Quinn scowled. “This isn’t just a man, Withinner. This is bloody Cade. It’s not the same thing.”
Chapter 27
Cade sat in the back garden, his latest thesis and research papers spread before him in an untidy sprawl. The mid-afternoon July sun warmed his body as he wrote copious notes and reminders in the margins of the document he was working on.
Ambrose Tickler Brown had been very grateful seeing him back after Quinn’s very inventive story about his lengthy disappearance. His fiancé’s original cover tale had been that they’d both needed a break from one another after an altercation and one of the other major French universities had requested Cade’s presence on a dig in the South of France. Quinn had said that they were willing to pay a lot of money to the Institute for his time and the two of them thought it would be a good idea to be apart for a while. Of course, QuinnCo (ergo Quinn) had put up the funds, but Ambrose had been only too happy to accept the very generous donation in return for Cade’s absence once Quinn had sweet talked him into it. Ambrose had also expressed his fervent wish that he hoped they worked things out. Cade had actually been a little aggrieved at the fact that the professor had been happy to pimp him out and rearrange his classes with such alacrity in return for the huge donation. Quinn had shaken his head in amusement at Cade’s reaction.
Cade had been researching the history of the Picts and the life of Kenneth MacAlpin as a favour to Cooper. The planned research trip to Crieff in Scotland with Cooper and the rest of the team from the Institute had been planned for late August, only a few weeks away. As keen as he’d been to go before getting almost fatally stabbed, Cade wasn’t all that sure now that he wanted to leave Quinn for such an amount of time. Sitting there sucking his pen, he realised that his priorities had changed.
“I suppose that’s what a near-death experience does to you, Marco,” he murmured to the cat lying curled up on the tabletop in the sun, his paws spread over one of the research documents. Marco was used to their one-sided conversations and Cade loved the fact he never disagreed with anything he said.
“I missed him when he wasn’t there with me. It was like a whole part of me was gone. I knew he’d be blaming himself for what happened to me, although I never thought he’d grow a beard like Sir Walter Raleigh and stop eating.”
His voice quietened as the thought of Quinn’s torment. “But I suppose if that hadn’t happened he’d never have got in a temper in his study and he’d never have found those letters from Edward Mistral.”
Cade sighed as he scratched Marco Polo behind the ears and the cat purred and stretched his legs. He heard a loud rustling noise at the bottom of the garden in front and he peered at the area curiously. It sounded like a fairly large animal. The cat had heard something too. He sat up, his ears flattened against his head and a slight hiss emanating from his dainty mouth. His blue eyes regarded the bushes with suspicion.
“There’s nothing there. It was probably just a squirrel or another cat.” Cade stood up and stretched. “I’m just going inside to get a glass of wine. If I’m going to carry on with this studying, I need a boost.”
He disappeared into the house. When Cade came out a few minutes later, Marco Polo had gone. He looked around the garden, and not seeing him, shrugged and sat down to finish his research.
Quinn arrived back at home later that afternoon, looking tired but fairly elated that his position as Grand Master was still supported by the majority of his Council. He helped himself to a beer and sat with Cade outside in the garden.
“Justin was a real trooper. I didn’t know he was so articulate.” Quinn grinned as he remembered his friend’s words to James Barton Sinclair. “But he warned me that James was plotting something. I’ll need to be careful around him.” He drank his beer in appreciation as he looked over at Cade. “How’s the research going? Will you be ready for your trip to Scotland then?”
Cade knew from previous conversations that Quinn wasn’t altogether convinced he was happy about him going but he was supporting it anyway. He nodded.
“I’ll be ready in time. But I was telling Marco earlier, I wasn’t sure I wanted to go anymore.”
Quinn’s face brightened at the admission. “Oh? Why not? I thought you were looking forward to it.” He smiled. “What did Marco have to say about it anyway? Did he offer any words of advice?”
Cade chuckled. “No, he was very happy to let me have my say without interrupting. It’s what I love about him.” He frowned as he looked around the garden. “I wonder, where is he anyway? He’s been gone ages. He’s not normally this long when he disappears.”
“Perhaps he’s found a lady friend.” Quinn leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes as he enjoyed the sun on his face.
Cade didn’t look convinced. “Hmm. He’d better be back soon. I don’t fancy looking for him when it gets dark.” He stood up and walked over to Quinn, leaning down behind him and kissing his warm forehead softly as he draped his arms over his shoulders. “I was re-thinking going to Scotland because I didn’t think I wanted to leave you again for a long time. I’ve only just come back and I don’t really want to leave you alone again. You might stop eating and grow more facial hair.”
Quinn chuckled. “I appreciate that, but I think I’d be okay.” He sighed. “I don’t want to be without you either for such a long time, especially seeing as how you’d be with dear old Coop, but I don’t want to be selfish. If you need to do this, you should. I’ll leave it to you to decide.”
Cade ruffled the top of his warm head. “I’ll see how it goes. It’s still a way away so I have time to make a decision.” He moved away. “I’m going to see if I can track down Marco. He heard something in the bushes over there earlier so he may be stuck there or something. Be back in a mo.”
He crossed the garden toward the dense shrubbery that surrounded the back of the yard. The garden itself was generous by London standards, a large lawn leading down to a border of thick, overgrown bushes and overhanging trees.
The area Cade was heading for had a short path leading into shaded darkness. He’d often wondered whether in the past Quinn had ever ventured much out in the garden at all, as it all seemed very unloved and unkempt. Cade enjoyed gardening and vowed to get out and do a little as soon as he could. He stepped into the still, cool air of the shaded place and walked carefully across the uneven ground.
“Marco? Here, kitty. Are you in here?” He tripped over a root growing out from a huge oak tree and muttered a loud expletive as his ankle turned. “Shit! That’s bloody sore. Marco, you stupid cat, I’m not coming in any further. If you’re in here, you can bloody well stay here.”
Cade turned to leave and as he did so, there was a faint “meow” from a bush to the side of him. Exasperated, he strode over to where he’d heard the sound. “Cat, you’d better have a good explanation for why I’m crawling around in these bloody bushes looking for you.”
His voice tailed off when he saw that Marco had indeed got a very good explanation for why he hadn’t been seen. The Persian lay on the earth, blood pooling around his legs. Cade gave a horrified exclamation at seeing the large gashes in his side that were still seeping red.
“What the hell happened to you?” He knelt down frantically beside the animal, which looked up at him pitifully, blue eyes shadowed in pain. The gashes looked as if they had been done with a small garden trowel, so deep and multiple were the wounds. As Cade touched Marco, his little body flinched with pain.
“Hold on, kitty, I’ll take you to Quinn. He’ll help you.”
He reached for Marco and as he touched the blood-soaked fur, there was a strange tingling in his hands. He drew his fingers away sharply. Again he reached toward Marco to pick him up and again there was that strange prickling sensation in his finger tips. Cade heard a soft sigh in his head. It sounded like Nydra.
You can heal him too, Cade. Use your powers.
In his panic over finding his injured pet, he’d forgotten about his own power to heal.
&nbs
p; Time to try out what Nydra taught me. Cade uncertainly held his hands over the cat’s side, hovering just above his fur. The tingle increased. Cade took a deep breath, closing his eyes, visualising the skin closing up, the flesh that was currently torn and oozing becoming whole again. His hands warmed, the prickling sensation growing more intense.
Marco meowed feebly, but louder than before, then opened his eyes and struggled to his feet.
The deep gashes in his skin were gone and although his fur was matted with blood, Cade thought he looked a damned sight better than when he’d found him. Marco was standing now, regarding him with a basilisk stare that only a cat can give. Cade gazed at his hands in wonder then reached down to pick up the animal, who curled into his arms with little resistance. Cade walked quickly out of the garden, over the grass up to where Quinn still sat basking in the sun. Cade shouted, startling him, seeing him sit up sharply.
“Quinn! God, you should see what I just did! It was incredible.”
Quinn strode toward him with urgency and as he reached him, Cade looked up at him. “I found him in the bushes. He’d been injured. He had these great bloody cuts in his side. I held my hands over him, Quinn and he healed up. It was the most incredible feeling—”
“Cade, I know you’re excited but slow down.”
Quinn’s quiet voice made Cade stop suddenly and stare at him. His lover’s face was set and he looked as if he smelled something extremely offensive. His nostrils flared and his eyes narrowed dangerously. “You say you healed Marco? What exactly was wrong with him?”
Cade looked at him in consternation. “He had these large gashes in his side, as if something had torn at him. He was just lying there—”
“Give him to me.” Quinn’s voice was quiet and he reached out and took the cat from him. The cat lay still, watching him with trusting eyes. Quinn bent down and sniffed him, his nose wrinkling in disgust. His eyes darted around the garden and he looked apprehensive.
“He was attacked by a Chaser. I can smell it, even now. The poison is still in Marco, but it’s very faint. When you healed him, you also diluted the poison. Lucky you found him in time. It’s pretty virulent and can be fatal.”
“What in hell’s name is a Chaser?” Cade looked at him in confusion.
Quinn regarded him carefully. “It’s a pretty nasty little creature, the size of a—” he struggled to find a comparison—“the size of a large chimpanzee, for want of a better word. They look like goblins, if you’re familiar with them.”
Cade stared at him.
Quinn sighed. “Obviously you’ve never seen one, but they have very wide hands with large curved nails they use to transfer poison into whatever they claw. I think that’s what happened to Marco based on the stench.”
He set the cat down on the ground and it wound itself around his legs.
Cade was gobsmacked. “We have goblin-like creatures in the back garden? Really?”
Despite the situation, Quinn chuckled at his obvious disbelief. “There are far worse things you’ll get to see if you stick with me. Now that you’ve had your Fey side enhanced, believe me, you’ll start to recognise them too.” He looked around at the dimming light in the garden. “Let’s go inside. Bring Marco as well. I can’t smell anything now but where there’s one Chaser, there’s normally another.”
He turned and disappeared inside, leaving Cade feeling stunned by the sudden events. He followed Quinn into the dining room. Quinn waited for him and Marco to come in then closed the patio doors and locked them. He flicked a switch on the wall and the darkening room was suddenly flooded with soft light. Quinn walked into the lounge, sitting down on the couch and patting the seat next to him for Cade to sit down too. He did so, curling his legs beneath him as he looked at Quinn anxiously.
“What the hell’s all the cloak-and-dagger stuff about?”
Quinn reached out and took his hand, covering it with his warm one.
“Right. Tell me exactly what happened, how you managed to heal Marco and anything else you remember.”
Cade told him the story from start to finish and Quinn listened intently. When he’d finished he smiled despite the shadow in his eyes. “I’m glad those healing powers are working; that’s incredible news. Maybe next time you can be the one healing me.” He grinned. “I’m not sure how strong they are, though. I guess we’ll have to find out.”
“I doubt I’d have enough power to do anything with you,” Cade muttered. “Not the state you get into.”
Quinn laughed. “I don’t intend getting into any more ‘states’ but I have been feeling a little out of sorts lately. I think something is going on with Taliesin.” His voice grew serious. “I’ve been meaning to have this conversation with you, so this is the perfect time to do it.”
Quinn reached over, taking both of Cade’s hands in his as he regarded him seriously.
“With you having your new powers, there are a lot of people out there who’ll want to use them for their own ends. Sprite healers are fairly sought after by Collectors for their ability and if they get wind of you, which they seem to have done, we’ll need to be very careful.”
“What do you mean, Collectors?”
“Just what it means.” Quinn said grimly. He’d seen firsthand how destructive they could be. “They can be any variant of Fey but they have one thing in common. They hunt down other Fey and try to take their powers for their own. Most of them we know, and we keep tabs on them, but every now and then a new one comes along. They tend to use Chasers to scout out areas and clear the way for them to surprise a Fey and strip them of their powers.”
“How do they do that?” Cade asked quietly.
“Some of them don’t generally intend to harm the Fey they’re tracking, and they’re able to take the powers by only magyck spells and chants. Collectors tend to have no qualms about using anything they can to enhance their abilities to do that and of course, the more powers they steal, the stronger their own magyck. But they have to get very close to do that. There has to be physical contact. It’s not something that be done remotely.”
He was quiet. Cade reached over and touched his cheek softly. “And the others?”
Quinn looked at him with a flinty stare. “Others don’t give a damn about the other Fey and in reality, the easiest way to gain their power is simply to kill them and then reach in and take it. I mean literally. I’ve seen many a Fey body that’s been ripped to pieces by an unscrupulous Collector using a certain magyck spell that makes it much quicker. It takes less time than the other way and also gives them more satisfaction. There were a few of those about.”
“God, do you think this is what happened today? Was there a Collector in the garden?”
Quinn shook his head. “No, I would have known. There’s no Collector nearby at present. But a Chaser—that could be a sign that there’s one coming.”
“You said there were a few of those Collectors about—the ones who rip you open. Past tense. What happened to them? Does that mean there aren’t any more?” Cade’s voice was hopeful.
Quinn shifted in his seat, sitting back as he released his hands, regarding him broodingly.
“What did you do to them?” Cade asked softly.
Quinn scowled fiercely. “What needed to be done. We hunted them down and destroyed them. As another one rises, we do the same thing. I haven’t heard of one for a while now. I made a few examples of the ones I killed. I’d hoped we’d put anyone else off.”
Cade swallowed.
Quinn’s face darkened. “And once again I scare you.” He stood up, pacing around the room like a caged tiger. “I hate doing that. I see that expression on your face and it makes sick to my core that I can do that to you.”
His hands clenched and unclenched at his side as he stood before the picture window looking out. Cade sighed and stood up, moving over to his lover’s rigid body and wrapping his arms around his middle, laying his head on his shoulder. Quinn’s body tensed as Cade spoke softly.
“Yes, I someti
mes get a little afraid of you. Not because I think you’ll do me harm or anything but because sometimes I remember just who you are and what you have to protect. I’m scared for you. You have this responsibility and you can be so bloody ruthless about it and I confess, sometimes it shocks me. But I know you do it because you have to, not because you want to.”
Quinn stayed quiet, his body gradually relaxing as Cade’s arms held him tight. “I know you, and you’re not cruel or vindictive.” Cade hesitated. “Well, maybe sometimes. Percy told me what you did to Rowan Kirkpatrick. But I understand that. I have no idea what I’d have done if that had been you that had been stabbed and put in the water. That man deserved to die.”
Cade moved around in front of him, standing gazing into his eyes, cupping his face in his hands. “I love you, Quinn. Just as you are, every single last little bit of you, inside and out. And the not-so-little bits too.” He grinned at him.
Quinn shook his head in amusement. “How the hell do you do that? I was being all tormented and angsty and you just say a few words and I’m putty in your hands.”
Quinn pulled Cade to him, covering his mouth with his. Cade sank into him with a sigh, revelling in the feel of his man and feeling the heat in his body at his touch. When Quinn finally let his mouth go so he could breathe, he held him close.
“You mustn’t underestimate the danger you might be in,” Quinn said quietly. “If there’s a new Collector in town, it could be a while before we find him. The Chaser leads me to believe there is. You have to be careful. I want Magnus to keep an eye on you until I find out what’s going on and which kind of Collector might be coming after you.”
Cade stepped away, his face set. “I appreciate the offer, but if I have these powers, I’m going to have to start looking after myself. You can’t protect me all the time and neither can Magnus. You need to show me what I need to do to do that. You said these people had to get close to do what they do. Well, I’ll just have to be careful about whom I let get close to me.”
Double Alchemy: Climax Page 22
