Quinn's Lady (8 page)

He squinted against the afternoon sun, which shone brightly through the Skiff’s windshield. Though he could be awake during the day, the sun was not his friend.

He opened the throttle all the way. The sooner they reached Nardik’s place, the better, he thought. Or was it?

The countryside changed dramatically as they left Seleena’s village far behind.

Desert gave way to grassland and gently rolling hills. Luxurious homes located on large lots dotted the landscape. Three-story shopping centers sprang up here and there. They made a brief stop at one of them to eat a quick lunch and buy groceries.

Quinn loaded the boxes into the back of the Skiff and they were on their way again.

As the miles passed, houses grew scarce.

He caught a whiff of the Brynn Sea long before it was visible. And then they topped a rise and it was there, a splash of bright blue beyond an ocean of grass. And rising out of the Sea, the Crystal Mountains of Brynn Tor, the highest peak perpetually covered in snow.

Beside him, Seleena murmured, “I had forgotten how beautiful it is.”

“Yeah. It’s quite a sight.”

“See that stand of timber, just there?” Seleena said, pointing. “A road runs alongside it. Follow it to the end. The Fortress is at the top.”

“Gotcha.”

The road, narrow and covered with dead leaves and pine cones, seemed to go on forever, gradually climbing higher and higher and higher, until the trail ended on a flat strip of land surrounded by ancient trees, most of them over a hundred feet high. A round house -- four stories tall and painted a sparkling white trimmed in dark green -- stood in the center of a verdant meadow. Sunlight glinted off dozens of stained glass windows.

Quinn whistled softly. “That’s some place. Any particular reason why it’s round?”

“It prevents outside magic from being effective on the inhabitants,” Seleena said. “It’s the reason many castles have round turrets and towers.”

“I guess you do learn something new every day,” he muttered as he pulled up in front of the house. Three stone steps led to a covered veranda that circled the main floor. The front door looked like solid oak strapped with iron. It had no visible latch.

“I forgot to mention that there’s a cloaking spell at the foot of the mountain, although I’m not sure it’s effective against uninvited vampires.”

“I have my doubts that it would work against Serepta. She’s tasted my blood. She branded me with this damn tattoo. I’m pretty sure she can track me anywhere, through just about anything.”

Seleena nodded. “You might be right. But there’s also a spell around the house that causes intruders and those intent on mischief to forget why they came.”

“Mischief?” Quinn snorted. “She’s got more than mischief on her mind.”

“We should be safe enough. Even if none of Nardik’s spells work, she’s still a vampire. She can’t enter the house without my invitation.”

“Wouldn’t Nardik have to invite her? For that matter, how did I get in without his invitation? It’s his place, after all.”

“Actually, I own half of it. He wanted it to be in my name, too, in case anything happened to him. Shall we?”

Quinn exited the Skiff, walked around the front to open Seleena’s door, then moved to the back to unload the boxes of groceries.

Beckoning for him to follow her, she led the way to the front door.

“There’s no latch. How do we get in?”

She smiled at him over her shoulder. “Leave that to me.” Stepping forward, she placed her hand on the middle of the door and chanted softly.

Quinn heard the scrape of metal against metal as the interior locks disengaged. A moment later, the door swung open and Seleena crossed the threshold.

When he tried to follow, an invisible barrier kept him out. It was an odd sensation. Not painful. But not pleasant, either.

Seleena turned around when she realized he wasn’t behind her. “Sorry. I forgot. Quinn, please come in. You are welcome in the Fortress until I decree otherwise.”

“Thanks.” He wasn’t sure what he’d expected, but it was nothing like what he saw. The floor was black marble, the walls a blindingly bright white, until Seleena closed the door.

Quinn stared in disbelief as colorful images appeared on the walls -- scenes of  Brynn Tor’s countryside at various times of the year - the mountains and trees covered in snow, the skies dark with clouds; hills and valleys verdant with new life - both plant and animal -in the spring; the leaves changing in a kaleidoscope of color in the fall. It was like an ever-changing movie.

“Amazing, is it not?” Seleena asked.

He nodded. A fireplace dominated one wall. Leather sofas and chairs - all well-worn and comfortable-looking, were grouped here and there. An arched doorway opened onto a spacious dining room. He assumed the closed door to the right led to a bathroom. A winding staircase with a wrought-iron banister led upward.

“The kitchen is downstairs,” Seleena said. “The rooms on the second floor are bedrooms. The third floor rooms are empty. Nardik’s private quarters are on the fourth floor.”

“Why the empty third floor?”

“He wanted space between where he works his magic and the rest of the house.”

“Did you live here with him?”
“Yes, for a time, while he was teaching me magic.” She paused a moment, her expression pensive. “Serepta was conceived here.”

More information than he needed - or wanted - to know, Quinn mused sourly. And then he frowned. “Was she born here, too?”

“Yes.”
“Then why would she need in an invite?”

“Nardik revoked her invitation when she became a vampire, as did I. “Come along, let’s take those boxes down to the kitchen,” she suggested. “I’d like a cup of tea.”

The downward staircase opened onto a large room. Overhead lights came on automatically. The kitchen had all the usual equipment - sink, stove, refrigeration, a long, white, marble-topped counter, cupboards over and underneath.

Quinn unloaded the boxes and Seleena put the items away. When they were done, he sat at the table, content to watch her as she moved about, taking a kettle from one of the cupboards and a box of tea from another. She added a measure of tea to the kettle and filled the pot with water made hot by a word and a wave of her hand. While waiting for the tea to steep, she pulled a blue china cup and saucer from a shelf, then glanced at Quinn over her shoulder, a question in her eyes.

“You got any wine in this place?”

“Of course,” she said, smiling as she opened another cupboard and retrieved a bottle. “Nothing but the best.”

He stretched his legs out in front of him, admiring the beauty of her face and figure as she poured the wine in a crystal goblet. When the kettle whistled, she took it from the stove and poured herself a cup, then took the seat across from him.

He grinned inwardly, amused by the domestic scene and by her reluctance to meet his gaze. He figured she was probably reassessing the wisdom of the two of them staying in this big old house in the middle of nowhere. On the other hand, she was a powerful witch. Likely her magic was far more deadly than any power he could muster as a vampire.

But then, it wasn’t his preternatural power she was afraid of. No, it was the growing sexual tension between them, a yearning that grew stronger with every passing day.

She looked up, a gasp escaping her lips when their gazes met.

And though he hadn’t spoken the words aloud, they hung in the air between them.

It’s gonna happen, Red. Sooner or later, it’s gonna happen.

And this was just as good a place as any.

Chapter 13

Serepta woke with the setting of the sun. For a moment, she laid there, her senses reaching, probing the area surrounding her lair. But there was no one nearby. Rising, she left the cave and transported herself to her castle.

Her father’s scent, along with her mother’s and Quinn’s, now days old, lingered in the air. Foolish of them, to think they would find her here, helplessly trapped in the dark sleep.

In her room, she cast off her gown and stepped into the shower. She smiled faintly as she wondered how Quinn was enjoying prison. But he wouldn’t enjoy it long. She would go there tonight, drive a stake into his heart, and reclaim her magic. Without it, she felt as if she were missing a vital part of herself. The most important part. She hated being a vampire without it. True, she had a vampire’s preternatural powers, but she detested having to drink nothing but blood, living only by night. She could still compel mortals to do her bidding, but it wasn’t the same.

Stepping out of the shower, she changed into a pair of silky black pants and matching shirt, pulled on a pair of high-heeled black boots.

She grimaced as the hunger rose within her, undeniable, insatiable without her magic to control it.

Leaving the castle, she transported herself to Ironntown, where she fed on the first man she saw. She grinned inwardly. She could have made it pleasant for him, but why should she? It wasn’t pleasant for her, feeding like some feral beast. And yet, the blood satisfied her hunger, while killing him satisfied another darker need.

She wiped her mouth with his shirttail, then tossed the body into a ravine. His death meant less nothing to her. She was a vampire, he was prey.

A thought took her to the Bosquetown prison. Outside the gate, she dissolved into mist, then floated over the wall, drifting above the heads of the guards who patrolled the perimeter. She entered through an open window and made her way down to the cells below.

She materialized in the shadows, then followed Quinn’s scent to a cell near the end of the corridor, only to find it empty.

Fury rose within her, as hot as the lava that sometimes spewed from the volcano east of the snow-capped mountains of Brynn Tor.

Hands clenched at her sides, she took a deep, calming breath. He might not be  here, but he couldn’t hide from her forever.

Sensing a man coming up behind her, she spun around.

“Here, now!” the guard exclaimed. “How did you get in here?”

“Like this.” Calling upon her preternatural power, she dissolved into mist.

“What the Hel!” Eyes wide with disbelief he stumbled backward.

Serepta quickly resumed her own form. Laughing softly, she trapped him in her embrace and buried her fangs in his throat. He was dead before he hit the ground. Wiping his blood from her lips, she strolled out of the prison.

Chapter 14

Seleena plumped her pillow, rolled onto her side, then onto her back, only to lie there, staring at the fresco on the ceiling.

She and Quinn had hardly exchanged a word since dinner but the tension between them had ratcheted up until she thought she might scream. Or go running into the night seeking relief. A foolish thought, when the only relief she was likely to find was in his arms.

What power did he hold over her, that she was so mesmerized by him? So eager to be in the embrace of a man she scarcely knew? A man who was not only a vampire, but one who had known her daughter intimately…But for that, she might have thrown herself into Quinn’s arms earlier. Only it would have been like having three in a bed, she thought sourly. And no matter how much she wanted Quinn, Serepta would always be there between them, like a ghost.

Only she wasn’t a ghost. She was alive again. Seeking vengeance.   

Throwing the covers aside, she sat up. Pulled on her slippers and padded downstairs to the living room with Freyja at her heels.

As soon as she entered the room, a fire sprang to life in the hearth.

Startled, she took a step back. And bumped into Quinn.

“Easy,” he murmured, his breath warm against her cheek. “I thought you might be cold.”

“I’m quite capable of starting a fire on my own,” she retorted.

He laughed softly. “You’ve certainly started one in me,” he whispered, his voice husky.

His hands folded over her shoulders, slid up and down her arms. She shivered at the touch of his lips against her neck. “Quinn…”

“Shh. I’m not gonna hurt you.”

“Aren’t you?”

He nuzzled her neck again, reveling in its softness, in the warm rich scent of her desire.

Fighting to hold onto her self-control, Seleena stepped away from him.

Refusing to let her go, he captured her hand and led her to the sofa, drew her down beside him. “I’m not suggesting we go to bed together,” he said, his hand lightly massaging her nape.

“No? What are you suggesting?” His hand was large and cool against her bare skin, soothing and arousing at the same time.

“I just want to hold you close, Red. I won’t ask for more.”

She looked up into his eyes - eyes she had once seen filled with pain and doubt were now filled with such longing it made her heart ache. His life had not been easy - growing up without a mother, raised by Jagg, enslaved by Serepta, turned into a vampire against his will. He could have let it embitter him, harden him, rob him of his humanity. Turn him into a true monster. And yet it hadn’t. He had treated her with nothing but unfailing kindness and respect.

And, like it or not, she was falling in love with him.

#

Nardik gazed into his scrying bowl, his brow furrowing at what he saw. Seleena was at his retreat in the mountains of Brynn Tor and she wasn’t alone. The vampire was with her.

It was wrong of him to spy on her. He knew it. He despised himself for it. But he did it, nonetheless. Did it in spite of the guilt that suffused him. He cared for Amerris. She was wise, beautiful, compassionate, loving. Everything a man could desire in a wife.

But she wasn’t Seleena. Amerris stirred his affection. Seleena stirred his passion.

Amerris filled him with peace. Seleena filled him with excitement.

He was pledged to marry Amerris before the year was out, but it was Seleena he yearned for. Was it merely because she had spurned him? The blow to his ego had been great. He had fathered her child, shared his magic with her, but it hadn’t been enough to win her heart. There had been passion between them, but no love on her part. Perhaps if he had declared his feelings for her then, things would be different now. But he had thought there would be time enough for that. Compared to him, she had been young, with much to learn.

He stared into the bowl, eyes narrowing at what he saw: Seleena and Quinn, sitting side by side on the sofa, the vampire’s arm around her, her head resting on his shoulder, as if they had known each other for years.

As if they were lovers…jealousy surged through him, swift and hot.
Were
they lovers?

He clenched his hands. No, she would never allow a vampire into her bed. He could live with the fact that she didn’t want him. But for her to want another man, a man like Quinn…for a moment, the urge to destroy the vampire burned like bitter acid in his soul. It would be easy. So very easy.

He was on the verge of conjuring a spell of destruction when Amerris rapped softly on his chamber door.

“Nardik? Are you there?”

“A moment.” He waved his hand over the bowl, obliterating the hateful images. Yet they remained seared into his mind.

Silently vowing to destroy the vampire if he violated Seleena, Nardik went to open the door for his betrothed.