing you with her—realizing that the two of you had been together all along … " his voice trails off and he looks at me in silence for a moment before saying, "I was afraid of the changes in our court. And finding out that I'd lost the only friend I'd ever really had … because of my own arrogance … was too much. My pride was wounded and I took it out on both of you."