Alterant (30 page)

“You were eighteen. I was older than you—”

“By two years only.”

“—and should have kept my hands off.”

She placed a kiss on his head, and gentle coolness spread across his forehead, dropping the headache to a moderate ache. He relaxed his shoulders for the first time in hours.

Kizira chided him in a cheerful voice. “Your memory must be failing, and such a shame to age so poorly at thirty-three.”

He smiled at her jab. Some worry pressed at his mind . . . something he’d just had a grip on a moment ago.

Whispering in his ear, she told him, “
I
recall when we met that you fell to
my
charms, not the other way around.”

“So you used majik on me then?” He couldn’t recall, but he should. His memories bumped into each other in a confusing tangle.

“Only my personal charms,” she assured him. “Now you wish me to think that only worked because you were so badly injured?”

Pieces of the memory poked at him.

He’d been alone on patrol in the mountains surrounding Chechnya and found a village destroyed by Medb warlocks. When he heard the scream of a woman being attacked, he intervened only to be captured by three warlocks who turned Noirre majik on Quinn before he’d been able to engage his mind-locking powers. He hadn’t developed the skill much at that point. They beat him to his knees.

Then two warlocks had held him in place for the other one to torture so they could peel his mind open.

Quinn hadn’t known at the time that the woman he’d saved, Kizira, was a Medb who had just been given her first task on her way to becoming a priestess. She was to capture a Belador and bring the warrior to her queen. A dangerous task for any eighteen-year-old woman, but Kizira had never been an average young girl.

She’d told him later that no warrior who fought so honorably should die by torture. So she’d interfered with the three warlocks, forcing them to stop hurting Quinn.

That had been a grave error on her part. The warlocks had been trained to kill any traitor in the Medb, no matter who.

To interfere with their handling of a Belador had sealed her fate without judge or jury.

They’d dropped Quinn in a heap of torn flesh and broken bones to turn on Kizira as one.

Quinn had rallied the minute they’d redirected their Noirre majik at Kizira. He’d opened his mind, reaching out in a rage of energy he used to quickly overtake the mind of two warlocks, dropping them where they stood.

The other one had been so intent on Kizira that he’d failed to notice the greater danger gaining his feet behind him. When Quinn had finished, all three laid scattered on the ground. He’d taken one look at a shocked Kizira and collapsed on top of the pile of bodies.

When he’d next opened his eyes, he’d found that Kizira had hidden him away in the mountains, where she cared for his battered body.

Just as she was doing now.

He held his thoughts for a moment before they spilled between the gaps in his mind. What had he been saying to her a minute ago? The words she whispered slipped inside his head and floated around. His mind fogged with pleasure from where her fingers rubbed his temples with circular motion. The pleasure seeped into his body as though carried on streams of rejuvenating oils.

Her voice whispered close to his ear. “Do you remember the bracelet I braided from your hair?”

“Huh . . . yes.” He smiled at the memory. She’d worn the bracelet until the last day, when he’d suggested she might not want to go home with a Belador token of that
sort. He’d told her the bracelet would only make her regret what they’d done.

She’d replied that she was keeping the bracelet to prove she didn’t regret their time together.

A silly thing, but he’d been touched that she’d taken the keepsake with her.

It didn’t matter. This was a mistake. He mumbled, “Kizira . . . can’t be here.”

Warm air rushed across his throat when she said, “I told you I’d come if you called.”

Her words echoed in slow waves, bouncing across his mind. “Why . . . did I call you?”

Because you missed me. Remember?
Her voice entered his mind gently, so much better than hearing sounds.
You do remember missing me, Quinn, don’t you?

Oh, yes.
“I did . . . miss you.”

Her hands moved to his neck and shoulders, rubbing deep into tired muscles while her voice massaged his mind.
You like to be touched and kissed.
Her lips brushed his, then disappeared.

The pauses between bouts of pain stretched longer.

He had something to do . . . something about . . .

Her lips brushed kisses along his forehead. Then her voice flowed into his mind on a soft hum.
I care for you, Quinn.

I don’t think . . . you should,
he answered. Other thoughts flitted up, almost in focus, then backed away just out of his reach.
I’m not . . . I’m not . . . right for you.

Yes, you are.
Her fingers slid along his chest, stopping to delve into a tight muscle, loosening him inch by inch.
I want you, Quinn. Again. Like last time.

Can’t do that. Wrong.
But he had a new ache that pulsed in his groin.

His belt unbuckled and his pants loosened at the waist.

She reached inside and caressed him.

He hissed, “Kizira.”

That was supposed to sound like a warning, not a request.

She said,
I’ve missed you, too. Missed touching you most of all.

The world lost shape, tumbled on its side and lay there.

Quinn tried to open his eyes. Couldn’t.

Her voice and touch consumed him, binding him, filling him from the inside out. Her fingers . . . oh, her fingers . . . stroked.

His body took over, all attention shifted straight south. He tensed, ready to surge with the orgasm.

No control.

Couldn’t breathe . . . waiting for her to move again . . . he ached . . . pleasure with teeth scraped his nerves. He couldn’t move his hands to reach for her. Could do nothing but lie here, waiting . . .

Please.

I want you, Quinn,
she repeated over and over.
Tell me you miss me.

His muscles strained, everything tied to one part of his body waiting for release. “I miss you.”

Her fingers slid along his length up an inch, then stopped, then up another inch. He shook with need.

Do you want me to help Evalle?

“What?”

I could watch out for her.
Kizira’s fingers stroked back down, her hand first hot, then cold.

His body clenched. He was panting. The edge was close, just a tip away.

Where is Evalle?

He struggled to recall. “She’s gone.”

But how do I find her?

“Don’t know.”

Pain shot behind his eyes.

Kizira whispered against his ear,
Think, Quinn. Where is Evalle?

He swallowed, panting. Jagged shards of glass stabbed each of his eyes.

The pain subsided again and Kizira was kissing him.
I have what you want. What you need.

He reached for her, surprised his arms moved. His hands touched bare flesh everywhere. She shivered and whispered seductive words, begging him to give her what she wanted.

Just ask. Whatever he owned was hers.

But he’d never told a woman that and didn’t think—

Her fingers cupped him and he stilled. The delicate touch of her fingers drove him insane. Too gentle to push him into oblivion.

He ground his teeth. She kept teasing him, as if he could grow any larger in the tight skin sheathing him.

When she finally gripped him firmly, he made a sound deep in his throat, a primal need for release.

She said,
Tell me where Evalle is and I will give you anything you want.

Somewhere from deep in his mind, a thought came charging forward, as if he’d commanded the very words to march into battle. “She’s with Tristan.”

That’s all I needed to hear. Now I want to feel you inside me.
She removed her fingers.

He wanted to snarl at her to go back and finish what she’d started, but it was as if someone had thrown a switch on his body. His muscles and limbs once again functioned.

His skin burned to rub against hers. He rolled her over, feeling nothing but her and sheets touching his skin.

They were both naked.

Just like last time.

Perfect.

The only thing stopping him from exploding when he finally shoved inside her was a basic male drive for control. Carnal need raced through his cells, burning him to take her. He struggled for a second with the sense this was not right, but her muscles clinched and his thoughts splintered. Pulling back, he slowly pushed into her again, shaking with his need for her.

She urged him,
Now, Quinn. Just like last time.

Her nails dug into his shoulders.

Bloody hell, yes. He held her hips and drove deep inside her.

TWENTY-FOUR

T
hat had to be the quickest teleporting trip in the world, which worked just fine for Evalle if not for the brief sick stomach.

Too bad it had been with Tristan and not Storm, her personal favorite as a full-time transport partner.

She opened her eyes and expelled a breath that came out as a white puff in the chilly air. “It’s colder than I thought it would be.”

“Creepy, huh?” Tristan said close to her ear.

“A kid’s Halloween spook house is creepy. This is a twilight zone.” She hadn’t known what to expect with a name like Maze of Death, but not this. The hand-hewn dirt-and-rock tunnel that stretched in front of her glowed in spots where an eclectic mix of antique gas lanterns had been mounted.

She doubted any fuel lines ran to them.

Who would have been paying the gas bill?

Framed paintings hung along the walls at intervals, and an assortment of rugs covered the dirt floor in places.

Tristan angled his head toward the tunnel. “From what I could tell on my first trip through this place, someone moved personal effects down here. Guess it made the spirits feel at home.”

“Wonder how they kept this from being discovered when MARTA built the subway system?”

“They’ve had over a hundred years to develop their spirit skills, and the subway only intersects it at a couple places.” Tristan’s fingers curled around her right side.

She cut her gaze over her shoulder at him. “Take your hand off me if you value it.”

“You looked cold.” His eyes dropped to her chest.

She refused to look down. “Keep looking down there and your nose is going to have a swift introduction to my boot. Last warning before you end up with a nub.”

He withdrew his hand. “Thought we were working together.”

“To a point.”

“In that case, let’s get moving.”

She turned all the way around to face him. “Not until I get some answers.”

“The Tribunal didn’t put you on a time clock?”

She literally worked against the sands of time with no idea when the last grain would fall. “Speaking of the Tribunal, they know you escaped and they’re blaming me.”

No surprise in his face. “I heard, but I don’t know how they found out.”

“They caught you on a security camera in Atlanta and now VIPER has a hunt-to-kill order on me, you and the other three, along with every other Alterant shifting in the fog.”

“Heard that, too. You should throw in with me.”

“No!” What did she have to do to get through to him?
“Your chances are better by working with me to get all of us in front of the Tribunal.”

“I’ll have to think about that.”

“While you’re thinking about that, you can tell me what you
didn’t
say in front of Storm when we were on the other side of the wall.”

Tristan asked innocently, “Such as?”

“The location of the other three Alterants.”

“I told you they aren’t where I left them.”

“Which is a sly way to avoid either telling me a specific location . . . or admitting you don’t know where they are in here. Right?” If he’d been in the maze all the time she and Storm had searched for him, Tristan should have covered every inch by now.

“They’re in this maze.”

“Not good enough. I’m not moving until you give me
everything.
And I think you know exactly where they are, so the question is, why did you bring me, since you don’t need my help to find them? If you want
my
help, I want the truth.”

Tristan took in a deep breath of the chilly air, which came out in a white stream. “I left them in a room with two benign spirits and enough food to hold the three for a couple weeks. That’s why I couldn’t let you leave me in the jungle. I thought they were going to die because I couldn’t get back. But when I got here, they were gone.”

She could sympathize with him better now for having used her to escape if his story turned out to be true. “Where’d they go?”

“Into a large cavern deep inside here.” The smug
cockiness normally inhabiting his face had given way to a haunted look he wore too easily.