The Triple Goddess Read online

  The traffic wasn’t busy for a city, so I gathered it was late in the evening or early in the morning. Had I lost a day already? It started to rain heavily and soon my vision of the outside world was lost to little streams of water running down the tinted window. That’s when I couldn’t stand it any longer.

  “How long?” I asked in a dead voice I didn’t recognise as my own.

  “What, are you getting tired of my company already? That does not fare well for my ego.” He said with a humour that I wanted to smack out of him with a shovel! A shovel because why use two tools when one would suffice, after all, I would need to get rid of the body and I didn’t fancy dirt I couldn’t get out of my nails for a week! Ok, I knew with these thoughts it was a clear sign I was losing it but I still smiled at the murderous thoughts, one he took for other reasons.

  “Ah, a smile at last.”

  “One you don’t understand I assure you. Do you really think my situation would bring on smiley faces and giggles. Hell, what do think this is to me, a fucking party?” I swore for the first time in ages and man it felt damn good! I think in situations like this I would start making it a habit. That brought on another smile, one I didn’t feel like hiding. Carrick joined me and followed it with a rumbling laugh.

  “I am indeed going to miss your feistiness, Electus.”

  “My name is Keira!” I stated with a sharp tongue of disgust. I didn’t give two hoots and damnation about any bloody prophesy right about now! To hell with fate and destiny crap, I just wanted to be boring, plain old Keira who the only thing about her that was quirky was the crazy Demon sight thing. I didn’t want to be what they were saying. I just wanted to have Draven without knowing why. Without feeling like all the choices were taken away from us both and even if I had been some troglodyte, buck toothed, hillbilly mutant with major hygiene issues that Draven would have no other option than to be with me. I wanted it to be for me and for me alone. No other reason. That was why I was starting to get sick to death of this ‘Electus’ shit and was exchanging curiosity with self-loathing.

  “That it is, forgive me. I forget what it must be like...”

  “Don’t! Don’t you dare try and sympathise with me Carrick! I don’t need your patronising tones or your Goddamn pity party. You don’t know anything about me, so don’t go pretending you do... to what gain exactly...to try and put me at ease? I just learnt my good friend betrayed me from the moment I met him and then watched as he and his lover turned to ash at your hands, so don’t you dare sympathise with a twenty three year old human girl that you have nothing, not one shred in common with! JUST DON’T!” I screamed at him. To give him credit he didn’t get angry or even look out of place. He just nodded his head and turned away from me to leave me panting out of frustration.

  Once I had calmed, I relaxed my shoulders and slumped in my seat.

  “Feeling better?” He asked without looking at me.

  “Yes, that felt surprisingly good,” I admitted.

  “Glad I could help...in any way.” He added with an unmistakable smirk curling his lips.

  “Sorry,” I said in a quiet voice.

  “Are you?”

  “Not really but it was rude of me.” Ok, never thought I would live in a world where apologising for being rude to the Soul Collector was the norm.

  “Fair enough,” he said with a slight nod of his head.

  “We are nearing our destination.” He stated and I looked out into the rainy night.

  “Where are we?”

  “It is not important as to where we are but more important as to where you are going.” Oh no, now I wanted to panic.

  “Me? As in…me alone?” I don’t know why but the thought that Carrick was just going to drop me off somewhere without him had my palms sweating. I mean, I know I should have been dying to get away from him but into the hands of someone else...I don’t think so! Better the devil you know than the one you don’t.

  “Don’t you go worrying that pretty little head of yours, no one will hurt you, they have had their orders, just as I have had mine.” I didn’t find this reassuring.

  We had left the city streets behind and were travelling down a large motorway but I couldn’t make out any of the signs. I did however notice we seemed to be taking an exit off onto a ring road and it was hard to miss the large building in front of us that had a tall control tower at its centre. Oh goodie, another airport!

  “Another plane?”

  “Another plane.” He replied. I was hoping he would have given me a bit more but he seemed reluctant to explain so I continued,

  “And will I be on my own on this flight or will you be joining me?”

  “I am afraid this is where you and I part ways but you will not be alone.” Nope, didn’t think so. I mean what could I have done anyway...parachuted my escape, I was brave, not suicidal!

  We drove away from the public entrances and I gathered that we weren’t going to be flying the conventional, public transport way. Oh no, it was another private Jet! It didn’t take us long before the smaller planes came into view and one had all the lights on, the stairs were down and there was a long black limo parked close by it. Now it seemed my bravery had fled and taken its vacation time as I was close to peeing my pants and I wasn’t ashamed to admit it.

  We pulled up alongside the limo and my heart rate started playing a heavy metal beat in my chest. Please, oh please don’t be Lucius in that car! Carrick looked at me as if he was expecting me to run but considering the doors were locked and there was about a mile of empty concrete desert surrounding me, where the hell was I to go?

  “Time to say goodbye, my young one,” he said before opening his side door. He unfolded his body and I noticed another body doing the same from the limo. A pale hand motioned for me to follow and after a quick thought I didn’t really want to be seen being dragged out, so I put on a very fake brave face and got out. The freezing air slammed into me making my body shudder. I now wished I had dressed in a snow suit not a pair of jeans, long sleeved t-shirt and my usual black jacket. I should have added to gloves a scarf, snow boots and a bloody sleeping bag with arm and leg holes!

  I raised my hood for more than just protection from the cutting wind and held it there as I moved to stand next to Carrick. Well, at least the rain had stopped I thought with a shrug. As far as silver linings went it wasn’t a very bright one. Three people exited the Limo and if I thought I would see yet again more typical thug henchmen then I was oh so wrong.

  The three of them all stood in a line and it made me want to release a nervous giggle. The accountant geek, the tiny punk rocker girl and the bad arse biker that looked as if his favourite look was Spike from Buffy! I would never have put these three together in a million years. But here they were and it was painfully obvious as to why.

  “Carrick!” The nerd nodded in acknowledgement when he approached. He had a stern voice that really didn’t mix with his appearance.

  “Abaddon.” Carrick nodded back but I couldn’t miss the waver in his voice or the single bead of sweat that travel the full length of his face. Was I missing something?

  “Play nice baby.” The tiny little girl said while coming up to the nerd and planting herself in front of him so that she was now nearer to us both. She was one of the cutest girls I had ever seen and also the most diverse. She had a mass of green hair that was electric blue at the tips which she wore piled high on her head, held there by a large skeleton hand clip that had painted red finger nails. This looked so out of place with her outfit. It looked as if she had got it out of a summer wardrobe, clearly getting the seasons wrong. The tiniest cut off jeans made into the shortest of shorts with the pockets hanging down past the hem. She combined this look with a kid’s Thundercats T-shirt with the sleeves cut off, one of which showed her extensive sleeve tattoo that I couldn’t make out because of the lack of light. I gathered though that she was a fan of the popular 80’s kid’s cartoon but whether it went with the black and white striped stockings I wasn’t so su
re. One of which kept falling down into her black cowboy boots which had spiked metal tips that looked painful if ever on the receiving end.

  “Hey Toots, I gather you’re the girly that we’re here to pick up for the boss.” She said smiling like we were BFF’s. Her nose and lip ring flashed in the car’s headlights and I could see my own freaked out reflection in her aviator sunglasses. She looked like a cartoon character!

  “Enough of this friendly shit, get her on the plane Pip!” The bad arse biker dude snapped. Yep, he was really living up to his image. The nerd scowled next to him not saying anything but then again it didn’t look like he had to ‘cause the biker turned his head away in submission. Seriously? A big muscled meathead with arms large enough to strain the leather concealing them and he’s almost cowering at a geeky, glasses and tweed wearing nerd who looked like he was used to getting asked about tax returns! Strange.

  “Come on then Toots. Laters, soul dude!” She said trying to take my arm. Carrick’s hand came to my arm and pulled me back.

  “Aren’t you forgetting something?” Carrick said in a casual tone.

  “Ooops, my bad! Honeybee, where did I put that thingy again?” She asked over her shoulder after checking her empty pockets. The ‘honeybee’ aka nerdy man that stood close by nodded to her chest and she smiled before dramatically slapping her forehead.

  “Of course, Jesus Christ, Holy Mother of the Earth and shit, I would lose my pocket money if it wasn’t for my hubby!” She said and I wondered if she took note of my gaping mouth. Did she just say that nerd was her hubby? I think I was close to choking on my own tongue! I could not imagine two people so far apart, a bit like the President of the United States or Prince William dating the chavvy Chantelle that worked at our local chippy back in Liverpool.

  She pulled her top out and stuffed one hand down it, all the while screwing up her face in concentration.

  “Voila! There’s the sucker!” She said smiling at me as she lifted a vial on the end of a very long thick chain. How she’d had problems finding it was beyond me. She waved it in front of Carrick like a pendulum and as he went to grab it she pulled it out of reach making it seem like he had just been naughty.

  “I don’t think so handsome!” She said, making the nerd growl possessively. She smiled.

  “The girl first, Caveman!” She said showing us her perfect teeth, although her fangs seemed longer than most. She tapped her steel boot on the ground to indicate she was waiting. Meanwhile, I couldn’t take my eyes off the swaying red liquid that was sloshing around in the miniature bottle with a wax coated top. I didn’t need many guesses as to what the liquid was.

  “But of course,” he said smoothly before letting my arm go.

  “Over this way Toots, time to join the Dark Side.” She said lifting her glasses and winking at me. She had the most incredible green eyes that were the colour of lush grass and they had a bright blue ring around the iris that bled out like rippling water. There was also something more. They were kind and held a hint of childlike innocence to them, they also made her look about twelve and way past her bedtime.

  I moved to her side as there was little else I could do. She tossed the vial Carrick’s way and he caught it with little effort. He then raised it to his mouth and I watched in surprise when one fang extended down and pierced the top. He then tossed it back like a shot and threw the bottle to the ground. It didn’t smash but when he nodded his goodbye in my direction he turned and stood on it causing it to shatter under his foot.

  “Dramatic, much!” The girl called Pip commented.

  “I hope you feel better now you’ve got your soul back!” She shouted at him when he was getting back in the car that brought us here.

  “Pip!” The nerd warned and she smiled at me before turning to face her unlikely husband.

  “What? I hope he does.” She said unconvincingly.

  “Yeah right,” he grumbled back.

  “Right, let’s get this show on the road...or is it in the air, you know cause we’re flying?” She asked as she walked up to the other two.

  “Come on Toots, keep up,” she said to me as I seemed to be rooted to the spot. She gave me a look and then shrugged her shoulders before walking over to her husband who was waiting for her. They both nodded a silent order and walked away.

  Where were the fierce evil henchmen I had been expecting? Oh wait, there he was. The biker dude walked straight up to me and grabbed my arm, nearly wrenching it out of its socket.

  “Oww, hey... ease up asshole!” I shouted up at him as anger quickly replaced any fear at the feeling of pain he was inflicting. He growled down at me and after being with Draven the sound had little effect! But it did make him grip me harder which bit into the skin above my elbow. This made me turn quickly and I surprised him enough to be able to knee him in the man dangly parts! This worked as he released me to cover his bits in pain. I guess being hit in the privates is a universal pain no matter what the hell you are...Demon, Angel, human or fan of Tina Turner you are gonna go down if kicked hard enough! I decided not to wait around for him to retaliate and turned to run from him.

  Ok. So the good news was that I’d hurt him but I didn’t really take into consideration his supernatural speed! He grabbed my ankle and pulled causing me to hit the floor like shit off a shovel. My chin hit the ground and I bit my lips making me spit blood from my mouth. He dragged me back and lifted me by my neck. It felt like my bones would break and I was starting to lose all the air from my lungs. I was choking as he lifted me to his eye level. The sick bastard liked what he saw and grinned displaying a mouthful of wicked teeth. He licked his lips before bringing my choking face closer to his before he licked the full length of my face, playing special attention to my chin and lips that were bleeding.

  His breath stank of chewing tobacco and now my blood. It stained his fangs black and red which made his sadistic smile all the more frightening. I gripped at his hands, trying in vain to pry them away from my neck, using every last ounce of strength I had left. That’s when I heard the shouting.

  “Klaus, you stupid son of a Bitch bear! Get your hands off of her NOW!” The girl called Pip screamed. That’s when he just dropped me to the ground and I landed like I didn’t have any legs attached. It hurt when I landed but it was nothing compared to the burning in my throat when trying to take in lungs full of air.

  “She tried to escape!” He said folding his arms.

  “So you thought you would kill her! Genius Klaus, Lucius would love that...’cause that’s what he wants, you know...another dead body! You dumb fuck!” She said sarcastically standing up to the biker like he wasn’t two foot higher than her. He growled at her and she just smiled.

  “I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” an icy voice said from the steps of the plane. Pip looked over her shoulder to her geeky husband and blew a kiss before turning back to the biker named Klaus.

  “And I really wouldn’t if I was you, he can get a little grouchy...if I let him...you understand my meaning of course?” She said with utter confidence and to my surprise the biker actually found his boots in submission. She skipped back to her husband (yes actually skipped!) And I was trying to get to my feet.

  “Get up!” He snapped.

  “Trying, Dickhead!” I said under my breath, which of course he heard making him growl again. He lifted me up under my bruised arm and even though he had just nearly killed me, my fighting instinct didn’t leave me, if anything it just burned brighter. Once I was upright I couldn’t stop what happened next. It was a bit like saying something before it went through that naturally inbuilt filter. Well this thought kicked the filter to the side and slid right out in the form of me doing something disgusting. I spat my bloody saliva at him which landed half on his cheek and half on his leather jacket which from the looks he gave me, he didn’t appreciate.

  His eyes flashed deadly red before things went bad. He flung his other hand back and backhanded me, letting his grasp on my arm go, so that my body could fly through
the air before finding the ground for the second time in minutes. The pain simultaneously exploded in both my cheek and the side of my head that had collided with the concrete.

  This is where my world blurred and the dark world found me...

  I just hoped that I was still breathing when I got there.

  Chapter 4

  Where is My Hero?

  I opened my eyes to a scene I wasn’t expecting. I was lay on a bed I knew well, in a house I classed as home. I was back! How the hell did that happen? I sat up from staring at the ceiling for all of five minutes just wondering what on earth had happened. Had I been rescued?

  I looked around the room and saw it still held the changes that Hilary had made while she had been staying here. I searched the room before looking down at myself, yep, I was in one piece and still wearing the clothes I’d had on. Surely if I had dreamt I had been kidnapped then I wouldn’t have gone to bed in my clothes...would I? It was still dark in the room, with only the moon casting any light. I looked at the clock at the side of my bed and noticed it was three in the morning but as I turned back round I noticed I wasn’t alone. A figure was stood over by my desk, hunched over something. He was by the side that was deep in shadow but I knew it was a man from the sheer size of shoulders.

  “Hello,” I whispered timidly but the figure didn’t move. Then he started to shudder as though he couldn’t contain his emotion. Heavy breathing mixed with the dark chill that filled the room. I looked back to the window and only just realised the window was wide open and it was snowing heavily outside. I tried to pull the covers over me but they didn’t move. My hands connected as I could feel the material beneath my fingers but the bedding didn’t move an inch, neither did it show the pressure my hands created.

  What was happening? Was I...dead?