Chapter 20

 

 

Reese’s body lifted four feet off the ground, turning horizontal until her stomach faced the cobwebs inside the mausoleum.

Why wouldn’t the medallion let her tap her powers?

What the hell, Yáahl?

She felt the minute Quinn pushed inside her mind and panicked at the intrusion.

Then the poison twisted her spine.

His energy moved to the center of healing in her mind. She could feel the spot, but not tap it. Pain shot in every direction.

Quinn was talking to her. “Stay with me. The poison should be localized, but it seems to be spreading through your system.”

She couldn’t even complain about getting crappy updates.

His energy rushed from path to path, pausing at one moment, then moving on.

What had he seen?

He’d given his word that he wouldn’t snoop, but he was a man. What man had ever made good on his word to her?

None.

But as his energy moved around searching for the poison, she realized he wasn’t being invasive.

A healer would do this differently, but he’d told her he wasn’t a doctor ... apparently he wasn’t a healer either.

He muttered, “Have to get the poison in one spot then I can ... ”

“Wh ... what?”

“I told you I’m not a healer. I can’t stop the poison from doing damage.”

She was screwed.

“But I can pull it into me and kill it in my system.”

“Are you ... ” She groaned. “Crazy? No!”

“Too late.”

She felt the change. She could actually feel the poison moving through her to her chest where he placed his hand over her heart.

What if it killed him?

Quinn grunted and cursed, then his hold relaxed. “How are you?”

She’d been so worried about him, she hadn’t realized the poison was no longer trying to kill her.

Her body sagged.

He caught her before she hit the ground.

She looked up at him. The grimace said he was uncomfortable. “Are you okay?”

“Yes, it’s like bad heartburn, but that will go away.”

“Where did you learn to do that?”

He finally lowered his gaze to her. “Draw demon poison out of a body?”

“Yes.”

“I didn’t. That was an experiment.”

“You idiot!” she yelled at him. “You could have died from that.”

“I didn’t.”

Holding her against him, he turned around, looking. When he found what he wanted, he stepped over to sit on a narrow ledge with her still in his arms.

She should push him away. Get out of his lap. Definitely. She’d do that in just a minute.

But it felt so good to be held. It felt even better being held by a man with such a nicely built body. Powerful, yes, but Quinn had a certain refined air about him. Might be the British accent, but she didn’t think so.

His face was calm. That was the other reason she couldn’t move yet. He’d seemed angry and tense since she met him, but right this minute his face held a peaceful expression.

What was going on in that powerful mind of his?

She tried to hold her eyes open, but they closed, and for the first time in a long time she slept.

 

~*~*~

 

Quinn couldn’t look down at the woman cradled in his arms.

What’s wrong with me?

Reese was just a woman who had been injured. But the last woman he’d held had died in his arms.

He waited for the pain to swamp him.

It didn’t. There was only a dull ache at the reminder.

Odd.

Always, the pain hung like a thick fog around him, threatening to sweep in and choke him at any opportunity. It sucked for that to have become his normal.

He’d had to fight constantly to stay in the present, to keep from giving in to the devastated war zone his soul had become.

As always, the pain was there, but ...

Something felt different.

For this moment, he experienced a peacefulness he hadn’t felt in so long. Why? Had the demon poison he’d taken from Reese dulled his senses?

Doubtful. It had taken far more than demon poison to affect his mind and emotions in the past.

He fingered his power at the door and it opened another inch, offering a breath of air and a clear view of anyone coming.

He stared out at the downpour and the soggy cemetery, fully alert and present in this moment. Rain tapped on the mausoleum and the headstones surrounding it. No demons or wars existed in this moment, only him and ... the warm woman cradled against him.

What had happened to Reese? He’d glimpsed damage in her mind that had been there for many years. Long enough that she should have healed emotionally. Why hadn’t she?

Who am I to wonder?

He’d been to powerful monks who had helped him repair his mind more than once. They’d tried to help him after Kizira died, but they’d told him it was not his mind that needed healing, but his heart.

They might be right in theory, but why should his heart heal when Kizira’s never would?

He’d stuffed his emotions into a deep hole so he could function when Tzader and his tribe needed him.

Why did having Reese in his arms stir up all those emotions he’d shoved out of the way?

I’m a Maistir. I can handle holding a woman in a professional context.

He was doing just fine with that until Reese curled toward him, clutching his body and murmuring, “Missed this.”

Those words struck a tender note. Finally looking down at the contentment in a face that had, up until now, worn a scowl as default, he knew without any question that she had not been held this way in a long time.

When was the last time he’d had a chance to hold someone in a quiet moment?

If holding Reese brought her peace even for this short time, he could do it and ignore the dark gremlins climbing around in his head.

This strange woman had exploded into his world and stirred things inside him. Forced him to question things.

One minute he was angry over Kizira’s lack of trust and the next he cursed himself for not deserving that trust.

His mind had been a wasteland since losing Kizira. He should have protected her and he’d spent hours asking himself why he hadn’t. What man deserved a woman if he couldn’t keep her safe?

The truth was that he’d never deserved her love.

He didn’t deserve anyone’s love, and dreaded the moment he had to face his daughter and explain why she’d never see her mother again. But even that fear would not stop him from finding her and keeping her safe.

Reese mumbled again and snuggled even closer.

When she opened her eyes and smiled up at him, it was like looking into sunshine.

That lasted two seconds.

She realized where she was and shoved off his lap.

He grunted when an elbow almost unmanned him. “Good goddess! Careful!”

“What the hell?” She backed up a step.

“Not the appreciation I was expecting,” he groused, getting to his feet. Her look of repulsion took care of his momentary insanity.

For a moment, Reese seemed at a loss, then literally shook her head, muttering, “Can’t go there.” Her gaze jumped all over the place. “What are we doing in here? Where are the demons?”

“They turned into ash after I killed them. I brought you in here so you could heal where I could better protect you from an attack.”

She cast a wary glance around, like a cornered animal. She ran her fingers through her wild hair and asked, “Did you do something to, uh, heal me?”

“Yes, but before you go ballistic on me, I did not touch anything in your mind except the area that called up your healing. I pulled the poison out, so you shouldn’t have any residual problems.”

“That’s right. I remember.”

She’d lost her ball cap in the attack, and now kept moving her hands over her face and hair, flustered. Then she finally, grudgingly, said, “Thank you.”

Quinn caught himself before laughing at her. She was an odd mix. “You’re welcome. Why are demons hunting you if you’re a demon?”

“I never said I was a demon. In fact, I’ve said several times now that I’m not one.”

“I stand corrected, but what about—”

She held up her hand. “You writing a book on me? If so, leave out that chapter and call it a mystery.”

“You’re a regular comedienne.”

“I don’t find any of this funny, starting with you holding my medallion hostage when I did nothing to harm any of your people. You suspect me of being involved with those men and that demon. I am not and therefore I shouldn’t be treated like a criminal.”

He hated that she had a point, but every instinct he had warned him to trust his suspicions, and not her.

She crossed her arms. “Do you want me to look for the missing tomb or not? If you do, I need my medallion back.”

Give up the only hold he had over her? Not a chance.

If she wanted to be all business, that worked for Quinn. It helped tamp down his ridiculous and unprofessional need to protect her. She’d offered to help him locate the tomb in exchange for the medallion. If, after giving him information, he decided she’d done her part and proven no threat to anyone, then he’d hand it over.

Quinn lifted the leather thong with the medallion from his pocket.

Her eyes lit up.

He doused that excitement when he said, “You can touch it, but it stays in my possession.”

“Why? I’ll be right in front of you.”

“That’s just it. I’m not sure you won’t disappear right in front of me. Other than your admission to having demon blood in your ancestry, we still don’t know what you are, what you’re capable of or why you were in the middle of a fight with those men this morning. Want to enlighten me some more?”

Her face locked down tight, sharing nothing. She spun around, then walked out of the mausoleum into a mild shower preventing anything from drying out.

He closed the entrance to the small building and followed her over to the empty plot.

Stepping into the center, she sat on the wet ground with crossed legs and ordered, “Hold the medallion where I can touch it.”

Quinn moved closer, and held the medallion out in front of her. Would she tell him the truth if she found the tomb?

He reminded her, “You don’t get this back until I can see or put my hands on the tomb.”

She arched a challenging eyebrow at him. “Then what’s your concern?”

What was bothering him about her?

That he had yet to figure out what she was doing in Atlanta and his gut kept screaming at him that it was a mistake to gain her help this way.

He had no other option and lowered the pendant to her eye level, warning, “Don’t try to pull any tricks. You won’t like what happens to anyone who interferes with my finding this tomb.”