Chapter 8 Quinn
Quinn
Iwake with a start, drool cooling on the back of my hand as I lay sprawled in the center of the softest, silkiest bed I’ve ever been in. Glancing at the window, it’s obvious I’ve been out for hours. The sun is already low in the sky, almost to the tree line.
But if there’s any doubt in my mind that I actually went through with marrying a demon and letting him fuck me senseless this morning…
Well, my sore, aching body is proof enough of that.
I stretch and roll, the memory of this morning flashing in my mind, making my lips curve.
Until I remember why.
Why I dragged a demon into a chapel and chose to marry him in the first place.
Then, I shoot upright, looking for Malphyr, my clothes, my phone.
None of them are nearby, and just as I’m about to panic, I see my phone charging on the far table. There’s no signal in this place, though, so no messages have come through and I’m left wondering what I’ve missed while asleep.
Beneath my phone is a note written in a precise, painstaking script.
Darling, I didn’t want to wake you. Went to run an errand and grab your things from home. I filled the fridge with food. Wasn’t sure what you’d like, so there’s a bit of everything. Eat up. Back soon. Yours, Mal.
I drag the silken sheet from the bed, wrap it around my body and pad into the kitchen with my phone held to the sky.
Still no signal.
Uneasy, but not easily undeterred, I go to scrounge up some food. Mal wasn’t kidding when he said he filled the fridge.
There’s bacon, eggs, fresh fruit, and an entire array of cheeses. There’s also multiple cereal boxes and various breads stashed in alongside everything else, and I laugh.
I guess demons don’t need to eat like us, so why would he know what to feed me?
But it’s sweet nonetheless, and it shakes out a memory from our first meeting.
You’ll be my little queen. I’ll take care of you as such.
Warmth spreads through me as I put together a breakfast plate and take it to the outdoor patio. I bite into a jam-covered bagel and check my phone once more.
There’s two bars of connection, and a slew of missed calls and messages popping.
Dread sours my stomach, but I swallow anyway. Something tells me I’ll need my strength as I scroll through.
Preacher’s tried me six times. His texts are landing all out of order so I can’t make sense of it, but a few key phrases jump out at me.
Contact made.
Change of plans.
They want their money now.
Got a bad feeling, boss.
They say he’s dead.
The bagel falls from my hands, and the bite I have in my mouth turns to dust.
“No. No, no, no, NO!” I jab at my phone, trying to call him back. I need answers. Clarity. Explanations.
No connection.
I almost throw the phone, but instead, I look to the sky. No flying winged demon up there to swoop down and save me now, is there?
No such luck.
So, it’s down to me. I spring from my seat and tear through the lodge looking for my dress. When I find it, I pull it over my head, slip on the spa slippers bearing the Wilderwood logo, and run.
I look like a madwoman tearing through the campground, waving my phone in the air.
But I’m too deep in the forest for a signal, too far from the town for a taxi.
For one wild moment, I wonder if this is somehow part of Malphyr’s mysterious plans. Did he bring me to marry me, ravage me, and leave me behind?
No, I don’t believe that.
I shake my head and prop myself against a thick tree trunk while I wait for the stitch in my side to ease.
He wouldn’t do that to me. Mal wanted me to trust him to play fair, and I did. Even in negotiations, he let me set terms I was comfortable with and didn’t push for more when he baited me into renegotiation.
All he asked for was for me to pay up on my end of the bargain sooner.
And had I known the payment would be so damn delicious, I might’ve come to him even earlier.
Maybe if I had, I would have stayed in Fable Forest and my brother wouldn’t be…
My throat closes up.
Dead.
Kaiden. My sweet younger brother. A little like me, a little like dad, and altogether too damn innocent.
Last time we were together, we buried our grandmother in the family plot and laid cuttings from her beloved rosebushes all around her.
It’d been his idea, not mine. I don’t think that way. Never have. My way of dealing with death and abandonment was to close up, close off, and run.
Which is exactly what I did after Dad died. I ran to Malphyr, I made my deal, and I got the orcs off our backs.
Then I left town.
I left Kai.
I left him to make my life in the city, away from him and the binding promise I’d made.
Well, no more.
If he can hold up his end of our bargains, so can I.
And I’m done running. If my brother’s dead? If the Twin Tusks MC have killed him? Then, I’ll wield the magic I’ve kept bottled up inside me all these years, and I’ll take my revenge.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” The burly, bearded man behind the Wilderwood reception desk looks doubtful.
“I’m fine,” I repeat, glancing at his nametag. “I just need to leave, Clayton. I have a family emergency back in town, and I-”
“Oh, dear. You better call her a cab then, Clay. Go on.” She taps away on the computer, then glances up. “The room’s booked under Malphyr… er, no last name. He’s that big man with the wings, right?”
Clayton pinches the bridge of his nose. “He’s that demon that got hitched in the chapel yesterday, Ma.”
“Oh, yes, of course!” The woman with the kindly face — Melanie Osborne, owner, according to her tag — smiles at me. “I do hope everything’s alright. Or will be.”
“The room was lovely. Perfect, actually,” I fight off a blush. “Thank you.”
“Cabbie’ll be out front. You need any cash to cover the journey?”
“No, I…” I glance down at my wrinkled dress and the now-dirty spa slippers on my feet. “Yes, please. Sorry. Can you add it to our room?”
He slips some cash along the countertop, and it’s enough to get me back into town if I wanted. I move to give him some of it back, but he waves me off.
“Take it. In case you need it.”
Confusion makes my head snap up, but by the way he stares at me, I realize he thinks I’m trying to run away from my demon husband.
“Thanks,” I murmur. “If Malphyr returns, can you tell him I’m okay? I just needed to take care of something.”
“Sure thing, hon. Congratulations on your wedding!” Mel waves cheerfully. “If there’s anything else we can do, just say the word.”
I manage to smile back, but my heart isn’t in it. Once I’m outside, I head for the taxi stand and slip into the first available car.
Head bent over my phone, I try to load my texts from Preacher again.
“Can you head for the town, please? I’m going to the Devil’s Lair.”
“‘Course.”
The taxi pulls away from the curb, and I buckle in.
“How long’s the journey?”
“About twenty minutes by car, unless I have to slow down to take the turns.”
A chill works its way down my back, and I glance up into the rearview mirror. He’s the same driver from before. The one who’d picked me up from the airport.
I don’t like it, Quinn. I don’t believe in coincidences.
I hold up my phone.
“How much further until there’s a signal? Do you know? I need to make a call.”
“Not far,” he says, steering the taxi onto the main road.
My pulse races. Something about the way he won’t meet my eyes doesn’t sit right.
And when I look outside, I see why my instincts are on alert.
We’re not heading to Fable Forest. We’re heading away from it.
And falling into line behind us is a long line of motorcycles. Astride each one of them is a green-skinned rider.
Whatever hope I have of it being a coincidence goes up in smoke when one pulls away from the pack and zooms past my window.
The leather jacket she wears bears the Twin Tusks MC mark.
Seems the orcs have found me.