Chapter 13

Quinn

“What are you up to now?”

Rollick’s voice came with a tone of amusement mixed with mild exasperation, but it was so startling I flinched and dropped my multitool on the floor of the hotel room. I snatched it up before twisting around to glower at him.

“You could start with a hello. Or knocking on the door instead of appearing in the middle of the room out of nowhere.”

The demon propped himself against the wall, more mirth sparking in his dark blue eyes. “But where would the fun be in that? It’s important that I keep you on your toes, or you might get complacent.”

I snorted. “I don’t think there’s any chance of that happening.” I motioned to the table I’d been sitting at, where I’d eaten a hasty breakfast about an hour ago while awaiting Rollick’s return. “I noticed the table was pretty wobbly, so I figured I’d see if I could do anything about that. It looks like whoever assembled it tightened a couple of the screws too much and then couldn’t tighten the others enough. I’ve balanced it out pretty well.”

Rollick arched his eyebrows at me. “And that was the best way you could find to pass the time?”

“At least it’s accomplishing something,” I retorted, and straightened up for just long enough to flop onto the edge of the bed. “It’s hard to just zone out and watch whatever’s on TV with everything else going on, and you still haven’t let me have my computer back or any internet access on my phone. And you did insist that I shouldn’t leave the hotel room while you were gone.” Not that I’d disagreed with that part.

“I’m simply protecting you from yourself,” he reminded me with a grin.

And protecting my family and anyone else I might have been tempted to contact, which was the only reason I hadn’t kept badgering him about my devices. What could I really have done online when I couldn’t safely talk to my parents or professors?

The thought of how worried Mom and Dad must be getting after so long without even a brief text made my stomach knot up. I couldn’t do anything about that, though, so I did my best to focus on the situation at hand. Our current plans might mean I could talk to them safely again before too long. “Did you manage to meet with the Highest like you wanted? Are they going to help stop the shadowkind we’re up against?”

Rollick pushed off the wall, looking abruptly more serious. “It took some time, but I made my appeal, and eventually persuaded them of the severity of the concern.” He let out a huff. “The Highest don’t have the greatest sense of anything outside their own vast hollow in the shadow realm where everyone caters to their whims. But they really don’t like the idea of anyone riling up the mortal realm enough that there’s a chance their leisure might be disturbed.”

I perked up. “They’re sending someone, then? Their warriors or whatever?”

He nodded. “Through my connections, I’ve been able to locate another of the villainous duo’s camps—the one it appears they’ve moved to for the most part since we crashed their party in Utah. I might have promised I’d help ensure the fiends they need to talk to are actually there when the warriors arrive tonight… although it’ll be much easier to give that help if you’re willing to flex those possibly enhanced sorcerer powers of yours.”

A weird tingle passed beneath my skin, both uneasy and excited at once. I liked my powers even less after seeing how they must have been provoked by whichever of my heart donor’s ancestors had undergone the rites generations ago. Still, it was hard not to enjoy the idea of taking down the monsters that’d spent so much of the past month hunting me down, either to kill me or enslave me themselves.

“I could do that,” I said. “What exactly are you thinking we’d try?”

Rollick motioned for me to gather my things. “Once we get out there, if our behemoth and leviathan aren’t already conveniently on hand, we’ll hunt down a lackey or two of theirs and give them instructions. A panicked message to deliver to their overlords or something along that line.”

I frowned as I grabbed my backpack. “Aren’t their lackeys already controlled by their sorcery? Would I be able to override that?”

“I’m not sure,” the demon admitted. “I haven’t associated with sorcerers enough before you to find out the details of how their magic interacts. But we can try if necessary, and if it doesn’t work, they do seem to have quite a few hangers-on who are in it of their own free will, just to suck up to a powerful leader.”

“All right.” I swung my bag over my shoulder. “What are we waiting for, then?”

By the end of the day, maybe this horrible situation would be over.

* * *

When Rollick indicated that we were getting close to the new camp, I started to understand how it might not have been all that hard for him to locate it once he’d seen their first base of operations. The Oregon mountain range we were driving up to after our flight across the country was a lot greener than the desert terrain in Utah, cloaked with trees lower down and other vegetation higher up, but the peaks were equally imposing. And we hadn’t passed any human habitations in half an hour.

“They like the high elevations—because people are less likely to just wander through?” I said. “And they stay far away from any major hubs of human activity in general.”

Rollick smiled thinly. “Those appear to be two out of the three key factors. The other is water. The leviathan must prefer the sea, and while he can’t easily ensure he’s close to that, he doesn’t want to stay anywhere he can’t get decently wet at all. There’s a lake nestled up there just like at their other camp.”

“You’re sure they’ve been here recently?”

“Remember that I can hop across the country in a matter of minutes using the rifts,” he said. “I’ve already been here to observe with my own eyes. There’s definitely more shadowkind activity happening than I’d expect if the base were just on standby. And other than their detours for sorcerer-murdering, the head honchos have mostly been rounding up troops and hassling the local shadowkind along the west coast. They probably figure you’re still around somewhere. Or that I am, and they’d like to murder me too.”

He didn’t sound all that concerned about the possibility, but I knew his nonchalance was at least partly an act. A few tremors of apprehension had passed from him into me during the drive out here.

He parked amid a stand of trees. “We’d better walk from here. It’ll go a lot faster if you let me give you a ride like we did when we were fleeing the sorcerers’ enclave.”

He made the suggestion equally casually as if it was no big deal, but when I shrugged and said, “Okay,” a flash of his surprise hit me. He was so good at keeping it cool that not a single hint of the emotion showed on his face.

I wasn’t sure how much I trusted the demon now, but I believed that he wasn’t going to take some kind of physical advantage of me while he had me in his grasp. If he’d wanted to do that, he’d had the perfect opportunity already. And I’d rather get this expedition over with as quickly as possible with a minimum of hiking.

As Rollick shifted into his demonic form, I secured my shoulder bag against my back, the crossbow tied to it with Velcro strips I’d constructed that should allow me to snap it off with a sharp jerk if I needed it quickly. The beads of my silver-and-iron vest slid between the two thin layers of fabric I wore around it, and I glanced over at Rollick, who’d hunched his massive frame down in a kneeling position.

“The metals I’m wearing won’t bother you?” I asked.

He waved off my worry with a clawed hand. “With them covered up so they aren’t directly touching me, it’s just a minor irritation. I’d be much more irritated by having to match your much slower mortal pace going up the mountain.”

He grinned to soften the criticism, and I made a face at him as I walked over. “We can’t all be super-powerful demons with giant legs. Just be glad I’m taking you up on the piggyback ride.”

Rollick chuckled. “Believe me, I am.”

As much as I was trying to stay focused on the task at hand and not any other emotions that’d been stewing inside me, an ache spread through my chest with the heft of Rollick’s hands fixing me in place where I could loop my arms over his shoulders and around his neck. Crag had carried me when we’d gone up the mountainside in Utah. Not like this, but cradled in his arms like an embrace… although an embrace he’d only given because he felt the alternatives were worse.

He’d hesitated to hold me close for any other reason in those last couple of days before I’d sent him and my other two shadowkind men away. His fear of hurting me accidentally had been too painful.

I swallowed the lump that’d risen in my throat and closed my eyes, but as Rollick loped through the trees at a swift pace, the thoughts kept filling my head anyway. What were my three shadowkind men doing now? Had my magical command really held firm for this long? Or had it worn off, but they’d decided I was right—that they were better off staying away from me? Especially when I’d proven that I was willing to use my sorcery against them.

With each day that passed without their return, it seemed more and more likely I was never going to see them again. It would have been nice if I could convince myself that possibility was for the best for all of us. The warriors sent by the Highest would deal with our enemies, I could go back to my regular life pretending I had no magic at all, and everything would be almost the same as it had been.

Almost, other than the fact that I’d know about the world beyond the one I’d been aware of before. I’d remember what it was like to be wrapped up in the affection and passion of three men totally unlike any human guy I’d ever met. I’d wanted to believe I could find some kind of balance between normalcy and my relationship with them… but now the choice was out of my hands.

Rollick’s taut muscles flexed with smooth efficiency beneath me. His breaths stayed even despite his quick pace. It wasn’t long before the trees dwindled and then disappeared completely, leaving a grassy landscape scattered with shrubs and rocks. He set me down carefully, peering around in the descending evening. “Now to find our prey. Stay close to me.”

He shrank back into human-like form as he stalked forward, and I hustled along at his flank, pulling my crossbow into my hands. The slope we were on was still steep enough that I broke out in a sweat after several steps. The demon moved onward with unwavering focus. Then, without warning, he leapt forward and vanished into the shadows.

I froze in place, but I didn’t have time to even start to panic. A moment later, he sprang into sight clutching a slim, pale-skinned being around the neck. The thing was vaguely humanoid, but with long sloth-like arms and a round face that intensified the animalistic impression. It stood only about three feet tall.

It’d gone limp in Rollick’s grasp. He loosened his hold just enough that it would be able to speak. “Are you patrolling around here because your masters burned their orders into your brain, or because you think you’ll get some kind of favors from them for your loyalty?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” the creature whimpered in a nasal voice. “I’m just looking out for myself like we all do.”

Rollick snorted and clenched his fingers again, making the thing gag. He glanced toward me. “That sounds like a free mind to me. We won’t need to strain your powers after all.”

I squared my shoulders. My stomach was churning, but I’d come too far to back down now. “What should I have it tell the head honchos?”

The demon hummed to himself. “Let’s stick with what’s almost the truth—that the sorcerer Quinn has come to negotiate with them for her life. She’ll be waiting by the lake. But she needs to talk to both of them before she’ll come to any agreement.”

I inhaled deeply and fixed my gaze on the sloth-like figure. Just thinking about using my powers sent the energy prickling through my limbs. A warbling sensation flooded my chest, more intense than I ever remembered it before. For a second, I lost my breath completely, and I hadn’t even really started.

Oh, Rollick’s essence had given my powers some kind of boost. I could already taste it in the electricity crackling up my throat onto my tongue.

I knew the creature in front of me even if I’d never encountered a being like it before. I could picture the conflicting desires tangled inside it—to roam wildly, to indulge its basic hungers, to ensure it allied itself with the right sorts of beings, to curry favor it might need later. It was wary of me now and frightened of Rollick but still confused. In the back of my mind, I could see how it would scurry across the terrain at my command.

The magic seared through my mouth and over my tongue. My lips parted, the language of sorcery spilling from my lips as I focused on the message I meant to convey.

You will go to the powerful shadowkind you serve. The two that give the final orders. You’ll tell them that Quinn the sorcerer has come to their camp here to negotiate for her life. She’s waiting by the lake. She will only speak with them if they both come. Go to them and deliver that message as quickly as you can.

Before, the casting of sorcery had left me drained. This time, as Rollick released the creature and it darted off exactly as I’d imagined, a fresh wave of energy surged through me. I was exhilarated rather than exhausted.

I could have commanded a hundred more beings like I had that one, I was suddenly sure.

Rollick was eyeing me. “Nicely done, sweet sorcerer.”

I tamped down on my giddiness and met his gaze. “What happens if they get to the camp and find out I’m not there before the Highest’s warriors get there?”

He offered a wry smile. “Not a problem. They’re already here, waiting.”

My head jerked around. “What? Where?”

“Closer to the camp, but they’re aware we’ve arrived—and that we have no beef with them.” He paused. “We could leave now and get you farther away where you’ll be safer… or we could watch this villainous duo fall like they deserve.”

The first option was probably the smart one, but the high of my casting and the thought of how much torment these monsters had put me through renewed my boldness. “I want to see them go down.”

Rollick’s smile widened. “Then come with me.”

He led me along a winding path to a small outcropping of rock that looked down over a vast dip between a few different mountain peaks. Just as he’d said, there was a lake up here, at least a mile distant beyond my current perch, its waters turned black in the dimming light. We wouldn’t be all that close to the battle.

“Will we definitely be able to see anything?” I couldn’t help asking, hunkering down on the gritty stone. The wind whipped over us, chilly at this altitude. I reached to twine my hair into a hasty braid. “I mean, they might just fight in the shadows, right? And it’s getting dark besides that.”

Rollick sank down next to me with his legs sprawled out. “It’s difficult to make as much of an impact as our shadowy selves. I expect the violence will be perfectly corporeal. And beings this powerful will bring out the special effects. You’ll get your fill.”

I glanced over at him, the angles of his striking face deepened by the falling dusk, and couldn’t stop myself from thinking of the violence these fiends had dealt out toward him. Because of other choices I’d made.

“I’m sorry about your hotel,” I said abruptly.

Rollick’s gaze flicked to me. “What?”

I braced my hands against the cool rock, looking down at the rough surface. “It’s my fault—that they realized you’d had me staying there. I set things up so there’d be a fight, and because of that you had to shut the hotel down.”

The demon had obviously figured that out a long time ago. I didn’t catch any hint of surprise over the revelation. He simply shrugged. “I’ll go back when I can, or I’ll set up a new one. It won’t be the first time. I’m surprised you have any regrets—or is it only because your plan didn’t work out the way you’d hoped?”

I grimaced. “I know the hotel was important to you. For good reasons—or reasons I understand, anyway. I don’t hate you. I just—it was the only way I could see to get out of the situation. You’d already shown that you’d use every tactic you could to control me in your own way. I didn’t know what else you might be capable of.”

“Well, I’m glad I’ve risen above the level of outright hatred,” Rollick said with a laugh. “And I don’t suppose I can really blame you for thinking the worst of me when by your standards I had behaved pretty badly. But I don’t think I’ve done too terrible a job of looking after you since then, have I?”

“No,” I admitted. “You haven’t.”

The past several days when it’d just been the two of us had gone a lot less horribly than I’d been prepared for. Rollick had been a pretty decent traveling companion, and I’d been able to count on him when I’d needed someone to have my back. I still didn’t really know how much he was doing this for his own selfish interests, but I was at least sure he didn’t want to gain glory or security at my expense.

So no, I didn’t hate him. I might even have liked him a little, right now as a companionable silence settled over us. It didn’t really matter since after the night was over, I’d probably never see him again either, but at least I’d cleared the air.

Whatever came next, it had to be better than what’d come before… didn’t it?

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