“Hey, don’t say that. My sister has been taken too. The King has taken her, killed many of our clan and taken her to Union City. That’s where I’m going. It isn’t her fault that he decided he wanted her, no more than it was your fault, Shay. He’s the one to blame.” Quinn murmured, her hand reaching up to cover Shay’s ghostly one on her shoulder. Shay gave her a weak watery smile and continued.
“My Father was out on a hunt when they came, he heard the chaos from the woods but by the time he got back to the village he was too late. My Mother had tried to protect me, she had thrown herself in front of the soldiers and ordered me to run but I… I just couldn’t. I was 11 when she died for me and I wasted her sacrifice. They took me anyway.”
“You were just a child. You can’t blame yourself,” Quinn offered, her heart breaking for the pretty young girl who had already lost so much. She reminded her of Amira with her youthful innocence and self-deprecating ways. It made her heart ache even more.
“That’s crap… there are no such thing as children in this world anymore. We are born and we must grow up quickly or… well, I guess we know what happens. Anyway, the King’s men took me to Union City and he experimented on me. He wanted my gift for his own and he was trying to separate it from my body. Eventually, he found a way that worked. He tried it on a few others first… I can still hear their screams… then it was my turn.” Shay’s tears were falling freely now.
“Hey, you don’t have to-“
“Yes I do, I need your help, Quinn. So I need to tell you why,” Shay insisted adamantly, wiping away at her eyes furiously. “He put me in some sort of machine… I can’t really remember it but it was big, silver and I was strapped down at the wrists, waist, ankles and throat by silver straps. I don’t quite remember what happened after that. He said something about it working properly this time and then there was this flash of light, pain like nothing I had ever felt before and then… nothing. I was floating and at first I thought I was dead and I suppose in a way I was… still am. I could see my body beneath me and I could hear the King shouting about ‘catching it’. It took me a moment to figure out that he was talking about me. I managed to escape through an air vent and before I knew it I was flying… it was odd to me at first… my soul separated from my body, unable to hold onto anything, just blowing like dust in the wind… it took me a long time to get a handle on it. Almost a year I think. Then it took me another year to find my Father. At first I thought he was dead, that he had been killed in the aftermath of the attack on our village but eventually I found him, far north. He was a drunken mess. For weeks he thought I was a hallucination but eventually I was able to convince him I was real. I never told him the extent of what happened, he has suffered enough. I can’t imagine what it must have been like for him. Losing his wife and believing he had lost his daughter, powerless to do anything about it… then out of the blue his daughter returns, but she returns broken in a way that can’t be fixed… at least it couldn’t be fixed… until now.”
“That’s the part I still don’t understand, Shay,” Quinn murmured, tears in her own eyes for the loss this family had suffered. She could be cold, downright heartless at times, she knew it. But, what she refused to acknowledge, what most failed to see, was that she felt with a powerful will… she felt everything… it had hardened her.
“My Father trained me again once he had returned to himself, just like he had before, and after some time I was able to control this ghostly manifestation I have become. I can choose where and when I appear, where I go, how I move. I can also project myself anywhere I have been before in this form in the blink of an eye. Well, anywhere that isn’t coated in silver. Two years ago I started flashing back to Union City, just for a few moments at a time at first, you know, to check on my body. It is still ‘alive’ if you can call it that. The King has it trussed up to life support. My heart carries on beating and my lungs keep on breathing but there is nobody home… probably because I’m here… anyway, on one of these trips I overheard King Jackson arguing with one of his advisors. You know he employs several readers? They see the past, the present and the future and he keeps them on a short leash. The youngest, Brea, was telling him about a vision she had had about a woman who could end his empire. He was enraged and he killed her right then and there… just for speaking of her vision. Of course then he had a problem… he had murdered the only source of information on you. The other readers, Alessi and Dalia, were ordered to find out if the vision Brea had was true. Neither of them are as gifted as Brea was so all they could come up with was the prophecy I just told you… They also told the King that he would find the woman he sought living in the outlands with a clan of other gifted. So he has been searching for you since. He has pillaged and destroyed seventeen clans in his search for you. Eleven of those, we had recently visited ourselves. So many women and children dead by his orders.”
“Gods… well, say that this prophecy thing does refer to me… that doesn’t explain why you think I’d be able to help you,” Quinn said, momentarily suspending her disbelief. It wasn’t true of course… she couldn’t overcome an empire… she couldn’t even protect her own sister.
“Seeing this prophecy gave me an idea. Perhaps, if there was one with gifts that could end an empire, there might be one who could force my spirit back into my body. My Father and I travelled throughout the outlands looking for another reader… we eventually found one far west from here. She told us that the woman in the King’s prophecy would be able to complete feats unknown to any others. That she, once she was able to control her gifts, would have complete dominion over the forces of the light and the dark and she would be able to force my soul back where it belongs. She told me that you would be able to help me live again.”
Quinn stared at Shay, watching as her luminescent hair floated around her in an ethereal halo, her eyes bright with earnest hope and admiration. “Shay… I… I don’t think the prophecy is about me. I would help you, I swear I would, but I don’t think I can… and I need to save my sister first,” Quinn finally murmured, feeling like the world’s biggest asshole.
“But that’s the point, isn’t it? It is you because you don’t believe that it could be. You don’t know how powerful you are, Quinn Hunter. Besides, even if it isn’t you, the King and the rebellion both believe it is, so they will be after you regardless. And, as for your sister, you think she has been taken to Union City? That’s where my body is. I have returned to the Kings fortress many times to check on my body… I know the place better than any other. You could help me and your sister at the same time… and we could help ourselves and you… please, Quinn, consider it.”
“You know the layout?”
“Yes,” Shay nodded, a caged excitement brewing stronger in her eyes.
“You said you could go there whenever you felt like it? Could you see if she’s there yet?”
“Of course, what does she look like?”
“She’s small, smaller than me, long dark hair, brown eyes, thin but not too thin, pretty smile, sarcastic attitude… she’s… she’s my sister,” Quinn ended on a cracked whisper, her voice breaking with the emotion she wasn’t allowing herself to feel.
“I’ll try and find her,” with that Shay disappeared in the blink of an eye. One moment she was there and the next she was just gone, leaving Quinn to stare into the darkened forest ahead of her. She was still staring into nothingness when she felt a tug on the chain above her. Wheeling round, her heart in her throat she saw a very pissed off looking hunter looming above her. Slade sneered at her as he unhooked her chain from the tree.
“Go.” he growled, unlocking the cuffs from her wrists in a not-so-gentle manner before turning on his heel and settling back into his bed of heather leaving her to stare open-mouthed at his back.
“Hey! Asshole! I’m not leaving,” she shouted after a moment, getting irritated herself now. She could once again feel herself getting angry only this time it wasn’t being suppressed by his gifts or the odd metal cuffs.
>
“Yes, you are. Just leave. You didn’t want to be here anyway. I won’t have you putting hope in her heart only to break it,” he shouted suddenly turning around and leaping to his feet. She jumped up and stalked towards him as well until they met in the middle of the small clearing they had made.
“I won’t break her heart. I haven’t promised anything, damn it!”
“Exactly, you haven’t promised anything. But I have. I’ve promised that I will never let anyone hurt her, ever again. That includes you.”
“Why would I hurt her?”
“You said it yourself. You only care about your sister. You sent my daughter off to find her not giving a shit about her safety and when she comes back we both know you’ll take whatever she tells you, run off in the middle of the night and leave us here to rot. You don’t care about her, I know it and you know it. So I won’t let you make her believe that you do only to abandon her,” Slade growled angrily, his large frame shuddering with barely controlled rage.
“If what she says is true then we could help each other,” Quinn said after a moment. He was making her feel defensive but she understood his anger, his need to protect Shay. Hell, twenty minutes ago he would have been right and she would have taken his offer, but then… maybe not. She was never in the habit of doing what she was told. In fact, she had always been downright contrary. No point in breaking the habit of a lifetime.
“Yeah, well, we both know that as soon as your sister is safe, you’ll abandon my daughter. Don’t think that I, for one moment, believe this shit about you being some kind of chosen one that can save us all… that’s bullshit.” Quinn nodded, she thought so too. “I was looking for you because Shay believes it and it gave her hope. Now that we have you… shit, I don’t know what to do with you… maybe I should just hand you over to the rebellion. Get myself the ten thousand platinum I was promised and Shay and I could disappear. Maybe I could pay a guard to smuggle her body out and find another way of restoring her. Point being, I don’t think we need you.” He had stopped talking to her halfway through his speech and began muttering to himself but when he finished he was looking her square in the eye, a cold gleam there. Still only one part of what he had said was sticking with her.
“Ten thousand? Shit…” he frowned at her apparent nonchalance but seemed to be nodding along with her incredulity. “Look, Slade, I don’t really like you. You’re kind of an asshole. You tied me up and dragged me through the forest with no explanation. You haven’t given a shit about my needs or the fact that my little sister is out there, probably about to go through the same thing that Shay went through. You don’t care about me and I don’t care about you. But this isn’t about you… or me. This is about Shay and Amira. That’s my sister’s name. She is sweet and kind and better than you or I could ever be. Like Shay. I won’t help you but I will help her and she will help me find Amira. You are just along for the ride. So back off!” She ended with a growl of her own a small tendril of flame leapt from her fingers as she pushed her palms against his chest. He barely moved and the flames fizzled out before making contact with his shirt, detracting from the fierce message she was trying to convey but he seemed mildly impressed that she wasn’t afraid of him. He was an imposing guy. His grizzly demeanour, scarred face and large visage were enough to frighten anyone and in truth she felt intimidated but she wasn’t in the habit of showing anyone when she was afraid, least of all herself.
“Fine, you do what you want. I won’t stop you but know this, if you hurt her, I’ll kill you myself.”
“Fine.”
“Fine.” The two stared each other down until a soft cough diverted their attention.
“Squidge? What’s wrong?” Slade went to his daughter’s side, his hands hovering over her. Quinn had the sudden realisation that he hadn’t been able to feel his daughter as she had. He hadn’t been able to hold her or even hold her hand since she had returned to him… it made her heart soften a little towards him. Not much, but a little.
“Amira isn’t at the City yet but she is en route.” Shay murmured softly. Her cheeks glistened with tears and her ghostly hands shook fervently.
“Shay? What is it?” Quinn asked, moving closer to the girl and ignoring the throaty growl emanating from Slade’s chest.
“King Jackson… he knows you have been identified. He has some sort of mole in the Rebellion. He knows you were sent to find her. He sent men to the rebellion headquarters… so much death. Daddy, so many…” Slade frowned, her pain and upset echoed on his face as he held his hand up to her cheek but it seemed to float right through, confirming Quinn’s suspicions. Seeing that he was at a loss on how to comfort his daughter, Quinn stepped closer to her and held out her hand to the young girl. Shay ignored it and instead stepped closer and flung her arms around her, holding her tight and refusing to let go. It must have been her first hug in a long time too, Quinn thought to herself as she hugged her back, ignoring the cold, damp feeling of her small frame against her own. Slade looked on in mixed shock, resentment and gratitude as she gave his daughter the comfort he couldn’t.
“Don’t worry, Squidge. We’ll get you fixed up and then we’ll get away.”
“But all those people Daddy, they were in so much pain,” she murmured, her voice muffled as she buried her face into Quinn’s shoulder.
“There’s nothing we can do for them now, Shay. We’ll deal with what’s in front of us. We’ll get you back in your body and we’ll save Amira. Then we’ll think about what’s next. Okay?” Quinn said, stroking up and down her back as she had whenever her sister was upset. It was odd to do such a familiar motion with someone other than Amira.
“Okay,” she nodded, still holding on tight.
“Let’s get some sleep. We’ll move on at first light,” Slade muttered, frowning once more at the hug he couldn’t partake in before turning around and laying back onto his bed of heather. Quinn, when she had finally extricated herself from the younger girl did the same. Settling onto her bed she patted the heather beside her and Shay floated down to settle there, though she wasn’t quite sitting, just hovering above the space.
“Tell me what you saw, Shay,” Quinn murmured, holding the girls hand tightly in hers.
“I went to the fortress first. The King was angry and shouting at his captains. He was screaming that they had caught the wrong one and it didn’t matter that they were almost there. Amira is expected to arrive there tomorrow night. Apparently he was told by someone in the rebellion that she is your sister and not you… I think he might try and use her to his advantage.”
“Mmmm, I was thinking the same. Did you check on your body?”
“I did… its still in the same place. Truth be told I think he has forgotten about me. I did see something else though. There were many more bodies there… I couldn’t see any other souls though.”
“You think he’s succeeded where he failed with you?”
“I do. I think he has their souls, their gifts, inside himself… he didn’t look… something wasn’t right about him.””
“Great… what about the rebellion?”
“They were… it was awful…”
“Okay… well, like I said… one thing at a time, okay?” Quinn murmured squeezing her hand. Changing the subject, she murmured, “Hey, why does your dad call you Squidge?”
“I don’t know,” she muttered in sudden irritation, “just to annoy me I think.” Quinn chuckled at her irritation. She couldn’t help it.
“My Mother used to call me Jabber. But I think it better suits Amira. That girl doesn’t know when to shut up.”
“Tell me about her,” Shay murmured, her ghostly form lying down next to Quinn. They talked and giggled into the night. A small bit of levity that was sorely needed. The events of the past day weighing heavily on them both.
Chapter 6
Slade woke suddenly, a clawed feeling in his chest telling him something was wrong. He turned over quickly in his heather bed to find Quinn’s empty. Both she and Shay we
re gone. His heart beating twice its normal speed, he jumped up and grabbed his bag. He scoured the forest floor, searching for prints to tell him where they had gone. He knew it… he knew she would abandon them. Damn it… why hadn’t he listened to his gut. Why had he allowed her apparent kindness to fool him? When she had been able to hold his daughter the night before he found himself beginning to believe in the prophecy that he had been told. But no… she was gone and it was all bullshit just like he knew it would be… but where the hell was Shay? As if to answer his unspoken question he heard a scream coming from the north. Pulling his gun free from his holster he raced through the trees in its direction. The fact that she was an ethereal mass was unimportant to him right then, the fact that it was impossible to hurt her, to even touch her physically in her current form didn’t matter. He just had to get to her. He couldn’t let her down twice. He burst from the treeline into a small clearing next to a babbling brook but he paid no attention to the water. Instead his eyes were fixed on his daughter. She was pointing at the fish Quinn had speared with her throwing knife and shaking her head.
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