Chapter 17
Quinn
I kicked myself again. I hadn’t said I wasn’t sleeping with XanRa, just implied it. We needed words, not bodies, but waking up between them fried my brain like I was a horny teen again.
Technically, I hadn’t done the pleasuring. Did that still count as sticking to my guns?
Fine. Totally fine. Just a massive O on the Architect’s face while his lover tagged in, nothing weird, nothing intimate.
I kicked myself again. “Move on, girl. Shit’s going down.”
I dragged myself into Xan’s massive bathroom.
The dragon had wrecked it, but someone had cleaned up enough for me to catch most of my reflection on the broken mirror.
I braided my hair, added jewelry to set off the crystal streaks, and layered up.
Xan wanted me “presentable,” whatever that meant.
Fashion here seemed to be anything goes, and without magic, I was freezing. Thoughtful-warm would have to do.
Rowan and Cayden waited for us at the stables, along with three more enforcers, including Jamie Abernathy. I blushed the moment I saw my friends, only to relax. With the collar on, they hadn’t felt my orgasm. Rowan winked at me. My blush doubled. He knew anyway.
I had two sets of lovers I liked who barely seemed to get along—given one set having just started digging themselves out of a hole by going into my holes. No, stop thinking about that.
Xan covered me in the massive white cloak, and we mounted up.
And by that, I meant Rowan helped me onto the back of what looked like the oldest horse they had, gave me basic directions, and pointed the horse toward the butt of the horse in front of it.
Fortunately, the horse seemed pretty happy to follow while I clung to the saddle surrounded by guards.
I doubted riding my own horse proved the independence Xan wanted, but if it helped, I’d cling and sway for dear life.
The Mile had changed so much in the few days we’d been gone. With magic at everyone's fingertips, crumbling buildings turned into smooth apartments with shops on the first floor. Everly waved from St Giles Cathedral along with another woman drawing runes on the front door. I waved back.
“I don’t truly know what the families want,” Xan had explained while I got dressed. “But I’m sure it has to do with you and free will. Be strong, answer their questions, and don’t mention your collar, either of them, if possible.”
We were halfway down The Mile when the sound of hooves racing came from behind us. I turned, almost falling off my horse, only to find Brit and Joe sliding to a stop.
“I’m not letting you out of my sight again,” Brit said, sidestepping her horse next to mine. “I don’t know what’s going on, but it’s trouble, and we need to talk.” She pointed at her stomach.
I nodded, happy to have her back at my side, though unsure what I had to do with her gut.
The short journey down The Mile went by in anxious silence, which made the horses prance.
The skull, eternally trapped inside the Abernathy’s thick walls, drew my attention before we turned left, following the wall.
Less than a minute later, a much smaller crumbling barrier made a T, with a narrow break between it and the massive battlements.
“We’ve set up the meeting in the Abbey.” Abernathy pulled his mount to the front of our party and gestured to the opening, much too small for a horse.
There would be no mad rushes out of here.
After dismounting and leaving the horses tied to the husks of two carts, clearly repurposed just for this, we entered.
A small courtyard opened up to something that could have been out of the movie Tron.
The ruins of a great stone medieval abbey were stitched back together using glass, wood, and gold, glowing curved beams. The same glowing bits recreated the flying buttresses, which stood out against the bright blue afternoon.
My breath puffed white as we entered ruins older than Technology itself. Despite living in Xan’s castle for months, I still gaped at all of it. Old stone fused with magic blew my twenty-first-century city-girl mind.
Crisp sunlight bathed the room through the transparent or possibly nonexistent ceiling. Groups stood apart, pods of mismatched clothes like oil drops refusing to mix.
A gruff man with braids in his hair and a long carrot-red beard stepped forward. “Nice of you to finally join us.”
Xan’s lessons on the families kicked in. This must be a McDonald.
“I had a late night, as you’re all very aware,” Xan said mildly. “Or we wouldn’t be here.”
A low chuckle cut through the crowd. The McDonalds parted, revealing a man I recognized far too well.
My heart skipped a beat. For a brief moment, I was back in that sunless cellar, chained and surrounded by tears.
I couldn’t tell if my neck burned from the current collars, or the one that haunted my memory.
One of the tethers in my back burned more than the others, as the body snatcher with coal-black eyes and gold teeth made my stomach twist.
Ezra growled and stepped in front of me. Rowan and Cayden boxed in my sides while Brit and Joe stood at my back. Xan, with his hair slicked back and his formal Architect attire, didn’t move, though the air vibrated with his unhappiness.
The man walked forward and pulled a cigarette out between his gold teeth. “Good to see you, girly. There’s been a lot of speculation about you, especially these past few days.”
“What’s a body snatcher doing here?” Xan asked, his voice terrifyingly neutral.
The tension in the air twisted into something dark. Almost in unison, the group of McDonalds pulled out honest-to-god tinfoil hats and put them on their heads.
“You’ve broken your code,” the same McDonald said. “Men ran out of your castle screaming, one of your own trainees even. You don’t have a leg to stand on.”
“You were only defending your family.” Jamie Abernathy held out his hands. “However, that justification can be used for anything.”
Xan said even his allies were turning against him, but seeing his information officer do it hurt.
“You’re too powerful,” Abernathy continued.
“We knew it when you took the castle, and you’ve shown your cards once again.
” His gaze flicked to me. “Life in your family is hard. Quinn could be enjoying luxury anywhere else, but she’s not, and none of us can think of a single reason she would stay by your side unless… ” He trailed off.
Anger boiled my blood. No one could think of a reason I would rather stay and work than be a pampered baby mill? Really?
“She needs to see her options.” A man dressed in dark purple and red velvets off to my left said smoothly. “To our knowledge, she hasn’t even received our Intentions.”
I had! Sorta. Well, I got the ones at The Mixer, not that I’d had a moment to look at them.
Before I could open my mouth, the man continued. “She knows nothing but you and your family. Think about how that affects the rest of us.”
“Us,” Xan repeated, looking at the pods of people, all keeping space between them and the next group. “Because the main families of Edinburgh work together.”
Every person in the room shifted uneasily.
“In this, we do,” Jamie Abernathy said for the group.
No one countered him, and a ripple of fear ran down my spine.
“We don’t pass women around like dolls.” Xan’s calm, controlled Architect persona stayed strong. “She came to my family, and I’ve treated her like anyone else.”
“Except you tethered her at your trials,” a sharp alto stated from a group who looked more ready for a ball than a confrontation.
A few gasps filled the room. Someone grunted, and the body snatcher grinned.
A man dressed in velvet stepped to the side to reveal the speaker.
She stood tall with sharp features that looked a lot like Everly’s.
A light-purple velvet dress, practically identical to Everly’s favorite, outlined her willow-thin body.
This must be a Grierson, maybe even Everly’s mom, based on the crow’s-feet around her eyes.
“It was the only way to save her life,” Xan responded. “And I’ve not used that tether.”
“Lies.” A man from yet another group shoved his meaty fist forward. The Westwaters wore ripped leather like they’d come straight from a bondage party. “You pulled her out of a Pit Fight.”
Xan inclined his head. “One of my trainees trespassed. It was the right thing to do.”
“She’d paid to attend. She wasn’t trespassing.” The Westwater beat his fist against his palm. “You should have let us know. We could have properly hosted.”
“I snuck out,” I said immediately. “The Architect didn’t know I’d left his walls.”
“Except he did because he owns you,” the body snatcher stuck in, grinning.
The collar around my throat burned. Xan had drilled into me: no one owned me. I was always free to say no. But that wasn’t the vibe in this room, not even close.
“I do not own anyone.” Xan sliced his hand through the air. “This is getting out of hand. Why am I here, and why am I in the room with this man?” Xan gestured to the body snatcher.
“His name is Teivel.” The McDonald stepped forward and put a hand on Teivel’s shoulder. “And when I was speaking to him about our predicament, he had an excellent suggestion.”
Teivel. Great, I had a name for the spider in the room. I reached for Rowan and Cayden’s hands, and they slid their palms into mine. This bastard hurt me. He hurt a lot of people.
“What suggestion?” I asked into the ever-growing tension.
“Teivel has a mentalist at his disposal,” the tall, willowy Abernathy said. “We do not believe you exist with the Architect of your own free will.”
My heart squeezed. “I do. There’s been so much drama. There’s no way any of that would have happened if I weren’t making my own choices.”
“I’ve witnessed it,” Jamie Abernathy said. “But after everything that’s happened, my eyes alone are not enough, even for my family.”