Soul to Shepherd (12 page)

“Evie, I didn’t leave you a note.”

“Yes, you did. You had to have,” I stated in annoyed disbelief. “It was in
your
handwriting. You said Dylan took you to clean up your campsite in Jackson Hole. So I thought I’d take the opportunity to stop by the Archives for a bit—I
wrote
that, almost verbatim, on the back of
your
note.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Quinn replied, just as flustered.

“Well, it has to be here somewhere! I don’t know, maybe it fell off the bed.” I walked full circle around the bed, looking everywhere for the slip of paper but saw nothing. “I don’t understand.” I looked up at him in confusion. “Quinn, I swear it was here.”

“I don’t understand either, but I
swear
I did
not
write you a note. And Dylan and I did
not
go back to Jackson Hole to clean up my campsite. I did that before you returned the other day. In fact, the only thing still there is my truck.”

“So, where were you when I got back?”

“I asked Dylan to take me to North Carolina,” he stated unapologetically.

“To do what? Spy on me?” I accused angrily.
Whoa! Talk about
my
trust issues!

“No. I just wanted to make sure you were safe,” he replied, offended.

Okay, so we’re back to just my trust issues
, I told myself sheepishly.

“I was fine. I told you I’d be fine.”

“Yeah, well it’s the stuff you
don’t
tell me that makes me not entirely trust the stuff you do.”

Great, so not only do I have my own trust issues, but now I’m also causing Quinn to form his own about me. I really suck at this bonding stuff.

“K.C.? That you?” Dylan called out as he and Minerva entered the cave. “Where have you been?”

“I had a few questions after my meeting, so I stopped up in the Archives, which I
told
you all in my
note
.”

“What note?” Dylan asked. I just moaned in aggravation.

After explaining what had happened, Dylan confirmed he’d taken Quinn to find me at Holden Beach. We must’ve just missed each other.

“Look, I was here,” Dylan began. “I can promise you Quinn didn’t write a note.”

“But it was here. I
wrote
on the back of it,” I protested.

“Maybe you just
thought
you saw a note,” Minerva offered.

“I’m not
crazy,”
I snapped. “I know what I saw—what I held in my hand. There was
definitely
a note here, and it was
definitely
in Quinn’s handwriting. So either one of you is playing a trick on me, which I don’t find very amusing,” I said, glancing back and forth between Quinn and Dylan. “Or something else is really off here,” I said, unabashedly glaring at Minerva.
Girl code, my ass—this chick was trouble with a capital ‘T
,’ I thought to myself.

“Let’s just take a deep breath for a moment and be glad you’re back safe and sound,” Dylan said, wrapping his arm protectively around Minerva and acting as if I didn’t just accuse his girlfriend of trying to sabotage me.

“Aren’t you at all concerned about this mysterious note?” I asked him, annoyed. “Whoever wrote it forged Quinn’s handwriting perfectly, knew where he’d been just days ago and apparently knows where he is
now.”

“I can’t sense any demon trace, can you?” Dylan asked.

I took a moment to survey our surroundings. “Well, no.”

“And you’re sure those two
Moon Mercenaries
you met with didn’t follow
you
up here?” Dylan asked. I closed my eyes and shook my head, exhaling slowly in frustration. I should’ve known Quinn wouldn’t have kept the identity of Jaegar and Chase under wraps until I could tell Dylan about it.

“Hypothetically speaking, even if they did,” I replied, “which they
didn’t
, how would they have had time to plant the note, much less copy Quinn’s handwriting and know any details about him? I just met them!”

“Evie’s right,” Minerva stated. “This note is a problem. It means the Falls may have been compromised. We’re going to have to be more careful.”

“Can we secure the entrance at all? Rig an alarm of some sort?” Quinn asked.

“You mean like a
booby
trap?” Dylan smiled impishly.

“You just love saying that word, don’t you?” Minerva chuckled.

“Which word—you mean, ‘
booby’?”
Dylan chuckled alongside her. I looked at Quinn for any explanation,
at all,
as to why I was trapped in some screwed up version of an adolescent male Twilight Zone, but he just shrugged and shook his head.

“What are you, like twelve?” I chided Dylan. “Can you do it?”

“It’s possible,” Dylan replied, clearly still thinking about a certain part of the female anatomy. “I mean, we don’t really need one for demons ‘cause they stink like hell. But for anyone else? Probably. Everyone’s got to enter and leave through the same door. If we could get our hands on a barrier or a trip wire of some sort …”

“Or a neutralizer,” I suggested.

“A what?” Quinn asked.

“While I was detained by the Council Tribunal, I was trapped in some sort of holding cell where I couldn’t use any of my powers. I couldn’t escape. If we could figure out how that works, if we can get our hands on whatever it is, we can use it to keep others out—or in—if they happen to wind up on the inside.”

“Awesome idea! I’m on it!” Dylan offered.

“Good.” I sighed, finally feeling a bit more relaxed. If we installed some sort of security system and weird stuff still kept happening, then there was only one culprit left to blame: Minerva.

I glanced over at Minerva snuggling up to Dylan. They looked so happy together.
He
looked so happy. I really hoped I was wrong about her.

“So, where’d you run off to in the Archives?” Dylan asked. “I looked for you up there, too, but couldn’t find you.”

“I was looking for Tartuf, but I couldn’t find him. I ran into Tara though, and we talked for a while.”

“I was really worried about you,” Quinn said, unmistakably concerned. “I thought those guys might have—” He pulled me into his arms and buried his face in my hair. “Don’t ever do that to me again.”

“Don’t ever do that to any of us,” Dylan added.

“I won’t. I promise. I’m sorry I worried you,” I said, feeling guilty. “I really thought you knew where I was.”

Quinn pulled back, cupped my face with his hands, and stared into my eyes. They were consumed with the fear and torment he’d been feeling. “I’m not going to let anything happen to you, got it?” he whispered.

“Back at you,” I whispered back. With his hands still on my cheeks, he kissed me so lovingly the world around us just seemed to melt away.

Dylan cleared his throat, interrupting our moment. “So, do you have anything new to report?”

“Yes,” I replied, looking directly in Quinn’s eyes. “Jaegar and Chase think they can help us. And,” I continued, smiling, “Tara told me the Council will no longer be interfering in our relationship. It seems they have a vested interest in our connection as true soul mates. So as long as no one finds out who or what I really am, they’ll leave us alone.”

“Really?” Quinn’s eyes sparked with hope.

“Yes, really.” I smiled even wider, my eyes never leaving his. “They feel they’re partly to blame for our not having already realized the full potential of our bond. And, as it’s also in
their
best interest for us to figure that out, they’re going to stand back and let us be together. Without the fear of reprisal hanging over our heads, they hope we’ll become
closer
.”

“I have to say, I like the sound of that.” Quinn grinned devilishly.

“So do I!” Dylan threw in. “Hey man, I see
a lot
of double dates in the near future!”

Quinn rolled his eyes at Dylan, but I could see hope brimming in them. I knew Quinn wanted nothing more than for us to be like any other “normal” couple. It had been a long-standing issue between us, but it didn’t have to be anymore.

“
Dylan, do me a favor and don’t encourage him too much, okay?”
I said telepathically, stealing a glance at Quinn.
“Being out in the open with our relationship is one thing, but flaunting it in the faces of those who will be watching—and
judging
—me is another. Quinn and I still have to be careful.”

“
Careful, my ass! You two deserve this!
” Dylan practically shouted the words inside my head.

“
Dylan!
”

“Okay, okay,” he agreed aloud as he cracked up.

“What’s okay?” Minerva asked.

I glared at Dylan to convey how serious I was about my request.

“M, see that look in K.C.’s eyes?” Dylan chuckled. “That’s her classic ‘Don’t you dare push the limits on this one or I’m going to kick your ass’ look.”

Minerva chuckled. When Quinn joined in on the laughter, I shot him a dirty look.

“What?” he asked in his defense. “He totally nailed you.”

“Okay,” I began, trying to change the subject. “So Dylan and Minerva are going to take off for awhile and meet us at your parents’ house later.”

“We are?” Dylan asked.

“Yes, you are,” I replied, smiling. “Quinn, what time should they get there?”

“Five should work.” He glanced at me, then at Dylan, and then back at me again, trying to figure out what was going on. “I spoke with my parents. They’re going to head to the airport this afternoon.”

“Cool,” Dylan replied. “Five it is.”

“Five,” I repeated, mentally keeping track of my meeting with Jaegar and Chase a little later this evening.

“Um, I should probably mention that my mom expects me to stay for a few days after they return,” Quinn added.

“And when’s that?” I asked.

“July tenth.”

“That should be fine,” I said, glancing at Dylan and Minerva.
“Don’t mention the eighteenth,”
I said telepathically to both of them.
“He doesn’t know yet.”

“Yeah, that should work,” Dylan said a little awkwardly, looking as though he was fighting a frown. Minerva also seemed to be masking her concern with a smile and a quick nod of her head.

“Okay, so we’ll see you two later,” I said.

“Sure thing. Hey, have fun you two.” Dylan winked. “Quinn, just holler out the portal door if you need anything.”

“
Hey, Dylan?”
I called out telepathically. I looked down at Quinn’s and my intertwined fingers. I didn’t want to draw any additional attention to the telepathic conversation we were having.

“
Yeah?”

“
I want you to find a new portal for Quinn to stay in the week before the attack. And I don’t want you to tell anyone about it
—
not me, not Quinn, not
anyone
.”

“
Why?”

“
Because if
this
portal has been discovered by someone other than us, then Quinn’s more vulnerable to an attack—all of us are, really.”

“
I got that. What I don’t understand is why
you
don’t want to know the location of the new portal?”

“
If the Servants get to me beforehand, you know they’ll try to force the information out of me. And I doubt Quinn will keep the location a secret from me.”

“
And Minerva?”
he asked cautiously.

“
I know you trust her, but just give me a chance to get to know her so I can trust her too. Until then, I don’t want her to know either.”

“
Evie
—
”

“
Please, Dylan, just do this for me.”

“
I’m only agreeing to this because I
know
you’ll come to trust her as much as I do.”

“
Thanks.”
I looked up and smiled at him.

“C’mon, M. Let’s get stealthy.” He winked. Taking her by the hand, Dylan and Minerva were gone before either Quinn or I could say goodbye.

Shortly after Dylan and Minerva left, I teleported Quinn to the campsite just outside of Jackson Hole to pick up his truck. But first, he insisted we walk around the city together. I was dressed the part with cowboy boots, sunglasses, and my hair in two braids peeking out from under a cowboy hat. I was certain my telling him we could finally act like a couple in public was a huge factor in his much-improved mood.

We drove the Defender out of town and onto some gravel road that led to who knows where. Scenes from about twenty different horror movies were streaming through my mind as we made our way down the desolate stretch, and I was all too relieved to know I could get us out of there in the blink of an eye if necessary. Once we were sure there were no prying eyes, we pulled over and I teleported the truck onto an equally deserted rural road fifty miles outside Chicago so we could make the rest of the drive to Quinn’s hometown.

It was three in the afternoon by the time we arrived at his parents’ house. I was happy to be able to relax and steal a couple of hours alone with Quinn before Dylan and Minerva showed up.

Quinn dropped his bag down in the entryway and headed straight for the kitchen to make one of his “all-time greatest” sandwiches, devouring it while standing at the kitchen counter. He wanted to go for a quick dip in the pool and chased me around the backyard as we made our way to the pool house. I felt like a little kid. Every time he got within a few inches of me, I squealed excitedly and picked up my pace so he couldn’t catch me. When we reached the pool house, I ran to the side of it, out of view of any curious neighbors, and teleported myself inside. I heard Quinn hastily fumble with the key, but by the time he opened the door, I was already in the water.

“There’s no escaping me now! Cannonball!” he roared as he ran towards the pool and jumped in, fully clothed. He plunged into the water, splashing everything around him. He swam underwater, surfacing mere inches from me before pulling me under with him and kissing me. He removed his t-shirt when we resurfaced, balling it up and lofting it onto a lounge chair by the side of the pool. He grabbed me and kissed me again.