“You aren’t supposed to be in here!” she said.
She made a move to take Kate’s arm and for a second Quinn saw a dangerous look cross his lover’s face. The nurse must have seen it too and slowly withdrew her arm.
“I’m sorry,” she said again in a tone that was decidedly less hostile. “You’ll have to leave.”
Kate had regained her composure.
“He’s my fiancée,” she said. “He was in the fire. I needed to know if he was okay.”
The nurse looked at her in alarm.
“You’re the woman from 7A,” she said. “Honey, you’re not supposed to be out of bed, much less wandering around.”
“I had to make sure he was alive,” Kate replied.
“I’m sorry,” the nurse said. “I’m going to have to take you back to your room.”
Kate looked at Quinn in desperation.
I’m sorry, she said in his mind. I didn’t mean to scare you.
Quinn spoke up, though each word hurt him to speak.
“Can you give us a minute?” he asked the nurse.
His eyes rested on the nurse. Quinn didn’t need to know what she was thinking, he saw the pity etched like lines on her face. The nurse glanced from Kate to Quinn.
“Just a minute,” she said.
When another nurse started to protest, the older nurse took her arm, whispered something and guided her out of the room.
“She thinks I won’t make it,” Quinn said after they left.
“Shhh,” Kate said. “You don’t have to talk.”
I love you, he thought in his mind. I failed you. I’m sorry.
“Don’t be ridiculous, Quinn,” Kate said. She sat on the edge of his bed. “It was my fault. I rushed us into that, thought we could let it ride like we did last year.”
Not your fault, Quinn responded. I should have known he would use fire. Hell, he warned us. But I didn’t see how. I thought I could use his own arrogance against him.
“It’s okay, Quinn,” she said. She stroked his cheek, flinching a little at the roughness of his skin, which felt like sandpaper.
How bad is it? he asked.
She looked at him from head to toe and tried to smile when she responded.
“You’ve looked better,” she said.
Quinn laughed out loud at that, then began coughing. The sound was a dry rasp in his throat, a hacking cough. Each one caused him more pain.
Quinn knew that in a moment the nurses would return.
I’ve looked better, he thought. I see you finally found your own cennad. Didn’t choose her for her looks either, from what I can tell.
“Be kind,” Kate said. “Her boyfriend is the Headless Horseman. They’re a match made in hell.”
Boyfriend? I believe you told the nurse I was your fiancée. Last time I checked, you hadn’t said yes yet.
Kate looked at him.
“Yes,” she said. “A thousand times, yes.”
She tried to lean in to kiss him then, but felt his pain and withdrew.
I’ll heal, he said. Whatever the doctors tell you, I can already feel it.
“I know,” she said.
We have to learn more about Sawyer, he said. I need to know what he was, what his vulnerability is.
“We will,” she said. “I remember something now, an old legend I heard as a girl. As soon as you’re well, I’ll go check it out, find out more information.”
How did you stop him? What happened?
She showed him her mind then, replaying the events in her memory.
Quinn looked at her amazed.
“You hurt them,” he said out loud.
“Yes,” she said and there was a savage glee in her voice. “They’ll be ready next time, but we can definitely harm them.”
“Good,” Quinn said and grimaced at the pain.
I still don’t understand, he continued in her mind. What are you, exactly?
“I’m the guardian of the dead,” she replied. “The woman in white.”
Does she have a name? he asked. But he already knew the answer.
“Yes,” she said. “I’m a banshee.”
*****
Kieran stood on a grassy bank near a stream. He watched the water running over the rocks, felt a warm breeze on his cheek. For the first time in what felt like forever, he was happy. He sat down. Why did this place feel so familiar?
With a start, he realized this was where he first met her. He had been a child—they both were children. His father had sent him to a cousin’s country cottage for the summer, probably so he didn’t have to see him every day. Kieran had felt that sting only as long as it took him to arrive at the cottage. Once there, he was left in a state of benign neglect—able to freely roam the woods, fields, and anything else he could find. After the grimness of his life in Manchester, this was absolute heaven.
He had seen the girl on one of his extensive wanderings. She was throwing rocks in the stream and seemed a little bored. From a distance, she had looked younger than him. But when he got closer, he realized they were roughly the same age, about nine years old.
“Hi,” he said.
When she looked up, Kieran fell in love. He was only a boy—what did he know of such things—but he had read stories. He knew what “love at first sight” was, and he was sure this was it. She had a pretty round face, long, brown hair in a braid down her back, and the bluest eyes he had ever seen. He had never particularly liked romance stories. But in an instant, all that changed. Suddenly, he wanted to write his own romance story, with this girl as the damsel in distress.
She smiled when she saw him, a large grin that set everything about her aglow.
“It’s you,” she said. “The boy from my dreams. I’ve waited so long.”
She ran to him then, the way only a young child can—with open abandon—and Kieran surprised himself by running to meet her. When they reached each other, she hugged him tightly, the way he imagined his mother might have if she had lived beyond his birth. Kieran hugged her back with great joy.
The girl pulled back and looked at him.
“We’re going to spend the rest of our lives together, did you know that?” she said brightly.
Kieran didn’t, but he believed her. And though he had always been shy, the last one to speak in class, he surprised himself.
“Okay,” he said.
And the two children hugged each other on the stream bank.
The older Kieran sat in that same place, a single tear running down his face. He hadn’t thought of that day in years, maybe decades. He wasn’t even sure he remembered it clearly anymore—so much had happened since then.
“Why so maudlin, Charles?” a voice said.
Kieran didn’t look behind him. He knew who it was without turning.
“So I’m dreaming, am I?” he asked. “And I thought I asked you never to call me that.”
“My apologies. At least it’s a nice dream, isn’t it? I could have chosen a nightmare, you know.”
“I know,” Kieran replied. “Please pardon me while I throw you a fucking parade.”
The man walked in front of Kieran and looked down at him. Kieran felt a strange urge to throw mud on his immaculate suit, just to tarnish him. It was silly—dangerous, even—but he had to hold himself back nevertheless.
“Come now,” Sanheim said. “There’s no reason for hostility.”
Kieran stood up and brushed himself off. He wiped the tear from his eye, unashamed. My God, how he missed her.
“I apologize,” he said.
“Much better,” Sanheim replied. “Shall we walk?”
Kieran nodded and the two went strolling through the sunny field. He thought about the many times he had talked with Sanheim—maybe a half dozen occasions—and realized how different this scene was. Previously they always met in isolated places: a castle ruin, a graveyard, a high mountain. This idyllic field seemed oddly out of place as a meeting spot. Kieran tried to think if he had ever seen Sanheim in sunlight before, t
hen concluded that it didn’t matter.
“Speak your mind,” Kieran said. “You’re good at that.”
“Time is nearly up,” he said. “The time for your little charade is at an end.”
“If I disappear, they’ll come looking for me,” Kieran replied.
“You can wait a few more days,” Sanheim replied. “But not too long. At some point soon, you will have to defect permanently. Sawyer already suspects you.”
“I can handle him,” Kieran replied.
“For how long, I wonder?”
“Please don’t make it seem like you actually care.”
“Oh, but I do, my friend,” Sanheim said. “You’re my ace in the hole, as they say. You’re going to make sure everything goes exactly the way I want it to.”
“Really? At this stage, what I see happening is that Sawyer is going to roll over the two of them like they aren’t even there. It’s time to face facts, Sanny-boy—you bet on the wrong horses. Those two nearly died the other night. I’m not sure Quinn will be able to fight at all by the time Halloween rolls around.”
“He’ll be ready,” Sanheim said. “And don’t call me that name again.”
“Sorry, your worshipfulness,” Kieran added sarcastically. How he hated bowing down to anyone. “I want a better name for you, though. Maybe something with ‘Darth’ in it. Darth Sanheim. I like that. It’s very intimidating.”
“As always, I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Sanheim replied. “My name is fine the way it is.”
“Have it your way,” Kieran shrugged.
“I think you will find Kate and Quinn have been underestimated,” Sanheim said. “You have to be ready to help them, ready to make your move.”
“I understand what I have to do. The question is, do they?” Kieran said. “Kate’s lying in the hospital, Quinn is burnt to a crisp. If they have a strategy, I’m at a loss for what it is.”
“Then help them find one,” Sanheim said.
“They don’t even know I’m on their side,” Kieran replied.
“I don’t doubt they have their suspicions,” Sanheim replied. “Besides, it should be easy to convince them. You know more about Sawyer and Elyssa than any living person.”
Kieran noted that the category presumably did not include Sanheim himself.
“True,” Kieran said. “But that just makes me more pessimistic. You say I’m underestimating Quinn. I think you’ve underestimated Sawyer. He wants his revenge and he’s going to get it.”
“I don’t think so,” Sanheim replied. “And you better hope you’re wrong. You know the price of failure.”
“I remember,” Kieran said. He had, after all, already failed once.
“So think of this as a second chance,” Sanheim said. “Do what I ask and you’ll be rewarded.”
“You know what I want,” Kieran said.
“And you’ll get it,” Sanheim said. “I always honor my bargains.”
“No, you lie, cheat and steal,” Kieran said. “You do everything you can to ensure a bargain is a bad deal for the other side.”
Sanheim just smiled at him. Kieran wished he could wipe it off his face.
“Maybe,” he said. “But complete your task and I promise you it will all be worth it.”
Kieran looked at his face, searching for any sign of lying. For some time, he had feared that Sanheim was playing him false. He saw no confirmation in Sanheim’s eyes, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that when he had made this deal, he had sealed his own fate. But what choice did he have? One way or another, he was fully committed now.
“All right,” Kieran said. “We’re agreed. I’ll leave soon. Just make sure you protect me if something goes wrong.”
“You know I can’t interfere,” Sanheim said.
“Convenient, that,” Kieran replied.
Sanheim gave him one last look.
“Don’t fail me,” he said. “Don’t fail her. This is not a game you can afford to lose.”
Kieran woke up in a cold sweat.
Chapter 29
October 25, 2007
Kate sat holding Quinn’s hand, watching him sleep. Since the other night, he had woken up only twice and then been quickly sedated.
The doctors talked to her nonstop in the meantime, discussing skin grafts, physical therapy—a range of options Quinn would never need or want. They were about to witness a genuine miracle.
As it grew closer to Halloween, she could feel herself—and Quinn—growing steadily stronger. She knew he was healing. Whether it would be in enough time to help them was an open question—he was in no condition to face Sawyer yet. But Kate thought she was beginning to see pink, whole flesh where just a day before there was nothing but charred ruin.
“How’s he doing?” a voice behind her asked.
Kate turned to see Tim enter the room. He had called twice, but not talked long. She had actually been eager to talk to him. She had spent every waking moment beside Quinn—she hadn’t seen the news in days.
“I don’t know,” Kate said. “He’s getting better, I think, but we don’t have a lot of time.”
“Can you tell me what happened?”
“What do the police think?” she asked. “I keep waiting for someone to arrest Quinn or me.”
Tim laughed out loud.
“They haven’t told you, have they?” he said.
He sat down in a small plastic chair in the corner of the room.
“The official story? Quinn’s a goddamned hero,” Tim said. “I had Helen write up the article—figured Quinn would appreciate the irony. When the boys from one of the houses woke up, they said they dreamed a man came in and carried them out of the fire. The authorities, not unreasonably, concluded it was Quinn. He was found lying next to them in the grass.”
Kate’s ghosts had done their jobs better than she could have imagined. Although some Ashburn residents had been admitted to the hospital with burns, none were severe. Most had no idea what had happened to them. They had woken in their yards to find their homes burning down. The ghosts had moved Quinn safely away.
The firefighters had found Kate on the grass and treated her as a potential burn victim. They assumed she passed out due to smoke inhalation, which is why she was hooked up to an IV drip when she initially awoke in the hospital. No one bothered to ask her why she was there in the first place when she lived a few miles away.
“Of course, there are holes in the story,” Tim continued. “How did Quinn save every resident on the block? How did the fires start? Why is Quinn burned but nobody else? But luckily for Quinn, this is a funny town. Brown wanted a hero, not a villain, so that’s what Quinn is now. Assuming he recovers, they’ll probably give him a civic award.”
“So they don’t think we started the fires?” Kate asked, almost unwilling to believe it.
“I may have helped with that,” Tim said. “I suggested it was another natural gas explosion, like the one Quinn and Janus covered several years ago. Doesn’t fit the pattern, of course, but that doesn’t matter. What matters is that there’s some explanation they can offer and this one fit the bill.”
“Thank you,” Kate said.
“You want to tell me what really happened?” Tim asked.
“I’m not sure you would believe me if I did,” she responded.
“Did you win?” he asked. “Is it over?”
Kate lowered her head.
“No,” she said. “We didn’t. We very nearly lost everything.”
“Are we safe?”
“I don’t know,” she said. “Probably not. I hurt them, I know that. It may take a few days for them to recover. Beyond that, I don’t know.”
“I’ve read up on the legends,” Tim said. “This can’t go on forever, can it?”
“No,” she said. “One way or another, it ends on Halloween.”
“Is Quinn going to recover by then?”
“You ask a lot of questions, you know that?”
“I’m a reporter,” Tim said. �
��It doesn’t turn off.”
“I don’t know,” Kate replied. “Hopefully.”
“Do you have a plan?”
Kate looked at him in exasperation.
“Does it look like I have a plan?” she asked. “I need to be doing research. The thing that attacked us—we need to know more about it. Beyond that, your guess is as good as mine. He’ll strike again, but I’m not sure when or how—that depends on just how badly I hurt him.”
“What?” Tim asked.
“I’m not sure you want to hear this part,” Kate said.
Tim leaned back in his chair and gave her a thoughtful look.
“I’m sorry about last week,” he said finally. “You were right. I already had enough proof that something supernatural was going on. I just didn’t want to accept it. Your demonstration was a little too effective for my taste.”
“I didn’t know it would go that far,” Kate said. “I thought I could just be him for a moment and stop. But I understand what I am now—that shouldn’t happen again.”
“So,” Tim asked. “Do I want to know what you are?”
“Probably not,” she said. “There are some things about it I don’t get—and I’ll have to before we face the other Prince of Sanheim. The problem is, the one person I think could have helped us is already dead.”
“Madame Zora,” Tim said.
“Precisely,” she replied. “And to be honest, I’m spending all my time just sitting by Quinn’s side. I can’t risk leaving him.”
“Let me help,” Tim said.
“Do you want to help us?” she asked. “You did shoot me, you know.”
“What you’re facing seems to be a threat to this whole county.”
“Yes,” Kate said without hesitation. “Absolutely.”
“Then I want to assist you in any way I can,” he said. “I couldn’t stop Lord Halloween... and I still feel the sting of that failure. If I can help now, I want to do it. You don’t have to tell me why, but you can tell me what you need.”
“Okay,” she said. “First I’m going to need some books on Celtic myths. What I saw the other night was unique, to say the least. I’m looking for a creature with rainbow colored hair that can breathe fire.”
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