Kiss at Your Own Risk (26 page)

Smoke began to rise from his mark, and he ditched the shoe. Focused all the energy into his tattoo, and it suddenly caught. Steam hissed and rose from him as he burned the rest of the water out of his body.

Then he looked down and swore. Even as he ignited an explosion below him to provide a buffer, he knew it was that classic irony of too little, too late. It barely slowed him down before he hit the pavement.

***

Trinity was already in full flight mode by the time they landed outside Blaine’s building, in case Augustus had hitched a ride on the palm tree and was going to come out of the fade seconds behind her.

She’d made it only twenty yards from the rhododendron they’d traveled through when Blaine crashed to the sidewalk in front of her with a horrific thud. “Blaine!”

He did a textbook tuck and roll as a massive Pterodactyl throwback came racing down toward him. Its wingspan was at least thirty feet in diameter and getting bigger by the second. Blaine came to a stop on his hands and knees, and he was dripping with blood. His body was bruised and slashed, and she could see his muscles shaking.

He looked up at the oncoming creature and threw a fireball at it. It snatched it out of the air and swallowed it, and kept coming.

Two more were right behind it.

Then five more.

He was going to die and it was her fault! And there was nothing she could do to save him! No fireballs, no gun, no nothing! She was utterly unable to help him—

A prism flared in front of the winged creature. She went still, staring in hopeful disbelief as her guilt and the terror for his life flared up into the one thing she’d feared for so long.

Blaine lifted his head, and she saw him watching it.

Come on, Trinity. You can do this!
Trinity opened her heart and embraced the onslaught of emotion, the self-blame, the guilt for leaving him, the fear for his safety, the fury at the creature for stealing this honorable warrior’s life. She let the emotions hammer at her, drinking in the pain and the anguish until it hurt so badly that she felt like her own soul was going to break.

The prism took the shape of a person, and a rose-colored arrow was glowing in its hand. The image hurled the fiery spear, and the weapon slammed into the left pinkie claw of the approaching beast. The spectral version of the creature promptly exploded in a cascade of colorful fireworks.

Blaine leapt to his feet and a spear made of pink fire flared in his palm. He flung it at the lead attacker that was mere yards from his face. Its teeth grazed Blaine’s forehead just as the arrow made contact. It exploded nearly on top of Blaine, and the light show was dazzling.

He didn’t even flinch, didn’t bother to duck. He held his ground and began firing arrow after arrow at the bats-from-hell coming after it.

“Hot damn, girlfriend.” Reina raced up beside her. “That’s brilliant!”

“I can’t believe it worked.” Trinity sank to her knees in stunned relief as she watched Blaine take on the swarm of killer birdies, his aim unerringly precise. Point for being cursed by the black widow!

“Guilt is a fantastic motivator, as is trying to save the life of someone you love.” Reina knelt beside her, resting her hands on her thighs as she watched the show. “Trust me, I know. Makes the reward feel awfully good, doesn’t it?”

“You bet.” Trinity grinned at Reina. “Makes it better to share it with you too. I know you understand.”

Reina hugged her. “Oh, I do, sweetie. I really do.”

“My darling.” Olivia finally caught up to them. She braced her palms on her knees, trying to catch her breath. “What a wonderful use of your skill. I’m so pleased you’ve found a quality outlet for it.”

“Nigel!” Blaine’s voice rang out powerfully in the night as he continued to hammer ruthlessly at his attackers with more arrows. “Vulnerable spot is the left front claw, lateral digit.”

There was no reply, but a moment later, there was a cascade of rainbow colored sparks from the top of the building. Then another and another, until it was like the Fourth of July.

Trinity sat back on her heels and raised her face to the sparks. They sizzled on her skin, and she didn’t care. It just felt so good. She’d saved Blaine’s life with her power. She’d done something positive with it. The pain felt wonderful, a reminder that she was alive, that her soul was still breathing.

Blaine suddenly turned toward her. His face was dark, and she saw the accusation in his expression. The hatred. The utter betrayal.

She scrambled to her feet. “Blaine! I had to go—”

Blaine threw a pink flame dagger at her, and it cut through the air, right toward her heart.

Seriously? Wasn’t that a bit of an overreaction to her walking out on him? Talk about an oversensitive guy!

“Trinity!” Her mom screamed. “Watch out!”

Watch out?
Was she kidding with that? Trinity threw up her hands to protect herself (yeah, pretty much the textbook definition of useless gestures), and the blade hurtled toward her chest—

Then the arrow collided mid-air, inches from her body, with a pink star.

A pink star?
Trinity covered her head as the two weapons exploded in a cascade of fireworks. A second flaming pink knife sailed over her left shoulder, so close she felt it singe her hair. She spun around in time to see it bury itself in the chest of Augustus, who was digging a second star out of his pocket.

His eyes widened, and he fell to the ground, clutching his chest. “My heavens,” he gasped. “How impressive of him to think of using pink fire.” Then he keeled over and the scent of bananas filled the air. He coughed once, and then was still.

Reina raced over to him and crouched beside him. “He’s not dead,” she announced. Her eyes were still blue. “He’s not even close. I’m guessing he’s back up again in less than five minutes.” She looked over at Trinity and her eyes widened. “Um, Trin—”

A well-muscled arm hooked around her throat and she found herself yanked back against a hard body. “And now we’re even for the tip on how to kill the puppies.” Hot breath seared her cheek, and the scent of burned cotton assailed her nostrils. “But we are far from even for you betraying me.”

“I didn’t!” She tried to wiggle out of his grasp. “Let me explain—”

“No time.” He hauled her over to his bike. The seat was charred from the fireworks. “The witch is probably on her way to save her precious smut monster. We’re going to find her, and you’re going to take her out. Got it?”

She struggled to free herself, but his grip was unyielding. “But what about the smut monster? We have to kill him too, or my dad dies.”

“Screw your dad. You cost him his life when you walked away.” He threw her onto the bike seat.

“No!” She tried to twist out of his grip, and he slammed his hand over her thigh, pinning her to the seat. She looked over at her mom and Reina, who were being amazingly unhelpful. They were chatting with each other while they were watching the scene. “Mom? A little help?”

Her mom waved. “Good luck with the Chameleon, darling. I know you can figure out a way for Blaine to kill it for you.”

“Um, hello? Are you blind? You think he’s going to help me?”

Blaine shouted up at the roof for his team, and his whole body shook with the effort. His muscles were trembling and there was blood seeping out of an assortment of wounds on his body. Not that it seemed to be affecting his strength. Shouldn’t a man this injured be too weak to hold her captive with a single hand?

Reina inched forward. “Um, Trin, don’t forget Death is probably on his way over there to protect the Chameleon and Angelica. So be careful.”

Blaine jerked his head around to look at Reina. “Death’s involved? Why?”

Reina set her hands on her hips. “In your haste to lump Trinity in with all the other women you’ve known, you neglected to ask her where she went, didn’t you? Didn’t even take note of the fact that she came back for you, of her own free will, did you? Might want to consider that, big guy.”

“Tell me about Death.” He was talking to Reina, though. Pretending Trinity didn’t exist.

Jerk! She smacked the back of his head, right on a burn mark.

He ducked and blocked her hand. “What was that for?”

“You! You say I have this great heart, and then judge me without giving me a chance?” She smacked him again and grinned when he swore. It felt fantastic to stand up for herself. “You’re an arrogant brute who’s too caught up in his own past to realize quality when it hits him on the back of the head!” And then she hit him on the back of the head one more time, just in case he was too obtuse to pick up on her point.

Blaine caught her wrist and turned to look at her. He didn’t look happy. “Don’t hit me.”

“Then don’t be a bastard.”

“Me? You left.”

“I came back! You’re the one person who has seen me as remotely good, and then you took it back! I’m the good person! You’re the jerk!”

She stopped in surprise at her own words. Had she really just yelled that she was a good person? It had felt true when she’d said it. Maybe she was. Maybe Blaine’s arrogant belief in her had finally sunk in. She grinned. How good did that feel?

Blaine shook his head in disgust. “Women.”

“Women? That’s all you can do? Compare me to the sluts who tortured you and left you behind—”

He whirled around. “My mother wasn’t a slut.”

Trinity went still at the hostility on his face, at the fury in his tone. At his defense of the woman he claimed to hate so much. Was there more forgiveness, more hope in his heart than he’d revealed? She touched his cheek. “Blaine—”

“Hey!” Nigel and Jarvis came racing out of the front door of the building. They were both limping, and Jarvis had dozens of new scars on his chest. Nigel’s bandana was tattered and bloody, but both men were grinning.

“That kicked ass,” Jarvis said. “Did you see how fast those gnats turned tail when we started killing them?” He pumped his fist. “Those are the witch’s best creations and we decimated them—” He saw Trinity then and his face darkened. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“I saw how to kill them,” Trinity said. “You’re welcome for coming back and saving your butts when I didn’t have to.”

Jarvis snorted, but Nigel raised his brows at her. “Why’d you return?”

She met his blue gaze. “Because I thought Blaine might need me.”

Jarvis glared at her, but Nigel studied her. “Interesting,” was all he said, but Trinity suspected he saw far more than he was saying.

“To the bridge,” Blaine said. “I suspect the witch is heading over there to get the Chameleon, and apparently Death is too. First one wins.”

“On it.” Jarvis and Nigel sprinted over to a Hummer parked on the side of the street.

Trinity wrapped her arms around Blaine’s waist. She wasn’t getting off the bike, no matter how mad he was at her. The monster had to go down, and it was up to her to do it, no matter how it had to happen. And it didn’t matter if Blaine wanted the witch to die first. She was the one in charge of her powers (at least hopefully), so she would decide the order.
Please let me be strong enough to control the spider.

Blaine revved the engine, the wheels were just starting to roll when Trinity’s mom touched his arm.

He looked down at her hand, and for a second Trinity thought he wasn’t going to stop. Then the bike jerked to a halt, and he let the engine idle. “What?”

Olivia squeezed his arm. “Dear boy, on the back of your bike is the most precious thing in the world to me. I owe her my life, and I beg of you to bring her back to me with her soul intact. Don’t let her sacrifice herself to save her dad. She’ll do it, and we aren’t worth it. Make sure she saves herself.” Her voice broke. “Please.”

Blaine stared stonily at her, and Trinity felt her throat tighten. “Mom, it’s not up to him. I can’t live with anyone else dying because of me. I’ll do whatever it takes to make sure Dad lives. If I die, it’s because I’ve failed, not you.”

Blaine started to let the bike roll and heartache made her mom’s face crumple as she realized that Trinity really was going to do it.

Then Olivia raised her chin and got a hard look on her face. The kind she always got when she was going to lever an ugly truth on someone. Kind of like the time when she’d sat Trinity down and told her that she’d been cursed with the black widow and she was going to have to deal with it. No tears, no feeling sorry for herself, just step up and cope with it. Trinity started to shake her head. “Oh, no, Mom, this isn’t the time for one of those discussions—”

“I sold you to Angelica,” Olivia blurted out.

The bike slammed to an abrupt stop. “What did you say?” Dark anger laced Blaine’s voice.

Trinity tightened her grip on his waist. “Mom? What are you talking about?”

“I was dying from childbirth complications, and Angelica said she would save my life if she could borrow you for six months. We agreed.” Olivia met Trinity’s stunned gaze, her face stoic and determined. “I was scared of dying, Dad was terrified, and we lied to ourselves about the cost of our choice.”

Trinity suddenly couldn’t feel her feet. Her hands. Her nose. Just numbness buzzing around in her brain. Blaine set his hand on Trinity’s thigh, his palm a warm, reassuring pressure as she fought against the sudden tightness in her chest. “It’s your fault I’m cursed?”

Reina let out a low whistle. “I always wondered why your parents were so forgiving of your death tendencies. I thought it was awfully progressive of them. Totally forgot to check out the guilt angle.”

“It’s completely our fault,” Olivia agreed. “The minute Angelica left with you, we realized what a horrible thing we’d done. I was still too weak, but your father searched for you every day. Every night we laid awake praying for your safety, and then when we got you back, and you seemed fine… we were so happy.”

Trinity’s stomach roiled. “Until I killed Joey Martin after I lost my virginity to him.” What a night that had been. He’d gotten her drunk, seduced her on the top bleachers (and it was so not romantic to be getting sexy amid old paper cups and gum, no matter how good the view of the moon and stars had been), and then she’d shoved him off the bleachers to his death. An accident, she’d thought for sure, until her parents had informed her otherwise. Discovering she’d murdered him hadn’t helped the trauma of a bad deflowering. “I thought you’d worked so hard to save me because you loved me. Not because you felt guilty.”