The Dark Throne (63 page)

He grinned. “They offered, but I just wanted to keep at least this one thing.”

“I can understand that.” I smiled. “And you look pretty comfortable in the saddle.”

“Riding is a useful skill,” he replied. “Not everywhere is accessible by Humvees, and it’s faster than foot.”

“Right.” I shook my head. “You know, as much as I don’t like the fact that you were dragged into this, I
am
grateful for all the training and experiences that you had in our world.”

“Well, I can say I didn’t ever expect to be fighting with a sword,” he replied, patting the hilt of the blade lashed to his saddle. “And I didn’t ever expect to become a human Magic-Eight Ball either, but if there’s one thing I’ve learned is that expectations are pretty much useless. Life’s gonna be what it’s gonna be, Bug, and it’s all in how you deal with what it throws at you.”

“True,” I nodded in agreement.

“I knew Tess-mortal must have gotten her level head from somewhere,” piped Wisp from my shoulder. Liam jumped a little in his saddle.

“Sorry,” he said, addressing the Glasidhe, “I did
not
see you there. Another thing I have to adjust to…”

“No offense taken,” replied Wisp courteously. “Most mortals do not believe in our existence. You and your companions have behaved very admirably given the circumstances.”

“Thanks,” said my brother with a smile. He rubbed his chin, scratching at the sandy stubble along his jaw.

“Hey, boss,” said Duke, cantering up on a smaller chestnut
faehal
, Quinn and Jess close behind him on their own mounts. Out of them all, Quinn seemed the least comfortable in the saddle, but even he kept his seat well as we threaded through the growing ranks of warriors.

“Good morning, mortal companions of the Seer,” said Wisp.

Duke grinned. “I see how it goes. You still get top billing, boss.”

Liam shrugged. “Can’t help it that I’m basically more awesome than you three nerds.”

“Whoa,” said Quinn, “who are you calling a
nerd
?”

“And what category are we talkin’ here, like as far as awesome goes, because I’m pretty sure I’m more awesome with the ladies than you are, if you know what I mean,” Duke said, leaning toward Liam and lowering his voice for the last part of his statement.

“Hey,” said Quinn, “let me remind you, short stuff, who sealed the deal last night.” He motioned to himself with his thumb, winking at Liam.

“It’s too early to hear your stories of masculine conquest. Though I doubt
you
were the one doing the conquering, if you
did
manage to intrigue a Sidhe woman,” I said, giving Quinn a skeptical look. Duke grinned and even taciturn Jess smiled.

“Hey, I don’t kiss and tell, but I
am
saying that the ladies like the tattoos and the brown skin.” He grinned cheekily at me, not deterred in the least by my narrowed eyes and raised eyebrow.

“Man, I don’t think you sealed the deal,” said Duke, shaking his head. “I think you pulled a Singapore.”

I looked at Liam in question. He shook his head, so I asked, “What’s ‘pulling a Singapore?’”

Duke’s face lit up as he launched enthusiastically into his explanation. “Ah. Well, see, we had a few days in Singapore this one time, and let me tell you, that place is
crazy
. Just…insane. And you know, there’s all these ladies there—
me love you long time
, you know? —and so we’re all at this bar—”

“Duke, she does not need to know this story,” Quinn said. I glanced back at quiet Jess and saw him suppress another smile.

“She asked!” Duke pointed out.

“You tell Singapore, I tell Melbourne, how about that,” the tattooed man replied.

“Aw, c’mon man, don’t be such a tenderfoot.”

“Hey, fair’s fair. Tess can learn why we call you Duke.” Quinn grinned, his teeth white against his black beard.

“Now I’m
really
intrigued,” I deadpanned.

“Duke is not your real name?” Wisp asked innocently.

“Wisp isn’t your true name either,” I pointed out to the Glasidhe.

“Well, that is true, but that is because our true names call us. I do not think it works that way for mortals.”

“Molly warned me not to tell anyone my full name, before all this started,” I said. “Good to know that it doesn’t work well on us mere mortals.”

“Where
is
Molly, by the way?” Liam asked. I immediately regretted giving him the opportunity to broach the subject. “I would’ve thought that you two would be riding together, with this whole epic gathering of all the Courts in one place.”

I shifted uncomfortably in my saddle and cleared my throat. “When they unbound her Fae half—and she’s half Unseelie—they wiped her memory. Last time I saw her was right after I’d been bound to the Sword, when I was getting ready to start the journey to the Seelie Court.”

“And she didn’t remember you?”

“No.” I shifted my gaze and looked ahead of us on the pretense of maneuvering through the last few ranks of warriors; but really I was hoping that Liam couldn’t see the guilt written on my face. We rode toward the great banner of the wolf, still waving in that invisible wind; I saw Vell on her war-charger, scarlet cape around her shoulders. Gray sat on her mount to the right of Vell, and even Arcana rode a
faehal
, her eerily blank face pale as bone in the rosy light of the rising sun. I drew Nehalim up beside Vell, grateful for the reprieve from Liam’s questions about Molly.

“You said you would like my brother to ride with you today?” I asked Vell. She nodded regally, but I didn’t miss the wicked glimmer in her eyes.

“Yes,” she replied. “I would very much like to speak with the Seer.”

I motioned with my head, and Liam guided his
faehal
forward to take a place on Vell’s other side. I stood in my stirrups, Wisp grabbing a lock of my hair for balance, and surveyed the vast lines of the Army of the Three Queens: the line of warriors stretched to the left and to the right of us, beyond the horizon. In the distance to our left I made out the standard of the Seelie Court, and to our right, if I strained my eyes, I glimpsed Mab’s banner at the limits of my sight. Duke gave a low whistle as he, too, took in the massive size of the fighting force arrayed for the day’s journey.

Vell turned and nodded to Gray. The golden-haired warrior lifted a white horn to her lips and blew a long, clear blast that echoed over our heads. Vell touched her heels to her mount’s sides, and the entire army moved forward like a giant lumbering creature, dust wreathing our
faehal
’s hooves as we began the day’s journey across the barren land before us.

“Who is
that
?” Quinn said, staring openly at Gray.

“That’s Gray. She’s one of Vell’s Three, and she’s way out of your league,” I replied without missing a beat.

“First of all, there’s nothing
gray
about her. Secondly, aim small, miss small,” Quinn said without taking his eyes from the Sidhe warrior.

“You ain’t that good of a marksman,” Duke said in an undertone, following Quinn’s gaze.

“You two should probably stop talking about her like she’s some girl at a bar who’d be dazzled by your war stories,” I said drily. “And she could probably kick both your asses at once.”

“Now I’m even more intrigued,” murmured Quinn.

“Womanizer,” I muttered.

My brother’s teammate looked at me sharply. “Now, that I’m
not
. I just have an appreciation for the finer things in life.” He glanced back at Gray. “I’m always a gentleman.”

I sighed. “All I’m saying is that romance should probably be the last thing on everyone’s minds right now.” Wisp discreetly took off from my shoulder, flying toward Vell and Liam. “See, even Wisp doesn’t want to hear it.”

Quinn chuckled. “Ah, you’ve seen some action but you’re still a baby. Don’t you know that that’s probably the
only
thing on a lot of people’s minds right now?” He raised his eyebrows. “When you can die tomorrow, you better make the most of today.”

“That doesn’t mean that you should just throw yourself headlong at anyone willing to even look at you twice,” I retorted, cheeks heating at Quinn’s label. “I’m not a child. I know how the world works.”

“Don’t get mad, little boss,” said the charismatic fighter. “I’m not saying to throw all the rules out the window. But I’m just saying that maybe you should give something a chance.” He raised his eyebrows at me, his voice brotherly, and then he motioned slightly with his chin. I followed his gaze and saw Luca riding a small distance away, talking to Merrick.

I felt my cheeks heat even further, and knew that my face was probably bright red at this point. “I...well, it’s not that I don’t
want
to…” I stopped, surprised by my own admission. “But there’s someone else. His name is Finnead.”

“So you two are an item?” Quinn raised his eyebrows at my sharp look. “Don’t get me wrong, we know you can fend for yourself, but you’re Luck’s sister and that makes you our sister, too.”

I smiled a little. Liam had tried to explain his unit’s broad definition of “family” to me a few times in the past, but I hadn’t experienced it firsthand until now. My thoughts moved from Quinn’s brotherly concern back to his question, and I hesitated. “I wouldn’t really say we’re an item.”

“Why not?” Quinn asked bluntly. “If he doesn’t have the stones to make you his one and only, he doesn’t deserve you.”

“It’s not that.” I paused in contemplation. “It’s hard to explain.” I remembered the feel of Finnead’s lips on mine, the whirlwind of heat rushing through my body, his lithe muscles pressed against me. Then the memory of our last tepid kiss intruded, though I tried to push it away. “We love each other. He brought Molly and I through one of the lesser Gates, the last one in the Unseelie kingdom. I wasn’t the Bearer then. They actually thought Molly was the one in the prophecy.” I paused. “He really only brought me through because I helped to kill a
garrelnost
and got myself pretty banged up. So his honor code dictated that he needed to save my life, I guess.” I shrugged. “Our relationship went from there. I’ve known him since the beginning of my time in this world.”

“So what’s there to stop you?” Quinn watched me intently, his eyes disarmingly perceptive.

I took a deep breath. “At first, I think it was the fact that I’m a mortal, and he’s Sidhe. He was one of Mab’s Three. Mab and I…let’s just say there’s no love lost.” I grimaced. “And then, after I became the Bearer, we were journeying to the Seelie Court. He didn’t want to detract from the mission.”

Quinn muttered something under his breath and turned it into a cough, looking at me innocently.

“Look, it’s not that he doesn’t love me,” I said, despising the defensiveness in my voice. “We’re just fighting a war here, in case you haven’t noticed, and both him and I are smack dab in the middle of it.” I sat back in the saddle in frustration. Nehalim tossed his head.

“Hey,” Quinn said almost gently. “I’m not trying to upset you, little boss.” He shrugged. “Sometimes it just takes a fresh pair of eyes on a problem to see the solution.”

I clenched my jaw. “And what do
you
see as the solution?”

He shook his head, smiling. “I’m not gonna take that bait. Liam’s probably going to kick my ass for upsetting you anyway.”

“If there’s any ass-kicking that needs to be done, I can do it myself,” I snapped. Quinn’s chuckle somehow irritated me even further. In the back of my mind, I understood that my frustration was mostly at myself, and Quinn didn’t deserve my sharp words. But I shied away from examining my emotions about my relationship with Finnead any closer. I wasn’t sure I’d like what I found if I did. “Look, you’ve known me for all of a couple of days. What gives you the right to say any of this?”

“I don’t have any right at all,” answered Quinn easily. “But like I said, sometimes it’s the outside eyes that see it clear.” We rode in silence for a moment. In the background, I heard Duke having a one-sided conversation with Jess about the differences between the Sidhe saddles and good Western tack. I took a deep breath.

“I shouldn’t have snapped at you,” I said finally. “You hit too close to the mark, and I didn’t want to hear it.”

“The heart is a tricky gearbox,” the big tattooed man replied.

“I wouldn’t think you’re certified to give advice on it,” I said, smiling. “Big, tough guy who kills people for a living.”

Quinn didn’t blanch at my description. “One of the last remaining savages. We’re an endangered species.” He looked at me, his brown eyes serious. “Dancing with death on the daily makes you face a lot of things head-on. So that’s how I know a thing or two about the heartbox.” He tilted his head to the side. “Mind if I ask a question?”

“You’re probably going to ask it anyway.” I smiled to soften my words, trying to make up for my harsh reaction moments before. “We’ve got a long day of traveling ahead of us, so you might as well.”

“This…Finnead. I haven’t met him, so I don’t know him. But from what you’ve said, the very first thing he did was rescue you.” Quinn looked at me for a long moment as his words sank in. “Are you sure he doesn’t still see you as a damsel in distress?”

I frowned. “That’s ridiculous. I’m not a damsel in distress. And yes, he rescued me, but only after I saved his life.”

“I didn’t say you
are
, I’m asking you whether he still sees you that way.” He looked into the distance. “Some guys, after they’ve been through a lot, they’re just not the same. They don’t come back all of the way. And sometimes that means that they can’t fall in love with someone who doesn’t need saving.”

I tried to ignore the sudden feeling of recognition that sank like a stone into my stomach. “Meaning…they
need
the person they’re with to be a damsel in distress?”

“Shrinks call it a hero complex,” Quinn told me with a rueful smile. “I had to work through it, at one point. Most of us do.” He shrugged. “But some guys can’t unpack it.”

“Finnead was captured,” I said in a low voice. “Hundreds of years ago, when this all began. He was escorting Queen Mab’s younger sister. I think he…I think he loved her. They were ambushed, and taken captive. He escaped, after being tortured. After watching them torture and kill her.”