Quinn's Lady (7 page)

Chapter 12

The sound of breaking glass, grunts of pain, and Freyja’s urgent meows woke Seleena. Sitting up, she glanced around the room. The cat was nowhere to be seen, but her frantic cries grew louder.

Slipping out of bed, Seleena padded barefooted into the living room, only to come to an abrupt halt at the sight that met her eyes. Freyja, spitting and hissing, was trapped in a net. Bits of broken crockery littered the floor. Three Enforcers, all with long, bloody claw marks on his cheeks, were dragging three of their downed companions through the doorway. A half-dozen others, heavily armed, were in the act of restraining Quinn. His chest, neck, and hands were bound with thick silver restraints. She caught a quick glance of his bloodied face before they hustled him out the door.

“Here, now!” she exclaimed, hurrying after them. “What’s going on?”

One of the Enforcers turned to face her. “We received an anonymous report that a fugitive was staying here.”

“You had no right to barge into my house without my permission,” Seleena declared, arms akimbo. “Or a warrant, or something.”

The man reached into his pocket and withdrew a sheet of paper. “Got it right here,” he said, waving it in front of her face. “You’re lucky we don’t haul you in as an accomplice.”

For a brief moment, Seleena considered using her magic, but before she could conjure a spell that would effectively incapacitate almost a dozen men without the danger of doing any permanent harm, they were already out the door and speeding away.

She stared after them. There were times when having a conscience was a terrible inconvenience. Had she practiced Black Magic, she could simply have killed them all.

But that kind of violence was abhorrent.

As soon as they were gone, Seleena released Freyja. Meowing her thanks, the cat rubbed against her ankles.

“Not now,” Seleena said. “I need to get dressed and go after Quinn. I know, you think it’s dangerous. But I’ll be fine.”

In her room, she threw off her nightgown, pulled on a long black skirt and blouse, stepped into a pair of boots.

Going into Quinn’s room, she found one of his shirts, which she carried into the living room. After placing it in her cauldron, she lit a candle, picked up her wand, and invoked a location spell.

#

Quinn didn’t struggle as they hustled him into a LandSkiff, chained him to a bolt in the floor, and slammed the door behind him. The silver burned where it touched his skin. Worse, it weakened him, as he discovered when he tried to yank the bolt from the floor, something that should have been ridiculously easy. He tried dissolving into mist, but with no success.

Cursing softly, he sank down on his haunches, wondering where they were taking him. What would happen when they reached their destination. And why Seleena hadn’t worked a little magic and turned his captors into hop toads.

He leaned his head against the sidewall and closed his eyes. How had they found him? And how had they known he was a vampire and that silver would weaken him and render him incapable of dissolving into mist? “Serepta,” he muttered. Of course. She had been prowling around Seleena’s place last night. No doubt she had overheard the news of Jagg’s death. Seen the sketch of his face.

He ground his teeth in anger.

Damn her black soul to Hel.

His only consolation was in knowing he had taken three of the Enforcers out of action before the others overpowered him.

He scrambled to his feet as the LandSkiff slowed to a stop. Hands clenched, he watched the door open. Three of the Enforcers waited outside. Big guys. Over six feet tall. Two-hundred-and-fifty pounds easy. One of them stepped inside. The other two covered him with their weapons.

Knowing that struggling would only get him shot, Quinn let himself be led outside, docile as a newborn colt.

He had never been inside the Bosquetown prison. It was a large, rectangular building made of solid gray stone. Armed guards patrolled the walls. His captors marched him into the precinct, demanded his personal information - name, date of birth, residence, employment.

The first two were easy. He had no residence. “And no employment at the moment,” he added with a wry grin.

The Enforcer taking his information snorted. “You should have thought of that before you killed your employer.”

“Who accused me of killing him?”

“I’m not at liberty to say.”

Serepta, again, Quinn thought. A short time later, he found himself inside a small, square cell, his hands and feet shackled with thick silver chains that blistered his flesh. Biting back a groan, he sank down on the stone floor, preferring it to the narrow, bug-infested cot against the wall.

Too bad he hadn’t killed Jagg in Brynn City, he thought ruefully. He had heard the jail there was something to see. Double beds with clean sheets. Hot and cold running water. Three good meals a day. Movies every night. Even a little female entertainment if you had the money to bribe the right people.

He looked up when one of the guards strolled by. “Hey!”

The man stopped, his expression surly. “What do you want?”

“How about some breakfast?”

The guard, whose name tag identified him as Ryann, snorted. “Sorry, we’re all out of blood.”

“How about some ham and eggs?”

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.