Quintessentially Q

by Pepper Winters

  Two hours into the debrief, an ache formed relentlessly behind my eyes. The headache I’d fought since the helicopter nagged stronger and stronger.

  Logistics and figures swarmed in my head until I couldn’t hear anything but a gentle buzz. I battled through it.

  Turns out I had two weaknesses: control and fucking migraines.

  I poured some water, hoping it was just dehydration. Forcing myself to focus when all I wanted to do was go back to Tess and curl up to rest.

  Ten minutes later, the numbers on a new acquisition in Hong Kong bounced off the page and slithered onto the table. My vision fuzzed then sharpened like I took a strong hallucinogenic. A sure signal I’d left the realm of headache and ploughed straight toward a migraine.

  “Yes, but what if we bought the building next to it. We could consolidate the lots and secure the permit for a thirty-story hotel,” Frederick said to Katya, chewing on the end of a pen.

  I shook my head, trying to dispel the overwhelming thickness taking over my brain. Shit, this couldn’t come on a worse day. What with the stress of Tess’s panic attack and hearing the Red Wolverine wasn’t happy, I didn’t have time to be fucking sick.

  Katya said something and the entire table turned to stare at me.

  I couldn’t move my tongue to make a proper sentence. Merde, I never got this bad so fast. It normally crept over me, stealing a little of my senses, giving me time to get the hell out of there and hide my one bodily weakness.

  “Mercer. You all right?” Frederick patted my hand. My eyes shot to his, but I had to squint against the pain of bringing him into focus.

  I can’t do this.

  The only way to break it was a dark room, and Tess’s heavenly fingers to massage away the agony.

  Tess.

  All I wanted to do was be with her. I needed her. She’d help cure me—just like she cured me of everything else.

  The beast inside whimpered, agreeing that in this circumstance, it didn’t want to hurt her. It wanted her to be gentle and nurse me.

  Shaking my head, I swallowed back the rush of nausea and stood. Forcing myself to act cool and fully in control, I said, “It sounds as if you’re more than under control here. If you’ll excuse me, I have other business to attend to.”

  Frederick frowned, but nodded. “No problem. I’ll keep you up to speed with what we decide on the Hong Kong and London development.”

  I nodded approval, which sent the world suffering a bout of turbulence. I hated when it got this bad. I hated being so weak.

  Keeping my lips tightly together, just in case my morning coffee decided to make a reappearance, I strode firmly out of the room.

  The second the door closed behind me, I leaned against the wall and took a deep breath. It felt as if no oxygen existed inside this goddamn building. I fumbled with my collar, trying to undo the top button.

  The door clicked open, and I spun painfully to face whoever it was.

  Frederick watched me with concern. “Another one? That’s one a month for a while now, man. You promised you’d go to the doctor.”

  I didn’t have the strength to tell him I did go to the doctor. And for me to admit I had a problem was a big fucking deal. But on paper there was nothing wrong with me.

  The headaches were stress related, apparently.

  In my painful haze, I mumbled something incoherent and headed on the marathon journey to get back to my private office.

  Don’t think. Just get to Tess.

  Frederick followed me to the elevator, and I swiped my identification to activate my private lift. It was the only elevator that went to the roof. I didn’t want anyone else going up there without my permission.

  The whir of the arriving machine cut off as the metal doors swung open. Frederick’s arm stuck out, barring my way.

  Fiery hot shards poked my brain, stealing my colour vision, making him look as if he dripped with sienna and taupe. “Get out of my way, Roux.”

  He lifted his arm and let me enter, but jumped in a millisecond later. He eyed me, prodding me in the temple with a finger.

  I winced and swung at him, but my perception was way off; I punched the mirrored wall instead.

  “Yep, you’re having a full attack, man. Not good.”

  Agony flared in my knuckles and I growled, nursing my hand. “Thanks for the advice. You going to charge me for that?”

  He smiled. “Nope. That’s on the house.” He pressed the top button and we rode in silence before he said, “Don’t bother wasting your breath telling me to fuck off. I’ll stay until you’ve had some painkillers and that woman of yours has got you on the couch and resting.”

  I didn’t want to argue with that. It sounded fucking perfect. But I hated being told what to do. The last time I obeyed anyone I was eight and let my father kill a slave for sneaking out to find food for her starving bed mates.

  Fuck that shit. I never wanted to take orders again.

  Frederick snuck glances at me, but I ignored him, focusing on curling my fists so hard my fingers threatened to break. The chance of a fracture prevented the fog of pain from devouring me completely.

  I stepped back a little and skidded on a puddle of water. I figured my brain was playing tricks on me. I discounted it, but then froze. I could smell it.

  Frost.

  Orchids.

  Tess.

  My body locked down as panic charged through my limbs. Why the hell had she been in the lift? And without me? She wouldn’t be able to get back without my keycard.

  Frederick raised an eyebrow, noticing my trembling muscles. “What the hell, Q?” He came forward but slipped, too.

  His eyes shot to the floor, reaching out to grab the side rail to avoid slamming to the floor. “Huh. That’s strange. There shouldn’t be a leak in here.”

  My instincts roared to life—trying to tell me something—something I should’ve noticed the second I entered the lift.

  The beast inside sniffed and howled. Something was seriously fucking wrong.

  The conclusion kept darting out of reach. I slapped myself in the head, trying to get my brain into some sense of working order. The migraine curled around my neurons, making me dumb as a piece of concrete.

  I inhaled deep, trying to calm my crazy pulse. The scent of Tess swam in my pounding head, making my heart thud and cock twitch.

  And that’s when it fucking hit me.

  My entire body felt as if knives dragged along my skin, flaying me alive. The world screeched to a halt.

  “Shit.” Tess!

  “What is it? What’s wrong?” Frederick asked, eyes flying around the lift, looking for some unseen threat.

  The rush of panic shoved the migraine away as it darted down my spine. Rage followed hot behind, filling me like a cannon. They fucking dared touch her! My body coiled with the need to attack, to turn animalistic and rip apart anyone who touched my woman.

  I sniffed again, dragging the horrible stench of cigarettes and grease into my lungs.

  Must and body odour.

  Men.

  Something malicious wrapped around my stomach, dragging images of every bastard I’d dealt with in the trafficking industry. I didn’t understand how I recognised the stench, but I knew.

  Evil had been in this lift. With Tess.

  I needed out of this metal box that travelled way far too slow. I needed to scale the building like King Kong and smash every last asshole into pulp.

  Snarling, I punched the mirrored wall so hard it shattered. Cracks radiated from my fist, splintering into tiny pieces and tinkling to the floor.

  “Mercer, wh—”

  The elevator doors opened, and I bolted.

  I slammed my shoulder into the metal door and gulped in a breath as I stumbled and fell to my knee. The sun was a dagger, a fucking bazooka to my head with its brightness. My vision turned completely white as I battled to stay lucid.

  Gritting my teeth, I forced my body to obey and half-lumbered, half-ran across the minefield of sunlight. Bir
ds took wing, squawking at my interruption.

  With my heart in my throat, I exploded into my office.

  “Mercer! Tell me what the hell is going on! You’re fucking scaring me.” Frederick chased after me. I didn’t waste my breath answering. I couldn’t afford to waste any part of my rapidly failing body.

  I had to know Tess was here. Safe. Protected.

  It’s all in my mind. It’s a horrid daydream. My brain is playing tricks. It’s not real.

  But the stench was worse here, the carpet wet with large puddles. Shit.

  The energy of the office wasn’t tranquil anymore, it was tainted. Brittle and tense, it lurked with a nasty undercurrent: something black and hellishly cold—evil and putrid.

  The migraine throbbed around my skull, squeezing my thoughts in a never-ending vice. I sensed death and unhappiness. Tess’s strength and pureness were nowhere to be found. Some chasm that had been full before was now empty and dark.

  Don’t be such a fucking drama queen.

  I stomped on the fear, crushing it. The stink of cigarettes permeated the lounge, guiding me down the corridor and into the spare bedroom.

  I followed the reek, but retraced my steps to unlock my HK P2000 pistol from the sideboard. Frederick skidded into the office, gawking around like a maniac. Considering he was supposed to be the calm one of our duo, he looked wired and ready to kill.

  “Do you think I should take that?” He eyed the gun in my unsteady hand. My vision wavered in and out. One moment full colour, the next black and white. He had a point, but screw my head. Screw my shitty eyesight. I was in charge of Tess’s safety; I’d use the fucking gun.

  Ignoring him, I crouched and moved silently down the corridor. I’d never been so thankful for being deathly silent on my feet before.

  The urge to shoot some fucktard who dared breach my space and take what was mine consumed me. The beast inside roared and raged, ready to go nuclear with fury.

  I swung my arm wide, finger pressing the trigger as I entered the bedroom.

  Nothing.

  The bed was untouched, the room perfect as I left it.

  Frederick fell back, keeping close to me with his legs bent, ready to fight at a moment’s notice. If I had to have anyone at my back, it was him. He looked like a pussy, but he fought with the best of them.

  Frederick was my wingman, my confidant, and ally, but he didn’t have the same blackness in his soul, or the blurred lines of right and wrong.

  “Tess, où es tu?” Where are you? I whisper-growled, inching into the walk-in wardrobe.

  A single empty hanger lay on the floor.

  My heart exploded through my ribs; my headache stole my vision, leaving me completely blind for a second.

  I grabbed hold of the shelf holding my shoes, trying to stabilize myself and bring my heart rate into submission.

  Frederick didn’t say a word while I suffered and blinked, coaxing my eyesight to return.

  Finally, a scramble of images came back to me, and I motioned for him to have my back as I moved toward the bathroom.

  On the carpet, leading the way like a sinister path, were droplets of water. Staining the beige carpet a darker brown. It started off as a trickle, until splashes grew bigger and drenched the carpet outside the bathroom door.

  Gulping back nausea and violence, I nudged open the door with my toe and charged in, waving the pistol into every corner.

  Only once I knew the room was clear did I let myself take in the scene of my worst fucking nightmare.

  “Q, don’t move. I’ll call the police.”

  I stood in a puddle, staring at a bath full of water and no Tess. The towel rail dangled from the wall, and Tess’s clothes from that morning were on a chair.

  The migraine swelled to epic proportions. I stumbled against the wall, shaking off the blackness, the cloak of unconsciousness. I wouldn’t let a weakness stop me from understanding.

  Slapping myself, I managed to shake away the stupor long enough to move forward and dip my fingers into the water.

  Lukewarm.

  Tess had taken a bath like I told her, and while I sat in a meeting she suffered a fucking nightmare.

  My broken eyes found Frederick’s. “How did they get up here, Roux? What happened to the goddamn security cameras and guards?” My heart beat thickly, sending more pressure to my skull.

  I wobbled, but righted myself before Frederick could help. I didn’t want his help. I wasn’t an invalid! I was a bastard of an idiot for thinking Tess was safe.

  How the hell did the motherfuckers find me? How did they manage to capture Tess right from under my nose!

  I sagged against the wall as the migraine seized control. The mirrored tiles reflected a man with demons snarling at his heels and his world imploding around him.

  “I don’t know. But I’ll find out. We’ll get her back, man,” Frederick said, his voice low. He left the bathroom, leaving me with horrible images: images of Tess beaten, raped, and sold. Ruined, and broken. Gone.

  I couldn’t let that happen. Disregarding the fact I could barely see, I lurched out the bathroom and collided with Frederick, who’d stooped to pick up a piece of paper from the floor.

  I snatched it off him, trying to read the scrawl, but the writing turned into insects on the page, scurrying away from understanding.

  “Q. You really need to lie down. You’ll have a stroke at the rate you’re going.”

  I snarled, “Don’t tell me to fucking calm down. A woman who was supposed to be in my protection has been taken. A woman who has lived through so much already has been snatched from my very fucking arms, and I failed her! So don’t tell me to fucking calm down until I find her and make the bastards pay.”

  Shoving the note back under his nose, I demanded, “Read.”

  Frederick took the paper, swallowing hard.

  “Deal’s off, Mercer.”

  My heart seized, and the room warped, squeezing in on me, crushing me.

  Something smashed free inside, tearing at every bar, every lock I’d ever created. The last few days I’d tried desperately hard to tame myself. Brainwash myself into being a better man for Tess, but with those three words, I shrugged off the falseness that I could never be. I growled and welcomed the feralness, the raging psychotic temper.

  The beast sprung free, and I breathed hard. This was who I was. A man who craved blood. A man who laughed when breaking a bone, and didn’t flinch when shooting a bullet into a rapist.

  Frederick continued. I didn’t want to hear anymore.

  “I’ve taken back what was mine and sold for a better deal.

  Fuck you.

  Gerald Dubolazov.”

  Gerald? In my moment of migraine weakness, I couldn’t remember which cockroach he was.

  Frederick smoothed the crinkled paper, muttering, “The seal is the Red Wolverine.”

  I spun and punched the wall so hard my fist disappeared through the drywall. I wished it was someone’s head.

  That fucking Russian bastard. Dubolazov. The man who practically owned all of Russia. The Russian president thought he ruled, the mafia thought they controlled, but they were in the pockets of one man: Gerald Dubolazov, the king of everything dirty and wrong.

  “Merde!”

  Stalking back into the bathroom, I searched for clues. Anything that might shed light on how they found Tess and where they took her. The window of time to get her back was terrifyingly small.

  Blonde strands littered the floor, and I clenched my jaw. Just the thought of someone hurting Tess made me see litres of blood and acres of fucking carnage.

  In my mind the sound of a huge, ominous clock began to sound. Tick, tick, ticking the seconds away, marking the moments Tess’s life hung in the balance. I had to find her before it was too late.

  Something crunched under my shoe, and I bent to investigate. The moment I set eyes on it, my migraine left the realm of excruciating and amplified into kill-worthy.

  I toppled sideways as Frederick appeared
over my shoulder. “Fuck me, that isn’t good.”

  He could say that again.

  The evidence of what happened to Tess enraged the beast, clawing at my mind. I forgot everything but the need to plunge my hands deep into the kidnappers’ chests and rip out their fucking hearts.

  I want blood. I want corpses. I want to dance on unmarked graves for this. I wouldn’t rest until every single person involved died a slow and bone-shrivelling death.

  My hand closed tight around the object of my rage, and I made an oath. I would find Tess, I would save her, and I would kill every last son of a bitch who took her.

  The gentle clink of breaking glass sounded over my harsh breathing. The broken syringe sliced my palm, and one lonely drop of blood landed into a puddle of water.

  The same syringe that drugged Tess and stole her away from me.

  My esclave—so strong and fierce and sexually feral—was gone.

  Her cage wasn’t me anymore.

  It was them.

  Don’t show me mercy, don’t cut me loose, I need you to tighten that noose.

  “I told them to take you, esclave.

  “Did you honestly think I could want you?

  “You aren’t enough for me. I was kidding myself, and it’s time to end this. Time you went to an owner who wants you.”

  Tears rained down my cheeks as I huddled on the floor by Q’s feet. He stood proud and regal, entirely closed off and robotic. No cares, no feelings, no love or need in his eyes.

  Just pure, calculated indifference.

  “You don’t mean that. You don’t. I know you, Q. I know you—” I sucked in a huge breath, sobbing at his rejection.

  “It’s done. You’re dead to me.” He spun on his heel and prowled to the door. With a parting glance, he sneered, “Don’t let the wolverines shred you alive.”

  The door slammed, and I was left in a pit with twigs and mud facing three pacing, starving wolverines. Looking half-wolf, half-badger, and full demon spawn, they slobbered and stalked, their yellow eyes glowing with the thought of an easy dinner.

  “Q!” I screamed, scrambling backward. The wolverines twisted into dinosaur size, all of them with barcodes stencilled across their furry chests. They growled and blood spewed from their mouths, creating a river of red, lapping at my feet.