Trinity - Defying Destiny Page 16

  I stood up finally as eyes looked my way, “Well, I guess we should get organized. The coast is a couple of hours drive away,” I said while carefully stepping in between legs and bodies and out of the kind of circle we were all sitting in.

  Nikkee, Sky, Lachlan, and I were in Nikkee’s car while Vex, Garth and Jason were in his. I wanted to be with him, but we had other paths to take.

  I looked at Nikkee’s parents and waved as they saw us all off.

  We had gone back to the main house to wish them a Merry Christmas and open presents. I had received a beautiful silver bracelet with gemstones around the boarder. Sky got the same and so did Nikkee. Her mum told us it was to link us together as we always had been. It was very sweet. We didn’t tell them what we were doing, as the less they knew the better. They did know it was important as we couldn’t join them for Christmas lunch, but they were not put out. They never were. I loved them dearly.

  “It’s platinum,” Lachlan spoke next to me in the back seat.

  “Huh,” I said, looking at him.

  “The ring and the bracelet, it’s not silver, its platinum gold,” the corner of his mouth twitched up in a smile.

  “Oh, I thought it was silver,” I said even though he obviously knew what I was thinking.

  He laughed, “It is easily missed if you don’t know your jewellery,” he pointed out.

  “Well, I have only got Carra’s necklace. Nothing else until now,” I stated.

  “That is platinum too,” he added.

  My hand went to my neck and touched it unconsciously. It always felt warm sitting on my chest.

  Nikkee had backed out and was now following Jason’s car.

  “Did you feel me when I was in the forest?” I asked Lachlan. I had wondered how much they could now feel about me if I concentrated enough.

  “Well, yes and no. I could feel when you had gone to sleep. Only just. Your thoughts and feelings are becoming more and more distant. I myself block you out when it is needed. It’s not hard to do once you get the hang of it,” he told me.

  “I can barely feel Nikkee,” I told them.

  “That could be because you are working so hard on blocking the rest of us out. In time, it just comes natural. And your thoughts and feelings will be just a small feeling in the back of my mind. I can choose when to and not to bring it out, but when you are blocking us all, I don’t really have a choice,” he finished frowning.

  “It’s all so confusing,” I admitted.

  He smiled at me, “It is. See, I mainly feel you when you are screaming, like in your head. It is usually when you are scared, confused and all that.”

  “So you are not too scared and confused Nikkee?” I asked.

  She glanced in the rear vision mirror and smiled. “Yes and no. I feel hungry all the time and I have been struggling with not eating random people, but mostly I say to myself ‘If Sky and Trinity can do it then so can I’,” she said grinning.

  “I am scared,” Sky said from the front seat. “I am scared that I don’t know what I am capable of. Garth said that we would go into a kind of frenzy at the next full moon. We will want to hunt. I am worried I will hunt the wrong thing if I let my wolf take over me completely,” she confessed to us all.

  “Wolves and vampires struggle with the same drive, hunt and eat, only a vampires needs are much greater and we need the blood to survive. It is like the virus changes our DNA code and our red blood cell count drops. You could just get a blood transfusion, but drinking it is the better way, because you still want to eat even after that,” Lachlan said.

  “So it’s like being fed through a tube in the hospital, you still feel hungry even though you are getting food?” I asked.

  “Yes, your mind is still telling you to eat.”

  “So, what about us drinking out of bags. Is that why I still feel hungry because I have not taken it from the vein?” I asked.

  “Yes, exactly,” he replied happy that I have caught on.

  A shiver ran down my spine thinking of my last feed, but then my mouth watered.

  “How soon will I have to feed before I kill someone again?” I asked in a quiet voice.

  “Tonight, and Nikkee as well. She has let it go far too long, longer than you, but she is like you when you first turned. You both don’t act like newborns, but who knows,” he pondered, waving a hand as a matter of fact.

  “Tonight?” I exclaimed. “But we have other stuff to do, stuff more important,” I protested.

  “No, you will both feed before we go,” he said in a stern tone.

  “Why?” I asked.

  “Do you want to kill someone again Trinity?” he snapped, getting angry at my protests.

  I leaned away from him as his words stung; I looked out the car window and saw Jason’s brake lights come on and his car slow.

  “Sorry,” Lachlan said. “Look, you let it go too far and then you couldn’t control yourself. You may not want to feed off someone, but you have to. It’s that simple. The blood bags will tied you both over, like it does with me and Vex, but in the end, we still need fresh blood from the vein.”

  I relaxed my shoulders a little and tried to imagine Vex feeding off someone.

  “Vex can go longer as he is much older. In time, you will be able to withstand the need longer and longer too. Or maybe you won’t be able to because of the two beasts inside you,” he said in a kinder tone.

  I looked back out the front window and saw Jason’s car start to move faster. I frowned.

  “Why do I need to have it for two beasts? Wolves don’t drink human blood?” I pointed out.

  “No, but we do like it fresh from a kill or have our steak raw or even just rare to not arouse suspicion at restaurants,” Sky said adding, “Ally told me,” she finished in a quiet tone.

  I knew Sky was worried for Ally even if she had turned her because she was possessed with magic, but they too had a bond growing and I started to feel guilty that I had over looked Sky’s need to find her. I looked to Lachlan and wondered if I would have the same fear if he were to disappear. I knew I would with Jason; I didn’t even need to ask myself that question. Then the answer came to me without even re-thinking it. Yes, I would, just like how I want to save anyone that was taken by the humans.

  “How did they manage to be taken by humans anyways?” I asked, the thought never crossing my mind until now. I guess it was human of me to think they were as well.

  “Dustin reported that there were a lot of tranquilizer darts around the burnt rubble,” Lachlan answered.

  “So, they what… Shot them like animals?” I asked feeling angry.

  Lachlan looked at me with a ‘you already know’ look. “Yes, that is what we are,” he said in a plain tone.

  “No, we are not,” I said with force.

  He reached a hand up and pinched the bridge of his nose, “Trinity, the sooner you come to terms with yourself the better. You are an animal, so is Sky, Nikkee, Jason, myself, and even your father. The list goes on. We are what we are. We have killed innocent people, we have broken laws, defied the laws of nature. Yes, we are animals and that is that,” he said in a tired kind of tone.

  I crossed my arms over my chest. “Well, we don’t need to act like it or be treated like one,” I said stubbornly.

  He gave a short laugh, “What are you going to do? Change the world and all the minds of the humans so they see us as equals? Humans are scared of what they don’t know and if they are not they will be looking at being turned themselves. And then what? 80% of the world will either be vampire or werewolves so, then we die out because there will not be enough blood for everyone!” he said getting angry. “Sick people don’t want to be sick. They will be the first that will want to change, then there will be the ones that want the strength side of it. Others that are afraid of dying will beg to be turned and the others will be changed because the ones already turned will not be able to live without them. Do you see the problem here? The humans that know, may just want to turn themselves. Alt
ernatively, there could be another reason, like extortion, use us for their own financial gain. Sell our blood to the military. The options are endless and very much within their grasp now that they have some of us. We may be monsters or animals, but there is only so much pain the mind can take before it cracks,” he finished.

  “Would it be so bad that our blood could help some people?” I asked.

  “No, it wouldn’t if you could explain the miracle. Are you going to give blood to a person dying of cancer and then they are miraculously is cured? Don’t you think they will test the blood to try and find out what cured the patient?” he asked in a clipped voice.

  “But the Prophecy said I would bring us out of hiding, I think this is the path we are already taking,” I pointed out to his argument.

  “Maybe, but you also don’t know that it can be fixed either.” He sighed, “One thing at a time, first we will get you and Nikkee fed. Next we will see what we can find out at the club and third, try to fix this mess and kill as many of those humans as we can.”

  A lump formed in my throat and my eyes met Nikkee’s in the rear vision mirror. The look of terror was all over them and the feeling stabbed me in the gut along with my own fears. Kill as many as we can. I didn’t want to kill anyone. However, deep down I knew that was not going to be possible. Who knew how many people knew, and why. One thing I knew was I didn’t want to live the rest of my life hiding and looking over my shoulder and I didn’t want that for my friends either. I knew what I would have to do to ensure this, but it didn’t mean I had to like it.

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  The car ride was long, but Nikkee put the stereo on and we mostly sat in silence the rest of the way. I knew both Sky and Nikkee were feeling the same as me, scared. I didn’t know about Lachlan, but then again, he had been dealing with danger and enemies a lot longer. I only wish he would remember that when he snapped at me or criticized my innocent hopes that things could be resolved by just talking it out rather than killing people.

  My life seemed to go from one extreme to the next.

  Nikkee pulled into the Sheraton Hotel again, the same one we stayed at last time we were in Surface Paradise. We parked the car, hopped out and took our bags up to the check in desk. Nikkee went to pay, but I handed my card over first showing her an enormous grin. It felt so good to be able to pay for things.

  Lachlan was in a different room than us, but on the same floor in the room next to ours. Nikkee seemed a little put out by this, but it had been Garth that called up to book us in and I grinned to myself knowing why we were all in separate rooms. My guess is Jason would also not be with us. However, that didn’t mean he couldn’t be.

  “What?” Nikkee asked as we stepped off the elevator on the ninth floor.

  “Nothing, just thinking of Garth and his reason for putting the girls in separate rooms to the boys,” I laughed with Nikkee and Sky while Lachlan just walked up ahead.

  “I bet it feels strange having a dad now,” Sky said.

  “Yeah, it is but I am not sure I see him fully as a dad. Don’t get me wrong, in Paro I needed him more than ever with my meltdowns, but I don’t know, it’s strange considering he only looks like he’s about fifteen years older than me,” I pointed out.

  “Yeah, well, try crushing on a guy that is hundreds of years older than you and then worrying that if you pushed for anything that he is going expect to have you… you know,” Nikkee said blushing.

  We stopped at the door and opened it with our swipe key noticing Lachlan was already in his room. He opened the door looking out, “We will head out in a few hours, rest, get ready and calm your nerves,” he said in a better tone than normal. It was almost as if he was being sympathetic to our situation. He flashed Nikkee a grin and then closed the door.

  I knew what was coming so I blocked her out as best I could. Only feeling slight affections towards him, but not enough to feel them myself.

  I opened the door and walked in. “I know what you mean. I feel the same with Jason especially after Sky…” I trailed off.

  Sky dumped her bags on the floor in the open plan kitchen and living room. “It’s ok; I know what you are saying. I rushed into it with Mark,” she said with sadness.

  I walked over, took her hand, steered her to the couch, and sat us down. Nikkee sat on the other side and grabbed her other hand.

  “I don’t think you rushed, well maybe, but we all thought Mark was a good guy. Ok, Nikkee didn’t really like him all that much, but he had been a best friend of mine since before you two and I thought it was a perfect match as well. Don’t beat yourself up over it. He is to blame, not you. He betrayed us all, but you most of all,” I said.

  Sky pulled her hands out from ours, covered her face, and just started crying hard.

  Nikkee and I leaned in hugging her. “I… just… feel… stupid,” she said in between gasps.

  She had been holding herself together all this time and it was just too much. It needed to come out so she just let it flow. Sometimes there was nothing like a good cry to dry out all the things that had bugged you or upset you so much.

  We let her cry until her tears dried and then hugged her tighter.

  “It does sit in the back of my mind what happened with you and Mark. But I am just scared in general. I don’t want to rush, but I worry that Jason will want more from me since he is more… experienced,” I told her smiling gently.

  “Same with me. Lachlan has been around a long time and I worry I will not live up to what he, well, I have no experience,” Nikkee admitted.

  Of course, we knew all this. We had often talked about our virginity and who has kissed a boy and who hasn’t.

  “Jason is my first boyfriend, and yet I think… I think I love him. I am not sure how to explain it, but it just feels so right, like we have been together for a long time. Being so close to him makes me think of these things, which I had never really thought about. But I don’t want to jump into anything, no matter how much my body screams at me because I want to be sure,” I said.

  “Did it hurt?” Nikkee blurted out with a cringed look on her face.

  “Oh bloody hell, it did. But it got better. I was so nervous and so was Mark,” she did a half smile, “He was just as nervous. The first time was just painful, but the more we did it the better it got. I just…” she choked a little and more tears started slowing rolling down her cheek. “I can’t stop thinking about him. I really liked him, but I didn’t like how he changed me. I thought about you both all the time. That night I was turned, I saw you and so did he. I went to run ahead, but he pulled me back, told me to let it go. I couldn’t,” she said, looking to me then to Nikkee, “I missed you both so much, but he was making it hard for me to be with you. I felt so torn. On one hand, I had my best friends and on the other a guy, I was so smitten with. I couldn’t choose, I didn’t want to and yet he made me. I should have known then he was no good,” she covered her face with her hands again.

  “It’s ok, Sky. Let’s just hope your next guy won’t make you choose. And if he does I will kick his ass,” I proclaimed.

  “Here, here,” Nikkee added.

  She looked back up with wet cheeks grinning, “I don’t want another boyfriend,” she sobbed.

  “Who said anything about a boy, we need to get you a wolf friend. They are so much better from what I have heard,” Nikkee said grinning.

  “Where did you hear this?” I asked laughing.

  “In the training room. Sky has actually got a bit of a fan base with the guys,” she said wagging her eyebrows.

  “Well, I am off the market,” Sky said smiling. Then her face dropped again, “If I see Mark, I am going to punch him in the face, and kick him in the jewels.”

  “I will hold him for you,” I replied with a grin.

  “Me too,” Nikkee said.

  “You know what we need?” I announced.

  “What?” they both asked, looking at me with eagerness.

  “Coffee, shower, and then a nice cold
beverage.”

  We had gone back down to the street crossing the road to the coffee shop and got four large lattes since Lachlan had stalked us. We then went to the bottle shop and got some cans of rum and coke as well as some lime flavoured Cruisers.

  The afternoon was slipping away as we went back into our room. Lachlan abandoned us once again. Something seemed to be bothering him. I needed to talk to him and find out what was wrong, but I had bigger things to worry about.

  The coffee was welcomed as we sat on the veranda that looked out towards the ocean. We sat in bliss trying to not think about much at all. I was terrified of feeding on someone, but Nikkee had reassured me that I would be fine.

  I looked in the mirror, swiped my hand across my face looking at myself. My eyes were normal and so where my claws, but my feelings and nerves were on high alert, yet I was not changing. I smiled. My hair still wet and clinging to my skin with a towel wrapped around me, I looked normal.

  A knock came from the door and in that split second, my eyes blazed blue, as I knew who it was. I bit my lip. Should I invite him in? My stomach fluttered and my pulse raced.

  I heard a slight laugh and then a thud on the door. I walked over and slowly opened it to see Jason’s head resting on it and moving with it as it opened. His eyes flicked to me and I sucked in a breath. His move was fast and he closed the door and had his arms around me in a blink of an eye pressing his lips hard to my own and then moving my mouth open with his.

  I sagged in his arms. One of his hands went to the base of my back and the other on my damp shoulder blade where my wet hair still clung to me.

  I breathed in his scent, felt every muscle as my hands moved under his shirt feeling my way up his hips to his chest then around to his back. A growling sound came from deep in his throat as he kissed me harder with a hunger only my kiss could ease. He broke our kiss and leaned his forehead against mine breathing heavy.

  “You’re killing me Trinity,” I went slightly stiff at his words. My body got a rush from head to toe. The nerves were taking over and I knew it was showing.