In the instant that Tristan and Avery laid eyes on each other, Quinn knew that Tristan would never look at her the way he did her sister. So she had done the honourable thing and stepped aside, never holding it against either of them - until her sister had died, just a few months after the birth of the twins. Tristan had already returned to Summerfeld to resume his Guardian duties and Quinn would never forgive him for not being there to protect her sister, the woman he supposedly loved more than life itself.
“I feel nothing for Tristan!” Quinn hissed. “He abandoned Avery – and his children!”
“Tristan understands the meaning of honour! He understands the magnitude of our duty and that some things are more important, even than family.”
“Tristan is still captivated by the novelty of his own importance. He has only been a Guardian for a few years. His enthusiasm will wear off, trust me. This job is eternal.”
“That is not true, Quinn. You know the prophecy. When the balance is restored the war will end.”
“Don’t quote the book at me, Braddon, I know it far better than you do.” The Sacred Book, studied by all Guardians as part of their training, contained both history and prophecy. “The balance will never be restored!”
King Eldon had chronicled that the war between the Fae and the vampires would end when the balance was restored. The Guardians understood this to mean the the number of vampires in existence needed to be reduced to that of the inhabitants of Summerfeld – a literal balance between good and evil - but the vampires’ ability to multiply made it an impossible task.
”It has been written,” Braddon replied with absolute certainty, irking her with his steadfast belief. She had believed once, too, but over the past two years she had withdrawn, pulling away from the Guardianship for the sake of her niece and nephew.
“That book says a lot of things, most of which have never happened. I think old Eldon may have been a bit mental.”
“That’s sacrilege, Quinn! Do not forget your teachings; do not doubt your beliefs. I have been protecting Summerfeld for three hundred years. My allegiance has never faltered.”
“You don’t need to remind me. I remember,” Quinn’s own tanzanite eyes were flashing now. “You dumped me and Avery the very first chance you got.”
Braddon Harden had loved his human wife, but had fulfilled his duty and returned to the Guardians immediately after his daughters were born, visiting them only occasionally. Their mother had loved and cared for them, but she had fallen ill when they were very young and died shortly thereafter. The girls had been removed from their home to be raised within the City itself. Their basic needs were met, but never again did they experience the love and affection that they had known from their mother in the human world. Without Avery, Quinn doubted she would have survived her lonely childhood. This was the main reason she had wanted to raise Jack and Ava herself, in the real world, so that they could experience a normal, happy childhood, without secrets, being raised by someone who loved them as much as their mother had.
On their twenty-first birthdays, Quinn and Avery were allowed back into the realm of man to start a life of their own – although they would always be watched over. Under no real threat from the vampires as ‘innocents’, the Guardians preferred to keep tabs on all descendants of the twelve Guardian families. Most were raised by their human mothers and were unaware of Summerfeld’s existence, but every so often, if an heir of a Guardian was orphaned before reaching adulthood, the child would be raised within the City itself. Quinn had been nothing short of delighted to escape the confines of the City and live a life of her choosing. She had soothed Avery’s fears of the unknown and promised her a life filled with fun and adventure. Avery had been loath to leave Summerfeld and Quinn had wondered if Avery’s Guardian instincts were naturally stronger than her own.
In a sick twist of fate, two of Braddon’s Guardian friends had been discovered by the vampires and had taken their own lives to defend Summerfeld less than a year after the girls left the City. Quinn and Avery’s marks had burned onto their wrists in a flash of pain, the white S-shaped tattoo that they had always feared – seeing it as a symbol of a family divided. Nevertheless, the calling was too great and the girls reported to Cliffdale where they were trained as Guardians – the newest protectors of the magical realm. Conversely, it was Quinn who then championed their cause. Determined to be the best Guardian possible, she trained harder than any other before her and swore her allegiance without hesitation. She led... and Avery followed. Over time, their fierce devotion and astounding skills earned them even the grudging respect of their own father. And then Avery had died and Quinn’s sole focus had no longer concerned the protection of others – it became the protection of her own blood – Avery’s children.
“This is how it works, Quinn,” Braddon continued, bringing Quinn back to the present. “You have been a Guardian for a long time – you have seen it, over and over. The children will be protected – they will want for nothing.”
“They will want for a lot of things. I know that better than anyone. I have been defending the Gateway for almost a century. All I ask is a few more years’ grace, to allow Jack and Ava to grow up in this world – their world. When they come of age, I will return.”
“That is out of the question. Daniel himself sent me to get you.”
A resounding silence followed these words. Daniel was one of only two original Guardians. Two alone had survived the last one thousand years and had never been replaced on the Guardian council. Daniel and Isaiah were legendary. Satisfied that he had her attention, Braddon continued. “There has never been discord amongst the Guardians – not in one thousand years – not until now. We lead by example and your actions will result in doubt. Where there is doubt, there is fragility. Without your sister’s successor we are even more vulnerable.”
“I’m only asking for a few years,” Quinn repeated, but Braddon shook his head.
“You have had two. Unfortunately, we can grant you no more time.”
“I will take as much time as I want. You can go back and tell Daniel that you asked but I am not coming back.” Instead of anger, something akin to empathy shone in her father’s eyes.
“You misunderstand me, Quinn. I didn’t come here to ask you. I came here to fetch you.”
It took a moment for the words to sink in but when they did Quinn gave a gasp of shocked understanding. Racing for the stairs, she took them two at a time. Skidding to a halt at the door to the children’s room, she let out a wail of despair and heartbreak. The unmade beds were the least of her worries. Jack and Ava were gone.
Chapter 2
“Where are they?” Returning to the living-room, Quinn snarled her question.
“I cannot tell you that.”
“Summerfeld,” she curled her lip, “they’re in Summerfeld. I’m going to fetch them,” she turned towards the front door.
“The children are not in the City,” Braddon corrected, halting her in her tracks. “Daniel forbade it. They will not be returned to Summerfeld until you have realised the error of your ways and come back to the Guardians.”
“Please,” for the first time, Quinn appealed to her father, not as a Guardian, but as a parent. “Please, give them back. I have served Summerfeld for a hundred years and I will serve it for a thousand more – when the twins are grown. It’s not too much to ask, surely, for an eternity of loyalty. Please,” her violet-blue eyes were wide and sincere, and glistening with tears she refused to shed. “I am begging you.” The reply was nothing less than she expected, but it still cut her to the core.
“You will report to Summerfeld in the morning to resume your duties Quinn.” The words echoed tonelessly around the small living-room and, with that, he left her.
Quinn wasted no time. The second her father left the house she streaked up the stairs, threw open her closet and pulled down the black duffel bag that she kept packed for emergencies. Retrieving a slim black cell phone from her bedside drawer, she threw it on
top. She had kept one bag packed for each of the children too but she wouldn’t need them now. If only she’d had more warning, if her father had given her time to consider – she would have fled with the children. Cursing her naiveté she pulled a different phone from her pocket – her official Guardian contact phone. Dropping it, Quinn smashed the offending device under the heel of her boot. They would have no contact with her from now on and, without the phone, they could not track her. She would not return and have her niece and nephew raised the way that she and Avery had been - they deserved better. She would find them, get them back and take them where no Guardian would ever find them. She had been foolish to let the Guardians know where she was all this time, but she had thought it best if Tristan was allowed to visit so that Jack and Ava could know their father, despite what she might think of him. With one last longing look into the twins' bedroom, Quinn steeled herself and flew back down the stairs, snatching up her keys from the kitchen counter and racing out into the night.
Spending so much time in the realm of man had equipped Quinn in ways that the Guardians could not track. She had invested her mother’s inheritance wisely - in untraceable accounts and property. She had considered every possible scenario and had planned accordingly. She would find Jack and Ava, but first she had to get as far from here as possible – find somewhere safe where the Guardians could not find her and force her to return. She had mothered the twins for two years and had bonded with them as if they were her own children. She couldn’t abandon them now – she loved them too much.
Six hours later, Quinn drove into the town of Brookfield. It was a small, forgettable place in which she had purchased a quaint double-storey house less than a year ago. Arriving in the early hours of the morning, Quinn had nothing other than the duffel bag to carry as she wearily opened the door and flipped on the light switch.
The downstairs area consisted of a large airy hallway which opened up into a cosy living-room, and a spacious, open-plan kitchen. Upstairs were two bedrooms and a bathroom. The furniture was minimal, but brand new, and the kitchen was fully equipped. Quinn had employed a char, Alice, who had her own keys and came in once a week to clean. Although it had been almost a year since she had last seen her, there was no doubt that Alice was performing her duties well – every surface gleamed.
Dropping the duffel bag at the foot of the stairs in the hall, Quinn locked the front door and made her way to the kitchen. She drew the curtains and then opened the pantry door, punching a series of numbers into the electronic keypad on the wall. It looked much like any other alarm system, but when Alice had questioned her about arming it, Quinn had simply told her she didn’t use it. With an audible click, the panel on the opposite side of the pantry slid open to reveal a small, dark room. Flicking the light switch, Quinn regarded the contents of the room, a small, satisfied smile on her striking face. Nothing had been disturbed; the room was exactly as she had left it. She moved across to the small wooden desk in the centre, on top of which sat a black laptop, and reached underneath it to turn on the power. A green light appeared on the laptop. As she waited for it to boot up, she eyed the back wall directly opposite the hidden door. Most of the shelving held a variety of stakes, wooden and metal. There were also a few bottles of Cliffdale water and a compact crossbow, one of Quinn’s favourite weapons, but which was more suited to a Hunter than an ordinary Guardian, for use during tracking. Quinn couldn’t exactly walk around with it without drawing attention to herself. The water, blessed by the Fae at the Cliffdale Cathedral and the cross could not kill a vampire, but it could hurt them – particularly the younger ones - incapacitating them long enough to drive a stake through their heart, which is one of the only ways to kill a vampire, save for decapitation or leaving them out in the sun to burn. Unfortunately, the older the vampire, the more resilient they became to the water.
In the very centre of the shelves sat three wooden picture frames. A small amber crystal, no larger than Quinn’s hand, rested beside them. Quinn rounded the desk and touched the dusty glass of the first frame which contained a photograph of Avery the day Jack and Ava were born. Quinn had taken the photo herself and she remembered the way her sister had held the small bundles up to the camera, her face alive with excitement. She would have been an amazing mother if only she’d been given the chance. Lifting the frame, Quinn focused on her sister’s face, studiously avoiding looking at the twins. It was like gazing into a mirror – Avery was the spitting image of Quinn, tall and slim, with the same tanzanite eyes, but her rich brown hair was longer, falling past her shoulders. Quinn’s own straight hair was cut into an A-line bob, shorter at the back and longer at the front, falling only an inch below her jaw-line.
The second photograph was of Quinn and Avery five years before the twins were born. Tristan was with them, standing in the centre, his arm around Avery’s waist. The picture had been taken shortly after Tristan had completed his Guardian training – right after he had transferred his affections for Quinn to Avery. Quinn lifted the frame from the shelf and gazed at it, lost in thought. Avery was smiling at the camera, laughing at something Tristan had said. Tristan was gazing down at her fondly, his dark blond hair mussed up, as always. From the angle the photograph was taken you couldn’t see the colour of his eyes, but Quinn knew they were as clear blue as the midday sky. Quinn, standing slightly apart from the other two, was also looking at the camera, but there was a haunted look in her eyes. She remembered the day clearly - the celebration, the pain of watching the man she loved doting on her sister. Avery had not known the extent of Quinn’s feelings for Tristan, and Quinn could only assume that he had downplayed their relationship to spare Avery the guilt that she would no doubt have felt if she had known the truth. Quinn had never thought to enlighten her sister – Avery’s happiness meant more to her than her own, and besides, what good would it have done? Tristan had loved Avery much more than he ever had Quinn, so what was the point in trying to keep them apart? It was far better that the two of them were happy rather than all three being miserable.
Snapping herself back to the present, Quinn peered at the last photograph. She and Avery had been on a mission, away from the others for a whole week. One of the Guardian descendants had moved across country with his young children and they had lost track of his whereabouts. Quinn and Avery simply had to locate the family and report back. They had managed to do it in less time than Isaiah had allocated, but instead of returning, Avery had convinced Quinn to spend two nights in a small Bed and Breakfast, playing hooky. They needed a break, she lamented, and Quinn had reluctantly agreed. It was the last time they had ever strayed from their Guardian duties. During their absence, a Guardian had fallen. Quinn had never forgiven herself, and she suspected that Avery had felt the same.
Lost in her dark thoughts, Quinn studied the photograph.The owner of the Bed and Breakfast, entertained by the girls’ high spirits, had taken it one morning at breakfast and presented it to them when they left. Repressing the memory, Quinn focused on the pendant that hung around Avery’s neck in the photograph. She had seldom worn it – a small, circular aquamarine crystal. It had never been found after Avery’s death. The Guardians were still searching but, in two years, no headway had been made. The Guardians’ crystals were their most prized possessions. Each Guardian possessed a different stone, its location unknown to anyone else. If a Guardian was killed, his or her replacement would retrieve the crystal, instinct guiding them to its exact location, before reporting to Summerfeld. The Guardians protected their crystals with their lives and for good reason. If united, the crystals would open the Rose Gate, releasing Wynter and the magic of the Fae from the temple, but it would also undo all of Eldon’s protective enchantments. The Gateway would be destroyed and Summerfeld would be exposed.
Leverage, Quinn thought to herself. If she could find the crystal, she could use it as leverage for the Guardians to return Jack and Ava. They wanted that crystal far more than they wanted her or the twins. Setting the photograph back in place,
she moved back to the desk, taking a seat and using her password to unlock the laptop. She checked that she had internet access and then locked the screen, which showed that it was three in the morning. Pulling open the top drawer of her desk, she pulled out a folded note that had been addressed to her. It had been found in Avery’s house after her death. Quinn unfolded the paper and stared down at her sister’s elegant handwriting. The note contained only ten words - ten simple words - and yet, in two years, Quinn had come nowhere closer to deciphering them.
You will find it in the heart of my own.
She was sure it was a clue to finding the crystal; that Avery had left her some way to retrieve it and use it to barter for the children’s freedom. In the heart of my own, Quinn read the words again. Tristan. It had to have something to do with Tristan – Avery had loved him more than anything else.
Her exhaustion taking its toll, Quinn retreated through the hidden door, punched in the series of digits that locked it and made her way back to the hall. She headed up the stairs taking the black duffel bag with her. Passing the upstairs bathroom she went straight into the children’s room. Opening the closet, her throat constricted with the pain of their absence as she gazed at the rows of clothes. She had clothing for them and herself at each of her three safe-houses.
Dropping the duffel bag at her feet, too tired even to get undressed, Quinn fell across Jack’s bed, the tears finally winning and streaming down her face as she sobbed silently into the blue pillow.
Chapter 3
Quinn only woke after midday; her body and mind exhausted. Mindlessly she retrieved the duffel bag, stowing it in her closet and stepping across the landing to the bathroom. Twenty minutes later, showered, dressed and feeling marginally better, she sat down on her bed to brush her hair. Her bedroom, like the rest of the house, was understated, but elegant, with lined, white curtains and pale, dove-grey walls. In the corner of the room sat an ornate 16th century chair painted silver, with black and silver patterned fabric cushions. Quinn pulled her boots over her skinny jeans and slotted a slim mahogany stake into the right boot, pushing it down until it wasn’t visible.
The Cathedral of Cliffdale Page 2
