Shiela Stewart - [Darkness 05] Read online

  Cooper stood, sliding his hands into his pants pockets. “Will you never forgive me?”

  Basil shrugged. “Have I ever forgiven my father for what he did to me?”

  Cooper’s face fell. “It isn’t fair to compare me to him.”

  Basil kept his face blank. “No. From where I stand I see a great deal of similarities.”

  “I never harmed you.”

  “Define harm,” Basil countered evenly.

  Cooper said nothing for a moment. “Perhaps you ought to look at your not so stellar past to see if you have a right to judge me. I’ll be out of your hair now.” Grabbing the remainder of his clothing, Cooper vanished.

  That was another thing Basil wasn’t used to.

  Grinding his teeth, he turned and jumped at finding Trinity’s there The look on her face said it all. “Do not side with him.”

  “I’m not. But I have to say that I am a bit baffled as to why you’re so angry at him. Okay, I know he lied to you all these years. Still…”

  “That’s not enough of a reason?”

  “Not for you. There’s more.” She walked to him, sliding her fingers along his face. “Talk to me.”

  He took her hand in his, pulled it from his face, then kissed her palm. “How much did you overhear?”

  “Enough.”

  “If I were a paranoid person, I might think you’re spying on me.” He smiled halfheartedly. “He was surprised that I compared him to my father. Yet, from where I stand, they are the same.”

  “How?”

  He closed his eyes, drew in a long breath before he spoke. “When I didn’t behave as they wanted, they both resorted to taking over my mind, and it makes me wonder, how many times in the past has he done that to me?”

  “Oh, Basil.”

  He released her and took a step back. “I need some time alone.” He disappeared, leaving Trinity standing alone.

  Chapter Seventeen

  What had their life become? In the span of a year she had lost the man she loved due to infidelity, tried to stop innocent girls from losing their lives, reunited with her love, fought to stop the sun from being stamped out, had her best friend captured and turned into a vampire, lost a friend and gained several more…

  Gave birth to a daughter she only had but a moment to get to know before that daughter had been stripped from her arms.

  And here she was now, standing all alone in the kitchen, wondering what she wanted to fill her empty belly with and knowing it wasn’t hunger that made it ache but loss. She felt the walls that had threatened to crash down on her when she’d lost her family begin to crumble once more. She was so damn tired of trying to hold them up.

  “There you are. Where is Basil?”

  She turned to see Danny and Starla entering the room. They were a cute couple. “Out. What’s up?”

  “We did the locators spell again, like Basil asked. He should be here for this. Can you get him?” Danny inquired as he headed for the fridge.

  “Make yourself at home,” Trinity muttered and mentally called out to Basil. She hoped he’d had enough alone time. She was very worried about him. This situation with Cooper was just enough of a catalyst for him to go off and do something stupid.

  “It was my home for a while. Remember?” He waved the chicken leg in his hand before he finished. “Incarcerated in the dungeon.”

  “This isn’t the time, Danny,” Starla stepped in.

  “You called?”

  Starla jumped when Basil appeared beside her. “Sweet goddess!”

  “Sorry. Didn’t know we had company,” Basil apologized.

  “Starla and Danny have some news for us,” Trinity informed him, laying her hand on his shoulder. “You okay?”

  He waved it off. “Fine. What sort of news?”

  “I tried the locators spell again on the outer limits of Jacob’s Cove and got the same message. His trail ends at the barrier of the darkness.”

  “So what does that mean?” Trinity wanted to know.

  “Let her finish,” Danny quipped, then dug into the chicken.

  Trinity narrowed her eyes at him but let Starla continue.

  “I was frustrated so I contacted my mother and High Priestess Essema—I also talked to them about your mother,” she said to Basil. “But I’ll get to that in a minute. Chaos was in contact with the Dark Mystics again. My auntie said they were very cryptic, which isn’t anything new, but all they really told her was that he is under their care.”

  “What the fuck does that mean?” Basil grumbled.

  Starla shrugged. “That was all they would give her without her having to give them something in return. She wasn’t willing to sell her soul. Sorry.”

  “We know more now than we did a day ago, so thanks.” Trinity nodded to Starla. “Now, what about Basil’s mother?”

  “We have a spell,” Danny mumbled, his mouth full.

  “What Danny means is my mother and High Priestess Essema were able to give me a spell I can use to contact your mother. Um…it has some risks, but nothing that can’t be remedied.”

  “Starla could end up a brain dead, babbling beauty,” Danny stated, setting the remainder of his chicken leg on the table to walk to her. “Which is why I don’t want her to do it.”

  “It’s a small risk, as I reassured you, sweetie. I’ll be fine.”

  “A small risk is still too much of a risk, sweetie. I’m not willing to lose you.”

  “You won’t lose me.”

  “I hate to break up this lovely moment, but…” Trinity glared at them. “How small of a risk?”

  Starla held up her index finger and thumb, a thin space apart. “About this much.”

  “It’s too big of a risk,” Danny insisted.

  “Which is my decision to make,” she emphasized.

  “Explain the spell to me. We’ll decide what to do from there,” Basil added firmly.

  Starla let out a long breath, placed a finger to Danny’s lips to stop him from speaking, then began. “It’s a complicated spell which involves me putting myself in a trance in order to call out to the Realm of Mystics.”

  Trinity cocked her head to the side. “How do you mean ‘call’?”

  “Essentially, I give my being to the mystic realm, which enables me to appear in the Realm to speak to your mother.”

  “Now tell them what you need to do in order to bring her down in order for Basil to speak to her.”

  Starla speared Danny a nasty look. “I need to hold onto her and keep a firm hold while I will my body back to this realm.”

  “In doing so, your mother could fry her circuits. We’ll come up with another plan.”

  “I want to do this.” Starla gritted her teeth.

  “It’s too dangerous,” Danny snarled.

  “I agree.”

  All heads turned to Trinity. “It is too dangerous for you. But not for me. Tell me how to do this spell and I’ll grab her.”

  “No.” Basil stepped into her view. “I’ll do it.”

  He was sweet for trying to protect her. “I have powers you don’t, Basil. I can do this.”

  “I don’t want you to do this.”

  “Even if it means finding out where she has our daughter?”

  “You’re asking me to choose and that’s not fair.”

  She kissed his mouth. “Then let me decide.” She turned back to Starla. “How soon can you start teaching me how to do the spell?”

  “Trinity—”

  She held her hand up to stop Basil.

  “As soon as you like,” Starla added cautiously.

  “Perfect. Then let’s get rolling.” Trinity turned to Basil and, taking his face in her hands, kissed the angry lips snarling at her. “I love you. Trust me to do this
.”

  “Oh, I trust you. I just don’t trust my mother.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  Gabriella just couldn’t get over the never-ending darkness. It was eerie, to say the least, but she also felt a void, as if nothing else existed. And that scared her.

  Once upon a time she had thrived on the business of strangers. It was rare that she didn’t strike up a conversation with a customer at the flower garden shop she had worked at. She loved to interact with the people, loved hearing their stories.

  She missed that.

  She missed having anyone to talk to.

  Oh sure, Trinity was being very kind to her, but it wasn’t the same. One person was nice, but more was better.

  “Well, well, well.”

  She spun around, her heart pounding in her chest as she gazed into the yellow eyes of a monster.

  Along with the ten others surrounding her.

  She hadn’t even heard them approach. Cooper had always told her how keen his senses were. Shouldn’t hers be the same?

  “Ain’t she a pretty one?”

  “Ripe.”

  “New.”

  “Please…just let me be,” her voice quivered.

  “Oh sure, no problem, darling.” The monster jumped at her so fast she screamed. “Right after we’re through with you.”

  His breath was rancid and made her gag. His hands on her made her stomach roll. She knew perfectly well what they had in mind to do to her.

  She wasn’t going to get away.

  “I wanna taste her. Give her to me.”

  She was tossed across the circle of men and grabbed by another monster with hair as long as hers and lips painted as black as his hair. When he pulled her against his chest, she felt his erection press into her back.

  He ran his tongue over her neck to her cheek and she thought she might vomit.

  “Tasty.”

  “Let me try her out.”

  Once again, she was tossed across the circle and, this time, grabbed by a brute of a man with a beard coated in what appeared to be blood. His eyes were a deeper yellow and looked more animal than vampire. When his hand came up to clasp her face, his long nails scraped her chin.

  “Smells real pretty. I love the smell of fear.”

  “Please, don’t hurt me,” she begged in a voice that seemed much to weak for her liking.

  “Well, sweet cakes, I’m afraid I’m not going to be able to do that,” the bearded man growled against her ear. “I get off on hearing my victims scream. If you know what I mean.”

  He laughed and her entire body tightened up.

  “Leave her be.”

  He swiveled only his head, his nails biting into her chin as he tightened his grip. “Fuck off, buddy.”

  “I think not.”

  “Cooper?” She recognized his voice, that strong, sophisticated voice of his and had never been happier to hear it.

  “Let the lady go and no one has to get hurt.”

  She cringed as the ring of men laughed in a loud, bellowing song.

  “She’s our treat but whatever is left of her when we’re done you are more than welcome to have. Right, boys?”

  “Definitely.”

  “Oh sure.”

  “Now, fuck off.”

  Suddenly, the beast’s hand slid from her face and the arm around her waist loosened. Baffled by it, she jerked away but realized she had nowhere to go.

  Then one by one, the animals backed off, turned, and walked away. Stunned, she watched them slowly saunter off.

  Cooper grabbed her arms and spun her to face him. “Are you all right?”

  She was shaking like a leaf. “I…think so.” What had just happened?

  “Did they harm you?” He touched her face, examining her.

  “No, well…nothing extreme. I was so scared.” Her legs wobbled and he was right there holding her up. “What happened?”

  He sat with her on the cold grass, rubbing his hands over her arms. “You were attacked by a gang of animals.”

  She looked up into Cooper’s blue eyes, saw the sincerity in them. “No, not that, I know what happened to me. What happened to them?”

  “I convinced them to move on. Your cheek is bleeding.”

  Her hand lifted to the sting, carelessly. “How exactly did you convince them?”

  “With my mind.” He pulled a handkerchief from his jacket pocket to dab at her wound.

  “You used mind control on them?”

  “Yes. This should heal up nicely in no time.”

  She shook his hand away, realizing what he’d said. “But you told me you never used that ability.”

  “Normally, I don’t.” He dabbed at the wound again.

  “But you did just now, and the other day on Basil.” She pushed him away and stood. “When else have you used it?”

  He stood with her, handing her the cloth. “Never.”

  She waved the cloth away. “Have you ever used it on me?” She had to know.

  “Never! Oh, Gabriella, how could you think such a thing of me?”

  The hurt in his voice was genuine. “How can I be sure that you’ve never used it before now?”

  “Trust in me that I tell the truth.” He took her hand in his, pressed it to his heart. “I vowed to you that I would never use my powers of persuasion on you, or anyone else I love, and I never have.”

  “Until now.”

  “Yes. What I did just now was to save your life. We were no match for the ten of them. What else was I supposed to do?”

  She gave it some thought. “Once again it comes down to you thinking what you do is best for me.”

  He blinked at her a few times before responding. “Would you have rather I left them to have their way with you?”

  “No!” That was not what she meant.

  “Then what would you have had me do?”

  “Call someone to help us.”

  His brow lifted, making his face look even more distinguished. “And in the time it would take for them to show up both of us could have been killed.”

  “Maybe not.”

  “Gabriella.”

  She waved a hand in his direction, then began to walk. “My brain is so…cloudy. My thoughts are so erratic at times and my heart…oh Lord, my heart is so utterly torn.” She turned back to him, saw he still stood in the very spot she’d left him at. “My heart tells me to go to you, to take you back, but my head says otherwise. I question everything you do now. This was never what I wanted for us. I never once questioned you in all the time we were together.”

  “You need not question me now, my darling.”

  She snorted. “No? Yet I do. I trusted you to care for me, to see to me, to protect me, and what do you do? You turned me into your kind.”

  “And gave you life.”

  She nodded, chewing on her lip. “True, but what sort of life is it when I’m without the one I love. When I have no one to be with, no friends, no work, nothing. I live in darkness now and each and every day I feel it creeping into my heart.”

  He walked to her so casually that she could have easily brushed him aside. Yet she didn’t. She let him take her hands in his. “When I thought I could never love, there was you. When I thought no woman could possibly love me, you proved me wrong. When I feared I would be swallowed by my trauma, you showed me the way. You shone light into a dark heart and now I will do the same.”

  He kissed her softly and she melted into him. She wanted nothing more than to let him sweep her off her feet, but her head told her otherwise. She pulled away and drew in a deep breath. “Please, Cooper. Don’t push me.”

  Turing away, she ran to the house.

  ***

  “I still don’t like this.”
/>
  Trinity heard Basil’s proclamation but let it wash over her like a cool breeze. She’d heard it at least a dozen times already. He had yet to change her mind.

  “Okay, so now what do I do?”

  “Close your eyes and concentrate on your breathing,” Starla instructed softly.

  Sitting on the living room floor, legs crossed in front of her, Trinity did as Starla asked. She always thought it was foolish when people said they meditated. What was the purpose to sit absolutely still and listen to your breath whoosh in and out trying for some calm that—

  “Stop thinking or this won’t work.”

  Trinity opened her eyes and frowned at Starla. “How did you know I was thinking?”

  “One, your brow was curling and two, your jaw was tensing up. If you want this to work, you have to do as I say.”

  She heard Basil’s snort and ignored him. No one told her what to do. But in this case, Trinity supposed she could put it aside.

  For her daughter.

  Closing her eyes once more, she took a deep breath, then another, and willed her body to relax.

  “Good. Now listen to your breath. Take a deep breath in, then slowly let it out. Good. Now focus on each breath.”

  It was silly, but Trinity did it. Breathe in, slowly let it out. In…out…in…out… Okay, that wasn’t going to work. It was just making her horny. Count the breaths. One…two…three…four…five… She jumped when someone touched her hand. “What?”

  “You did an excellent job.”

  She blinked sleepy eyes at Starla, confused. “What? I just got started. How can you know I did a good job?”

  Basil sat down beside her, taking her hands in his, looking her right in the eyes. “You’ve been at it for half an hour, love.”

  “What?” She checked her watch, and was shocked. “Holy shit!”

  Basil kissed her mouth and laughed. “Time flies when you’re having fun.”

  “I tried concentrating on each breath whooshing in and out but that just made me think of sex. So I counted each breath instead.”

  “It worked. Good job!” Starla stood up, giving her back a stretch. “Now you’ll know what to do when we start the spell.”

  “Why aren’t we doing it now?” Trinity didn’t want to wait. She wanted her daughter back as soon as possible.