“What are you doing to me?” she asked calmly.
“Hmm? Oh, sorry…” all at once the calm she had felt lifted and she was back to being fearful and angry. The wave of emotion caught her somewhat off guard and caused her to stagger.
“That’s your gift? You mess with people’s minds?” she spat, her tone accusatory and weary.
“Yeah, well, we all have issues with control now and then, don’t we?” he murmured, an emerald eye piercing through her with its own accusation.
“Why didn’t you use your gift on me in the forest? I almost killed you…” there was no remorse in her tone, only curiosity and Kieron quirked an eyebrow at her apparent nonchalance.
“Funny thing about my gift, I can calm the masses but only if I am calm myself. You had a knife to my throat and I was being chased by the Union. Not the ideal recipe for a calm mind.”
“So you’re calm now?” she asked incredulously.
“I am… I have a plan,” he said, looking up so she could see his full face. As though before her eyes his sunken gaunt cheeks had filled slightly and his emaciated form seemed stronger. She knew that all Immortals had regenerative abilities but even so, his rapidly increasing health was impressive. Kieron took her silence for nonchalance once more and continued. “I have a fairly good idea where the Union will take your sister. If-”
“You know where she is? Tell me!”
“I will… eventually. Look…” he held up his hands as she started to move towards him, brandishing her knife, all traces of calm gone. “I need to find some people and these people can help find your sister. You take me to them and we’ll take you to her.”
“Or you tell me where my sister is and I won’t kill you… yeah, I like that plan better.”
“Your sister will be taken to the King directly. She’s a healer… he’ll want her for his… collection.”
“What? What do you mean?” she growled, her temper rising and her control slipping.
“That’s what he does… if your unique in any way then he wants you… he takes what he wants,” his voice took on a melancholy quantity as a shudder wracked through him and then she felt the same wash of calm flow over her. Without intending to, she found her knife lowering and her anger melting away.
“Is that what happened to you? You were collected?”
“I was… I escaped… your sister isn’t the only one that’s there, Quinn. I have family there as well. My brother has the gift of regrowth. The king is hoping to harness his abilities for himself, as he wanted mine.”
“That’s impossible. You can’t take the gifts of others… you just… you can’t.”
“You couldn’t… but I fear he is getting close. He has a machine… it’s unholy, Quinn.”
“If that’s true then we can’t waste time looking for these people… we need to go now.”
“We wouldn’t last two minutes. I barely escaped with my life and that was just by accident. I’m certain his security will be doubled by now. Besides, the others I am talking about will be able to help us.” She got the sense he was lying to her, like he was holding something back but she couldn’t think past the fog of calm surrounding her. She felt herself agreeing with him, heard her own voice telling him that she would help him find these people and together they would find a way to recover Amira and Kieron’s brother from Union City.
“Let’s get moving then, shall we?” She watched as he stood, seemingly much taller than she had thought he was and waved his arm towards the tent. It shimmered for a moment before folding in on itself and disappearing into the ether. She wanted to gasp or express her surprise in some way but she couldn’t. Hell she felt like a freaking zombie. He cocked an eyebrow at her but she said nothing, instead she just waited like a docile slave as he did the same to the spit and the sack of rabbits until the only proof of their presence was a small darkened patch of earth where the fire had once been. She felt herself clawing against the control he had over her but it was a weak effort. She just couldn’t seem to muster up the strength to fight him, nor the will. “Come on, let’s go.”
“You have more than one gift,” she stated, finally able to squeak some words out.
“Yes… most of my clan does. One of our number even has control over fire, like you.” She said nothing. He had enough control over her already and she didn’t want to give him any reason to control her any further.
“I won’t run, you know? I need you to find my sister. You can stop…” she murmured, hoping he would listen.
“I’m sorry, Quinn. I don’t know that. As soon as we reach the others, I will release you. You have my word. Until then, welcome to your new reality.”
“Keep me this way and I will kill you as soon as you release me… you have my word,” she muttered without a shred of irritation or anger. It would have been eerie if she were on the receiving end of it. Kieron seemed to think so as he eyed her wearily. For a moment she thought he might change his mind and relinquish his control but it passed as quickly as it came.
“I’ll take my chances.”
“Why do you need me anyway? You could find your people without me,” she murmured, again without feeling but inside she was full on sulking.
“You’re a fighter… I’m not. My gifts have meant that I never had the need to fight. Still… I am weakened and I refuse to go back there.”
“What happened to you?” she asked in the same monotone voice that didn’t feel like hers. At that point she was grateful as it hid the depth of her emotions. She didn’t want to know what fate awaited Amira but at the same time she had to. He said nothing. Instead he shrugged his broad shoulders and continued walking. Infuriating asshole, the thought echoed through the recesses of her imprisoned mind but her body continued to walk after him like a faithful puppy. “Where are we going?” she asked, after a moment.
“I already told you. We are going to find my people in Monkshood.”
“Then we are going the wrong way…” she stopped walking as he did and took great pleasure in watching him flounder, his head turning this way and that as he tried to make sense of the sea of green and brown around them. He muttered to himself, walking a few steps to the west before turning back and walking the opposite way until eventually he conceded defeat and looked upon her with irritation. Though her features were still stuck in the same monotone expression he must have sensed the smug smirk she was wearing beneath because he scowled, rolled his eyes and walked to a stop in front of her.
“Which way?”
She tried to shrug her shoulders but her arm raised of its own accord pointing to the east in the direction of Monkshood Village. She knew it fairly well. It was a Union settlement, hell, all settlements were under Union control, but it was fairly neglected and ignored by the Union brass. Those from Union City found the little village uninhabitable due to the lack of facilities and fundamentals that they were used to in their ivory towers. At least that’s what Quinn thought. Though the main reason so few inhabited the little space was probably due to the poisonous plants that covered the grounds. The plants that gave the place its name. Monkshood was poisonous to all of her kind. It had a quality that caused convulsions and paralysis in most before eventual death, but in others its neurological effects caused their gifts to spiral out of control and they quickly lost their minds as well as their abilities. Rapid aging and agonising death would quickly follow. Even brushing by the plant would be enough to end life if the person was susceptible to its poison. She led the way, thinking on the uses of monkshood and a plan began to form in her mind. She mulled it over as they came closer and closer to their destination but something pulled her out of her reverie. If it hadn’t been for Kieron breaking twigs and branches every other step she might have realised they were being followed sooner.
“Quiet!”
“I didn’t say anything,” he muttered, breaking another twig as he continued walking like an ambling Mech mutt. She tried to hold up her hand but it wouldn’t move. She turned back to him hopi
ng her eyes were conveying the message she was trying to send. He must have understood because he quickly dropped to the ground and she felt his control over her slip a little. Not completely, she still felt connected to him, like she wouldn’t be able to run if she tried it, but enough that she could move a little more freely. She reached into her belt but her knives were gone.
“Give me my blades,” she hissed, angry that he had even dared to touch them. He eyed her cautiously with a look of concentration, as though he was mentally testing his hold over her before holding out his empty hand. She looked down at it, her ire increasing. Was he mocking her? She was about to ask as much but before her eyes all three of her blades appeared in his hand. She hadn’t even noticed him taking the smallest of the three out of her hand. The last time she remembered having it she had cut a hunk of rabbit off of the spit and then nothing… she didn’t like that one bit.
She snatched her blades from him and tucked the small one back into its place in her boot before sitting up a little, poking her head above the tall grass. She could see a small group walking towards their position. Three men and one woman, each with the Union insignia emblazoned on their blue shirts. The hated but all too familiar symbol glinted in the afternoon sun, the hard edges of the cross with the simple rose overlaying it was as feared and revered as the man it represented throughout her clan and she could taste her hatred as she looked upon it. Her anger swirled inside her faster and faster, the longer she looked. Before they had taken her sister she wouldn’t have given them a second thought. The world was a messed up place and she just wanted to live in it, but now… they had made an enemy where there wasn’t one. The group came closer and closer as she and Kieron lay low in the grass, barely breathing. The group veered off to the right, heading back into the forest away from them and she felt Kieron breathe a sigh of relief but she wasn’t satisfied. They had Amira. Her baby sister. Damn right, she wasn’t satisfied. Not thinking of the possible consequences, she stood swiftly, threw back her arm and sent a blade careening through the air, whistling as it went before it squelched into the back of the tallest of the men, hitting his heart. He let out a cry of anguish as Kieron tried to pull her to the ground but he had lost whatever control he had had as her fury continued to mount. The group stopped short as her victim fell to the ground and then they were turning, fully alert to the danger she presented. She didn’t miss a beat. She threw her second knife, hitting another in the throat as the two remaining pulled their weapons from their holsters. The man, with his dark shaggy hair and full beard, sneered as he produced a small handgun. She had never seen one before but she knew what they did and her eyes widened. The female produced a crossbow and they began stalking towards her. Shit. Maybe she hadn’t thought this through. No turning back now though. She crouched low and rolled to the left in one swift movement, using the tall grass to her advantage. She slipped the small knife out of her boot and crouched low once more. She heard footsteps moving towards her and she didn’t hesitate. She pulled back her arm as she stood and threw her knife. Another target down with skill and no small amount of luck and there was just one left. The douchebag with the gun. Because it would be, wouldn’t it? She crouched low and hurried towards the fallen body of her latest kill as something sharp and hot whizzed above her. Her breath caught in her throat and she crawled more urgently into the brush, her hands blindly feeling for the body as she panicked. Another blast above her shoulder followed by a loud bang had her falling forward, her arms outstretched. Lady luck must have been on her side as her fingers brushed against the still warm form of the dead Union soldier. Barely containing her relief her fingers clasped the handle of her small knife and she pulled it free with a squelch, ignoring the glassy eyed stare of the woman she had killed. Murderer. The word whispered through her mind but she refused to acknowledge it as she leaned back on her heels and poked her head above the grass. The moment her eyes cleared the long green blades, another projectile was hurtling towards her with a thunderous bang. She yelped falling backwards but not before the hot piece of silver metal pierced her shoulder. She gasped at the agonising pain, gritting her teeth so as to not give away her wound to the soldier out to kill her. She took a few deep breathes against the pain as her body began the process of healing itself and once again crouched into position. She pulled back her wrist, thankful that it wasn’t her throwing arm that had taken the hit and prepared to stand for her throw but before she could, a cold hard voice called out to her.
“Quinn Hunter, I have your friend. Give yourself up and I will spare his life,” he said, his words burning her ears as she gripped her knife harder. Was he gifted? Without thinking she stood, her arm still thrown back, prepared to strike and laid her eyes upon her hairy adversary. He had one arm wrapped around Kieron’s throat whilst the other held his handgun up to his head. Kieron had his eyes closed, probably concentrating on that gift of his. She noticed that he had not been able to regain any control over her and thought he had probably crumbled, unable to think clearly under the pressure. She didn’t blame him, hell, she could barely think clearly herself.
“Drop your weapon,” the hairy oaf snarled but she didn’t waiver. If she put down her knife there was nothing to stop him from shooting her and one hit from that thing was enough for her. On the other hand, if she didn’t then Kieron was as good as dead. Immortals could survive a lot but a direct hit to the brainpan, major organs or throat and they were history. Still, if Kieron did go down then it would leave her target completely open… and she had been considering poisoning him with monkshood not five minutes before…
“You kill him and I’ll kill you,” she murmured, looking for an opening. Kieron’s eyes popped open in surprise at her apparent decision not to sacrifice him. In all honesty, she was just as surprised as he was.
“He’ll still be dead,” the soldier sneered, his gleaming white teeth a stark contrast against his black beard.
“Yeah well, I don’t like him too much anyway,” she muttered, her eyes falling to Kieron’s. He blinked once and she took that as a sign that he understood. The oaf started to say something else but he was cut short when Kieron thrust his head back, taking his captor off guard. The soldier’s nose exploded in a cascade of blood and mucus as Kieron dropped to the ground and with one fluid motion, Quinn sent her blade hurtling through the air in a moment where the earth seemed to stop turning, until it finally hit home with a thud. The soldier looked down at the blade protruding from his chest before looking up at her. She had seen the look in his eyes before. It was the same look in her Mothers eyes when she had died. It was a look that said, ‘this wasn’t supposed to happen. This couldn’t happen.’ Hell, they were immortals for crying out loud and yet they died anyway. He fell to his knees with a final murmur of pain before falling forward onto the blade, pushing it deeper inside his body. A final guttural croak left his mouth before the life faded from his eyes.
Kieron sat back in the grass, his mouth slightly open and his eyes wide and glassy. Quinn didn’t have time to consider the horrors she had just committed or how close she had come to being taken. She had questions and she wanted answers. She moved around the fallen bodies, quickly scavenging anything of use and retrieving her blades. Two handguns, two long blades and a crossbow later and she was a one woman arsenal. She also found some strangely packaged product she suspected was food and a canteen of water. All in all, she felt pretty prepared. Now for the missing ingredient: Information. She stalked over to the still stunned immortal and crouched in front of him, her hand resting on her throwing knife.
“You lied to me.” She stated, her eyes flashing with anger. “Why are they after me? What do you know?”
“I don’t know…” he murmured dreamily.
“Hey! Look at me, dammit!” she snapped, her hands gripping his shoulders and shaking him slightly in irritation. He used her temper against her and reached forward with one swift sweep of his hand and pulled a blade from her belt as his other hand gripped her shirt. Her eyes widened
a little but she didn’t move as the blade rested in the small indent at the base of her throat.
“I just saved your life and this is how you repay me?” she muttered, doing her best to maintain control over her gifts as they began rising in response to the threat. He said nothing as he stared at her in concentration. She felt the now familiar pull of his abilities attempting to calm her but she was able to fight them this time. As though, when she had broken through his control before she had severed whatever hold he had had over her for good. He frowned after a moment, obviously realising that his gifts no longer had any effect.
“What the hell are you?” he murmured in a mixture of awe, fear and anger.
“I’m pissed is what I am… now give me my knife before you cut yourself,” she sneered, done with him.
“I… I can’t do that, Quinn. I’m sorry.”
“Why the hell not?”
“I can’t tell you that… not yet. Please, just come to Monkshood with me. My commander will explain everything, I swear it.”
She looked into his eyes, the cold silver still resting against her flesh and considered him once more. He was fearful, that was obvious, but she didn’t sense it was because of her… that was a novelty. Regardless, she hadn’t the time to mess around with him and whatever little crew of idiots he was working for. She rolled her eyes and released just a little of her control. In an instant her hand were engulfed in flames and Kieron was throwing himself backwards with a yelp. Seizing her moment she stood and stalked towards him, fighting herself to keep the flames from growing higher or, the Gods forbid, anything else slipped out. She didn’t want him dead after all… not yet anyway.
“How did he know my name? Why were they after me?” She snarled at Kieron as he lay panting within the grass.
“I… They think you’re the future leader of the rebellion…” he eventually said with a resigned sigh.
Dancing with Shadows Page 2