Give the Devil His Due (The Sanheim Chronicles, Book Three) (45 page)

Quinn felt distinctly different.

He felt alive.

Chapter 35

Quinn felt like he was seeing the world with new eyes.

As Kate and he walked among the soldiers — their army, as hard as that was to believe — the troops stopped what they were doing to stare. Kate and Quinn both looked human and were dressed simply in jeans and t-shirts. But Quinn could tell from the looks they received that they must seem anything but normal. Most of the troops gazed at them with respect, and some with a look of undisguised awe. Many of the soldiers stood at attention, while others knelt on the ground.

As they strolled through camp, Kate stopped and spoke to several of them, calling each one by name. Many talked about their former lives, what had trapped them to the mortal realm, and how grateful they were to have followed her out. Kate had heard a similar story over and over, but each time, she answered thoughtfully as if she were hearing it for the first time.

“How can you possibly know so many of these soldiers? You make it seem like you are old friends,” Quinn said.

She gave him a bemused smile.

“Remember when Carol told me I was psychic?” she said. “It’s taken me a long time to understand what that means. I can’t read everyone’s thoughts, but these souls are like an open book to me.”

“Perhaps because you’ve already won them over. And they’ve pledged themselves to you.”

“Maybe,” she said.

She stopped and talked to another soldier. It was a tale like so many others, how he’d left his wife and young child behind when he went off to war. When he died, he had seen a light, but refused to go to it, certain he must stay to watch over his family. But in death, he’d been trapped and had never been able to leave the battlefield.

“You’ll see them again,” Kate told him, and his face lit up while tears streamed down his cheeks. “I know it.”

“Will he find them?” Quinn asked when they were out of earshot.

Kate looked at Quinn in surprise.

“Of course,” she said. “You think I would lie to him?”

“No,” he said. “It’s just… not everyone who dies ends up here. I can’t say for certain, but I really don’t think Grace is here.”

“That man’s family is here,” she said. “I don’t know how I know, but I do.”

“Why single him out?” Quinn asked. “You made it seem accidental, but I know you. It wasn’t.”

“He was one who particularly needed that reassurance,” Kate responded. “I can feel their emotions, their needs. Last year, on the battlefield it was all so brief. Even when I summoned more in Manassas, I didn’t understand. But now I do. We’re connected in some way. And I know that soldier will talk to others, who will spread the word. They still have their human frailties: doubts, for the most part. They had to leave behind everything they know. A prison, to be sure, but a familiar one. Now here they are with me in a strange world. These talks will give them strength. And when we need them — if we need them — they will fight for us with their heart and soul.”

“You’ve become quite the tactician,” Quinn said. “I die for just a little bit, and here you are a full-fledged general.”

Kate seemed to glow brighter with the praise and slipped her arm around him.

They walked up a small hill where Quinn saw a bigger tent than the others they had passed. After everything that had happened — Dian, the Wyrm, and the ritual — the one thing Quinn asked for was rest. He felt very alive, but at the same time exhausted. Besides, he and Kate still had some items to discuss in private.

“There’s one thing I don’t understand,” Quinn asked.

“Just one?” Kate responded with a laugh. “There are a lot of things I don’t understand.”

“I can’t hear your thoughts,” he said. “I know the ritual worked. I’m alive again. But I can’t hear what you’re thinking.”

Kate laughed again. If she was bothered by this, she showed no sign of it.

“I asked Carol about that,” she said. “It’s just a theory, but Carol suggested that the ritual restored you to life, but didn’t restore our connection. It was broken last year and remains that way.”

“So how do we…”

Quinn stopped and burst into a huge grin. Kate smiled in return and kissed him long and slowly.

“I have a few ideas on that,” Kate said. “It’s just a theory, of course, but would you care to test it out with me in the tent over there? I know you’re tired and all…”

“You know, I’m suddenly feeling very rested,” Quinn said. He stretched his arms comically. “I may not need that sleep after all.”

“Race you?” Kate asked with a grin, and gestured to the tent.

They both ran so fast, Quinn wasn’t sure who made it into the tent first.

*****

Kate started to take off Quinn’s shirt, but he stopped her with a finger to her lips.

“Changed your mind already?” she joked.

“No,” he said. “But I learned a new trick I want to show you.”

He stepped back from her.

“Nothing here is really what it seems,” he explained. “When we were in the mountains, we found we could imagine ourselves pretty much anyway we wanted to. We could even conjure up certain items that we needed.”

“I can imagine a few things that would fit this setting nicely,” Kate said with a mischievous twinkle in her eyes.

Quinn arched an eyebrow at her.

“Maybe later,” he said with a laugh. “I want to keep things simple for now.”

He stood before her, closed his eyes, and pictured himself as he wanted to appear. When he opened his eyes, he was stark naked.

Kate clapped and laughed. She even did a small dance. Quinn wasn’t sure when he’d last seen her this happy.

“That’s a fantastic trick. And very practical,” she added jokingly. She rushed towards him to kiss him again.

They kissed each other for a long time, Quinn’s lips moving down her neck.

“You know,” he said, in between kisses. “You could do the same trick — it’s easy.”

“Yes,” she said into his ear. “But I’d rather you take off my clothes yourself.”

Quinn pulled off her t-shirt and unclasped the bra underneath in one smooth motion.

“Like that?” he asked.

“Exactly,” she said.

Quinn kissed every part of her, moving slowly down from her neck. Kate started to breathe faster. He unbuckled her jeans and pulled them off slowly.

“I hate to rush things along,” Kate said, breathing heavily. “But I want you. Badly.”

Quinn quickly imagined a small cot in the tent and it appeared.

“Very elegant,” Kate teased him between kisses.

“Would you like me to take more time for something better?”

“That’s okay,” she laughed.

He scooped her into his arms and laid her on the makeshift bed.

“I love you,” he said.

“I missed you so much,” she replied.

*****

Kate and Quinn stood in a forest clearing, the moon shining brightly above them.

We must have fallen asleep
, Quinn thought.

I can hear you!
Kate shouted in his mind.
I can hear your thoughts!

Quinn grinned at her. It was more than just her thoughts. All her memories while they had been apart were now inside him. He saw her raving at the asylum, hunting down criminals in Leesburg, and confronting Kyle at Ball’s Bluff. He saw every hidden thought she had, even the concern that he wouldn’t love her again if he knew what she had done.

I love you more than anything,
he said.
Nothing could change that.

She rested her head on his chest and held him tight.

Thank you
, she said.
Thank you so much.

“What a touching scene,” a voice said.

Quinn watched as Sanheim walked out of the trees and into the light. He dabbed his eyes theatrically with a handkerchief.

“I remember this place,” Quinn told him. “This is where we first met.”

Sanheim nodded.

“I could have picked any spot,” he said. “Dreams are my domain, in case you didn’t remember.”

“We remember,” Kate said.

“I chose somewhere I thought would be pleasing to you,” Sanheim said. “I didn’t want you to think I was trying to intimidate you.”

Quinn let out a laugh.

“Now why would we think that?” he asked.

Sanheim merely smiled in return.

“I want to congratulate you both,” he said. “I won’t bother to deny it — I am impressed with what you have accomplished. Kate assembling an army, opening a portal. Quinn finding a way, despite my best efforts, to avoid dying horribly. And Kieran’s self-sacrifice to return you to life. I knew he was up to something, but I admit that never entered my wildest dreams. I didn’t think he had it in him.”

“I don’t think you knew him at all,” Quinn said.

“Apparently not,” Sanheim nodded. “I underestimated him, as I did you and Kate. I freely acknowledge it.”

“Big of you,” Kate said.

Sanheim spread his hands and bowed his head.

“So let us assess where we now stand,” Sanheim said. “You are the Prince of Sanheim, and I think we all know you intend to challenge me. I had hoped that you might be convinced to return home, but I think Kieran’s move makes that impossible. If I know Quinn at all, he will feel honor-bound to fulfill Kieran’s dying wish, which was undoubtedly to take me out.”

“Wrong again,” Quinn said. “But I won’t deny that he wanted that. He wanted you to know that he struck a blow against you.”

“So you have an army and are rallying others to your cause,” Sanheim said. “I, of course, have an army, and the means to defend what I have protected for millennia. We will fight and you will lose.”

“So you say,” Quinn said. “But as you’ve noted, you have a habit of underestimating us.”

“True,” Sanheim said. “It’s not a mistake I intend to make again.”

“Save the threats,” Kate said. “Whatever deal you think you can strike with us, we can’t trust you.”

“Hear me out at least,” Sanheim said. “The one thing I’ve never believed about either of you is that you’re stupid. So you must know by now that there’s another player in our little game.”

“The council?” Kate asked.

Sanheim looked impressed.

“That you’ve learned even that much speaks highly of you,” he replied. “Yes, they go by that name, though it is much less bureaucratic and far more dangerous than it sounds.”

“And let me guess: you’re the only thing standing in its way,” Kate said.

“A bit simplistic, but not inaccurate,” Sanheim said. “We have had an… uneasy relationship for the past century or so. I’m afraid it’s rapidly deteriorating.”

“So what do you want from us?” Quinn asked.

“To join me, of course,” Sanheim said. “To serve as my lieutenants in the coming war. I’ve waited a long time for someone worthy of that honor. You two have proved to be resourceful, persistent foes. But you are also pawns used by the council for its own purposes. I know you can see that. The choice is simple. Join me, and together we will eradicate this menace.”

“And we’re just supposed to trust you, are we?” Kate asked.

“You have my word,” Sanheim said. “If you join me, I will make no move against you, either now or in the future. You will be the Prince of Sanheim, the last one, the only one.”

“Your word?” Quinn asked. “Your word means nothing.”

Sanheim looked at him sharply and his blue eyes shone red for a moment.

“Be careful, mortal,” he said. “I have never broken my word to you. Did I call myself your friend? Did I lie to you when you fought Kyle?”

“You withheld information,” Quinn said.

“Some things you have to find out for yourself,” Sanheim replied. “I needed to make sure you were strong enough to confront Sawyer. Besides, the council was watching my every move. One of our ‘agreements’ was that I couldn’t interfere with the next Prince of Sanheim. You can see why, surely? They want me out of the way. They seek to displace me and then strike. There will be nothing between them and what they have long coveted.”

“The world?” Quinn asked.

“Every world,” Sanheim answered. “Mine, the mortal realm, all the others, everything. You don’t know them as I do. You think I’m evil? I am nothing next to them. Everything I have done, every choice I have made, has been to ensure their destruction.”

“Including killing me,” Quinn said.

“You were collateral damage,” Sanheim said. “I couldn’t possibly wage a battle against them knowing someone might stab me in the back.”

“Gee, I wonder what that feels like,” Kate said.

“You aren’t viewing this properly,” Sanheim said.

“No,” Kate said, “You’re not. You want us to choose between the devil we know and the devil we don’t. Well, I know you, and I know what you’re capable of. There is nothing you could say that would entice me to serve you.”