Chapter 30
Quinn stood at the edge of the dirt cliff overhanging a giant hole left behind from a strip mine no longer in operation. He’d made the trip from Atlanta to Blairsville in record time. The gulley was probably three hundred yards long, half as wide and at least a hundred feet deep.
A fog floated across the majority of the hole. It hummed.
Lighting streaked overhead, followed by booming thunder. That was close, based on his count of time between the lightning and the thunder.
The rain and warm temperature here were too similar to what he’d experienced in Midtown this morning. Reese might just be right.
“That’s one heck of a big energy canopy,” Reese said, drawing his gaze to where she stood next to him. Not that he’d forgotten about her. She was impossible to disregard.
She had her own energy as a supernatural being, and as a woman, though he’d tried not to notice.
He could feel her vibrating with the need to do something. She wore a gray poncho now, longer than the convenience-store model the demon had shredded. Trey had been eyeing the weather radar, and had given her this poncho when Quinn stopped by briefly to go over the plan for tonight’s event. He’d call it an operation, but that would suggest there had been actual strategic planning involved as opposed to terse orders from Daegan and chaotic rushing around to make it this far so quickly.
Only preternaturals could’ve bypassed Isak’s men waiting nearby for word from their leader.
The fact that Isak’s men were still here probably meant Isak couldn’t get word out either, if he was in the energy field.
When Reese moved, it drew his gaze to her jeans, which were soaked below the poncho. Thankfully, Trey’s sister-in-law had dug up a pair of boots that fit Reese.
She stared in fascination. “The rain coming down now is different.”
He agreed, thinking out loud. “Even the national meteorologists are flummoxed over the odd weather phenomena, and up here it’s more intense.”
She cut her eyes at Quinn. “That sounds like a commode cleaner. Flummox once a week for a tidy bowl.”
He was sick with worry over Tristan and Evalle. He had to face the Tribunal in just over an hour, and Kizira’s body was still beyond his reach.
How could he possibly find anything humorous?
He had no idea, but the mouthy human tornado who had dogged his steps today managed to do the impossible. He suppressed what would have been a real grin, but couldn’t quite keep the smile off of his face. He covered his chuckle with a cough.
She’d pushed every button she could find and at times had been entertaining.
There was no explanation for his reaction to her other than the fact that she stomped around him when others tiptoed. She’d forced him to take a look at who he was and how he was affecting others.
At the cemetery, he’d gone from irritated to confused to protective in a matter of seconds, the last of which he chalked up to nothing more than an ingrained drive to shield a woman from harm.
That was the only explanation, but who was he to protect anyone after failing Kizira? The ache in his chest drove deeper at remembering Kizira dying in his arms.
He deserved no woman.
Reese lifted her thumbnail to nibble on. She didn’t actually chew her nails, but seemed to be deliberating on what she was going to do next.
Without turning to look at him, she said, “You’re staring a hole through my head, Quinn. Cut it out. Your staring that is, not my head.”
Crazy vixen. He’d like to take a look inside that head and find a few answers, but since that wasn’t going to happen, he asked, “Why are you doing this?”
Lifting her chin in his direction, she said, “You know why. I want my medallion back. Not to mention that I’m the one who figured out someone is using súile marbh demons to power the energy field and that the rain is needed for a massive cloaking spell.”
“If you are correct.”
“I’m right.” No hesitation on her part. “And you need me to get through that field. What are you waiting for?”
The truth behind why she was in the middle of all this. Coincidences were for romantic comedies, not real life. “You’re willing to dangle your energy in front of who-knows-how-many demons that want to rip you apart to get it, just to have your medallion returned?”
She shrugged. “Yes.”
He didn’t believe her. He could absolutely understand wanting whatever allowed him use of his powers, but she had yet to explain why someone had locked her powers down.
He’d offered to enter her mind and see if he could unlock them. How could that be more risky than the low odds of survival that waited below with demons and other powerful beings?
Quinn had survived many near-death situations by trusting his gut. He reached inside his pocket and pulled out the medallion still hooked on the cord. Reese was his only hope for regaining Kizira’s tomb when he’d thought no hope existed.
She might be his only hope for finding Evalle and Tristan if they’d gotten into a scrape.
If Reese got this power ignition key back, would she race away and leave him to muddle his way through this rescue, or would she still be willing to face all those demons?
Did he really want her to stay and face getting injured ... or dying?
No.
He coiled the cord in his hand and dropped the medallion on top, then offered it to her on an open palm. “Take it.”
Her eyes flicked from his hand to his face and back again. She licked her lips, want shining in her gaze. Then the wary woman from earlier returned. “What’s the catch?”
“Are you always so difficult?”
“Pretty much.”
He felt a smile push at his lips, but to smile would say he enjoyed her spark. What man would do that while trying to locate the cold body of the woman who had made the ultimate sacrifice for him?
A very confused one.
Shaking off the strange reaction, he repeated, “Take it.”
She held his gaze as she took her possession from him. Once she had a grasp on the cord ends, she immediately tied it around her neck. Her sigh of deep relief confirmed how much that meant to her.
He got a muttered, “Thank you,” and for the second time in two days, had a feeling those weren’t words she said very often. Not because she didn’t genuinely appreciate getting her medallion back.
That wasn’t it.
She’d sounded as though she couldn’t believe he hadn’t wanted her soul in exchange.
He’d had no intention of keeping her power device from her beyond today, but she trusted no one and for some damn reason he wanted her to trust him.
She deserved a choice in this.
In fact, now that he thought about it, she needed to just leave. She’d stumbled into this and miserable dog that he was, he had taken advantage of her situation. Sure, she was holding secrets, but had she harmed any of his people? No. Was she working with this group who apparently used demons to power the rain shields? Didn’t look that way.
Would she survive being used as a demon magnet?
Probably not.
Don’t I have enough blood on my hands?
Yes. Quinn expected Trey to contact him any time now with a green light to put the next steps in motion.
Reese had made the deal all on her own and he believed she had powers she had yet to reveal, but she was not immortal. He was fairly certain of that.
“Reese?”
She’d been holding the medallion and staring out over the buzzing cloud below them. “Hmm?”
“You can go.”
Ever so slowly, she turned a face to him covered with an expression that questioned his intelligence. “What? Have you come up with another way to break through that canopy, but failed to mention it until now?”
Smart mouth. “No, but I’m not putting you at further risk. This is our fight, not yours. It was wrong of me to press you for that agreement. You were right in the cemetery when you said my head was up my ass.”
Her lips parted.
Well, damn. He’d managed to render her speechless. He’d bet that didn’t happen often.
She started shaking her head slowly at first then adamantly. “No. We made a deal. I’m sticking to my part.”
“I appreciate your honoring our original agreement, but I’d rather you stayed out of this.”
“What about that Daegan guy? He sounds like your boss. What’s he going to say?”
“It doesn’t matter. This our battle, not yours.”
She looked so torn you’d think she had a stake in this. After silently deliberating on something, she released a long breath. “Why is this so important to you, Quinn? What are you going to do with that woman’s body?”
His hair lifted at the censure in her voice.
Who the hell did she think she was? “What I do with that body is none of your business.”
“See, that’s where I’m going to disagree.”
“You need to get going before I change my mind,” he warned.
“Not until I find out what you plan for that body.”
He drilled a look at her that had made warriors cringe. Damn little pistol just stood there defying him. “You didn’t know anything about this body until you stumbled into the battle this morning, right?”
“Right.”
If she hadn’t blinked and glanced away, he might have believed her. His suspicions jumped up ready to pursue the truth, so he fed her rope to see if she’d hang herself. “If that’s so, why would you care about a body to which you have no tie?”
Her passive expression remained, but her eyes gave her away. Fire blazed in them. What drove that passion?
She said, “I have an issue with a body being used by preternaturals. I’m not leaving until I know it’s safe.”
Quinn couldn’t decide whether to shout at her that she had some nerve dictating morality to him or thank her for not being yet another preternatural looking to take advantage of the body.
But, that still left the question of her interest unanswered.
In the end, he held his ear as if he were receiving a telepathic call, which had not happened. In truth, it was still a few minutes too soon. He stared off, nodding as if he was agreeing to something he heard.
After a moment, he lowered his hand and said, “I will ease your conscience. The Beladors down inside that buzzing fog are there to rescue the tomb and bring that body back. We are keeping it from beings who would use necromancy on Kizira. As for me, I have a personal stake in protecting that body. We now have enough people in place that your expertise is no longer needed. The sooner you get going, the sooner my people can move on this. Thank you for your offer of help. It will be remembered should you ever need aid from the Beladors.”
“I don’t believe anyone just contacted you. Why are you lying to me? And before you try to yank my chain again, keep in mind that you have not seen all my powers.”