When he questioned her with a gorgeously raised brow, she said, “In case something happens, in case this thing goes wrong, there’s something you need to know.”
He sat back, looking wary now. “Okay.”
“I… I found your birth parents.”
If she had told him that she was captaining the first manned mission to Mars, he likely would’ve been less surprised. He stilled completely. His full lips parted as he gazed at her. Then he shook his head. “That’s impossible. I’ve—”
“You were right. You were born in DC. Your mother died when you were young. Your father raised you and…he’s like you, Quentin.” She put a hand on his shoulder. “He’s Deaf, and he can see the departed just as clearly as you can.”
“Can?” he asked in disbelief.
“Yes, can.” A knowing grin spread across her face. “He’s still in DC. He works at a cemetery digging graves and doing maintenance. I think he likes it there. I think it’s peaceful for him. I didn’t tell him I knew you. I wanted you to make that decision. But, Quentin, he’s kind of wonderful.”
“I don’t understand. What happened? How did I end up—?”
“The first demon possession.”
“Seems to be a theme with me, doesn’t it?” True, but the first one was an entirely different breed of demon. Or maybe Rune was. Demons were not generally so family oriented. They were evil. Pure and simple.
“There aren’t many people like you, apparently. From what I can gather, the demon that possessed you and sent you after my aunt Charley did so while you were on a school trip for football. You were the quarterback, by the way.”
He shook his head, unable to remember any of his past.
“The demon took absolute control.” Which would explain Quentin’s fear of losing it. His anger at having lost it at her hands. “He had you send texts to your dad, telling him you were leaving. You’d had a fight, so it wasn’t a huge surprise, but your dad feared you getting into trouble, so he didn’t report you missing. He kept in touch. Begged you to come home. Quentin, the demon said some pretty nasty things to him. He never knew it wasn’t you. A month later, Aunt Charley found you, and the rest is history.”
He turned to look out the window.
Amber could tell how stunned he was. How hurt. She took his hand in hers. “Your real name is Quinn. Quinn Rutherford. So, you almost remembered it right. The demon didn’t erase everything.”
He rubbed his mouth, unable to believe what she was telling him. After all this time.
“Quentin, if something happens, all of your father’s information is in my desk at my office in Santa Fe.”
He snapped out of his musings. “Why? What’s going to happen?”
“No. Nothing. I mean, you know, just in case. There is a demon who is quite prepared to kill us if we get in its way. I give us a fifty-fifty chance. If we make it through this, you can give me your address, and I’ll send everything to you.”
“No.”
“No?” She frowned, the bite instantaneous. He didn’t want her having his address? Was that it?
He pulled her onto his lap, and she settled against him. “No, I’m not leaving. Do you think I’m letting you go again?”
That sting in the backs of her eyes returned. After all these years… “I just want to state for the record that if that demon kills me now, after all this time, after finally getting you back, I am going to be very angry.”
A perfectly shaped brow arched heavenward. “Amber Kowalski, angry? I didn’t realize such a thing was possible.”
“Try leaving again without saying goodbye, and you’ll find out just how angry I can get.”
He snaked a hand up her T-shirt and over her rib cage, causing an outbreak of goose bumps to spread over her skin. “Is that a promise?” he asked.
“It’s a threat.”
“Ah.”
“And not an idle one, either,” she warned. “There is nothing idle about my threats. My threats are hardworking. Not afraid to get their hands dirty.”
He laughed softly, the sound like a summer rain, and wrapped his arms around her. When he buried his face in the crook of her neck, she pulled him against her, and they held each other for a long moment, reveling in the feel, the perfect fit. The rightness. If they lived through the next few hours, she was so getting laid. Again.
Chapter Eleven
Visited hell.
Crazy shit went down.
Not allowed back.
—True story
Even after everything Quentin had put her through, Amber had still cared enough to search for his father. He didn’t deserve her. He’d never deserved her. And yet, here she was. The elfin queen. Showering him with a love he’d craved for so long that he’d forgotten what it felt like to be happy. To be content.
As soon as this demon was dealt with, provided he survived, he was quitting La Guardia Segreta and going home. They wouldn’t be thrilled about it, but they’d taken everything from him so he really didn’t give a shit either way.
But first, he had a demon to see to.
He held onto the elfin for as long as he could. The feel of her both alleviating the agony inside him and aggravating it. He wanted more of her. Ached for more of her.
“We have loved her for so long,” Rune said.
“I know.” Rune had loved her through him. He’d known it for years.
“This demon will not be easily defeated.”
“Are they ever?” Quentin asked.
“It will kill you to get to us.”
“That’s not going to happen.”
“Precisely. You must release us. You must hand us over. We can be the distraction you need to get the upper hand.”
“Fuck off.”
“It’s the only way.”
“It’s too dangerous.”
“The demon is too fast, even for you.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence.”
“I call ’em like I see ’em, human.”
“And how many of you will die in the process?”
“How many of you will die if we do not stop it?”
In all the years Rune had been hitching a ride, Quentin never knew exactly who he was talking to. The leader, surely. But what was his name?
“Don’t go there, human.”
Unfortunately, he couldn’t have a single fucking thought without the whole of Rune knowing about it.
“Exactly. So, stop thinking and kiss her again.”
Quentin laughed. His relationship with the elfin could get awkward. Ménage à million. They’d have to deal with that later. For now, he asked anyway. “What’s your name?”
“What do you mean? We are Rune.”
He pulled Amber tighter. “If this goes south, I’d like to know who I’ve been talking to all this time.”
“You’ve been talking to Rune. We are one. We’re like the Borg that way.”
“Really? Star Trek references?”
“Really. Star Trek references.”
Okay, then. It would have to do for now. They had to get on with this before someone accidentally freed the demon. He loosened his hold, and Amber leaned back, her gaze so full of love it physically hurt. She had changed so much, and yet not at all. He brushed a thumb over her bow-shaped lips, and she leaned in and kissed him. He buried his hands in her hair and tilted his head to deepen the kiss. To breathe her in. To memorize her taste.