The Secret Trinity Unearth (9 page)

I stayed silent and he gently brought my feet to the ground. When I looked at him and glared, he gave me a cocky smirk. Right then I did want to slap him.

“I did you a favor , you know. Did you want to spend the rest of the night at a police station? You should be thanking me not looking at me like that,” he said.

I gave him a tight smile and said, “thank you,” but my tone was insincere at best. I took my cell phone out of my pocket. It showed that I had a text message. I had hoped it was Kayla telling me they made it out, but it was from my Mom a few hours back.

“I just realized that with you away at college, we won’t have a chance to see the Nutcracker this year. Call me.” She had attached a frowny face on the end of the text to emphasis her disappointment. Before I could erase it and call Kayla, the screen went black. I groaned. Dammit, the battery died!

“Do you have your cell phone with you?” There was resentment in my voice. I did not want to ask a favor of Liam. I was still annoyed with how he had dragged me out of the party.

“Sorry no.” He said looking down at the sidewalk, shoving his hands into his pockets. It was very slight, but I thought his eyes tightened with pain. I let out a soft sigh.

I could not help but ask, “Are you okay?”

He kept his eyes to the ground and shrugged. “I’m fine.” I stepped closer and gently lifted his right wrist, pulling his hand from his pocket. The rush I felt was becoming addictive.

I spread his palm on mine so I could see the back of his hand. His knuckles were red and starting to swell. He must have hit Doug pretty hard. I carefully pressed my index finger on his knuckle and felt his hand stiffen.

“You need some ice, but I don’t think anything is broken.” I spoke in the softest voice I could as my irritation drifted away.

“I think I will live,” he said with a half smile, and pulled his hand from mine.

“Liam,” I said at length, “you did not have to do that. I mean, thank you for getting Doug away from me, but you didn’t need to start throwing punches on my behalf.”

His eyes narrowed slightly, “I did not do it for you. I did it for me. When I saw your bruises last night, it made me sick. The thought of someone else laying a finger on you...” he trailed off shaking his head.

“When I went to the dance floor I spotted you.” His cheek tugged up on one side, recalling the moment, and he took a deep breath.

“I heard you yell his name and the way he was leaning over you, like a drunken pig...I came over to help. When he knocked your drink away I lost it. I would have gotten in a few more blows if the cops had not come. I don’t want him near you, ever!”

The protective edge to his voice took me by surprise. I could not deny that I had feelings for him too but hearing him speak this way made me realize, he wasn’t just flirting, he cared about me.

I felt the overwhelming urge to reach out and kiss him. I wanted him to know I cared too. I put my hand to his cheek and he brought his hand up to hold it there. He turned his face and gently kissed the inside of my palm. The buzzing energy sang through me and he lifted his other hand from his pocket to rest on my hip.

I took a step forward until our bodies were touching from the waist down. I realized where I was heading, that we were taking the next step. I turned his face from my palm, and he gave me a lop-sided grin. He leaned in slowly closing the gap between our bodies. Just as the tips of our noses touched, I snapped my eyes open and pushed back. It was just a flash, but something was wrong.

He looked at me, startled, “What’s wrong? What is it?” I could barely hear him as I was trying to concentrate.

A pulse surged through me and I squeezed my eyes shut while holding my index finger up for him to wait. I saw it again. Burrowed in my mind there was an image of Kayla, looking deeply distressed. She was sitting with Morgan on a sidewalk curb.

“We have to go,” I started looking around to figure out where I was. “I have to find Kayla and Morgan. They need me!” My voice was licked with panic.

He looked at me bewildered, “What do you mean? How do you know?” I knew I had to lie.

“I just know okay? Let’s call it women’s intuition.” I ignored the narrow-eyed look of disbelief he gave me and started walking. I was trying to remember everything surrounding the image that flashed through my mind. The street felt familiar and then it hit me. I had been on that street with my parents at a restaurant.

It was a five minute walk from here in the opposite direction of our dorm. I walked as fast as I could in my strappy sandals. Liam easily caught up and followed alongside me without another word between us.

Minutes later I rounded the street corner and felt giddy when I saw Kayla and Morgan still sitting on the curb. “Kayla!” I yelled out in relief and she whipped her head around to look at me. She jumped up and gave me a crushing hug. “Oh, thank god!” She let go of me and continued.

“We were in the bathroom upstairs when the cops came so we climbed out the window. We jumped down and Morgan twisted her ankle. She’s limping, and she’s still pretty buzzed. I got lost trying to find the dorm and I can’t carry her anymore!” Her voice was thick as she gulped down the stress.

“It’s okay; I know the way back. Let’s go home.” I said, but she looked at me creasing her forehead. “What about Morgan?” she asked. I looked over at Liam with pleading eyes as he was standing behind us.

“Now a thank you is really in order,” he said as he walked over to Morgan and scooped her up in his arms. Kayla looked at me, then him, back and forth for a few seconds as surprised recognition crossed her face. She was so happy to see me she hadn’t even noticed that Liam was here. With glazed eyes Morgan squinted up at the man suddenly holding her.

“You must be the science project.” Her words made me shrink an inch. Kayla had obviously filled her in on our conversation the other day. Kayla giggled under her breath, and Liam looked at me with one eyebrow raised. I shrugged like I had no idea what she was talking about, but I felt the heat rise to my cheeks exposing my lie.

He gave me a playful glare and shook his head with a sigh, “Shall we, ladies?” Kayla hooked my elbow and I led the way back to our dorm.

Chapter 13: Earthquake

When we made it to the front of the dorm, Liam set Morgan down. She insisted that she was fine now and could make it up the stairs on her own. The elevator was still out of order. Kayla opened the door, and I went to follow her when she stopped me.

“Don’t you want to say goodnight to Liam and thank him for carrying Morgan all the way home?” She grinned at me.

I tightened my jaw and gave her a “hell-no” look. Right before my vision, Liam and I were seconds away from kissing. It was a close call, too close.

“I’ll go help Morgan and leave you two alone. Don’t worry, Ari. I won’t tell.” She smiled slyly, thanked Liam, and said goodnight.

She had just told me in so many words it was okay to break our agreement, but even if I did, he would still be going back to Ireland in a few months. I looked at Liam and he smiled.

“Well I have one of your pact members on my side. One to go and you will be out of excuses.” He said. I shook my head and he shrugged.

“Liam, thank you for tonight. I don’t know what we would have done without you.” He raised both his eyebrows and looked at me accusingly.

“That’s it. You’re not going to explain anything? How did you know exactly where they were Ari, and that they needed you? How?” He looked me over.

I was really hoping to avoid this conversation because I did not exactly know how this happened myself. It was another one of my freaky abilities that occasionally surfaced. Because this had something to do with how my mind worked, it was particularly unnerving, and I had never intentionally practiced the skill. It was too scary. It didn’t happen very often, and I tried to brush it off as luck even though deep down I knew there was more to it.

All I could do was shrug, “I really don’t know how. I just knew they needed me.” He smirked, and there was something deep in his grey eyes, something that I couldn’t place.

I shifted my weight feeling extremely uncomfortable, hoping he would drop it. He placed his hand on my hip and brushed the hair out of my face as he pulled me close.

“Okay Ari, I will pretend that I believe you, for now. I think we were interrupted before. Where were we?” He leaned in with his lips parted brushing our noses. I turned up my face to look at him. My expression must have revealed it because he let out a deep sigh.

“You are killing me, Ari. Why can’t you admit that you have feelings for me? Why do you fight it?” His eyes searched mine trying to extract an answer.

“Liam, I know I like you…that is the problem. I just met you and already I have strong feelings, too strong. You are going back to Ireland at the end of the semester. Where would that leave us? If we become more than friends, it would hurt too much when you left.”

Not to mention that he was somehow igniting a new force in me, a powerful energy that was beyond terrifying. He traced his fingertips from my temple to my jaw and cupped my cheek with his hand. I trembled under his light touch.

“I’m leaving the country Ari, not the planet, not you. The moment I saw you, I knew you were special. Don’t you at least want to see where this could go?” I did, but with an ocean between us, I only saw this ending in heartbreak. He must have seen the retreat in my eyes.

“One date Ari. That is all I ask. One evening alone, and I will be a perfect gentleman.” He took his hand off my hip but the lingering touch still gave me a rush.

He stepped back and set his fingers into a salute, stating the seal of his promise. The truth was I wanted to be with him and I could no longer push away my feelings. Putting the pact and future distance aside, I knew I could really fall for Liam.

“Okay Liam, one date. After we get to know each other better as friends first, okay?” I said with a whisper.

A broad smile swept over his face, “I’ll take it. Goodnight my dear.” With that he lightly brushed my cheek with his lips. I closed my eyes and inhaled letting the tingles quiver down to my toes. When I opened my eyes he had already retreated down the sidewalk into the night.

*****

I walked into my building and went straight to the stairs, internally groaning again about the broken elevator. The stairwell was creepy at night, and the florescent lights flickered above reminding me of a horror movie. I climbed the steps quickly wanting to get out of the hot, suffocating environment and crawl under the covers into the safety of my bed.

I was about two flights up when, without warning, the lights went dead and I froze. I was completely surrounded in darkness, no emergency lights, nothing! My eyes struggled to adjust in the sudden pitch black environment. Then a sound caught my attention and my heart started to pound radically as I took heavy breaths. My brain registered faint footsteps echoing up the stairs from below, taunting me. All of the hair on my body stood up at once and a cold sweat broke out across my forehead.

I frantically bolted up the stairs, stumbling in my strappy sandals. I reached out and grabbed at the railing to help guide me through the darkness. The footfalls became louder and faster, mocking me that I didn’t stand a chance against their speed. I came to a stair landing. I didn’t care which floor it was; I desperately had to break out of the onyx surroundings.

I grabbed the handle of the door to the landing but someone pounded a fist above my head, sealing the door shut as I pulled. I tried to scream but he covered my mouth with his other hand, and the scream came out muted in my throat. He wrapped his arm around my waist pulling me back against the wall.

He held me there for a moment, the back of my head pressed against his chest. My heart was beating so hard I could feel it vibrate through my back, or was it his heartbeat thudding in my ears, I couldn’t tell which. Tears started to well in my eyes as a numb fear paralyzed my body. Keeping his hand firmly against my mouth he tilted his head down until I felt his warm breath in my ear.

“Shhhhh, I’m not going to hurt you Ari, calm down.” My eyes went wide. How did he know my nickname? He kept his palm over my mouth while simultaneously spinning me around to face him. My eyes were beginning to adjust to the dark as he brought his face level with mine, but I could only make out the blank shadow of his silhouette. I felt his eyes on me and I thought my heart would explode out of my chest.

“Can I let you go, or will you scream?” He asked, and I slowly nodded my head. He hesitantly took his hand off my mouth. I opened my mouth to scream but it got caught in my throat and instead I choked out a haggard cough.

“What do you think you’re doing?” He spewed out at me. I couldn’t blink. I couldn’t move. I just stood there, paralyzed by his words.

“You need to stay away from Liam McKenna. Do you understand? I don’t trust him. I think he has powerful masking spells placed on him that I can’t pick up. But I know something is off about him. I saw you go after Morgan and Kayla tonight, through a vision, and right in front of him! You must never trust him or ever reveal any of your abilities. It could cost you your life.” His voice was low and gruff with a hint of an Irish accent, like Liam’s.

“Who are you, and what do you know about my…
abilities
?” My voice had choked out sound in a meek quiver. I had never admitted out loud before to anyone that I possessed special gifts.

He scoffed, “It is not your concern to know who I am. I should not even be speaking to you. I am only breaking my orders because you are a ticking time bomb of trouble. I imagined I would get a break after I nailed that Doug creature, but you never fail to disappoint.”

I shuffled back at that revelation until I slammed against the wall. Deep down I already knew it was him, the one who haunted my dreams. I gulped hard and closed my eyes trying to will myself away from here.

“Stay away from Liam, and do not reveal any of your gifts. He could be one of them!” His last words came out boomingly loud, and the walls of the stairwell started to rumble, like an earthquake.