Terra's Victory (Destiny's Trinities Book 7) by Tracy Cooper-Posey Read Free Book Online Page B

because when she was wearing them, she felt a lot closer to being Seaveth, instead of merely Beth, former bar waitress and librarian.
    As she stepped up onto the dais, she flashed on the night she had first seen vampeen, the night she had finally understood that Lindal and Zack were not human and there was a whole supernatural layer to the world beneath human consciousness, a supernatural world that was on the brink of war.
    She had given up every trace of her human life after that, devoting herself to the war effort and to defeating the Grimoré.
    As she faced the room over the lectern, everyone shuffled and turned to face her. The room grew silent.
    “Four years ago,” she told them, “none of us could have predicted we would be standing here, drawn together and united against a common foe. Look around you and marvel at the power of the trinities. Vampires stand with elves, who were once their mortal enemies. Demons stand among us. Shifters, too. Pixies have revealed themselves, when their very existence was unknown to all of us. The power of the trinities has given a ghost a corporeal existence and saved a human hunter from dark, solitary days filled with hatred for those he hunted. It has brought together old lovers and those who yearned to love. All of us have learned valuable life lessons that will linger long after this war is over.”
    She paused. No one reacted. No one was looking bored, either. She had their full attention.
    “The ranks are filled,” she continued. “The trinities have all been successfully formed and sealed. The Grimoré have failed to prevent us from growing to our full strength and for the first time, all twelve trinities stand in this room together. They are a symbol of hope and, as the prophecies have promised, the key to victory.”
    She paused again. She had to, for somewhere in the middle of the room, someone started to clap. The solo sound lasted for only a heartbeat before everyone began to clap and cheer.
    The sound was thunderous, washing over her with a power that sent a ripple down her spine.
    They were celebrating just being here. She understood that. Every single trinity had faced difficulties and challenges. The clans and the elves had fought endless Grimoré and vampeen incursions, to help give the trinities time to claw their way to life. No one knew for certain the trinities would work. All they had were dusty, endlessly translated prophecies to cling to for hope, while they fought and bled and died.
    For right now, though, none of that mattered. Doubts had been put aside and everyone, as they clapped and cheered, was giving voice to the fierce satisfaction in having made it this far.
    Beth’s eyes swam with hot tears and she blinked to clear them. It wouldn’t do for Seaveth to break down and blubber, as much as she wanted to. She glanced over to where Lindal and Zack were standing together.
    Zack gave her a small smile, while Lindal just glowed.
    Then Beth realized that the lectern was trembling under her hands. She looked down at it, puzzled.
    The rumbling was coming up through her feet, from the ground itself and it was intensifying.
    The clapping checked and faded. Everyone looked around and down. Glasses were rattling on the buffet table, now. One dropped off the edge and shattered.
    Zack and Lindal leapt onto the dais and gathered around her. Lindal pulled out his twin knives and Zack his long one. “We’re under attack!” he shouted at her, over the top of the swiftly building rumble.
    His voice was picked up by the microphone and relayed to the room at large.
    No one screamed. No one panicked. There was a shift in the crowd, like a giant hand swept over it, rearranging everyone. Backs were turned to each other. Weapons were drawn.
    Then the world exploded around her, deafening her and stealing her sight.

Chapter Six
    The blast was so loud that after, Mia couldn’t hear anything except a ringing in her ears. There was smoke and dust swirling over the top and