He shook his head. “I don’t know. Perhaps they’ve been following you, or your family? Astrid noticed the effects of your gift, even though she didn’t understand them. Others could have done the same.”
“There’s too many possible suspects, Quinn,” she sighed. “Calder? Astrid? Although she’d not acting much like it now. The person on the phone?”
Quinn nodded. “I think it would be wise to share this new theory with Brent and Duchess Maura. I would feel more comfortable if your guards knew that Tesse’s murderer might target you next.”
Becka pursed her lips. “I’m not sure that’s wise.”
He looked taken aback. “Why not?”
“No one but you, me, Chief Elowen, and others on your team know about the symbols on Tesse yet. If everyone hears about them, it’ll be harder to suss out those who know more than they should.”
“That is a good point. However, now that you have gone from having a potential threat to a likely one, I feel the guards need to be informed.”
“Sure, but as you’ve just pointed out, I have a ton of guards now. I’m not sure if they’re here to keep me from running or prevent me from touching things or protect everyone around me. But they’re here, and I won’t send anyone away as Tesse did.”
Becka could hear his teeth grinding.
“Plus, I have you by my side.”
“Not after tomorrow you don’t,” Quinn replied.
Chapter 26
They reached the viewing hall without incident, Becka stewing in her thoughts the entire way there. She had new powers but no idea how to wield them. Even the testers and Aunt Astrid were admittedly taking an experimental approach. Becka now had an idea of her own she wanted to try out.
The shifter guards had followed them, but, once they reached their destination both held back and didn’t follow Becka and Quinn inside. The chamber was just as Becka had first seen it, and as expected, Tesse’s body remained upon the limestone slab, funerary shroud draping her form.
“Tell me what you expect to find here,” Quinn said. “You mentioned something about being reminded of childhood games and then brooded the rest of the way here.”
“I didn’t want the shifters overhearing our conversation.” Becka stood next to Tesse and took off her newly gifted gloves, tucking them gently into the waistband of her yoga pants. “I do remember Tesse’s ‘hidden in plain sight’ forts. She was declared gifted at age twelve, so I got to see and experience her creations for four years before they’d exhausted hope that I too was gifted.”
“Which turns out was premature.”
“Right, but the point is, Tesse loved to create mirages and it was rare others could suss them out.”
Becka pulled the silvered funerary fabric away from Tesse’s throat and shoulders. Even prepared as she was this time for the sight, she still had to fight with her too full stomach to settle down.
Quinn placed a hand on her shoulder. “It is a difficult sight, even when you are prepared for it.”
“I’d hate to think of becoming accustomed to witnessing this level of violence,” Becka replied, and then looked him in the eye. “I suspect living as an Enforcer must expose you to this on occasion. Is it still shocking to you?”
“It’s still shocking. And yes, I do see it too much for my liking, which would be never.”
Becka nodded, turning her attention back to Tesse. “I got to thinking about my newfound gift, which we didn’t know about when I first saw those markings of the glyphs on Tesse.”
“Right, they are something you can see but no one else can. Do you think it is because you had nulled the energy?”
She shrugged. “I don’t think so? At least, not exactly. Perhaps by looking up close I didn’t break the illusion, but instead was able to see through it?”
“You can still see the glyphs now, right?” he asked.
Becka nodded. “Yes, plain as day. You still can’t see them?”
“No. The working theory is the killer somehow left them as a remnant of their attack.”
“Tesse’s memorial pyre being tomorrow, I have just this small window of time to test out my working theory.”
“Which is?”
“I’d like to test and see if those glyphs are painted on, or if they were magically created. If I’m right, they’re magic, and there’s some sort of illusion to hide them as well.”
He frowned. “How would you be able to tell?”
“I’ll touch her and we see what happens.”
Quinn cocked his head to the side. “Per the testers, your touch breaks most or all magic.”
“Exactly. So what will happen if I touch her now? Will you be able to see the glyphs or will they disappear?”
“A fair proposal. It’s not like you can hurt her, and anything new we learn should help the investigation. Hold on a moment.” Quinn pulled out his phone and primed it for recording Tesse. “Go ahead.”
She looked down at her twin, their faces so much alike, when otherwise they were so different. “I wish you were still here,” she whispered. “I’m sure you’d have some super clever ideas about my gift. But for now, let’s see if I can do one last thing for you.”
Becka reached out her hand and placed it upon Tesse’s shoulder, brushing her fingers across the marks. Her head throbbed at the contact, and Becka let out a low groan. Her chest tightened and her muscles tensed, as if bracing for an impact. “It’s like I’m pushing against a wall.”
“I can not see anything different yet. Keep going.”
Becka held with the sensation, and moments later it felt like she fell past an unseen barrier, as a ripple of force dissolved like waves on the surface of a lake. She held onto Tesse’s unmarred shoulder, as the energetic waves whipped at her like a gale force wind.
“I do not know if you can see anything different, but the glyphs are appearing,” Quinn said. “There must have been some sort of magical illusion or obfuscation hiding them from view. It is remarkable, they are exactly as you drew them. I can show you the video after, if you would like.”
“It looks the same to me, but I definitely feel something when I touch her.”
“What’s it like?”
She searched a moment for the right words. “Like waves? Or maybe a strong magnet?” She maintained contact with Tesse. There was something like a vibration in the contact, as if something unseen was still churning under the surface.
“Says the woman who’s spent years in collegiate science classes,” he chuckled.
Quinn continued to take video of the glyphs, moving around Tesse’s supine form to get clear shots of all the images. “Few fae would use such an analogy.”
“What do you expect from an atypical fae?” She swiped her finger across one of the marks, and a dusting of gray ash marred the design. “Look. I’d thought the ink might have been more than skin-deep, but it’s like it’s been painted on.”
“Or burned? It reminds me of the damage to her cat, Oriani’s, tail.”
Becka’s headache intensified. What had started as a mild vibration had grown to a discordant harmonic within Becka’s mind, grating on her senses. There was an audible crack, like a whip snapping, and Becka fell back, landing on her butt.
“Oof!”
Quinn flinched at the sound. “Are you okay?” He offered her a hand up.
The glyphs covering Tesse’s throat faded all at once, as if someone had suddenly drained the water out of the pool holding their image.
“Curious,” Quinn muttered under his breath, and then lowered his camera to the slab and stepped close into Becka’s space without making physical contact. “Are you all right?”
Unable to find the words, Becka gave him a brief nod. She rode out the sensation until her internal seas felt still again and the energetic winds quieted. Then she pulled her hand away from Tesse, cradling her temples in her hands.
He brought his arms up around her and rubbed her shoulders gently. “Your headache is worse this time?”
She welcomed his sympathetic smile. “Yeah, I’m gonna need to find my hot sauce asap.”
“Sure, can we head back to your room for the night? I do not get the impression there is more for us to learn here.”
Becka returned Tesse’s funerary shroud to the correct location, and then led the way back to the manor. They walked in silence, with the shifter guards following close behind. No doubt they figured Becka was lost in grief after saying a final private goodbye to her twin.
Becka’s heart ached almost as much as her head. She couldn’t quite think straight. Once back at her room, she closed the door in the guards faces and then made a beeline for her suitcase. She grabbed the hot sauce and then downed a large gulp. Becka collapsed on her bed, bottle in hand.
Quinn kicked his shoes off and laid down on the divan opposite her bed. He had his camera out, no doubt reviewing the footage.
“Did you record it all?”
“I did. It’s all here. The appearance and subsequent disappearance of the glyphs. Do you want to see the video?”
Becka sat up, propping herself up with a mountain of pillows. She took another sip, the spicy heat of the sauce slowly dulling the throbbing in her head.
“I watched it live.” She pulled the fluffy comforter up around her midsection. “The stress of today has exhausted me. I feel like I could sleep for a week and it still wouldn’t be enough to recover.”
“Tomorrow is going to be a long day too. You should get some rest.”
She patted the pillows on the bed next to her. “Come here.”
He hesitated, but then came over and reclined next to her on the bed.
“Thanks,” she whispered, and then leaned up against him, her left shoulder casually against his chest. “I’m worried someone might try and listen to our conversation. Now that I have a gift, I’m more interesting.”
“I would advise you get a muffling spell installed,” he whispered back, “but I doubt it would work for you, considering.”
“Ha. Ha. What do you make of the glyphs?”
“The fact that they disappeared in the end means they were magic-based, not tattoos.”
She nodded. “That was my thinking as well. So, it’s unlikely Tesse got them as tattoos. Any magical marking she would have use to show off her skills, not hide. But then, who hid them?”
“I agree a talented Rowan illusionist would not get markings just to hide them. Plus, these are ancient symbols not at all associated with House Rowan nor Tesse’s known interests, but instead with the shadow-dwellers. Perhaps her attacker left them on her, and then hid the marks to hide their tracks?”
“But that seems convoluted? It’s not like the attacker had much time. From what you’ve said, the attack was over in a few minutes. Plus, they’d have to have skills at illusion and...whatever they did to make the markings in the first place.”
“I am just tossing around ideas, but perhaps we’ve had it wrong? Fae-touched are limited to single gifts, not many. Perhaps we are looking for multiple assailants? Or, perhaps she was marked somehow well before the attack, then it was hidden all that time? If so, what was the point? Anyway, I have already sent the video to my Chief to see what ideas the team might have. Hopefully by morning they will have some insight.”
A few quiet moments passed, until Becka couldn’t put off the inevitable question any longer.
She set her bottle of hot sauce on the bedside table and turned toward him, luxuriating in the feel of her body pressed against his firm, muscular form. “What are we going to about Maura dismissing you?”
His arms wound around her, fingers running the length of her spine. “What can we do? As a full member of House Rowan, Maura has the right to accept or deny assistance from the Enforcer’s Guild. I’ve only been allowed here until now because you, as an independent citizen, requested I stay.”
“Have you checked in with Elowen?”
“Yes, I got a message from her over dinner. I’m ordered to leave House Rowan territory by sunset tomorrow.”
Becka slipped a hand around his neck and leaned her head against his shoulder. “I really don’t want you to go.”
His fingers threaded through her hair. “I will brief Brent and his team. They will keep you safe.”
She lifted her head, meeting his gaze. “They won’t let me work with them. Not like you have.”
“Your position has changed.”
She lifted herself up. “That doesn’t mean I’m a delicate flower!” she replied, voice raised.
His smile was, again, all too charming for his own good. “No one would be foolish enough to think so.”
Becka moved back in close to him. “They’d better not.” She brushed her lips across his, and he captured them, his hand gripping the back of her neck, pulling her against him.
He pulled back. “I can taste the hot sauce on you. It’s so strong. How can you stand it?”
“It takes a lot to knock down my headaches,” she shrugged. “It is too much to handle?”
“Not for me,” he answered. The heat in his eyes raked over her, and then he rolled her over underneath him, ravishing her neck with a line of searing kisses.
Becka countered by unbuttoning his shirt, where she could finally taste the skin of his shoulders. The feel of his body pressed up against hers was something she didn’t realize she craved until she had it. She urged him on, reveling in the touch of his fingers against her skin, gripping into her skin as they rolled back and forth on the bed.
Was it just the knowledge that he’d be gone tomorrow, and that she might never see him again, which had pushed her over the edge? Was it the same for him? Despite her curiosity, she wasn’t willing to interrupt the moment. Their kissing was passionate yet playful.
They paused to catch a breath, the intensity between them surprising Becka a little.
“I can plead with Maura directly. Privately. You’ll come with me, and we can tell her what we’ve learned, and impress upon her the importance of you continuing to direct the investigation.”
“I might be wrong, but I bet the last thing Maura wants is for her uniquely gifted daughter risking herself hunting down her twin’s murderer.”
She knew he was right. As an ungifted, the Rowan hadn’t cared much what she did or how she behaved herself. That had all changed with the testing results this morning.
Quinn must have sensed her mood, because he pulled away, propping himself up on his arm. The sudden loss of his warmth chilled her, and Becka shivered.
“As much as I am enjoying this,” he said, “perhaps we would be wise to not take things any further.”
“We may never again get the opportunity we have now.”
HIs eyes were filled with unexpected emotion as he tucked her hair behind her ear, running his finger down it after, lingering possessively as he traced the line of her jaw. “I understand that, and I’m afraid flings are not in my wiring. Within House Oak we bond rarely, but with longevity.
Becka turned toward him, mirroring his position, propped up on her elbow. “That’s funny, with your self-assured smile and cocky swagger I had you pegged as a playboy.”
He raised an eyebrow while frowning at her. “My Lady, you wound me.”
Becka laughed, but his pained expression remained. “Oh wait, you’re serious?”
“On my relationship style, very much so. On being offended? Only a little.”
They shared a laugh, but Becka’s thoughts were stewing. As an unguilded fae, she could more or less date whomever she wished. As a member of House Rowan, partnering was yet another aspect of her life they would try to control. And not only was Quinn being sent away, but likely Maura would keep her at the manor.
She desperately needed to claw back her rights before she lost them entirely. And not just because she found spending time within Quinn’s arms to be blissful, but because she needed to retain the person she’d fought to become.
Quinn was clearly saying he was interested in her, but not as a fling. Did she want something
more substantial with him, or was this bonding just a matter of circumstance? Either way, she’d need to figure it out.
“I’m sorry to have offended you, Quinn.”
“Apology accepted.”
“This has been such a long day,” she said, curling up against him. He didn’t argue, for which she was grateful.
They lay there in silence for a time. Her mind couldn’t stop spinning in circles from the events of the day. Quinn shifted on the bed, moving to leave.
She reached out and grabbed his arm. “Please stay, I don’t want to be alone right now. Besides, you’ll be gone tomorrow.”
He curled back up next to her, and Becka fell asleep while Quinn held her, his arm draped around her waist.
She’d have to remember to double up her journal entries tomorrow.
Chapter 27
The morning had flown by in a rush, and to be honest, Becka hadn’t spared two brain cells to consider what to wear. Everything in her bag had shades of black, so she’d just grabbed whatever was on the top of the pile in her bags. A black wrap skirt and an open-back draped black sleeveless shirt met her comfortable, yet appropriate sensibility for the day.
Not that her outfit selection qualified for fae appropriate funeral attire, but after the week she’d been having Becka wasn’t about to give in and start wearing fae garb. The long trek out to the funerary site had taken over an hour, but the well-groomed terrain had made it an easy walk. As she paced around taking in the afternoon sun and waiting for the ceremony to begin, plenty of fae raised a brow or frowned at her, but today their scorn was held at bay.
No doubt their reaction was a result of her change in guilded status. She considered the recognition ceremony scheduled for tomorrow and, knowing how it would mark a complete change in her circumstances, shivered as a slight chill ran down her back.
Looking over the crowd, Becka wondered at the fae resilience to change. After all, over a week ago this group had arrived expecting to attend the wedding of the heir of House Rowan, only to then stay on for the funerary rites for the heir, and now the recognition ceremony Maura had planned for Becka tomorrow. No doubt those in attendance would gossip at the intrigue for years to come.
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