The Secret Trinity Unearth (23 page)

“Ari, how could you have known? I mean, how could anyone believe this? We were all deceived.” Kayla sat upright on the couch. She was looking at my hands. She stood up and walked over to me in front of the fireplace. She looked at the side of my head, and then my dirty clothes and bare feet.

“We heard about your birth parents…are you okay? I mean, are you going to be okay?” She corrected herself, resting her hand cautiously on my shoulder like I would break. I looked to the floor and nodded. I could only nod.

A gasp from the staircase broke the intense moment and everyone whipped their heads up to find the source. Standing on the stair landing was a short woman with long, mousey brown hair. Her hand was covering her mouth with shock.

“My goodness, look at you,” she said looking directly at me. She quickly came down the rest of the stairs walking right up to me and Kayla returned to the couch. The woman was taller than me, but only by an inch, and she looked at me with pain in her eyes.

“Are you all right? What happened to your head?” She spoke as if we had met before and I struggled to respond.

“She is fine, Mother. It is just a bump.” Clay answered for me and I whipped my head around to look at him, but he refused to meet my eyes.

“Go get her some ice and see if Fiona will help. We do not want it to swell.” She spoke to Clay with great authority even though his athletic build and six foot frame suggested he could pick her up with his thumb. He walked to a swinging door in the corner of the great room and disappeared through the other side without a word.

“I am sorry. You will have to excuse my son. I am always telling him to be more careful, but he was always our wild child,” she explained. This took me aback considering Clay had come across to me as very serious and all business.

“Um, Clay didn’t cause this. The Famorii did,” I told her, not knowing why I felt the need to defend him.

“Have we met?” I asked now, knowing full well I now had many people in my life who I didn’t know were in my life.

“Oh, no,” she smiled, “how rude of me. I have heard so much about you, I feel like I know you. I am Clay’s mother, Aileen O’Flaherty. Welcome to our home.” The Eartha Queen took my hand and gave it a gentle pump.

Clay returned through the door with an ice pack in hand, and an older woman with deep wrinkles and a wide face was at his side. He handed the ice pack to Aileen and returned to stand a few feet behind me with his arms crossed, jaw clenched.

The woman’s deep crows-feet eyes were all over me. She tilted her head back and forth examining me, and I took a step backward feeling uncomfortable with her scrutiny.

Behind me Clay let out a sigh, “Fiona’s making her nervous, Mother. Don’t forget, she knows nothing of our world yet.” Clay scoffed, and Aileen’s eyes flashed with understanding. How is it he is so in tune with my emotions and yet he enjoys irritating me so.

“I’m sorry, Aria, please do not feel nervous. You are safe here. This is Fiona.” She gestured to the old woman now fixated on my head wound.

“She is a Witch who is wonderful with healing spells that can help you with your injury,” Aileen explained, pointing to my head gash. “Is that alright, Aria? She’ll have to touch you in order to conduct the spell.”

I just nodded numbly. What else would be thrown at me tonight? Fae, Famorii, and now Witches. I wondered if I am still sleeping, experiencing a long, elaborate, horrifying dream.

The Witch smiled at me trying to put me at ease and then she slowly raised her hand to my head. Her palm rested gently over the cut, but it still stung and I cringed. She began to chant words in a language I had never heard and itchy warmth spread over my head. She dropped her hand and stepped away.

“That ought to do it. You’ll have a headache but the wound is sealed and should heal quickly,” she smiled with pride.

“Thank you Fiona, I am sure Clay woke you. Please don’t let us further interrupt your night.” Aileen’s words were so graceful and thoughtful. She seemed much more regal than Clay and I wondered why.

The Witch made the slightest bow to Aileen and exited back through the swinging door. Aileen tenderly rested the ice pack to my head and her nurturing touch made me miss my parents back home.

“Thank you. I can take it,” I said bringing my hand up to replace hers. “I am Aria Darwin. It is nice to meet you.”

I tried my first smile of the evening since this horror movie began, but it felt fake and I hoped I did not seem insincere. She smiled back, and the pitied look in her eyes made me suspect that she knew more about me than I knew about myself.

“Why don’t you have a seat,” she said leading me to sit next to Morgan on the couch. She sat down across from us, next to Grant, who immediately straightened up because of her presence. We sat there for a few moments until Aileen broke the silence.

“Clay dear, please sit down. You make me anxious when you stand guard like that.” She said shaking her head. I looked up at Clay and realized that predator stance was his guard pose. All of the times I had seen him in the shadows, dark and prowling, I had feared his powerful energy.

Now it dawned on me that I was not the prey but anyone who dared hurt me was. I am such an idiot. I should never trust my instincts again. Clay uncrossed his arms and half sat on the arm rest of the couch next to me.

“You girls must be exhausted,” Aileen said looking at Morgan, then Kayla. “Grant, will take you them to the guest cottage to get some rest,” Aileen suggested.

“We do not need sleep. We need the next plane ticket home.” Kayla replied back.

“I am afraid that is not possible.” Aileen corrected in a soft but solid voice.

“Why?” Kayla asked, sitting up a bit straighter ready to take on this argument. Before Aileen could answer I remembered something.

“Is that what Liam meant in the tunnel when he said you can hide, but you cannot run?” I wondered out loud. I looked to Clay. He nodded and I sucked in a sharp breath.

“The Famorii King is very powerful not only in his abilities but with his money and connections as well. He has eyes all over the land, along with an army of followers here in Ireland. He will no doubt be monitoring every possible means of transportation out of the country. Now that he has you here he would create a hurricane or colossal monsoon before he would let you go. We will have to come up with another way to smuggle you off the island.” Aileen’s voice was confident but her eyes were not. Her explanation had been directed solely at me, and I was not the only one who had noticed.

“I do not understand. What does he want with Ari? What is the obsession?” Kayla asked.

Aileen pressed her lips tight, “I think Aria deserves to hear that from my husband first. Grant, please take Morgan and Kayla to the cottage to get some rest,” Grant jumped up at her command but Kayla and Morgan did not move. I closed my eyes briefly and took a deep breath.

“It’s okay, I will be fine. You guys should get some sleep. I will tell you everything over breakfast tomorrow. I promise; no secrets anymore.” I stood up to try and move things along. I wanted to meet Clay’s father and get everything out on the table.

The girls slowly stood up. I was stunned when Grant held his hand out to Morgan and she laced her fingers in his without hesitation. Grant led her and Kayla to the swinging door of the kitchen.

They both paused and looked back at me hesitantly, “I will join you in a little while,” I said reassuringly, and they disappeared through the door. Aileen stood up, and looked up and down at me.

“Clay, you should take Aria to your old room to get cleaned up. Your father will be very upset if he sees her like this. I do not want to get him over-excited.”

I looked at Clay and I saw his adam’s apple move slowly up and down. He had gulped hard at his mother’s request. It looked like he was choking back anger, but I didn’t see what the big deal was about seeing his old room. “Come with me,” he said in an aggravated tone while walking toward the staircase.

“Thank you, Mrs. O’Flaherty. My head is feeling much better,” I handed the ice pack back to her and started to follow Clay. Now that my feet had warmed every step stung from the road rash on my soles. It was a good thing I was a dancer used to callused sore feet, or this would have been much more painful.

“Please call me Aileen,” she called out from behind as I went up the stairs.

Chapter 29: Meltdown

The second floor of this enormous log home was just as grand as below. The hallway was wide and long, with half a dozen doors on either side. Clay strode down it like he owned the place and turned to face the very last door on the right. He hesitated for a moment before he turned the knob. When the door swung open and he flicked on the light, I followed behind astonished by the décor. His childhood bedroom looked like it belonged to a little boy with a big imagination.

The walls were painted with big starbursts and planets scattered all over in a range of bright colors. A plastic spaceship bed was against the wall. A lounge chair sat next to the bed and the shelves behind it were scattered with toys and children’s books.

I looked up at the ceiling and it was painted black with hundreds of glow in the dark stars just like my room back home. I smiled my first real smile of the night. This would have been my dream room when I was little.

“Nice, I would have pegged you as more of a jungle theme kind of guy,” I looked over at Clay with a sly grin. He narrowed his eyes at my sarcasm and did not say a word.

“You know, people might warm up to you better if you did not act like such a robot,” I said feeling irritated.

Clay sighed deeply, “The bathroom is through there,” he pointed to the door in the corner with a monotone that only further proved my robot theory. I stomped to the door shutting it loudly behind me.

When I turned on the light in the bathroom, I saw that the space theme continued on the shower curtain and glow stars scattered the ceiling. I took a few deep breaths resting my palms flat on the cream-colored countertop with my head down. I stared at the sink for a long time trying to regain a sense of calm.

The vanity mirror in front of me was taunting me. I did not know if I was ready to see what condition I was in. If my clothes were any indication I knew it would not be good. I slowly raised my head and let my eyes follow, finally taking in my reflection.

My blonde hair looked ratty, with dried streaks of blood seeping down from the head wound. My eye makeup was smeared, and you could see the streaks where the icy water had hit my cheeks. My wrists had red rings of rope burn from struggling against the ties and my clothes were tattered, covered with dirt from the tunnel.

Then I saw the trinity necklace Liam had given me showcased in the middle of my chest. The lustrous emerald gemstone in the center still sparkled, untouched. I looked in my eyes. The green color matched the gem perfectly except my eyes held no trace of shine or sparkle, only emptiness and pain. The tears began as raindrops slowly trickling down my cheeks, but soon they cascaded into a salty streaming fountain spilling out in every direction from my eyes. I had trouble catching my breath again.

I looked at the necklace and frantically tried to unclasp it. I could not bear to look at it another second. It was as if Liam was choking me to death with his present, laughing at me. It finally came free and I threw it to the ground. I took in a loud breath. It felt like I had been kicked in the stomach and my knees buckled. I collapsed to the ground escaping my reflection. The pain of my tears was deep, a pain I never thought possible, yet somehow I knew I had felt it before.

I curled up into a fetal position on the bathroom floor clutching my hands over my heart. I was afraid it had shattered into tiny pieces and would fall out one shard at a time if I didn’t protect it. My birth parents were dead, my love has betrayed me; my whole life was a lie. I couldn’t breathe.

I shut my eyes tight trying to think of something else, anything but the pain of loss; the excruciating pain of my heart breaking, but all I could see was his face, Liam’s face; the man who destroyed me. Our relationship had evaporated with the blink of an eye and now it was nothing. The bathroom rug was wet with my tears and my head was throbbing again. A shadow cast over me on the floor. I did not look up from the ground. I knew it was Clay.

I was sobbing so hard I hadn’t even heard him open the door. I wanted to stop crying. I did not want anyone to see me like this, but I couldn’t. The flood gates were open and all of the denial that kept me protected had been violently ripped away, exposing raw emotion underneath. Instead I settled for covering my face with my hands in an attempt to conceal my tears.

Clay was silent when he bent down and lifted me up, holding me tight against his marble chest. My ear was pressed to his heart and I was getting wet eye make-up all over his shirt but he said nothing of it. He carried me to his childhood bed and laid me down in it, gentler than he had been toward me all night. I heard him leave the room, and when he returned, he flipped the light switch off shutting the door.

“It has been a long night. You will see my father in the morning,” he stated. I wanted to protest, but the room was silent except for my tears and I knew he was right. I had reached my physical and emotional limits on this night.

After a while I found the strength to unbury my head from my arm and the dark room glowed with the stars on the ceiling. It was beautiful. I shifted onto my back and suddenly noticed Clay’s outline in the lounge chair next to me. His breathing was deep like he was asleep, but I could not tell for sure.

I looked up at the ceiling and tried to pretend I was home in my own bed, looking at my stars. It helped calm me a little, giving a bit of comfort, and the tears had lessened some. I stared upward for a long time and eventually my eyelids grew heavy and closed. As I allowed exhaustion to take over, I drifted off to sleep with only one thought stirring in my head. I would never fall in love again.

Chapter 30: Family Ties