Undying Hope (34 page)

“What’s happening?”
Memphis demanded.

“Cadeyrn will turn.”

“I asked you a question,” Quinn roared at him. “Where is she?”

Wolf stared at his brother’s glowing eyes. “Kyros has her.” He flung himself forward, covering Riordan with his body. He curled around Riordan as power erupted around Quinn. The building rocked on its foundation as glass everywhere shattered.

Quinn grabbed his head, but the power expanded out of him in a flashing wave with the concussive force of a bomb. He doubled over with a horrific yowl, and all the power that had turned to angry energy sucked back into him. His hands flexed as he slowly stood up with the red of the eyes of a
treòir
gone mad.

Wolf threw his sword down the hall and, predictably, a power-mad Quinn ran after it and then vanished into the darkness.

A portal created by Memphis opened up.

Wolf shoved to his feet. “We need to get the humans to safety.”

“Cadeyrn?” Brody demanded as he came out of the portal.

Wolf stared in the direction Quinn had vanished. “Only Reannon can save any of us now.”

* * * *

The ground jumped and rumbled under her feet. Stones dislodged themselves and came spraying down around her. The earth shook again, and Haven looked up when crystal clinked together overhead, only to see a chandelier falling toward her. She opened her mouth as the scream started to rush out, but a blur shot across the room, scooping her body up and crushing her into a hard, corded male chest. The chandelier crashed to the floor and fractured right at her rescuer’s back, his body shielding her from the debris. She pushed at his chest and bit down on the hand that tried to wrap over her mouth. She was dropped to her feet, both of her hands caught in an iron grip. Rough breathing hissed in her ear. The tone was a quiet menace. “Bite me again, woman, and I may just decide to bite you back.”

Relief flooded her, and she let out a small, involuntary whimper. The hands around her wrists loosened, and she turned around to look up into Quinn’s face. His eyes were a blood-red glow, and she curled herself into the solid safety and warmth of his chest. “You came!”

* * * *

The
treòir
stood there frozen and confused. The waves of abating fear and her love for this body washed over him. The
treòir
blinked several times, not understanding what she wanted or how she could not be terrified of him. She’d seen the monster burning in him. Her slender arms wrapped around him, pulling her trembling body in closer. He lifted his arm hesitantly, and then he looped it around her. A feeling of awe and wonder enveloped him.

He bent down, her scent filling his lungs, the one that always made Quinn weak in his knees. His chin brushed over the top of her head, her soft hair breathing life into his skin, and suddenly it made sense why Quinn craved to run his fingers through the silkiness. He could feel her softness, the warming of her skin touching his. Never in his long existence had the
treòir
been able to smell or feel what Quinn had. He tilted her face up to meet his. His large hand trembled with fear of hurting her if he inadvertently used too much force to make her look at him. Then he dipped his head down to taste her, just one, small taste. When his mouth brushed against hers, her lips sent hot, molten desire through him, and he shook with the need to bury himself deep inside of her. Senses he’d never known before had come to breathtaking life. He didn’t know if it was because of her or because he’d defeated Quinn that he felt such things. His heart twisted in his chest, and emotions he didn’t like clawed at his gut in reaction.

Haven pulled back, her eyes searching his face. “I love you.”

“I killed him. I am not what you seek.”

Her delicate hand reached up to touch the side of his face. “You are him, and you stand before me. I love you.”

“I am only the
treòir
. You’ve seen my eyes.”

Her hand shook, but she didn’t take it or her gaze away from his face. “Oh, my love, you are the warrior who protects the heart of us both.”

A minute tremble touched his shoulders. She hadn’t called him a meirlock, the traitor to their kind. He couldn’t sense fear in her, but there was pride and love and trust in her pale eyes. She named him the warrior, the protector, not a monster. But he was. Quinn was trapped deep inside. He felt the despair Quinn felt that he was so close to his Haven, yet unable to hold her, to touch her. He growled low and pushed her back from him. “It is done, Haven. I will take you to Quinn’s brother, and then I will defeat Kyros. After that—”

“No!” she screamed. “You won’t do this. You are not a monster. Quinn is inside of you. He is part of you. You have only taken over for a little while, protecting him from this madness.”

He cupped her face with his hands. “I am sorry.”

Quinn’s voice was quiet and yearning. “
Please, brother, we are the same. I would tear the world apart for her just as you would.”

He closed his eyes. What was this feeling swelling in his chest, making it ache? How could this be happening to him? He was too powerful, too…evil to be allowed near Haven, but Quinn wasn’t. Reluctantly, he began to fade back. He could do this. He was a savage, and Haven, his lifebond, had no business being cradled in his arms. The man, Quinn, who deserved her love, should get the look of adoration and trust. Not him, not when he had fought so hard to be set free to run a rampage over everything living in his path to get to her. But Haven… His sweet, stubborn Haven was all the things he was not: gracious, full of life, and laughter. She was the heart of him, and he was supposed to be the warrior, the protector of her heart, of Quinn. If he stayed, he would only destroy them both.

Quinn rushed forward when he was released from the cage deep within himself. His need to get to the forefront before Kyros found them tucked beneath a crumbling staircase was great. The
treòir
was close to him, and he made the decision of his lifetime. Quinn swept up the
treòir
, and dragged it to the surface with him. The
treòir
roared its anger. “
Accept my sacrifice!”

“She needs us both. She needs us as one.”
Quinn held out his hand to the
treòir
, to his power and his ability to be a savage monster. His glowing red eyes stared at that hand for what seemed an eternity. Then the
treòir
lifted its head, a cold, savage smile curling its lips.

* * * *

Fear ripped through her when the light in his eyes went out. Not even the ice of their usual color flickered in the darkness. They were soulless black voids. Had it happened? Had the
treòir
won? Was her Quinn gone forever? He wasn’t moving, barely even breathing. They couldn’t stay tucked under the stairs forever. Kyros was coming. She could sense him as the walls in the room began to shift. Torch fires lit, and the echo of his footfalls filled the room. She pressed herself into Quinn. “Don’t you do this. I swear, I will do something you will regret if it’s the only way I can bring you back!” As if to prove the point, she slipped a dagger out of its sheath at his hip.

His hand snapped up with a speed she hadn’t seen coming. His fingers curled around her wrist with bruising strength as he plucked the knife from her hand. He closed his eyes, and when he opened them, they were a flaming golden umber with deep flecks of blood-red fire burning at the centers.

Quinn’s hungry gaze raked over her. His face twitched and went firm. His hand glided over her, the tips of his fingers touching each bruise and each wound. He released the healing energy.

She made a face. “Do not look at me like that. Nothing happened. Nothing like
that
, anyway.”

“Good.” He sheathed the knife and pulled a broadsword. His head came up, and he narrowed his eyes in the darkness. “Time to go.”

Haven pressed herself into his back. The connection to him washed over her as their thoughts were shared once more. He checked the room before he brought them out from behind the stairs. Guiding them around the shattered chandelier, he murmured, “Don’t look at anything. I will get us out of here. His illusions are strong, and I don’t want you reacting to anything that’s not really there.”

She took a sharp intake of breath, and then she squeaked. “Quinn!” She shuttered behind him and pressed herself more tightly against him. “I don’t even know how to get out of here. How are you going to find our way out?”

“I’m just good like that.” There was humor in his tone, but she did not appreciate it at the moment.

The merge had happened. Quinn was different. Calmer, more in control, and the glint of the monstrous predator that was always just below the surface was now his entire presence. It soothed the fears rolling around in her belly. She’d known that Quinn would come for her in one form or another, but this man in front of her was one she was not wholly familiar with. He allowed her to easily slip into his mind. He was Quinn and he was
treòir
. All the strength of each one to dispel the weaknesses of the other. He was stronger, more confident, and the power that flowed through him was awesome and frightening. Haven breathed easier.

He led them swiftly and easily through the twisting labyrinth, as if he could see what walls were really there and which ones were not. Haven was running to keep up with his pace, but she would not fall behind, nor would she slow him down. The feeling of Kyros was getting weaker, and she was beginning to hope this wretched night would soon be over.

The corridor became alive with dark motion that appeared human but wasn’t. Haven could feel the evil exuding from the creatures. They were walking the hall and moving in strange, spider-like ways as they crawled along the walls and ceiling toward them. Coming from the direction Quinn wanted to go.

“Mortis,” Quinn hissed. “Haven, sweetheart?” His tone was light with a lace of warning.

She was trying to breathe as she made out the spidery creatures in the shadows. She started to back away, but Quinn held her tight to his back. “What?”

“I need you to trust me.”

“You know I do.” But the tone of his voice had been slightly manic, giving her no choice but to ask, “Why?”

A low grumble sounded deep in his chest. “Because where we want to go is on the other side to avoid Kyros. We’re going through them.”

She gulped. “What? Why?”

“Wolf is that way.” He backed her up a few paces as he let go of her. “Stay as close to me as you can.” He pulled his dagger and started forward.

She inched behind him. Nikon ghosted up next to them, snarling and snapping as they walked past twitching body parts.

“Where did you—”

“Memphis,”
the wolf said in her head just before snapping a white bone in two. “
You’re not the only ones who can demand Memphis open a portal.”

Her eyes were huge as she watched the slaughter, but she knew if Quinn weren’t doing this, they’d both be dead. These things were everything evil, and they were loyal to Kyros. She shoved back the hysteria that wanted to come.

One dismembered arm reached up to grab her ankle, but she kicked it and then had to duck when Quinn pivoted and swung his strong arm, slicing the hand off, before he turned back to focus on the creatures crawling all around them. They got to a balcony that overlooked the grand foyer, but the stairs were now a pile of crumbled stone. Two men fought with the deadly mortis, one using steel weapons, the other a torch. The hideous things shrieked as they burst into smoky flame and stopped moving. She recognized Wolf and Brody. She closed her eyes and another measure of her fear faded back. Wolf turned the blade in his hand and drove it into another of the awful beings.

“Wolf!” Quinn bellowed.

His brother turned to look, his face hard, his eyes glowing.

Quinn lifted Haven up and over the rail. “Catch!”

She stifled the scream when he dropped her. Wolf caught her with seemingly no effort. She was shaking so badly her teeth rattled when he set her on her feet. Her breathing was labored, and it was a struggle to keep herself upright. She glared up at Quinn still on the upper level. When this was over, they were going to have a very long talk about him warning her before he did those kinds of things.

Her heart dropped into her toes and then slammed up into her throat when Quinn leaped over the railing. He landed right in front of her, in a low, predatory crouch. He rose up from the ground like a majestic ancient warrior. Everything about him was calm, controlled, and deadly. Wolf slid his body in between Haven and Quinn, and she was only vaguely aware that Nikon had leaped off the balcony into Brody’s arms. Everything inside of her coiled tight when she realized what Wolf was going to do. She darted around him and planted herself between the two brothers.

Wolf’s face went into a dark frown, his eyes blazing in holy gold. “Move.”

She went desperate. “He’s not what you think he is.”

His lip curled into a sneer as he studied his brother
.

Quinn’s tone was calm. “Do not think you can take me. I am not what you fear.”

Wolf’s eyes flickered over him, and then a genuine smiled curved his mouth. Haven’s eyes went huge as a shadowy figure came up behind him. “Wolf!”

Nonchalantly, he spun his blade and rammed it into the stomach of a Mortis. The foul creature slid off the back of the sword. As the blade left its body, Brody touched a torch to the Mortis, and it burst into smoky flames. Haven turned into Quinn as its death squeal reverberated through her. Then everything went quiet.

Quinn’s hand ran over her back, and he tilted her face to look at him. “You are going with Wolf. I will come back, but I can’t have you in here while I take care of Kyros.”

Wolf already had a hand curled around her upper arm. She planted her feet. “No, you can’t make me do this. I won’t leave you.”

Quinn’s expression was stern. “Yes, you will.” Then he went completely still. The dark creatures scurried back as the torches lit all around them. A low, rumbling laugh filled the room. Quinn, Wolf, and Brody surrounded her. Their bodies faced out as they tried to determine where he was coming from.