~~

Trinity

~~

"Don't beat yourself up." Reece had encouraged me when he saw that I was getting frustrated. "We will get to the bottom of this soon, I just know it."

The problem was that our investigation was already moving into the third week. Christmas, the New Year, all of it had already passed. We had spent most of our time since coming here for the Yule celebrations searching for a killer..

I was sure this was what Danu had asked me to help with. I was certain that she had asked me to help with this problem right here. It was possible that the person that was behind it all was going to try and kill Aunt Glory and Athair mòr. I would never let that happen though. I was going to make sure that we protected them, saved them, and let them continue to live their lives in peace.

Today was the day that we were going to be meeting with Alloy and Sterling. We had left them for last because we were slowly making our way toward their place across the realm. This place really was big. And since we had left the city to investigate, we hadn't been back. I was just glad that those magic mirror calls could let me see my babies. They weren't happy that Mommy and Daddy weren't there with them, but they were spending a lot of time with their grandparents, not to mention, Acacia and Aaron's families as well. They were learning so much about their Fae side from them.

I missed them, but I knew they were being taken care of, and I was going to make sure that the future was safe for them. I didn't want them growing up in a world that was hiding an unknown enemy, they needed to be safe.

Oh, and there was one other thing that was making this trip a little less than desirable. We were riding horses. Yes, there was a carriage behind carrying all of our stuff but Reece, myself, and all the guards were riding horses. The carriage was 'technically' meant for me, however, I had refused to ride in it.

I couldn't help but think about how bold I was becoming. Not that it was new, really. This was the way that I used to be before my life started to change so much. I think I was just finally not caring what everyone around me thought. I was the Queen, I was able to make my own rules.

I think it was looking at Aunt Glory what made me want to not follow all of the norms. I wanted to forge my own path on a few things. Instead of a damsel Queen, I was going to be a warrior Queen. It was time for me to show them all what I could do.

When we pulled the horses up in front of the house that Alloy and Sterling were living in, I got an uneasy feeling. I could tell that something had happened here, and it wasn't something pleasant.

"Does anyone else get an uneasy feeling about this place?" Vincent asked as he stopped next to me. "I get the feeling that place has some truly bad juju inside of it.

"Did you seriously just say juju?" Reece asked him with a laugh.

"I was going to say the same thing." Trevor guffawed.

"Leave me alone. I end up talking like I have a kid around me a lot, if you two weren't so childish I would remember that I wasn't at home with young impressionable minds to preserve." Vincent snapped back at him which caused me and Landon to laugh.

"I agree with Vincent." Rahim sounded serious as he spoke.

"Yes, something bad has happened here." Nathair added.

"I can smell blood." Kayda added.

"I think we all can." I added as I slid from the back of the horse. "This just tells me that we were meant to find something here. I say we stop waiting and find out just what that thing might be."

We slowly made our way toward the house and with every step I could tell that it was getting colder. It was like all the warmth was being sucked out of the air. Usually, I could stand naked in the middle of a snow storm and not feel the cold but this was a different type of cold. This was something that felt like it was sucking the life right out of my soul. Just what the hell had happened here?

The house didn't look like it should be the hotspot, or should I say cold spot, for evil. It was, though, that was easy to see. Whatever had gone on inside this place, had been evil. I could feel it like it was still going on. I hoped that I would find the people inside, and get to the bottom of this, but what kind of person could live in that soul sucking coldness and survive?

As I looked at the house itself, a cute, not so little cottage with a true fantasy appearance, I thought that it looked beautiful. The entire thing seemed to be made out of different metals which gave it different colors and shades in certain spots. It was actually adorable in a way. It if wasn't for that vortex of cold ridding the world of warmth I would actually like this place.

"This place makes me think that it's going to be Goldilocks's revenge on the bear or something.'' Trevor tried to laugh it off, but I could tell he was worried.

"Yeah, and she teamed up with Little Red to kill the big bad wolf too." Reece added.

"I am so glad that there isn't a popular story about a cat and a girl that could go evil like that, but still, it's making me nervous too." Landon added.

"I am glad I am not a Genie." Rahim forced a laugh to lighten his spirits too. "I might be stuck with that house being my new bottle."

"I wish I had a witty comeback." Kayda added. "But I can't think of anything."

"Don't worry." I smiled at her. "We're the women in the stories." That made the men laugh but it still didn't lessen the tension.