Quinn held Parker’s gaze. “You succeeded. I knew you could do it.”
A tear slid down her cheek.
He winked, and her eyes widened. “Now catch.”
Her mouth parted. Quinn tossed the crystal high into the air. Everyone’s gaze followed the movement. Quinn rammed Carlos in the stomach, dislodging the commissioner’s hold on Parker. She jumped into the air, catching the stone while everyone else watched the fight. She wrapped her hand around the stone and hit the ground running, pushing the emergency door open and out into the parking lot.
Her mind raced, remembering the rules that her parents had embedded into her head. Rules of what her Fae roots meant along with the power of choice. There were rules made a long time ago that were vaguely even remembered, but still expected to be followed. Some unspoken truth, about preserving her Fae heritage flitted through her mind. She pushed it aside. Quinn had made his choice and so had she. The unfulfilled dreams of a hierarchy dead and gone would die today. Parker McKenna had filled her obligations and solved the case…Or so she’d thought. She came to a brick wall with nowhere to go.
“McKenna, now don’t do anything rash. That crystal isn’t yours.” The chief commanded.
The crystal wasn’t hers but it was the knowledge the crystal contained that worried her. The shiny object held deadly knowledge that could send them back to times of absolute rule and bigotry among the races. She glanced around at the concerned looks of her colleagues. For the love of god, she didn’t see any other option.
She squeezed the crystal in her hand, harder, one last time, letting the ridges dig deep into her palm, something to remember this moment so that it would forever be etched in her memory. She opened her hand. The knowledge of what she had to do made her head throb. Destroying the crystal was her only option. Would it kill her? Was she willing to die?
She knew what she had to do. She knew the word she had to use. She just didn’t know if she had the strength to pull it off. To give away or destroy the only source of knowledge left to her people. Their God-given birth rights, their last chance to have a king. Powers that sustained the Fae and gave them life. Secrets that only the royals could understand and wield.
“McKenna, toss it over.” The deep growl came from the one man she’d learned to trust. The chief was the one man who’d helped mold her into the cop she was today.
“Sorry, no can do, Chief.” She shook her head. Her eyes searched through the group that surrounded her until she’d found the two people who knew her best. She gave a slight nod. The slight nod was the only inclination that she’d made up her mind. She closed her hands around the stone, closed her eyes to whisper the one word that would save them all, but she was interrupted by the chief’s growl.
“I gave you an order,” her chief bellowed.
“One that I, her king, told her to ignore. You remember the word to use, the same word that I used in my mother’s basement.” Parker met Quinn’s gaze. “Destroy it, my chosen queen.”
“Don’t even think about it,” her Captain warned as he shook his head and cocked the hammer of his gun. Had she been thinking clearly, she would have known that he’d guess her next move. Nonetheless, he couldn’t stop her. It was too late…none of them could.
“Explosanti” The ancient Fae words came out barely a whisper. The stone vibrated in her hand, rotating and turning until the pressure and the heat became unbearable. Parker dropped to her knees and opened her hands The crystal rose out of her grasp, turning in midair before there was a loud pop and a burst of blinding light that pushed a wave of power through the parking lot knocking everyone to the ground. The crystal vanished out of sight, leaving her to deal with the reality it left.
Quinn helped her to her feet and tucked her under his arm. “Sorry, chief. I outranked you. She was acting under the authority of her king. I ordered the stone’s destruction so she had to obey. She would have wilted and lived in agony otherwise.”
The chief lowered his gun. He turned back to the rest of her squad. “Arrest both commissioners. Atkinson on kidnapping chargers just for starts and I want Carlton charged with dealing in stolen property. I want them booked within the hour.”
Parker glanced up at Quinn and whispered, “You know that wasn’t true, right?”
He shrugged and leaned down to whisper back, “I know nothing would have happened to you, had you not obeyed my request, but the wizard doesn’t.”
She chuckled and lifted a hand to her chest. “I’m going to be doing paperwork for a month.”
He nudged her and started to cross the parking lot. “I’ll help. After all, you are my partner.”
Parker playfully hit Quinn’s stomach. “I thought I was your queen. I forgot to ask… How did you like being king?”
He shrugged. “It had its moments.”
“Did you retain any of the knowledge from the stone?”
He grinned and nodded as he lifted his fingers to cover his lips. “Shh.”
“Now that there is no threat of death or change, I think you owe me a date…a proper date if I remember correctly, your lordship,” she said in jest.
“Absolutely.”
Chapter 12
“Are you sure you don’t want me to go with you?” Parker asked unable to hid the concern in her eyes.
“Nope.” He leaned over as she continued to type in the last of her reports and kissed the top of her head. “I’ll pick you up at seven.”
She nodded. And he walked away. His stomach twisted into unhealthy knots. The hidden video diary was his destination. He needed to at least hear explanation, even if he’d yet to forgive her. No matter what he learned, tonight was the night, the infamous promised proper date night. Wining and dining, and if they got lucky, maybe they’d be sharing dessert in bed. The possibilities were endless.
No more running around in a panic trying to solve a puzzle that should have never seen the light of day. The powers were returned to the crystal. The monarch rules were destroyed, his father was in jail and the man who plotted his dad’s downfall had been captured. His precinct was demanding his return after the weekend. He’d been gone a week. Just one week and he’d been changed for the better. He’d made new friends, gained new knowledge, and met a woman he was growing fond of. Did he love her? It was still too soon to tell. How did one actually know when there is more to feelings than a healthy dose of lust?
He enjoyed spending time with her. She made him laugh, not to mention she was beautiful and full of spunk, all bonuses in the grand scheme of things. Liking her was easy. The love part scared the hell out of him. He wasn’t sure he really knew what it meant. His jacked-up family hadn’t provided great role models for him to compare anything to. If anything, they’d told him how it wasn’t supposed to be.
Quinn pulled up outside of his house and killed the engine. He carried the package containing the DVD in with him. Thanks to the chief, Quinn was going to watch in the privacy of his own home. The same home that he’d inherited from dear old mom.
He entered, dropping the package on the dining room table and then proceeded into the kitchen and pulled out a beer. He didn’t know what was on the disk, but watching it with a beer could only help.
After booting the laptop and inserting the DVD, he leaned back in the chair and took a long swig. The ice-cold amber liquid did little to quell the bad feeling he had in the pit of his stomach.
His mom’s face appeared on the screen. She looked beautiful and healthy, unlike how week she looked in her dying days resting in bed. Her hair was brushed and styled the same way she’d worn it for the last twenty years, her makeup was applied impeccably, and she was dressed in her Sunday best.
She looked off to the right of the camera. Her voice was just how he remembered. It was soft and sweet with a tad bit of attitude and momma about her. “Is this on?”
She cleared her throat and fidgeted in her seat again before releasing a sigh.
“Quinn, my sweet, sweet baby boy. If you’re watching this, then I�
��ve died.”
She lifted her brows probably because of the bold statement.
“Whew.” She dabbed at the perspiration on her brow with one of her dainty handkerchiefs. “If that’s the case, then that sucks. There is so much I was looking forward to. I wanted to see you married. I wanted to dance at your wedding. I wanted to meet your wife and hold my grandbabies.” She clasped her hands on the table in front of her. “I hope that I’ve done at least some of that. If not, then I’ll be watching as a spirit and probably haunting you by then.”
She gave a low chuckle. “Anyway.”
She glanced to the side of the camera and nodded. “Okay, this is going to be hard for me.” She closed her eyes, and seconds ticked by before she reopened them. “I didn’t tell you the truth about your father, but before I explain who he was and why I lied, I need to explain something else.”
Lillian Montgomery lifted a cup to her lips and sipped the clear liquid. Vodka? Water? If he was making the video, he’d had vodka. Quinn shrugged. If she slurred her words at the end, then he’d know for sure.
“If you don’t have children when you’re watching this, then there is a good chance that you won’t understand my reasoning, and if that’s the case, all I ask is that you wait or re-watch this DVD when it will make more sense.”
Lillian drummed her fingers on the table and glanced up at the camera as if she was staring right at him, seeing down into his soul.
“There’s no beating around the bush. I’m just going to come right out and tell you.” She took a deep breath. “Your father is Bob Carlton. He is an up-and-coming politician. When we started dating, I was smitten. He was a good man, very attentive, very thoughtful. It wasn’t until after I ended up pregnant that I figured out what kind of man he really is.”
She clutched the handkerchief in her hand tighter.
“I had a visit from his mother, Clarissa Carlton, and Bob’s fiancée, Madeline Jenner. They walked into my living room, staring down their noses at me, and told me I was just a play thing for your father, a way for him to pass the time, and that he had no intention of marrying me. As a matter of fact, she handed me the newspaper clipping of his engagement announcement to Madeline, and Madeline handed me a letter written by Carlton.” She held up her hand. “And I’m not naïve. I know Carlton’s handwriting, and it was obvious that he wrote it. The letter contained his wishes and promises for the future with Madeline. Talk of his culture and his status.” Lillian leaned forward. “If you haven’t figured out there are paranormal creatures in the world yet….let me tell you…there are.”
She leaned back and exhaled. “Your dad is a Fae, and on top of that, he’s royal.”
Lillian shook her head. “Could you imagine living your life in a house made of glass? Afraid that if you accidently knocked something over it might have been from a previous dynasty and irreplaceable?”
She shrugged. “That’s just a portion of my reasoning on why I didn’t go after your dad or take him back when he came begging.”
She lowered her head. “I wanted a better life for you and it wasn’t something he could buy. In the beginning of our relationship, he made it very clear on what he thought about interracial couples having children. He made a big point to tell me that you would be considered a half breed and shunned from his society and no child should have to grow up in that kind of environment, even if you would have been surrounded by expensive things. You were mine to protect and that’s exactly what I did. I shielded you from a community full of bigots and a father that you’d spend a life time trying to please, only to come up short because of your blood.” She held up her finger and took another sip of her drink.
“He came back begging, and I almost took him back.” She shook her head. “That was until his mother called with an address. I got in my car and met her in the front yard of the house located at the address. The woman had the nerve to take my hands into hers and squeeze them as if she was concerned for me. She said, ‘I had hoped it wouldn’t come to this, but it has.’”
Lillian glanced down and clamped her hands together before meeting the lens of the camera again. “His mom told me to take a look through the window, and I did.”
She cleared her throat. “Your dad was on his knees begging Madeline, just like he had with me.” Lillian tilted her head. “I know what you’re thinking. I didn’t hear the conversation. Well, what they did next told me everything I needed to know. I watched as they got intimate. I stood outside the window with tears streaming down my face and watched your father seducing his fiancée, undressing her, touching her, and kissing her until they moved out of view. He initiated it. He wanted it. It wasn’t her seducing him. It was him.”
Lillian wiped a tear that slipped from her eye. “That along with his feeling about a half-breed child were the reasons I couldn’t risk the chance of taking him back, and why I wouldn’t let him in your life. Although I was crushed and devastated I kept him from you, for fear that he’d hurt you too. Maybe I was wrong, but I just couldn’t risk it. As parents, we wish to give our children a life better and easier than our own. I wanted nothing but happiness for you and a normal childhood. I wanted you to be a better man than your father ever knew how to be.”
She stared into the camera. “Promise me you’ll be a better man. I hope one day you can find it in your heart to not only understand but to forgive me as well. Right or wrong, I made a choice, and I’m sorry if you disagree with my choice and reasoning. I did what I felt needed to be done. Quinn, I will love you forever. A mother’s love transcends the sands of time. It’s unconditional. I’ve loved you in life, and I’ll love you in death. Please forgive me.”
The DVD cut off, and Quinn stared at the screen with his mouth hanging open and his beer drained dry. He shook his head. “Unbelievable.”
He didn’t know who’d pissed him off more, Mom for taking the choice away from him, his dad for being a bastard, or his grandmother and stepmother for intervening. “Unfreakinbelievable.”
Quinn tossed his beer bottle, grabbed the case out of the fridge, returned to the table, and watched the DVD over and over again as he drank away the pain. After the fourth viewing, his cell rang. Parker’s number appeared on the caller ID. He didn’t answer, but he did send her a text and cancelled their dinner plans. He said he was still watching the video. She texted back that she understood, and she probably did, but he couldn’t force himself to go. Unsure of his feelings in figuring out if it was love or lust, he needed that answer before he could see her. He wouldn’t ruin her life with promises he couldn’t keep, like his father had ruined his mom’s. Hell, he couldn’t even answer whether or not he loved her. He had nothing to offer her. “Shit.”
*****
Quinn spent the next three days ignoring her texts, deciding how he felt about the betrayal. Parker didn’t deserve it, but more than that, she didn’t deserve him in the mood he was in. His co-workers and boss had all complained about his panties being in a twist. His foul mood was affecting everyone around him, so much so that his boss had him on mandatory leave to recover from the mess with the stone.
He pulled up at the jail, signed in, and showed his ID. He’d been in a jail before, but it had always been dropping the scumbags off, never to visit them unless there was some sort of questioning involved. This was another first, one he didn’t like and one he hoped he’d never have to do again.
“Montgomery,” the warden said to Quinn and clasped his hand. “He’s in room 3. I thought you might like a little privacy.”
Quinn nodded and patted the man on the back. “Thanks.”
Quinn followed the warden down the hall and into the only room that had a guard stationed outside. He steeled his nerves and walked in.
Carlton was dressed in prison orange. The color washed out the vibrant socialite. Carlton glanced up. The lines of his face had deepened since their last encounter.
“Son.”
Quinn shook his head. “You have no right to call me that.” Quinn crossed
his arms over his chest. “Do it again, and I walk.”
Carlton nodded, and Quinn moved to the other side of the table and sat.
“Did she ever tell you why she didn’t take you back?”
He shook his head. “I never spoke to Lillian again. She wouldn’t answer my calls. She wouldn’t answer her door. I tried everything to reach her. I even sent a letter.”
Quinn’s jaw twitched. “Yeah, I read it.”
Resting his elbows on the table, Quinn let out a sigh. “She saw you.”
“Saw me what?”
“Your mother met her outside of Madeline’s house when you were there. My mom saw you on your knees, and then she watched as you undressed your fiancée and took her to bed. That was one of the reasons she didn’t take you back.”
Carlton lowered his head. “I know it’s no excuse, but I was so young. To be honest, I shouldn’t have married anyone.”
Quinn nodded.
“That wasn’t the only reason. She knew your stance on half-breed children. You would have never fully accepted me. Those are the real reasons why she kept you from me. She didn’t want me to turn out to be the liar you did. She didn’t want to give you the opportunity to hurt me.”
Carlton pulled against the silver cuffs to reach for Quinn.
Quinn moved his hands to his lap. “I just thought you should know. You deserved to know as much as I did.”
“Quinn…”
Quinn stood from the table and moved to the door. “We’re done here.”
Carlton turned in his chair. “She was right, you know.”
Quinn turned with his grip on the handle. “How do you figure?”
“You are royalty, half breed or not. She would have had a miserable life if she’d married me. I loved her, but it wouldn’t have been enough. She would have always chosen your side and not mine. We would have fought over….you, no matter how right or wrong you think of that. I wasn’t the man she needed. I couldn’t give her the happy life she deserved, and I couldn’t walk away from my heritage.” He nodded to Quinn. “I’m glad you can.”
Not My Shifter/ Sinfully Cursed (Shifter Paradise) (Volume 1) Page 22