“Grieving.” I drop my chin to stare into the murky depths of my coffee cup. “Bea was…we loved her. Quinn loved her the most, though. I believe she looked to Bea as a child would look to a mother.”
“Which is why the taint had Willow choose her,” Jax says. “That bitch wanted to hit Quinn where it would hurt the most.”
“The taint made Willow do it,” Selene says. “She has Willow’s husband.”
Silence reigns for long moments.
“She make Quinn kill,” Emmit says finally.
“Quinn didn’t intend to kill Willow,” Selene says. “I mean she did, to start with, when she saw…when she saw Bea. But she stopped. She could have killed Willow, but she stopped and reined in her rage. She told Willow to go back to the taint. She was walking away, and Willow attacked me. Quinn defended me and Willow used that to her advantage. She shoved herself onto that blade while Quinn was trying to disarm her.”
“Make sense,” Emmit says. “Quinn is protector. This not make her go dark. This not taint her heart.”
“We don’t know that for sure,” Bryce says. “We need to be watchful and careful.”
Dillon makes a sound of exasperation. “She can handle it. She used the darkness to save herself from Henrik. It’s a part of her. A new ability and power that she manipulates, not the taint. Embracing her power isn’t the same as embracing the darkness.”
“He’s right,” Selene says. “I felt it in the hall of mirrors…This aching void surrounding her, but it was enraged by grief and injustice. By seeing someone she loved dead. She could have killed Willow, but she chose not to. She controlled her darkness and stepped back. I felt it retreat with her.”
It’s true, then. Quinn isn’t destined for malevolence. She is a new breed for sure, but she’s still Quinn, noble, loving, a protector of the weak and helpless.
“Then the taint loses,” Bryce says, triumphant. “She thinks that her dark genes will bring Quinn to her side, but she’s wrong.”
“It doesn’t mean that Quinn’s no longer a threat to the relic, though,” Jax says. “We still need to keep her at a distance from it.”
“Which she’ll understand.” Bryce nods slowly. “All we have to worry about now is the Mageri.”
All eyes turn to me.
“I haven’t heard from Lorenzo yet.”
“Maybe you could try calling?” Selene suggests.
I pull my phone from my pocket, and it rings in my hand. Lorenzo’s name flashes on the caller ID.
“It’s him.” Everyone is alert as I answer the call. “Lorenzo?”
“I’m sorry, Tate.”
My heart sinks.
“It was going well and then the alarms tripped,” he says. “They felt it. They felt the taint’s power.”
“How long do we have?”
“We’re about to wake the Wardens. Tate, these Mageri are not like any other; they’re dangerous, relentless, and single-minded in the pursuit of their mission.”
“How long?”
“Factoring in the time it’ll take to wake them…They’ll probably be with you by sunset tomorrow. Tate, you have to run. You have to get out of—”
I hang up and lock eyes with Bryce. “They’re coming. Lorenzo says they’ll be here by sunset tomorrow.”
Dillon pushes off the wall. “She won’t be here. She’ll be with me in Atlantis.”
“They’ll just be waiting when she comes back,” Selene says. “They’ll kill her.”
“Fuck, if the relic had been intact, they wouldn’t have been able to kill her.” Jax drags a hand through his hair, his agitation infecting the room.
My gaze flicks to Dillon, noting his strange, almost revelatory expression.
“You can’t keep her undersea forever,” Bryce growls. “She has to come back, and they’ll be waiting. They’ll be waiting to kill her.”
Dillon’s smile is wry. “Then let’s make her unkillable. Let’s make her immortal.”
12
QUINN
“Wake up, Quinn!”
My eyes popped open. I sat up, sucking in a breath, gaze darting around the room. I was back. I was awake. I was home.
“What happened?” Tate sat on the edge of my mattress and smoothed my hair back from my face. “Quinn, you’re shaking.”
“It was her. She was in my head. In my dream.” I rubbed my face as if I could erase the residue of her touch.
“She can’t hurt you. Not unless you let her.”
How could I make him understand that I wasn’t afraid of her? Not anymore. I was afraid of me. Of the longing inside me. Of this inexplicable draw I felt for her when we were together.
“Quinn?”
I didn’t want to think, so I kissed him.
He froze in surprise for a second before kissing me back with a fervor that inflamed my desire. I melted against him, devouring him with open-mouthed kisses as I tore at his clothes and he tore at mine until we were skin on skin. No thoughts, just hands and lips, taste and sensation. He was all velvety, taut skin, perfect for nipping and licking. He tasted like chocolate and coffee. I needed him to unravel for me.
I needed control.
And so, I took it. Took him deep into my mouth, reveling in the sounds he made, in the way his hands clutched at my hair, fingers scraping my scalp as he rolled his hips, slow and easy, sucking in sharp breaths as I hollowed my cheeks and took him all.
“Quinn, fuck, fuck, I need to—”
I gripped him hard, permission for him to take his release, and I shared it, every last drop.
“Fucking hell.” Tate hauled me up his body and into his arms. “What…Quinn…”
I reached down to grip him, running my thumb over the sensitive tip. “You got any more in you?”
He let out a growl, rolled me onto my back, and entered me hard and fast, thrusting at an angle that quickly propelled me toward climax. Phantom hands ran over my body, kneading, rubbing, teasing until my blood pounded in my head and my muscles twisted and tightened, ready, so ready. He leaned back, never breaking momentum, and pressed his thumb to my clit, shattering me in the most beautiful way.
Afterwards we lay in a tangle of limbs, breathing heavy for long minutes. I kissed his shoulder and slipped from the bed, desperate to pee. In the bathroom I stared at my flushed reflection in the mirror. My hair was disheveled, my eyes too bright. I quickly splashed water on my face and brushed my teeth. No one liked cum breath.
I joined Tate back in the bedroom a moment later, diving under the covers and snuggling up to him.
He pushed up on his elbow to look down at me. “What was that about?”
“I needed a pee.”
“No, before.”
“What? Can’t I want to jump my lover’s bones?”
A ghost of a smile hovered on his lips, but his eyes remained dim, almost sad. “I know you better than that, Quinn.”
I dropped my gaze to his chin. “I loved her.”
“Bea? Yes, I know.”
“Not Bea…the taint. I loved her, Tate. When I was a child, I loved her. She was my mother.”