The Secret Trinity Unearth
Read The Secret Trinity Unearth Online
Authors: Jenna Bernel
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THE SECRET TRINITY
UNEARTH
Fae-Witch Trilogy, Book 1
By Jenna Bernel
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Table of Contents
THE SECRET TRINITY
UNEARTH
Fae-Witch Trilogy, Book 1
by Jenna Bernel
Copyright © 2012 by Jenna Bernel
This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events or locales are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons living or dead, is entirely coincidental. The author holds all rights to this work. It is illegal to reproduce this novel without written consent from the author herself.
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Cover Photos by istock
Cover Design by J.R. Nelson
Prologue: Six Years Ago
I felt the water start to creep its way down my throat. I had been trying frantically to hold my breath, but my lungs screamed for relief. A searing heat burned my esophagus as the murky liquid filled my insides. But the relief never came, my body greedily demanded oxygen as I flailed and thrashed, desperate to break the surface. Invisible thorny vines angrily wrapped up my legs. They pierced my flesh deeper with every urgent kick, pulling me farther into the depths of the river. My body twitched, my muscles seized, and I slumped in defeat, slipping into unconsciousness. Suddenly, I felt fire scrape across my cheek, as the sand raked over it cutting into my skin. I landed hard on my back, knocking water from my lungs. A tantrum of gagging coughs allowed small pinches of air through, but my breathing was too labored and I couldn’t find the strength to open my eyes. The sun flushed my cheeks in an effort to burn my pale face when someone shook me furiously, calling my name, demanding I wake up. I felt electricity lightly tip-toe down my spine and my heart thud dimly in my ears. For one brief moment, something stirred inside my soul and I slowly lifted my lids to face the light. The sun assaulted my pupils, causing blurry spots across my vision. His shadow cast over me in the perfect cloudless summer day. A flaming black halo framed his hazy face. The angel of death had come to take me away. I felt weakness wash over me, and my eyes rolled into the back of my head falling back into darkness. Somehow, I always thought that when I died it would be at night, under the stars.
Chapter 1: Summer Days
My body was bobbing slowly up and down, up and down, to the rhythm of the water. Everything was quiet except for the sound of my own breath, deep and slow, in, out, in, out. Floating on my back in the water, I was almost completely submerged, but I could feel the hot, summer sun beating down on my face. With my eyes closed, as I concentrated on my breath my mind began slipping into a trance.
The memory was bubbling to the surface just barely in reach. I could start to see his face. Shimmering black flames and an out-of-focus face had been plaguing my dreams since I was twelve. His image was creeping its way back into my vision, and the lines of his jaw were becoming more distinct.
Suddenly, something was yanking me back. “No!” I pleaded with myself, trying to stay focused, but I couldn’t. It was no longer just my breath. I was hearing something else, something muffled in the water. Laughter, or maybe my name?
“Aria, Aria Darwin. Hello. Earth to Aria,” startled, my eyes snapped open, and in one swift movement I repositioned myself vertically in the water until my two best friends, Kayla and Morgan, came into my line of sight.
“Oh, sorry, what were we talking about?” I apologized automatically, as a reflex action. My daydreaming was not uncommon; it had become sort of my bad habit trademark. This certainly was not the first time I had dazed away into la-la-land on them.
I could tell Kayla was annoyed because she had called me Aria. The only people who normally called me by my full name were strangers. Otherwise, to everyone else I was simply Ari. I shrugged with a slightly sarcastic but apologetic smile and looked up to see Kayla rolling her eyes at me.
She flashed her huge white smile, “Wow, you are ridiculous. It’s really a talent you have, because I don’t know how a perfectly sane person can be in the middle of a conversation, and out of nowhere drift off into her own fantasy world.” I could tell by the mockery in her voice that she had already forgiven me.
Kayla was sitting on the edge of her Dad’s old cream-colored ski boat with a bright orange imitation leather interior. She was sitting on her hands as she slowly swished her feet around in the water. Her dark purple bikini complemented her tanned Italian complexion. I was always jealous that she could get so tan in the summer because my pale skin would burn if I didn’t wear at least three layers of SPF one zillion sunblock. As I contemplated whether it was time for another coat, Morgan, who was wading in the water a few feet away, chimed in.
“Um, you just answered your own question Kayla, by assuming Ari was a sane person.” She gave me a sly grin and dimples on either side of her cheeks appeared.
“We both know that cannot possibly be true. If you had not gone all space cadet on us, you would have answered our question about how you could still be speaking to Doug. What are you thinking? After the way he treated you at the senior prom, you must be insane!”
My defenses went up, “Hey! It’s not like I’m dating him or anything. He just sends me texts once in awhile.” They both threw their heads back in laughter.
“Please! Tell me you’re joking, or should we send you off to the loony bin now, before we leave for college?” Morgan shot back through her laughter. Kayla took this as her queue to contribute to what was becoming a character assassination more than a conversation.
“Yeah Ari, Morgan’s right. I mean the guy is a sleaze ball. You spent most of the prom in tears because of him, and you still give him the time of day! Doug is a loser with a capital L.”
I sneered at her, “Well you’re one to talk Kayla. You’ve had about fifty boyfriends in only four years of high school!” I was exaggerating of course, in an attempt to shift the focus onto someone else’s poor decisions.
Kayla gave me a confident smile, “That’s because I am picky and I bore easily. Unlike you, I don’t let cocky jock jerks walk all over me.”
Morgan breathed out, “Okay you two, break it up. I don’t know why either of you waste your time on men, or should I say boys. It’s a lost cause.” Ignoring Morgan’s comment, I opened my mouth to defend my actions, but instead let out a deep sigh…giving in.
Even though I wanted to prove them wrong, the truth was I am a total jerk magnet. It had been a curse all of my dating life, and I had cried on their shoulders too many times for me to argue otherwise. What was wrong with me? Doug, a football player with a womanizer reputation, asked me to the senior prom, and without even thinking I said yes.
So stupid! It turned out to be one of the worst nights of my life. Doug picked me up in the limo with all of his other football buddies and their dates. All of the guys immediately started downing shots of whiskey on the ride to the dance. They polished off almost the entire bottle before we pulled up to our high school gym.
At first I was having a good time. We were all joking around and sipping punch. I was starting to like Doug and when he asked me to dance, I remember feeling an excited rush of butterflies when he took my hand. But on the dance floor he grabbed at me like a piece of meat, roaming his hands all over me. Then he whispered in my ear with whiskey soaked breath that we should leave to get a room.
Trying to let him down easy I said, “You’ve had a lot to drink. Maybe it is not the best idea tonight. Let’s just enjoy the dance.” He dropped his hands from my waist, stormed off, and ignored me for the rest of the prom.
At some point I called Kayla and Morgan in tears and they quickly drove over to my school to rescue me. We went over to Kayla’s house, where they consoled me as I cried all over my puffy satin gown for the rest of the evening, the one that my Mom had ordered special for the occasion from her clothing boutique.
Feeling the pangs of that memory I suddenly felt a searing heat rise through me, and it was not from the summer sun. The girls were right. What was I, some sort of masochist? Doug was just one of many guys of high school who had treated me that way. Why can’t a funny, sexy, hopelessly romantic guy with a heart-of-gold ask me out?
I wish Morgan and Kayla had gone to my high school. It wasn’t fair. They had each other’s backs for four years while I was left to fend for myself, and I ended up getting steamrolled by jerks.
“Uh oh, we lost her again. Ari come back to us, Ari.” I shook the memory from my head, “Hmmm. Sorry, what were we talking about?”
That was it. Now I had done it. Morgan and Kayla exchanged devilish smiles, and before I could protect myself, they were splashing me wildly. Kayla’s feet were in full swing, thrashing and kicking water in my face. I managed to get a good grip on her right ankle and pulled her down until she fell into the water alongside me. I advanced toward Morgan as she treaded water while pushing bucket-sized splashes at me.
It turned into a full-on head dunking war, every girl for herself, as we laughed, squealed and splashed around. Twenty minutes later, gasping for breath, we all agreed to a three way truce. The sun was just starting to set and Kayla said she had to get the boat home before her Dad sent out a search party.
We climbed into the boat and wrapped up in our warm sun baked towels. I looked over at Kayla as she dried off her dark chocolate brown hair that hung straight and long past her shoulder blades.
She winked at me, “Hang on tight.” The engine puttered at first but soon roared awake as Kayla shifted into gear. Morgan and I knowingly clung to our seats. My head was thrown back from the momentum and I could feel the balmy wind on my face as we pulled away. I took in a deep breath of the river water which smelled of cloves and mushrooms and closed my eyes.
We only had a few more days of summer left. At the end of the week we were leaving home to begin our freshman year of college at the big university in our State’s capital. We would soon be living in a new place, ten times bigger than our small commuter town nestled between rolling bluffs and the river. Excitement washed over me. I could not wait for a fresh start in the city with my best friends.
Chapter 2: Nicknames
Morgan gave me a lift home and we were chatting about our plans for packing when she pulled up to my driveway. I looked out of the dingy passenger side window at the white ranch style house with black shutters flanking the windows and furrowed my eyes.
Morgan must have caught the look on my face because she asked, “What’s up?” as she scrutinized my expression, searching for the answer.