Ryann’s brows rose to his hairline. “I thought you were a vampire.”
Quinn jerked a thumb at the narrow, silver-barred window above his head. “The sun’s up. How can I be awake if I’m a vampire?”
“I don’t know. I don’t care.”
“What about that breakfast?”
With a shake of his head, Ryann continued on his way.
Quinn had resigned himself to going hungry when Ryann came back, a wooden plate in his hand. He slid it under a slot in the door, stood there, watching with ill-disguised curiosity, while Quinn ate.
“Well, I’ll be damned,” the guard muttered. “Why’d they think you were a filthy bloodsucker?”
“Bad information, I guess.”
“Yeah?” Ryann asked skeptically. “What about those burns on your wrists and ankles? Doesn’t happen to normal folk.”
“I’m allergic to silver, that’s all.” Quinn groaned softly. “Any chance you could get rid of these shackles?”
The guard met Quinn’s gaze for the first time. “I don’t have the authority to do that.”
It was the opportunity Quinn had been waiting for. He captured the man’s gaze with his own. “I need you to come in here and remove these chains.”
“Yes,” the guard said, his voice wooden. “Remove them.” He unlocked the cell door, stooped down to unlock the restraints.
“Now you will put them on,” Quinn said, gaining his feet. “When I’m gone, you won’t call for help. And you won’t remember me or this conversation.”
“I won’t call,” Ryann said as he locked the shackles in place. “I won’t remember.”
With a growing sense of urgency, Quinn dissolved into mist and fled the prison.
#
Seleena was about to step out the door when Quinn suddenly materialized in front of her. She let out a little cry of surprise, then threw her arms around his neck.
Not one to pass up an opportunity when it presented itself, Quinn pulled her closer. After the foul stench of his jail cell, she smelled good enough to eat. The thought made him grin.
“I was just coming after you!” She leaned into him. “How did you get out?”
“A little magic of my own,” he said, smiling down at her. “Vampire style.”
She caressed his cheek. “I was so worried.”
He closed his eyes, savoring her nearness, her concern. She was the only woman, besides his mother, who had ever given a damn whether he lived or died.
Seleena drew back to get a good look at him, gasped when she saw the horrible burns on his wrists and ankles. Grabbing his hand, she led him into the kitchen. “Sit.”
She quickly filled a basin with water, warmed it with a word, then gently bathed his burned flesh. Unlike most wounds, those caused by silver didn’t heal immediately. When she was done, she opened a jar of pink ointment and then, chanting softly, she spread a thick coat over his wrists and ankles.
And the pain was gone.
Quinn blew out a sigh. “Thanks, Red.”
“I don’t think you should stay here anymore,” she said, taking the chair next to him. “Not now, when they know where to find you.”
“Yeah. I guess you’re right. You probably don’t want them barging in here again after the mess they made.”
“It’s not that. I’m just afraid that next time someone might get killed. And it might be you.”
“Hey, I understand. I appreciate all you’ve done for me.” He was going to miss her, he thought. More than he had ever missed anyone. He raked his fingers through his hair, then stood. There was nothing else to say. He didn’t have anything to pack. Once he was gone, there would be nothing left to show he had ever been there. He cupped her cheek, kissed her lightly, and headed for the door.
“You’re going to leave!” she exclaimed, jumping to her feet. “Just like that?”
He glanced over his shoulder. “I thought you wanted me gone?”
“Well, yes, but…”
He lifted one brow. “But?”
“I…” Her gaze slid away from his.
Quinn smiled as he turned and closed the distance between them. “Are you saying you want to go with me?”
Still not meeting his gaze, she nodded. “Yes. But I wanted you to ask me.”
“I don’t have anything to offer you, Red. You know that, don’t you?”
“I don’t need anything.”
“No?”
She looked up at him, her cheeks stained with embarrassment.
“You don’t have to admit it,” he said with a grin. “I like you, too. Any ideas about where we should go?”
Her brows drew together in a thoughtful frown. “Nardik has a place up in the Crystal Mountains on the far side of the Brynn Sea. We could stay there for awhile. I’m sure he wouldn’t mind.”
Quinn shook his head. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.” The last thing he wanted was be indebted to the wizard.
“Have you got a better one?”
“Not really.” It would be a great place to hide from the Enforcers, but they weren’t the only threat they had to worry about. “What’s to keep Serepta from following us there?”
“Nothing. She can follow us anywhere, which is why we need a real home. A place she can’t enter without an invitation.”
“I’m pretty sure Nardik wouldn’t like the idea of me staying there.”
“We’ll worry about it when he finds out. Give me a minute to pack a few things. We should leave right away. Come along, Freyja.”
#
Quinn had expected Seleena to use magic to transport them, but she had a different idea.
He followed her outside, waited while she locked the back door and warded the house with a protective spell.
“Now what?” he asked.
Smiling at him over her shoulder, she went to what Quinn had thought was a large storage shed. When she opened the door, he was surprised to see a new LandSkiff. Silver in color, it seemed to glow even in the shed’s dim light.
Lifting Freyja into her arms, she asked, “Do you drive?”
“Since I was big enough to reach the controls.” He opened the passenger door for her, then went around to the driver’s side. The Skiff was loaded with every imaginable extra. The engine purred like one of Brynn Tor’s white tigers.
“Where’d you get this?” he asked as he headed out of the village.
She shrugged. “It was a gift.”
“From Nardik?”
“No. From a grateful father after I saved his daughter’s life.”
“Beats loaves of bread.”
“Perhaps. But you can’t eat the Skiff.”
“Good point. But you could sell it for enough to buy more bread than you could eat in a lifetime.”
Once clear of the village, he programmed the coordinates she gave him, then sat back, one hand resting lightly on the controls.
Seleena gazed out the window, absently stroking Freyja’s head. The countryside passed by in a blur. What was it about men, she wondered, that they were constantly pushing the edge of the envelope?
She slid a covert glance in Quinn’s direction. Was she making a mistake, running off with a man she hardly knew? It was one thing to be alone with him in her home in the village. She had friends there, neighbors who needed her help. Nardik’s house was located high in the mountains, a solitary dwelling miles away from the nearest town. What would she do there, alone with Quinn?
Warmth curled through her belly as a host of ideas skittered across her mind.
Alone. With Quinn.
There were, she thought, worse fates.
#
Quinn smiled inwardly. He was keenly aware of Seleena’s glances, of the sudden uptick in the beat of her heart, the flush in her cheeks. She wanted him. She might not be willing to say the words, she might not want to admit, even to herself, but all the signs were there. Thanks to his preternatural power, he could smell it on her. It spiked his own desire. And his hunger.
He
squinted against the afternoon sun, which shone brightly through the Skiff’s windshield. Though he could be awake during the day, the sun was not his friend.
He opened the throttle all the way. The sooner they reached Nardik’s place, the better, he thought. Or was it?
The countryside changed dramatically as they left Seleena’s village far behind.
Desert gave way to grassland and gently rolling hills. Luxurious homes located on large lots dotted the landscape. Three-story shopping centers sprang up here and there. They made a brief stop at one of them to eat a quick lunch and buy groceries.
Quinn loaded the boxes into the back of the Skiff and they were on their way again.
As the miles passed, houses grew scarce.
He caught a whiff of the Brynn Sea long before it was visible. And then they topped a rise and it was there, a splash of bright blue beyond an ocean of grass. And rising out of the Sea, the Crystal Mountains of Brynn Tor, the highest peak perpetually covered in snow.
Beside him, Seleena murmured, “I had forgotten how beautiful it is.”
“Yeah. It’s quite a sight.”
“See that stand of timber, just there?” Seleena said, pointing. “A road runs alongside it. Follow it to the end. The Fortress is at the top.”
“Gotcha.”
The road, narrow and covered with dead leaves and pine cones, seemed to go on forever, gradually climbing higher and higher and higher, until the trail ended on a flat strip of land surrounded by ancient trees, most of them over a hundred feet high. A round house -- four stories tall and painted a sparkling white trimmed in dark green -- stood in the center of a verdant meadow. Sunlight glinted off dozens of stained glass windows.
Quinn whistled softly. “That’s some place. Any particular reason why it’s round?”
“It prevents outside magic from being effective on the inhabitants,” Seleena said. “It’s the reason many castles have round turrets and towers.”
“I guess you do learn something new every day,” he muttered as he pulled up in front of the house. Three stone steps led to a covered veranda that circled the main floor. The front door looked like solid oak strapped with iron. It had no visible latch.
“I forgot to mention that there’s a cloaking spell at the foot of the mountain, although I’m not sure it’s effective against uninvited vampires.”
“I have my doubts that it would work against Serepta. She’s tasted my blood. She branded me with this damn tattoo. I’m pretty sure she can track me anywhere, through just about anything.”
Seleena nodded. “You might be right. But there’s also a spell around the house that causes intruders and those intent on mischief to forget why they came.”
“Mischief?” Quinn snorted. “She’s got more than mischief on her mind.”
“We should be safe enough. Even if none of Nardik’s spells work, she’s still a vampire. She can’t enter the house without my invitation.”
“Wouldn’t Nardik have to invite her? For that matter, how did I get in without his invitation? It’s his place, after all.”
“Actually, I own half of it. He wanted it to be in my name, too, in case anything happened to him. Shall we?”
Quinn exited the Skiff, walked around the front to open Seleena’s door, then moved to the back to unload the boxes of groceries.
Beckoning for him to follow her, she led the way to the front door.
“There’s no latch. How do we get in?”
She smiled at him over her shoulder. “Leave that to me.” Stepping forward, she placed her hand on the middle of the door and chanted softly.
Quinn heard the scrape of metal against metal as the interior locks disengaged. A moment later, the door swung open and Seleena crossed the threshold.
When he tried to follow, an invisible barrier kept him out. It was an odd sensation. Not painful. But not pleasant, either.
Seleena turned around when she realized he wasn’t behind her. “Sorry. I forgot. Quinn, please come in. You are welcome in the Fortress until I decree otherwise.”
“Thanks.” He wasn’t sure what he’d expected, but it was nothing like what he saw. The floor was black marble, the walls a blindingly bright white, until Seleena closed the door.
Quinn stared in disbelief as colorful images appeared on the walls -- scenes of Brynn Tor’s countryside at various times of the year - the mountains and trees covered in snow, the skies dark with clouds; hills and valleys verdant with new life - both plant and animal -in the spring; the leaves changing in a kaleidoscope of color in the fall. It was like an ever-changing movie.
“Amazing, is it not?” Seleena asked.
He nodded. A fireplace dominated one wall. Leather sofas and chairs - all well-worn and comfortable-looking, were grouped here and there. An arched doorway opened onto a spacious dining room. He assumed the closed door to the right led to a bathroom. A winding staircase with a wrought-iron banister led upward.
“The kitchen is downstairs,” Seleena said. “The rooms on the second floor are bedrooms. The third floor rooms are empty. Nardik’s private quarters are on the fourth floor.”
“Why the empty third floor?”
“He wanted space between where he works his magic and the rest of the house.”
“Did you live here with him?”
“Yes, for a time, while he was teaching me magic.” She paused a moment, her expression pensive. “Serepta was conceived here.”
More information than he needed - or wanted - to know, Quinn mused sourly. And then he frowned. “Was she born here, too?”
“Yes.”
“Then why would she need in an invite?”
“Nardik revoked her invitation when she became a vampire, as did I. “Come along, let’s take those boxes down to the kitchen,” she suggested. “I’d like a cup of tea.”
The downward staircase opened onto a large room. Overhead lights came on automatically. The kitchen had all the usual equipment - sink, stove, refrigeration, a long, white, marble-topped counter, cupboards over and underneath.
Quinn unloaded the boxes and Seleena put the items away. When they were done, he sat at the table, content to watch her as she moved about, taking a kettle from one of the cupboards and a box of tea from another. She added a measure of tea to the kettle and filled the pot with water made hot by a word and a wave of her hand. While waiting for the tea to steep, she pulled a blue china cup and saucer from a shelf, then glanced at Quinn over her shoulder, a question in her eyes.
“You got any wine in this place?”
“Of course,” she said, smiling as she opened another cupboard and retrieved a bottle. “Nothing but the best.”
He stretched his legs out in front of him, admiring the beauty of her face and figure as she poured the wine in a crystal goblet. When the kettle whistled, she took it from the stove and poured herself a cup, then took the seat across from him.
He grinned inwardly, amused by the domestic scene and by her reluctance to meet his gaze. He figured she was probably reassessing the wisdom of the two of them staying in this big old house in the middle of nowhere. On the other hand, she was a powerful witch. Likely her magic was far more deadly than any power he could muster as a vampire.
But then, it wasn’t his preternatural power she was afraid of. No, it was the growing sexual tension between them, a yearning that grew stronger with every passing day.
She looked up, a gasp escaping her lips when their gazes met.
And though he hadn’t spoken the words aloud, they hung in the air between them.
It’s gonna happen, Red. Sooner or later, it’s gonna happen.
And this was just as good a place as any.
Chapter 13
Serepta woke with the setting of the sun. For a moment, she laid there, her senses reaching, probing the area surrounding her lair. But there was no one nearby. Rising, she left the cave and transported herself to her castle.
Her father’s scent, along with her mother’s and Quinn’s, now days ol
d, lingered in the air. Foolish of them, to think they would find her here, helplessly trapped in the dark sleep.
In her room, she cast off her gown and stepped into the shower. She smiled faintly as she wondered how Quinn was enjoying prison. But he wouldn’t enjoy it long. She would go there tonight, drive a stake into his heart, and reclaim her magic. Without it, she felt as if she were missing a vital part of herself. The most important part. She hated being a vampire without it. True, she had a vampire’s preternatural powers, but she detested having to drink nothing but blood, living only by night. She could still compel mortals to do her bidding, but it wasn’t the same.
Stepping out of the shower, she changed into a pair of silky black pants and matching shirt, pulled on a pair of high-heeled black boots.
She grimaced as the hunger rose within her, undeniable, insatiable without her magic to control it.
Leaving the castle, she transported herself to Ironntown, where she fed on the first man she saw. She grinned inwardly. She could have made it pleasant for him, but why should she? It wasn’t pleasant for her, feeding like some feral beast. And yet, the blood satisfied her hunger, while killing him satisfied another darker need.
She wiped her mouth with his shirttail, then tossed the body into a ravine. His death meant less nothing to her. She was a vampire, he was prey.
A thought took her to the Bosquetown prison. Outside the gate, she dissolved into mist, then floated over the wall, drifting above the heads of the guards who patrolled the perimeter. She entered through an open window and made her way down to the cells below.
She materialized in the shadows, then followed Quinn’s scent to a cell near the end of the corridor, only to find it empty.
Fury rose within her, as hot as the lava that sometimes spewed from the volcano east of the snow-capped mountains of Brynn Tor.
Hands clenched at her sides, she took a deep, calming breath. He might not be here, but he couldn’t hide from her forever.
Sensing a man coming up behind her, she spun around.
“Here, now!” the guard exclaimed. “How did you get in here?”
“Like this.” Calling upon her preternatural power, she dissolved into mist.
“What the Hel!” Eyes wide with disbelief he stumbled backward.
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