Chapter 27
Rollick
Quinn didn’t show an inclination to leave the bed, and we didn’t need to head out of the apartment for a couple more hours anyway. So I lay there next to her, absorbing the sensation of her body unwinding in my arms.
After those couple of hours, she’d have to tense up again to meet the threat we’d called down on us. But for now, she deserved all the peace I could offer her.
It was a strange thought—that I might be bringing peace. The momentary contentment that had settled over me was equally unfamiliar. I provoked passion and pleasure, excitement as well as horror when I needed to, but quieter emotions weren’t generally my domain.
How much could she sense of my inner state right now? She’d said it was only strong emotions that she picked up on, but I had no idea where the threshold might be.
She had a direct line to my soul, whatever I had of one. It’d be a trial trying to hide anything from her from now on. But even though I’d recoiled from the idea of her reading my inner state when she’d first told me, my instinctive discomfort had faded.
I didn’t want to hide anything else from her. After everything she’d been through—everything I’d had a hand in putting her through—the least she deserved from me was honesty. I couldn’t promise the truth would always or even usually be pleasant, but I could give it to her.
The connection I hadn’t known I’d forged might even have worked in my favor. Would she have trusted me as much as she appeared to now without it? Would she have believed that my attempt to give her life back was genuine and not a ploy?
Somehow she had come to me, on her terms rather than mine, and I couldn’t have said I’d have preferred it any other way.
I didn’t like how small she felt next to my demonic body—how breakable. I stroked my fingers down her side, skimming the edge of scar tissue where the dragon shifter had done his best to heal her. My dignity insisted that I keep my tone wry rather than revealing the full extent of my concern. “I hope you didn’t strain anything during that workout.”
Quinn laughed and snuggled closer to me, which I liked far too much for my dignity to have any hope at all. “I have no complaints.”
“Good. Because I have a reputation to keep up there too.”
She tipped her head to look up at me, her sky-blue eyes thoughtful but not worried. “You have gotten around quite a bit, haven’t you? You’ve kind of mentioned it a lot. Is that—are you going to be hooking up with other people too? I mean, when there’s much of a chance once we’ve dealt with all the problems we’re facing right now. I obviously can’t complain about it when I’m with three other men, but… it would be good to know.”
So she could decide how invested or not to get in me? I had no doubt that my three former employees had completely devoted themselves to her. Picturing them with her, even after having joined in that group love-fest once, set off a brief flare of jealousy in my chest.
But I couldn’t have her all to myself. She’d made that abundantly clear… and when I thought with my head instead of my dicks and my monstrous impulses, which was part of what had kept me alive this long, I couldn’t see it as a bad thing. Possessing her for myself but in the faded, melancholy state she’d fallen into with their absence wouldn’t be any kind of victory.
A different instinct gripped me: to be noncommittal, to leave a touch of uncertainty to keep her on her toes. But I didn’t really want her on her toes either. I wanted her sure. If I was going to share her with three other beings, I didn’t want any chance of her thinking I was the spare she could cast aside.
“I’ve had millennia to experiment and spread my talents around,” I informed her. “A little monogamy might be a nice change of pace.” I paused, grappling with how to express the rest of it without rubbing her mortality too much in her face. “I don’t know how long I’ll get to enjoy your company, so I intend to savor as much of it as possible as long as you’ll bestow it on me.”
My formal phrasing brought out another light laugh, but her expression had softened. No doubt she was aware enough of her uncertain lifespan without any reminders to fill in the blanks.
I’d already lived more than a hundred times longer than she might survive in this world. What could I possibly lose by focusing on her for such a short part of my life when that was all I’d get of her?
The thought of losing her made me want to bare my teeth with a snarl. But the greatest threat to her survival might not even be the menaces we’d go up against soon but that borrowed heart beating in her chest. I couldn’t fight it into doing right by her.
If there was some way I could ensure she got as full a life as any mortal should, I’d see it happen.
A glint of mischief lit in Quinn’s eyes. She cocked her head. “I suppose we’re all one happy family now. You mentioned that you’ve been involved with men before. Have you ever thought about propositioning my other three?”
I should have seen that question coming. I chuckled and tucked one claw under her chin. “None of them is really my type. And I doubt any of them would want to be diverted from you anyway. But you don’t need to worry. Somehow I doubt that I’ll ever get bored while I’m with you.”
Quinn huffed. “I never thought I’d say this, but I wouldn’t mind a little less excitement following me around. Or at least if it was of the less deadly variety.”
“We’ll see if we can’t set you on that path tonight.”
I kissed her, hard and long enough to draw one of those lovely, eager sounds from her throat, but my heart wasn’t totally in it. The conversation had stirred up too much apprehension about the job ahead of us. When I released her, I sat up, contracting my demon body into my typical human form.
“I should call in the others so we can hash out the final details. We don’t want to leave any possibility unconsidered.”
“Of course.” Quinn pushed herself upright with a stretch and scrambled out of bed. As she pulled her clothes back on, I stalked into the living room with my phone in my hand.
Torrent had agreed to check for messages from me regularly, and while he might have played the traitor before, he was generally good to his word. He answered my beckons right away, and within half an hour had rounded up the gargoyle and the dragon shifter and returned with them to the apartment.
We gathered in the living room, Quinn with her crossbow already in hand and the custom belt I’d commissioned slung around her waist. She didn’t look small or breakable now. No mortal would have stood a chance against the resolve she possessed. If the contraption she’d designed worked as intended, no shadowkind would either.
“Have you seen any new activity monitoring the streets around the building?” I asked the others.
“The minions are still watching it,” Lance said with a click of his claws. “Waiting for us to put on our show.” He grinned. “I think we’re going to like it a lot more than they will, though.”
“I haven’t sensed either of the bosses nearby,” Crag put in. “I think they must be keeping their distance until they hear more from their followers.”
Torrent nodded. “After the moves we’ve already made against them, it’s unsurprising that they’re being cautious. But they’ve also seen how far we’ll go to interfere with their plans. I can’t imagine that they’re not concerned about what else Quinn might have up her sleeve.”
“They wouldn’t have their lackeys watching the building so closely otherwise.” I rubbed my chin, contemplating the best opening strategy, but Quinn spoke first.
“Has there been any sign of the sorcerers we reached out to?” she asked quietly. “Have any of them turned up looking for me?”
The three exchanged a look I could instantly read. But they appeared to be as dedicated to honesty as I’d newly become, at least when it involved our shared lover.
“A woman who we believe was from one of those families was found dead in an attack near the city limits a couple of nights ago,” Torrent said, his tone as even as usual but with a gentle note to it. “If we’d known she was on her way, we’d have done our best to guard her…”
Quinn’s face tightened. Then she let out a sigh. “I guess she was in almost as much danger staying where she was. Only one of them was willing to risk coming out here to help? This plan might have been easier to pull off if they’d work with us on this one thing.”
I grimaced. “It’s possible that the enclave in Norway has spread out a warning about you through the wider community. A not very accurate one, of course, but sorcerers aren’t much for socializing outside their trusted allies anyway.”
Quinn squared her shoulders. “That’s fine. We weren’t counting on them helping. Is there anything else we need to go over before I make my grand entrance?”
I glanced at the other men. “I think it’s best if the three of you stay outside the building. The amount of silver and iron in that place will weaken even you quickly. We need you at your best. My suggestion would be that Lance and Torrent monitor opposite sides of the place and take down any minions these fiends send into the building—as many as you can. If we can avoid anyone getting in other than the main duo, that would be best.”
I turned to the gargoyle. “Crag, since you’re the most able to identify other beings at a distance, you could patrol a little farther abroad to sense when the villains are approaching and give the rest of us a warning.” My lips slanted into a crooked smile. “That’s how I’d handle it, at least. I’m well aware that none of you are obliged to follow my orders at this point.”
Lance let out a little hiss, clearly unsettled by having to protect our woman from a distance rather than right beside her, but he didn’t argue. Torrent inclined his head. “That all sounds reasonable to me. And you’ll be Quinn’s last line of defense against whatever does breach the walls?”
“Yes. I’ve been inside the building multiple times. I won’t enjoy it, but it shouldn’t hamper my abilities too much.” I cast my gaze toward Quinn. “Assuming you’re fine with all of that too.”
She nodded immediately. “I don’t think we should weaken ourselves any more than we absolutely have to. But—the secret exit has the chime we talked about built into it, right? Everyone else will know when I’ve left so they can meet me there?”
“I’ve tested it myself,” I assured her. The last thing I’d want was for her to dart out into the street and fall prey to a horde of other minions right outside.
“I’ll have returned to the building by then,” Crag said. “I’ll stay close to the back door so that I can grab you as soon as you’re out.”
“Perfect.” I clapped my hands. “I think we’re all set. Why don’t the three of you get into position, and I’ll escort Quinn over once you’ve had time to prepare yourselves?”
Torrent and then Crag and then Lance each stepped toward Quinn to offer her a tight embrace and a kiss. More jealousy flickered in my chest, but it passed in a moment as I saw how she beamed back at them, bolstered by their affection.
The dragon shifter held her for the longest, as if he thought if he kept hugging her he might just not have to stop. He finally dragged himself away, started to turn to follow the others, and jerked back toward her with a flash of determination crossing his golden face.
“Wait,” he said. “Before we go out there, I think there’s something Quinn should do first.”