by Jamie Davis
Quinn stared at Avery, trying to discern if she was lying.
Avery pointed at Quinn. “What were you doing there? Why were you spying on me?”
“I didn’t even know who you were then. Clark and I had been investigating some suspicious disappearances in the city. It linked back to Inez and the werebadgers. We went there to locate them and bring them back to their families. Whatever you did when you threatened her made her shut up. She wouldn’t tell us anything.”
“I don’t understand what that has to do with your injuries tonight?” Avery asked. “I’ve only been there the one time. I haven’t been back since. As far as I know, Gemma got what she wanted.”
“And what was that?” Quinn asked. “What is it that Gemma wants bad enough to kill innocent shifters in my town and burn down their homes and businesses?”
“That makes no sense. What proof do you have Gemma was involved?”
Quinn pointed at her shoulder. “This happened at the restaurant tonight. Gemma had a pack of werepanthers show up—”
“It’s a pride,” Avery interrupted.
“What?”
“A group of werepanthers or any cat shifters are called prides, like with lions in the wild.”
“Stop that. It’s annoying.”
“What? I was only—”
Quinn held up a hand, silencing Avery. “Always correcting me and showing me how much you know about everything supernatural. I get it. I didn’t grow up studying all this stuff every minute of every day. I don’t need you rubbing my nose in it all the time.”
“Fine, I’ll try. Now tell me about the werepanthers. You think Gemma had something to do with their attack on the werebadgers?”
“I’m sure of it, just like I’m sure Filippa is ultimately behind all this as part of some twisted plan to bring her own version of the Huntress prophecy to life.”
“Quinn, I’m not saying Gemma is a perfect person. She can be very harsh when she wants to be. I know because I’ve lived with her nearly all my life. That doesn’t mean she’s capable of something like this. What you describe is evil. She could never hide something like that from me. I grew up learning that we Hunters protect the helpless, save the innocent, and fight evil in all its forms.”
Something Avery said triggered a random thought in Quinn. “You’ve trained to fight them, but you’ve never actually fought one, have you?”
“A supernatural like a shifter?” Avery asked in reply. She shook her head, and her face turned almost the color of her hair. “No. Facing down the werebadger leader was my first real encounter outside of training.”
Suddenly a lot of things shifted into place for Quinn. Avery had many skills, but she’d never proven herself in real combat. Quinn had on numerous occasions. Was Avery nothing more than a pawn being used by Gemma to accomplish some part of Filippa’s grand plan?
Avery said, “I assure you I would handle myself quite well in actual combat. All my instructors have given me the highest marks.”
“High marks aren’t everything. Neither is strength. There’s something you learn on the streets, something an old homeless vet once called ‘grit.’ He told me I had it. When I asked what it was, he said grit is the thing that pushes you forward when you can’t keep going. Until you’ve been in combat and found out how much grit you have, you can’t know what you’ll do.”
“I don’t go out looking for fights, Quinn. That’s not what we’re supposed to do.”
“I guess we’ll just have to wait and see, then,” Quinn said. “Look, I’ve had a hard day and evening. I want to go shower and get some rest. For what it’s worth, I believe you. I don’t know what Gemma’s up to, and I don’t think you know either.”
Avery nodded. “Thank you. I’m sure you’re mistaken about her, but if she’s done something untoward in some way, I’ll tell you. As I said before, we Huntresses have to stick together.”
Quinn smiled and turned toward her bedroom. “G’night,” she called as she shut the door.
A muffled reply from Avery filtered through from the other room, and Quinn walked over and flopped onto the bed, rolling onto her back to stare at the ceiling.
Something vibrated against her side and she glanced down, startled at first until she saw the dragon egg pressed against her.
“Oh, hi, you. I suppose you heard all that?”
Buzzz buzzz.
“Should I believe her?
Buzzz buzzz.
Quinn looked at the pattern of water stains on the ceiling. “I don’t know. I want to believe her. She seems so sincere, even in the midst of her annoying way of getting everything so right all the time. But maybe she’s deceiving me.”
Buzzz.
“Fine, just because she’s better at some stuff isn’t a reason not to believe her. She’s never lied to me that I can tell, after all.”
Quinn yawned and shook her head. “Whatever she did to heal me, it left me tired. Maybe I’ll skip…the shower…”
As she dozed off, the dragon egg rolled around and nestled against the curve of Quinn’s neck and shoulder, buzzing gently in time with her slow, steady breaths.
Chapter Fourteen
Quinn sat up with a start, staring around her room in the darkness. Someone had called her name, someone familiar. Sliding off the bed, she walked barefoot across the floor to the bedroom door, opening it quietly and peeking out to check on Avery.
The other Huntress snored lightly on the sofa, deep in sleep. Quinn stared at her for a few seconds, trying to decide if the girl was faking it and had been messing with her.
Avery continued to lie there, unmoving. Quinn tiptoed out past her to check the apartment door. It was locked. No one was outside when she peered through the peephole.
She was about to head back to her room when a glint on the floor caught her eye. A sparkling line started just inside the apartment and disappeared beneath the door to the hallway outside. She looked through the peephole again. Still nobody there.
Ignoring her bare feet, Quinn opened the door and checked the hallway outside.
Yep, empty.
The glittering gold trail began at her doorway and went down the hallway to the stairs. Checking to make sure Avery was still asleep, Quinn pulled the door shut behind her and followed it.
Reaching the end of the hall, the trail turned onto the staircase. Instead of going down, it led up to the third floor.
Without hesitating, Quinn climbed the stairs and followed the narrow hallway until she stood with Taylor’s apartment door on one side and the metal ladder leading up to the roof on the other.
She looked down. The trail ended here. Quinn considered knocking on her friend’s door and waking her up. Maybe she’d be able to detect any magic in use.
Quinn stood with her hand raised to rap on the door, stopping as the distant voice once again called her name. There was something oddly familiar about it, but she couldn’t say who it was. She looked up the ladder to the roof. The voice had come from there.
After climbing the ladder and unlocking the latch holding the hatch cover closed, Quinn swung her legs over. The tar on the flat roof warmed her bare feet after absorbing the sunlight all day. It was a pleasant feeling in the chilly night air.
The thin gold trail continued to the low parapet that extended up from the building’s walls on three sides of the slightly sloped roof. At the end of the trail, nestled against the red bricks, was the dragon egg.
Quinn scooped it up. “What are you doing up here? How did you even…”
The egg vibrated in Quinn’s arms, cutting her off. At the same instant, a sparkling flash in the corner of her eye distracted her. It took a few seconds for Quinn to realize where it came from.
Activating her HUD, the sparkle she couldn’t quite see was replaced by a new icon—a short, stubby arrow with a point at one end and three angled lines at the base to signify fletching. When she concentrated on it, the word “scout” appeared for a few seconds before fading.
Quinn clicked
the scout icon and a transparent map of the city overlaid her view of the downtown skyline. Quinn studied the map, trying to find whatever the egg wanted her to see.
One area was shaded in pale yellow as if someone had highlighted it. She focused on it, and the map zoomed in until she hovered over the Federal Hill neighborhood by the harbor. Quinn tried to make out what it was about the area she was supposed to notice, but nothing leaped out at her. It looked just like every other part of the city, other than the yellow shading.
Quinn looked down at the egg cradled in her arms. It shook violently, and she fumbled to get a better grip. It slipped from her grasp, and Quinn shouted as she dove to catch it before it fell to the ground far below. Then she fell too, the ground racing up at her, the egg just beyond the reach of her fingers.
Gasping for breath, Quinn’s eyes opened as her hands flailed at the covers on her bed. A faint purring vibration against her neck drew her attention to the egg nestled there.
Rolling to her side, Quinn stroked the shell. “What are you up to, you little booger? What’s on that hill you want me to see?”
The egg didn’t respond, just continued the steady, rhythmic vibration she’d come to associate with sleep. Had she shared a dream with the tiny dragon inside, or was there something more to see?
Quinn didn’t know the answer, and the egg wasn’t talking. She thought about it until her eyes grew heavy again; she was still tired from the fight and healing earlier. Giving in at last, she drifted back to sleep.
Chapter Fifteen
The next morning, Quinn rose early and snuck past Avery. The girl was still snoring on the couch, much as she had in the dream the night before. After going down to the bar, she dug around in the kitchen, searching for something to eat. She eventually made herself some toast and smeared peanut butter on it.
Quinn poured herself a glass of milk and carried the glass and plate back out to the club, where she sat at the bar in the near darkness. She’d finished half the peanut butter toast when the overhead lights switched on, and she spun around to see who’d arrived.
Quinn relaxed when she spotted Juni.
“Hey, Quinn. You’re up early. I saw you last night, heading up to your room. You looked done in.” The leprechaun girl tilted her head to the side and glanced at Quinn’s right arm. “That shoulder better now? You were bleeding pretty bad.”
Quinn brought her left hand up and rubbed her shoulder self-consciously. “It’s better now, thank you. Sorry if I left you a mess to clean up.”
“We took care of it. It’s not the first time we’ve had blood on the floor in here, believe me.”
Quinn smiled and went back to her toast and milk while Juni switched on the rest of the lights, leaving the bar area until last. Juni walked behind the tall countertop, stepping onto the raised floor built to accommodate the owner, his daughter, and the other leprechaun workers.
As Quinn ate, Juni prepped the bar for the day’s patrons. The Huntress noticed something she’d never spotted before: a small framed image about the size of a sheet of standard notebook paper hung in the center of the oval bar area. Yellowed with age, it looked like an old map of the city.
“Juni, can I take a look at that picture?”
The waitress looked where Quinn pointed. “This old thing? It’s from an antique pamphlet my dad found. He said he liked the map because it showed the city when things were simpler here in Baltimore.”
“What did he mean by that?” Quinn asked.
Juni rolled her eyes. “I have no idea. Here, you can take a look closer if you want.” She handed the paper map in its brown wooden frame to Quinn and returned to her work setting up the bar for the day.
Quinn studied the paper. The lines had faded, but she could make out most of the details. Some areas of the city were highlighted with expanded views. One of them was the area around Federal Hill. It was the heading at the top of the expanded section that caught her eye.
The Crystal Caves and Old Silica Mines
“Juni, when did this old map come from?”
“Daddy said it was when he and mother first met, so that would make it sometime in the late 1800s after the Civil War. Why?”
“It shows things I’ve never heard of before, and I’ve lived in the city all my life.”
“Like what?”
The tiny woman stopped what she was doing and came over.
Quinn pointed at the Federal Hill area. “These caves. I never knew there were caves beneath Federal Hill?”
“Oh, sure. Those tunnels are one of the oldest legends of the city. They’ve been filled in for years, though. The city had it done after parts of the hill collapsed from a cave-in and threatened some of the homes on the hill above.”
Quinn’s hopes sank. “All of them?”
“As far as I know. They were pretty dangerous. People used to get stuck or trapped down there all the time. I guess the city finally got tired of rescuing them. Nothing left of it as far as I know.”
Juni went back to setting up, leaving the back of the bar, going around taking chairs down from atop the tables, and arranging them for the lunch crowd coming in a few hours.
Quinn took a bite of her toast and stared at the old pamphlet. She looked over her shoulder to make sure Juni was busy and then flipped the frame over, sliding out the cardboard insert until she could reach the paper inside. It was so fragile it started to tear as she tried to fold it. Working as fast as she dared with the fragile paper, she slipped it into the pocket of the hooded sweatshirt she wore.
After checking on Juni again, Quinn pushed the cardboard back into place, reached over the bar top, and pushed the frame behind the cash register. No one would notice it in the shadows there.
Quinn popped the final piece of toast into her mouth, then picked up her empty plate and glass and headed for the kitchen. “I’ll put these in the dishwasher tray for you, Juni. Thanks for breakfast.”
“No problem, Quinn. Take care today. I think Clark has something special planned for you and Avery.”
“What’s that? Tell me what you heard.”
Juni shook her head. “I don’t know any details. Sorry. I just saw Clark, Naomi, and Gemma with their heads together last night. I figured they must be cooking up something for this contest they have going between the two of you.”
“I better go up and check on Avery, then. She’ll want to get something to eat before they call us down.”
Quinn dropped off the plate and glass in the kitchen, then went to her apartment. When she opened the door, she heard Avery humming in the living room. She had a pleasant voice, although Quinn didn’t know the tune. It had a haunting quality and made her sort of sad.
Avery looked up when Quinn walked in, ceasing her humming.
“Don’t stop singing on my account,” the Huntress said. “I kind of liked it. What’s the name of that song?”
Avery blushed. “It’s not one you’d know. It’s a funeral dirge that used to be sung by the clans over the graves of members killed on a hunt. I think it has its roots in an ancient Germanic folk song. I found a recording of it during my studies. I couldn’t understand the words, but the tune stuck.”
“I like it, too,” Quinn said. “It’s sad, but it’s pretty. It’s the kind of thing I might want sung at my funeral someday.”
Avery smiled. “Me, too. It’s peaceful, and it sort of sets my mind at ease. I could imagine hearing it as a ghost and letting it take me to the higher planes. Maybe we could play it for your friend Miranda so she can finally go where she belongs.”
“Why does she need to go anywhere? Miranda belongs here with us. She’s chosen to stay here and help us. She’s part of the clan. She has a nickname and everything.”
“What do you call her?” Avery asked.
“Well, it’s just something Taylor and I came up with. We call her our ‘spectral godmother’ sometimes. To be honest, we mostly use it when she’s hovering over us too much.”
“Hovering,” Avery said, laughing.
“I get it.”
Quinn smiled at the joke she’d missed as she said it. “Uh, yeah, anyway, she belongs here with us. She’s been a lot of help to Taylor with the witch side of being our tech witch.”
“What’s your nickname?” Avery asked.
“I’m the Huntress, I guess. That’s all.” She shrugged.
“We’ll have to find you a new one since I’ll be taking that particular title after the bout coming up.”
Quinn bit back a sharp reply, focusing on the second half of the other girl’s response. It surprised her. “What are you talking about? I only just found out we had something planned for later. How did you know?”
“Gemma mentioned it to me when I came up to the apartment last night. She told me to tell you about it, but I forgot when I had to heal your arm. How’s it feeling, by the way?”
Quinn rotated her arm at the shoulder and nodded. “It feels good as new. Thanks for that. I wish I knew how to do it. I can heal myself sometimes, but things have to be a certain way, I guess. It didn’t work last night.”
“You said that last night,” Avery said. “I meant to ask you what you were talking about.”
“It’s ley lines. I can siphon power from them if there are any close by.”
“You can? That has to be incredibly dangerous, handling all that power.”
Quinn smiled. She finally had one up on Avery. “I don’t know about dangerous, but it’s certainly a rush when you do it. If I take in too much, my skin glows, and the light I give off can burn a vampire if I’m not careful.”
“Wow, I’d love to see what you look like glowing. You’re already beautiful. I can’t imagine what that would look like, adding a magical glow.”
It was Quinn’s turn to blush, and she hid her smile at the compliment behind a fake cough. “Yeah, uh, thank you. Like I said last night, I could have found a way to do it myself, but it was nice to have you do it for me. Was it easy to learn?”
Avery rolled her eyes. “Ugh, it took me forever to master it. Gemma was so cross with me. Honestly, I envy what you can do, Quinn. You can’t use my sort of healing spell on yourself. It’s all about channeling your Huntress energy outward to merge with another. It can’t be turned around.”