Trinity: Feathers and Fire Book 9 Read online

After much grumbling and complaining, we were sipping and doctoring our drinks with sugar and milk when I noticed an older man at the table next to me. He was reading the newspaper carefully, murmuring sagely to what looked like could be his grandson across the table. The boy was fascinated, staring at the older man with curiosity as he sipped on a juice box and nibbled a muffin. Whenever his grandfather looked up, the boy would quickly look away, pretending he hadn’t been staring, and the grandfather would chuckle good-naturedly.

  “I caught you that time, boy,” the grandfather said in a playful growl.

  “When can I learn to read, Pop-Pop?” the boy complained. “Can you teach me?”

  For the faintest of moments, I saw a flicker of fear in the grandfather’s eyes. Then it was gone, replaced by a huge grin. “Pop-Pop isn’t a very good teacher, and you deserve the best. Reading is the only way to rise in this world,” he said. “If you can read, you can do anything.”

  The boy’s eyes flashed with excitement. “Anything?” he breathed, wistfully. “I can learn to fly?”

  His pop-pop chuckled. “Well, if you learn to read, you could become a pilot or an astronaut. That’s more exciting than flapping your arms around like a turkey!” he teased, dropping the paper and flapping his elbows with a dramatic squawk.

  I smiled warmly, stirring my drink as I wondered what my biological grandfather had been like. I hadn’t even seen my adoptive father, Terry Penrose, in what felt like years. There was a vacuum in my heart that could only be filled by a father’s love, a cup of cocoa, and a night spent watching a raging Missouri thunderstorm.

  “What’s it say, Pop-Pop?” the boy asked, practically bouncing in his seat.

  The older man nodded wisely, staring down at the paper. The headline showed a picture of children playing on a playground, laughing happily. “It looks like a new playground is opening soon. We’ll have to go check it out to make sure the slide works properly,” he said, somberly.

  The kid grinned toothily, nodding his agreement. Just then, the door to the shop opened and a married couple walked in. The boy spun to look and then let out a squeal. “Mommy! Daddy! Pop-Pop found a new park!”

  I frowned, reading the headline under the picture of the playground. Mayor vows to close dangerous playground.

  I discreetly leaned over. “Excuse me.”

  The old man glanced over at me with a surprised but heartfelt smile. “You trying to give an old man a heart attack?” he chuckled. “I haven’t seen a woman as beautiful as you since I met my wife seventy years ago, God rest her soul.”

  I blushed, unable to bite back my own smile. “Thank you, but I don’t know if I’m witty enough to keep up with a rascal like you.” He guffawed, slapping his callused palm on the table. I glanced up to make sure the boy and his parents weren’t within earshot. They still stood at the door, looking over a collection of mugs for sale. I jerked my chin towards the man’s paper. “It says they’re closing that park, sir.”

  His smile fractured and he clutched at his chest. “Oh, dear. That’s terrible. I saw the picture and thought…” he trailed off, obviously horrified that he would need to break his grandson’s heart. “Now where am I going to take him? He was so excited,” he rasped, crestfallen.

  “Did you not read the headline?” I asked with a compassionate frown.

  He slowly turned to look up at me, and gazed directly into my eyes. “I…never learned how to read,” he admitted in a sad voice. “I always start our play dates here with me pretending to read the paper so that he learns how important reading is. I’m a farmer,” he admitted, tugging on the straps of his overalls. “His parents don’t have a lot of money, and they live in a part of town where it’s easier to join a gang than get a proper education. So I do what I can to feed his curiosity.”

  My heart broke at the shame in his eyes but hearing how hard he worked to make sure his grandson didn’t follow a dark path made me want to wrap my arms around his shoulders and weep. The parents walked over, tugging along by the boy. I leaned away so as not to intrude. The mother smiled at the old man. “Hey, dad. We saw your truck out front while we were running errands, so we wanted to say hello before we run to work.”

  “Give me your wallet, Fabrizio. Now,” I breathed.

  He nodded, slipping it into my palm with a curious frown. I opened it and pulled out all the cash he had. I counted it and smiled, spotting four hundred-dollar-bills. I folded them in half two times and palmed them. Then I leaned down to the old farmer and extended my hand. “My name is Callie. It was a pleasure meeting you, old rascal.”

  The farmer, looking flustered by his current park dilemma, nodded politely and traded grips with me. I pressed the money into his palm with my fingers and smiled when his confused eyes flashed up to mine. “C-Callie,” he repeated, sounding even more flustered than a moment ago.

  I smiled and pulled my hand away. I eyed the playground picture on the newspaper and curled my lip. “Stop teasing the boy and tell him where you’re really taking him,” I said, folding my arms.

  The farmer looked panicked, opening and closing his mouth wordlessly. “I-I…”

  I waggled a finger at him. “Your tricks won’t work on me.” I turned to the parents and the boy, smiling knowingly. “My dad is just like him. Always pulling pranks on me when I was a little girl, stealing my nose and—”

  “Digging coins out of your ears because you didn’t clean them well enough,” Fabrizio said in a loud voice as he leaned into our conversation, holding his fingers wide to show they were empty. The boy stared, transfixed as Fabrizio reached behind my ear and I felt a faint tendril of magic in the air. The boy gasped as Fabrizio pulled his hand away, now pinching a large silver coin between his fingers. He flicked it to the boy with a chuckle.

  I rolled my eyes, elbowing Fabrizio playfully. “See?” Then I scooped up my drink and waved goodbye as the boy stared down at the coin in his hand, amazed. I leaned down to the old farmer. “You’re doing it exactly right, Pop-Pop. Go show him the best day ever or I’ll have words with you the next time I see you,” I warned.

  His lips trembled and a tear rolled out from his eye as he nodded. “Thank you, Callie,” he whispered. Then he turned to his grandson. “How about we ditch this lame-o joint and go to…Worlds of Fun.”

  The parents gasped, stunned, stammering about money. The boy bolted upright like a rocket, whistling like a teakettle.

  The old man flashed the parents the cash I’d slipped him, making their jaws drop even further. “A guardian angel gave me a lucky lottery ticket,” he said with an easy shrug. “I was going to surprise the boy, but I wanted to read my newspaper in peace for a few moments before he started acting like a crazy turkey!” He grinned down at the boy and mimicked the elbow flapping and squawking again. The boy did the same, and soon the entire store was staring at us, looking just as baffled as the parents.

  In the chaos, I tugged Fabrizio’s sleeve, pulling him towards the door. The old man caught sight of me and dipped his chin while mouthing a silent thank you. I smiled back. The parting twinkle in his eyes warmed my heart, and stayed with me for a very long time as Fabrizio and I slipped out the door.

  22

  We walked the streets in companionable silence, sipping our drinks under a cloudy sky. For the first time today, I felt like a normal girl living a normal life. I’d met a hero of an old man and I’d given him a reward by robbing the priest walking beside me.

  “That was a good thing, Callie,” Fabrizio finally said, nudging my shoulder.

  I shrugged. “Technically, you just congratulated yourself, and Pride is one of the Seven Sins.”

  He blinked. Then he burst out laughing. “You got me, but I’m not so proud that I’m willing to stand on principle and throw this desecration of a coffee in the dumpster where it belongs. I think my suffering overshadows my pride, or at least they cancel each other out.”

  Fabrizio suggested we head to Roland’s church and I reminded him that I didn’t have very much free
time. I shrugged, though, not particularly caring where we ended up. I would Shadow Walk to Castle Dracula once I’d finished speaking with Fabrizio and checking in on Roland’s evacuation of my vampires—evampuation—from all corners of the world to Castle Dracula.

  The streets weren’t crowded, but they weren’t empty either. I kept my eyes vigilant, wary of any surprise attacks from either Nephilim or demons. The Sins were also out in the wild, and I now knew they could possess people to do their dirty work. I still didn’t understand why the demons seemed so adamant about finding Wrath and Pride. It had seemed like each of the Sins wanted their own little pockets of the city to themselves. Pride had made it sound like they did not work together, yet suddenly everyone was concerned about the safety of their siblings.

  Judging by Wrath and Gabriel’s response to me merging Michael and Lucifer into one body, I was betting that the rest of their siblings were going to be just as upset with me. I’d married the Brady Bunch of Heaven and Hell, and now all the Archangel Marcias and the Archdemon Peters were getting uppity, growing nostalgic for their once unified family.

  Eae had looked Lucky right in the eyes and hadn’t recognized him. So…was the Anghellian actually a human? What about the two specters he could call up—the apparitions of Lucifer and Michael who knew how to kick ass and head bash even someone as strong as their brothers, Gabriel and Wrath? Simultaneously. Lucky had made them look like punks and he hadn’t even known what he was doing.

  And his display of power at the fountain had really put things into perspective about how much mental anguish the Anghellian was enduring. How much could he take without snapping? Where was the noble Michael within the Anghellian? Because all I’d seen was a whole lot of Pride. Literally, thanks to his nudity this morning.

  Had I made a nuclear bomb? Maybe the arch-class crew from both sides didn’t have the details, but they had definitely sensed some powerful magic coming from Xuanwu’s home while I’d been in Purgatory. Maybe that was what they truly wanted to check up on—the power, and how they might get their hands on some just like it.

  And why hadn’t Wrath or Gabriel rallied their forces to come against me or Lucky? They all seemed to be of an equal mind when it came to saving their brothers. They could have each sent their combined forces against me rather than hiding.

  Unless…they were scared of the two Divines I had rescued. That was the only logical explanation. I really hoped Solomon and Last Breath had some answers or could at least point me in the right direction regarding the Divines.

  “You expecting trouble?” Fabrizio asked in a low tone, pretending to sip his coffee.

  I snapped out of my thoughts and looked over at him. “No. Of course not. That’s crazy,” I said, jerking my head to glance behind me. “Why? Did you see someone following me? Was it that guy pushing the stroller? That’s suspicious. Or maybe that old lady folding laundry and smiling at you.”

  Fabrizio furrowed his eyebrows. “You’re proving my point. You’re paranoid. What’s going on?”

  I let out a shaky breath. “Don’t take this the wrong way, Fabrizio, but I don’t know if I can tell you. Things are very…complicated right now.” Because they were. I had abducted Fabrizio’s resident angel. I’d also bitten a Nephilim and uncovered a conspiracy of secret Nephilim vampires who might destroy the bedrock of the Shepherds. What would Fabrizio say if he learned that his hallowed Nephilim were just a secret flavor of vampire the angels had been coveting and hiding? I could absolutely guarantee that there was no positive way to spin that, and Fabrizio was the First Shepherd of the Vatican.

  Which reminded me. “Hey. Tell me about the new management team at the Vatican.”

  He clammed up so quickly that I thought someone might have pinched his ass. “They want to meet you, personally. I will let you judge for yourself,” he said, guardedly. It was painfully obvious that he was not going to talk about it.

  I did not like that one bit. “They requested a meeting?” I said, enunciating the last word. “Or did they use another fun antonym, like interrogation, or inquisition? And did they actually say request, or was it a demand?”

  Fabrizio grimaced. “I might have oversold it as a casual request. It was not optional and they gave me twenty-four hours.”

  I came to a halt. “Excuse me?” Fabrizio turned and gave me a slow nod. “Who was the invite for, specifically?” I asked. “What title or name did they use?”

  Fabrizio grimaced and hung his head. “Every title I’ve heard attributed to you. It…doesn’t look good. I can vouch for the fact that it is not a trap to capture you, as they permitted you to bring one ally and promised your safety.” He sipped at his drink. “To be completely honest, it felt more like a parlay extended to an enemy force.”

  I let out a breath, actually relieved that they hadn’t singled out any one particular aspect. If they’d called me out as the Horseman of Despair, I would have wanted to show up with my three brothers, Hope, Justice, and Absolution—Nate, Gunnar, and Alucard. If they’d called me out on any other specific title, it might directly relate to my situation with Heaven and Hell. The fact that they’d used all of them likely meant they wanted to broker a peace. “Okay. I can’t right now, but maybe later tonight. If it will be brief. Or tomorrow morning.”

  He almost dropped his coffee. “Really? Just like that?” he demanded, sounding upset. “I thought you were going to bite my head off and call me a shitty friend!” he seethed. “Do you have any idea how stressed out I’ve been over this?”

  I smirked, sipping my coffee. “Well, I do now.”

  “And then for you to put me off so you could bang your ninja! How do you think that made me feel? Roland was horrified! But to hear that you also had a relationship with him?!” he bellowed. “Your own Shepherd!”

  I stared at him, stunned. “Bang my ninja?” I asked in a breathy tone. “What the hell are you talking about?”

  His mouth clicked closed and his eyes widened. “You told Roland you had to get off the phone because you and Ryuu were going to get lucky. Then when I asked about using protection, you told me you always use protection. That you were going to need a bath and a blow dryer because you were going to sin all over this man,” he croaked. “Damn near made me have a heart attack! Talking about how he could do things no other man could do! Poke my ears out already!”

  I was speechless, recounting my conversations on the phone, realizing that I had said all those things. But it only sounded bad if they didn’t realize Lucky was actually a person. “Well. That…was not remotely what I was doing. Good Lord, Fabrizio. Are you okay?”

  I could see the vein throbbing in his temple, and I realized I could sense his racing pulse. “You weren’t…” he trailed off, unable to even make himself say it.

  “Absolutely not. I was hunting a man named Lucky with Ryuu. Roland should have known that. And he definitely shouldn’t have gossiped to you about it.” I put a hand on my hip, growing mildly annoyed. “And so what if I was banging Ryuu to kingdom come. What business is it of yours?”

  Fabrizio guzzled his coffee in an effort to escape my glare. “I…well, it was all Roland’s fault. I was just supporting him. He was concerned, and then I got concerned about him being concerned about you, and then—”

  I held up a hand. “That’s enough. How about you keep your nose out of my private life and I’ll pretend this conversation never happened.”

  He nodded eagerly. “Thank Jesus.”

  I took a calming breath and continued my walk, muttering to myself. As I replayed my side of the conversation to Roland and Fabrizio in my head, I realized it all had sounded incredibly scandalous. What made it worse was that I wanted nothing more than to do a fraction of some of those things to Ryuu. Which meant I needed to make a pit stop in St. Louis the second I heard Nate had returned. I made a promise to myself and let out a breath. I would do at least one thing for my own benefit this week. “Fabrizio?”

  He jolted, almost spilling his coffee. “Yes?”

/>   “For the record, I’m going to bang the hell out of that ninja one day. If either of you so much as twitch an eye and screw it up for me, even indirectly, I will kill you.”

  He shifted his attention straight ahead, fighting a smile. “Amen to that.” I nodded satisfactorily, not bothering to hide my expectant grin. Ryuu would be mine. “I want to know what’s really going on with Heaven and Hell,” Fabrizio said, snapping me out of my daydream.

  I took a sip of my coffee. “Yeah. That’s not a conversation I’m ready to have.”

  “Eae has been uncharacteristically cagey, and it’s making my neck itch. Have you seen him recently?”

  I shook my head, careful not to look guilty in any way. “The last time I saw him we were at war,” I said, choosing my words very carefully. “Remember the fight outside Roland’s church?”

  Fabrizio grimaced and spat on the ground. “Vividly.” He lifted his collar to show me the crucifix I had retrieved from the Doors—the one that had belonged to his old friend, Shepherd Anthony. “Thank you.”

  I nodded, smiling. “Wasn’t a big deal,” I said. Internally, I was grateful that he had not picked up on my deceit. I had stated two separate claims, making them appear like they were connected. That I was at war with Eae—true—during the battle outside Roland’s church—also true. When taken together, they sounded connected.

  What I had meant was that the last time I saw Eae—this morning—I was at war with him. And, in other news, remember that time we fought outside Roland’s church? Good times, right?

  I felt slimy for it, but I couldn’t come clean on the topic yet. The Nephilim were hunting me, and Fabrizio kind of worked with them. Maybe even for them. And I might end up taking them all from the angels. There was a high chance Fabrizio might find himself across a field of battle one day, facing my Nephilim. If he chose the Vatican over the White Rose. Faith over friendship. He’d seen where that had taken Roland, so I had high hopes for him.

  “Let’s find an alley and magic our way to Roland’s,” he said, guiding me by the elbow to a nearby alley.