“Trinity.” Thierry started to rise. “Don’t—”
Matthew reached behind him, placing his hand on Thierry’s arm, halting him.
“I have no choice,” I said, voice thready. “I will not stand by and let something happen to Misha when I can do something about it.”
“Oh, no...” Peanut drifted to the ceiling. “Oh, no, Trinnie, what are you gonna do?”
I was going to show them exactly how I could help them.
Thierry saw it written on my face as I took a step back. He lifted his hands as if he could stop me. “Your father—”
“I don’t care what he thinks. You can’t stop me, Thierry. Neither can he. I’m eighteen and there is no law that supersedes the fact that I’m an adult,” I said, welcoming the warm glow sparking alive deep in my stomach. “I love you—I love both of you, but I have to do something.”
Then I let the grace take over.
19
Warm, heady power lit up my veins and turned the corners of my vision from darkness to light, and I saw the exact moment those in the room saw that I wasn’t who they thought I was. For some reason, I focused on Zayne.
His eyes widened as he took a step back from the glow that was starting to radiate from my skin. His arms unfolded to hang limp at his sides.
“What in the Hell...?” someone whispered.
“More like the opposite,” I said as I extended my right hand and felt the whirl of white fire erupt and swirl down my arm, forming the sword that had been very much like the one the statue of the battle angel had held.
“Holy smackeroos,” Peanut whispered from somewhere above me.
The sword was heavy and warm in my palm, spitting and dripping white fire as I pulled my gaze away from the awestruck expression that had planted itself on Zayne’s face to those of the older Wardens from DC. The glow from my grace danced over their faces.
“I can help you defeat whatever thing is killing Wardens,” I said, fully aware of the fact that Thierry and Matthew looked like they were seconds away from having a heart attack. “This sword can cut down a fully shifted Warden within a heartbeat, leaving nothing behind. The same for a demon—any demon.” I lifted the sword, bringing it near my chest, causing both Wardens to flinch. I turned my head to where Zayne stood. “So, as you can see, I do not need a babysitter. You all need me.”
“That’s enough.” Thierry’s voice was weary as he sat back down in his chair.
“Is it?” I challenged, scanning the room. “Because I just want to make sure everyone in here realizes I’m not a liability. I’m an asset.”
“I’m confident everyone in here now realizes that,” Matthew said, sighing. “Please, Trinity, pull it back. I think you’re starting to frighten them.”
Smirking, I drew in a deep breath and forced my muscles to relax. The white fire around the sword flared and then flickered before the sword collapsed into itself, leaving a fine shimmer of golden dust that evaporated before it touched the floors. I knew the exact moment they could no longer see what existed in me when the corners of my vision returned to the vague, muddy darkness.
Feeling itchy in my own skin, I crossed my arms and lifted my chin. “You help me find Misha and I’ll help you deal with your problem.”
“What...?” Zayne cleared his throat, and when I looked at him, I inherently knew he had no idea what I was. No one could fake the shock settling into his face. That didn’t mean I trusted any of them entirely, but he truly hadn’t known. “What are you?”
“She’s a Trueborn,” Thierry answered, sounding more tired than I’d ever heard. “Half human—”
“Half angel?” Nicolai finished, his eyes wide as he stared at me with a mixture of wonder and...something else, something far more potent. Fear. “You’re a nephilim.”
“I prefer to be called Trueborn,” I said. “Nephilim is so...outdated.”
Peanut snorted, reminding me that he was still lingering in the room.
“How?” Zayne reached out, clasping the back of an empty chair. “How is this possible? I thought that...”
“You thought that all Trueborns were gone? Hunted out of existence by demons and Wardens alike and nothing but myth and legend?” Matthew supplied for him. “That is true.”
“But...but she’s standing right here.” Zayne took a step toward me and then stopped short. “How?”
“She is the last of her kind,” Matthew explained. “And we’ve been charged with keeping her hidden and safe in our community since she was a young child. That is how she’s lasted this long.”
“That’s not the only reason,” I said, feeling the wet warmth start to drip from my nose. Reaching up, I wiped my hand under my nose. When I looked down, my finger was dotted with blood. I sighed. “It’s why I’ve been trained.”
“And...you’ve just been kept here?” Zayne asked.
“Until my father summons me.” I shrugged as Matthew strode toward me, pulling a handkerchief from his pocket. “End times, I guess, or something like that. But I’ve been safe because of Misha.”
Matthew slowly lifted his hand, making sure I saw him before he dabbed the handkerchief under my nose. “Oh, Trinity,” he murmured, handing me the fabric.
“Why is she bleeding?” Zayne demanded.
“It’s the grace,” Matthew said, stepping back. “She’s always had nosebleeds afterward and it weakens her. Trinity may be a walking, breathing myth, but she is still half-human. Using the grace is hard on the human side of her. She’ll be curled up asleep somewhere soon.”
I smiled a little at that, because he made it sound like I was child who tuckered herself out.
“I think I know Misha’s role in this,” Dez said, speaking for the first time since I’d decided to do the whole show-and-tell routine. “If I remember correctly, when there were many more Trueborns, they were...bonded to Wardens. Their strength helps... How do I say it? Cancel out some of the human setbacks? And vice versa? The angelic side powers the Warden, makes them stronger and faster?”
I nodded. “He’s my Protector. If you take me with you and help me look for him, I will help you with your problem. I will stay with you as long as it takes, even after we find Misha.”
“That’s how you know he’s not dead,” Zayne said. “Because you’re bonded to him?”
“Yes. I’d feel it.” I put my fist to my chest, crumpling the handkerchief in my grasp. “And I haven’t felt it. Not yet. Until I feel that, I cannot give up on him. I won’t. Would you?”
A muscle flexed along Zayne’s jaw as he looked away.
“Unbelievable,” Nicolai murmured. “Who all knows what she is?”
“Very few,” answered Matthew, dropping down in the unoccupied seat. “If it were to get out, demons would be trying to breach these walls every day to get to her. Demons think she’s human unless they smell her blood.”
“That’s why you all reacted the way you did to her blood,” Zayne said, cursing under his breath. “They can sense it and it will tell them she’s half-angel? Hell. They wouldn’t be able to stop themselves from coming after her. She’s the closest thing to Heaven that they’d ever get to.”
“Yeah, and they tend to get a wee bit nom-nom,” I said, shivering. “Demons believe that if they consume a Trueborn, they’ll be able to enter Heaven.”
“Holy Hell,” whispered Dez. “Is that true?”
“We have no idea,” Matthew said. “But the demons believe it, and as long as they believe it, it’s a threat.”
“And not the only one,” Thierry said. “Trueborn blood, bone, hair and even their muscles are coveted for incantations and spells. Every part of her is considered valuable in the dark market.”
The dark market was sort of like the black market for organ donors...except the dark market was frequented by witches and demons and a whole slew of supernatural baddies.
“I’m special.” I lifted my shoulders again. “Very special.”
Zayne stared at me, opening his mouth and then closing it.
“Is that why you can see ghosts?” Nicolai asked.
“Oh, now people care about seeing me?” Peanut sighed dramatically from his position near the ceiling fan.
I shook my head at him. “Yes, it’s because angels can see spirits and the souls of those who have died. And other humans that can do it, they have watered-down angelic blood. Probably from a great-great-great-grandmother times a thousand who got a little freaky with an angel.”
“I think it goes without saying that you must not tell anyone what Trinity is, not even your other clansmen,” Thierry said, and something flickered across Zayne’s face, like he was putting a puzzle together in his head and he’d found the missing piece. “We were charged with keeping her safe until she is needed—”
“And I’m needed now,” I told Thierry.
“I know Misha is like a brother to you, but you cannot expose yourself to demons,” Thierry tried again, speaking softly. “You going after him is a risk that he wouldn’t even want you to take, and this could be a trap.”