by Jamie Davis
“I don’t think so. I sense more of my cabal coming now. In a minute or so, you’ll be dead. Then you will truly be the final hunter.”
Quinn growled. “Stop calling me a hunter. I’m a huntress, something altogether better. It’s time you understood that things are going to be different this time around.”
The man laughed and waggled his extended finger at her.
She realized he was egging her on, trying to buy time for his reinforcements to arrive. A quick check of the HUD confirmed her suspicion.
There was one thing to try, and Quinn wasn’t sure it would work. She needed more air than she was getting. The huntress figured she had about ten seconds to finish this guy off. Pulling energy from her stamina, Quinn siphoned some away from the rest and concentrated on her bruised chest.
In an instant, she could breathe again. The healing attempt had worked. That problem solved, Quinn used the remaining power draw to take two spinning steps forward. She delivered a crushing roundhouse to the demon-kinder’s chest.
It sent him flying into the living room to crash into the coffee table.
She rushed in to stand over him as he struggled to rise from the splinters of the table. She lunged forward, stabbing at an angle so her blade slipped under the ribs and into the demon’s heart.
He made one feeble attempt to swipe at her and then went still.
The kitchen door opened, and more demon-kinder voices called out in alarm. They must have found the one she’d killed.
Quinn figured it was time to get out of here. She tapped the button on the earpiece, which was miraculously still in place, thanks to the metal clip hooked around her earlobe.
The connection opened immediately, and Taylor’s voice came through.
“Quinn. Finally. We’ve seen some strange readings coming in through the link. Are you okay?”
“Now would be a good time to get me out of here. I’m already pressing my luck.”
“We’re ready on this end. Get set. Here we go.”
No sooner had Taylor’s sentence ended than Quinn’s awareness yanked backward as if pulled by an enormous bungee cord. The nausea and dizziness returned, followed by the wave of blackness.
She was on the way home.
Chapter Sixteen
Quinn woke up in the farmhouse dining room, flat on her back and retching once again. Her stomach rebelled against the magic and technology and tried to empty, although it already was. Miranda rushed over and rolled her on her side as she vomited again.
Luckily, she’d emptied her guts in Baltimore, so she only dry-heaved for a minute or so.
Taylor had moved from behind the monitors and held Quinn’s hand, concern creasing her brow. “God, Quinn, that was scary. You all right?”
Quinn coughed a few more times and said, “I think you two need to work a bit more on dialing in the transfer process.”
“Was it bad?” Miranda asked.
“Let’s just say, I hope I don’t have to go back in any time soon. I’m going to need a little time to recover. Plus, I have the migraine to end all migraines.”
Taylor helped Quinn sit up and swing her legs over the table’s edge. “We’ll try to refine the code and magic mix before the next time. You were successful, though?”
“Yes, Clark’s on his way back with two people. One’s a fae leader, I think. The other’s her butler or something.”
Miranda and Taylor steadied Quinn as she stood. Her head still throbbed, and her legs trembled beneath her, but she took a few unsteady steps on her own.
“I’m fine, I guess. I’m going to go up and wash off. Maybe a shower will help. I’ll be back down soon. I expect Clark will be back by then, and we can talk about what we need to do next.”
She headed for the stairs and climbed up to her room, where she grabbed some clean clothes and went into the bathroom. The hot water of the shower soothed her muscles. When she used her skills to boost her energy and strength, there was an effect afterward. It was like the day after a particularly hard workout in the gym when every muscle ached from exertion.
Quinn shut off the shower and climbed out when the hot water began to run out. As she toweled off, she heard Clark’s voice downstairs. She couldn’t make out what he said. Quinn hurried to get dressed. She decided to bring along the shoulder holster rig even though she was in the relative safety of the farmhouse. There was no telling what the slayer teams were capable of, and they were going to be searching for the ones who’d killed their brethren and spirited away their prey.
She shrugged into a t-shirt and blue jeans, slid into the straps of the rig holding her Bowie, and went downstairs.
Clark stood in the kitchen, leaning against the counter and talking to Filippa, Taylor, and Miranda. He smiled when she walked in. “Glad to see you made it back in one piece. How’d you fare against the slayers?”
“I managed to kill two of them. The other two I left behind before they found me. I think we passed along our message.”
“Did they see you?”
“No, I located them using my HUD and bugged out before they got all the way into the house.”
“You had a HUD inside the system?” Taylor asked. “I didn’t code that in for you. It must’ve been in the code I copied from the VirSync drives. I’ll have to go look.”
Clark nodded. “It could be her strange affinity, too.” He turned to Quinn. “Anything else unusual or special pop up while you were inside?”
“I got that tracking-by-other-senses thing working. You’ve been trying to awaken that in me for a while. I got near the house, and I sensed Filippa. That allowed me to narrow in on her location.”
“You sniffed me out?” the fae asked with amusement. “I hope it was a pleasant odor.”
Quinn smiled. She inhaled and caught the faint hint of peppermint and baked bread in the air. “Definitely pleasant. Don’t worry.”
It appeared that she’d once again retained an ability gained while in VR. On a whim, Quinn tried to bring up the HUD by concentrating on their location and visualizing the surroundings. A faint transparent image appeared over her visual field, and she tried to focus on it. It solidified some, but it wasn’t as easy to see as inside the VR world.
Quinn could see the farmhouse and its immediate surroundings out to about a hundred yards, with her location shown as a pulsing blue dot in the farmhouse kitchen. She tried to zoom out to a broader view of the area around them but couldn’t do it. There were apparently limitations to this new ability. Still, it could come in handy on this side of the interface, too.
“What’s up, Quinn?” Taylor asked. “You had a faraway look in your eyes for a bit there.”
“I was just thinking about something.” She decided to keep the new abilities to herself, especially with guests around. Maybe she would tell the other clan members later when they were alone again.
“I find this talk of technology and magic working hand in hand fascinating,” Filippa said. “In my experience, the two have always been mutually exclusive. One has always canceled out properties of the other in close proximity. You seem to have conquered that.”
Taylor smiled but shook her head. “We can’t take credit, though we’re taking advantage of it. We stole the tech and spell combination from the bad guys.”
Clark nodded. “That is how they’re able to get so close once they localize you to an area. They use the tech to project their slayers directly to you for the attack. There will be virtually no warning before they initiate an assault.”
“I saw that when your huntress here showed up on my doorstep only a few hours after I’d arrived. You say the others can do this, too?”
Quinn nodded. “I killed two of them in the house before I returned. They tracked you to that neighborhood and were searching for you when I arrived. We think they can send up to eight at a time. We only have the capability to send me right now.”
“Hopefully,” Clark added, “we’ll be able to expand that shortly. We’ll have to be able to match them
.”
Quinn could tell from the scowl crossing Taylor’s face that she didn’t think they’d be adding more VR rigs anytime soon. She’d said the tech was complicated, and she had only been able to create what they had with pieces they’d stolen from the company leftovers.
Miranda asked, “Do I need to try to create someplace for the princess and her attendant to sleep?”
“You’re a princess?” Quinn asked. “Like, a real fairy princess?” A smile crossed her face. Filippa didn’t match the image she’d grown up with.
“I am, but you are not required to address me as such. You are not among my subjects. Even humans with supernatural abilities have long demonstrated reluctance to bend to our authority.” Her glance in Clark’s direction told Quinn she needed to learn more about his history with this woman.
Filippa continued, “I will not be able to stay here. The summit with the other fae must still take place, and I must assist with the details and planning.”
“Filippa, we barely saved you back there. You can’t return to that house.” Clark’s concern and maybe a little anger showed in his tone.
“I will not return there. That would be foolish, Clark. Give me some credit. Also, I’m not without protections of my own. I’ll find a more secure location from which to manage preparations.”
Clark started to say something and she held up a hand, forestalling his answer. “I’ve made up my mind. You’ll not dissuade me, so do not waste my time trying.”
Quinn resisted the urge to smile. She could practically hear Clark’s teeth grinding as his jaws clenched in an effort to hold his tongue.
He found his voice a second or so later after locking eyes with the fae princess. “Fine. I’ll give you and Alistair a ride back into the city so you can get back to work, then.”
“No need for that. Alistair has already reached out, and a vehicle is on the way here with a security team for my protection. We’ll return to the city and get back to work.”
Clark shook his head. “I wish you’d asked before sharing our location with anyone else. We’ve avoided detection this long. I had hoped to stay off the radar of the supernatural community a little longer.”
“I assure you my contacts are reliable. You and your group are in no danger, at least not from us.”
Clark clearly wanted to contradict her, but he didn’t answer. Quinn knew it made no difference anyway. The damage, if any, was already done.
“Well, at least fill me in on the details of what you have planned for the summit. We can help provide security for you, as we’ve done in the past.”
“No, Clark. I appreciate what you’ve done here with your huntress and the others. Sadly, however, you cannot resurrect the clans. The hunters are no more. The other fae would not trust that you could provide the protection we need. We must protect ourselves.”
Her dismissal angered Quinn. “How can you say that? We just saved your ass. I risked my life for you, and you have the nerve to turn up your nose at us because we’re not good enough for you somehow?”
Clark cautioned Quinn with a sharp rebuke. “Quinn, don’t speak to her that way. You don’t know all that has passed before.”
“I don’t care, Clark. What was the use of sending me out there to help if people like her are going to treat us like dirt?”
Clark started to say something, but Filippa stopped him. “Clark, why have you not taught her to curb her words around her betters?”
“Betters?” Quinn replied. “You think you’re my better? You might be a whole lot older than I am. That’s obvious. You’re not my better, though. I’ve survived when no one thought I had a chance. I’ve been fighting the odds since I was born, so don’t you stand there and act like you’re somehow worth more than I am.”
Filippa’s eyebrows shot up and she smiled. “My, my, your huntress has fangs, Clark. I’d suggest you teach her some manners before we meet again.
A horn honked outside. Filippa nodded. “That will be our ride. I’ll take my leave so you can attend to the issues in your house, Clark. Until next time.”
The fae woman inclined her head in a slight bow and left.
Quinn waited until she heard the front door shut before saying anything. “How can you let her talk to you, to me, that way? WE saved her, not anyone else. She needs to get that stick out of her butt before I’ll bother to stick my neck out for her again.”
“Quinn, you spoke out of turn just then.” Clark ran his hand through his graying hair and shook his head. “The fae are prickly. You have to handle them carefully to get them to come around and do what you want them to do. I’d hoped to at least get an invitation to help with security. Now, we’re going to have to try to protect them from the outside. We’ll have no way of knowing what the hell they’re up to.”
“That’s not my fault. She was rude.”
When no one answered her, Quinn looked from Clark to Miranda and finally at Taylor, who only offered her a shrug in response.
“Fine, I’m the bad one. It’s not the first time, and I’m not backing down. If she gets herself killed by slayers because of this, it’s on her. I’m done protecting that particular fae princess.”
Before anyone could answer, she headed back up to her room. She was tired and needed sleep to restore her strength. She also knew herself well enough to know she was about to say something that might be hurtful to her friends. She needed to cool down and get some rest. She’d address the implications of what she’d said with them in the morning.
Chapter Seventeen
Quinn opened her eyes and stared up at Clark, who loomed over her bed. “Let me sleep, Clark. I’ll talk to you in the morning.”
“It is morning. I let you sleep in past eight, now get up. We’ve got work to do.”
Quinn groaned. If Clark was telling the truth, she’d gotten nearly six hours of sleep. Given how wrecked her body felt as she stretched and sat on the edge of the bed, she decided it hadn’t been nearly enough.
“I’ll wait for you downstairs. Don’t take too long getting yourself breakfast. I’ll tell Taylor to start a fresh pot of coffee. You look like you need it.”
Quinn opened her mouth to snap something witty back at him but stopped when nothing came to mind. Wow, last night had really thrown off her game. She got up and stumbled into the bathroom, where she splashed water on her face to try to wake up.
She returned to her room, changed into a pair of leggings, and tugged a t-shirt on over her sports bra. Clark had sounded like he planned on working her pretty hard this morning, and she wanted to at least be comfortable during the training.
By the time she arrived downstairs, the pot of coffee had finished filling. She grabbed a mug, the half-and-half, and the sugar bowl. After filling the cup a third of the way with cream, she filled the rest with coffee and added three heaping spoonfuls of sugar. She stirred the mixture a few times, pulled out the spoon, and popped it in her mouth.
As soon as she did, a series of images from the previous night flashed through her mind. For an instant, she saw both the demon-kinder she’d killed, their sightless eyes staring up at her. A shudder went down her spine, and she blinked until the images disappeared.
What the hell was that?
Quinn glanced around the kitchen and through the door to the dining room, where Taylor and Miranda were hard at work on something. Neither of them had noticed whatever it was that had happened to her. She put the strange feeling out of her mind and reached across the table for a banana. She didn’t feel much like eating, but she knew she needed something in her stomach before the training began. She’d bring an apple down to snack on later.
“Hey, Quinn,” Taylor said as she walked in to refresh her cup of coffee. “Clark said you looked rough this morning. He wasn’t wrong.”
“Wow, thanks.”
“Hey, don’t shoot the messenger. Did you sleep at all last night?”
“I think so. I don’t remember waking up. I should feel a lot better than this.”
&n
bsp; “Miranda and I are working on cleaning up the interface software, and the spell commands she’s using. She thinks she can ease the effects by adding healing runes to the headset. That should help fortify you the next time you go in.”
“That’s good, I guess.” Going back in was currently the last thing she wanted to do. She couldn’t tell Taylor that. She’d worked hard on this, and it would upset her if she knew how Quinn felt about it. “I need to rest up some, though, and recover my strength before I try that again.”
Quinn saw she’d said too much, judging by Taylor’s concerned expression. She added, “Hey, you know me. I bounce back fast. I’ll probably be fine by dinnertime.”
Taylor didn’t look convinced, but she gave Quinn a half-smile and nodded. “I’ll check on you later. Make sure Clark doesn’t work you too hard down there. Tell him you don’t feel well.”
“I can’t do that. If he thinks I’m slacking off, he’ll just work me harder. He’s all about pushing through the pain and going past my limits. I’m better off not saying anything.”
“I could tell him we think the VR had an effect on you and that you need some time to recover.”
“No, don’t. I’ve got this. This is nothing worse than a hangover, and I’ve worked out and practiced through enough of those.” Taylor knew Quinn had done precisely that after weekend parties back in high school.
“I’ll talk to Miranda while you’re downstairs. Maybe she has some magical suggestions to fortify you for the time being until you get caught up. We can try them out when you come up for lunch.”
Quinn nodded as she got up. “I’ll let you know. I’d better get downstairs and get started. I don’t want him to come up and look for me.” She finished her banana and threw the peel in the trash, then pulled the basement door open and went down to their makeshift training area.
Clark had rearranged the old canvas practice mats. Now, he had them doubled up in a smaller area than usual. Quinn hoped that didn’t mean he planned on throwing her down doubly hard.
“Good, you’re here. There’s something I think we’ve been missing out on. Something Filippa said on our way home last night triggered a memory that I think might help.”
