“Well that’s it then… you said you cared about her but now she’ll just die… you give up on you and you’re giving up on her. On both of them. They were stupid to put their faith in you. You can’t even look after yourself,” he spat, the words leaving a bad taste in his mouth.
“Shut up,” she murmured weakly but he could hear a spark of anger in her voice. He continued praying to whoever might hear him that he wouldn’t have to go too far and that she’d understand if he did.
“No… I’ll be sure to tell them. I’ll tell them as they lay dying that it’s your fault. That they won’t get to live because you couldn’t be bothered to save yourself.”
A small tendril of fire escaped from Quinn’s hand but fizzled out almost immediately.
“Please, stop,” she murmured, begging him. It would have been enough to stop him but he was certain if he did, that would have been the end of her. He didn’t want that. Not just for his sake or even Shay’s but for hers. She had saved his life. He felt like he owed her for that. Also, dare he say, he had come to care a little for the redheaded immortal with the shitty attitude.
“No. You should whisper your goodbyes now, Quinn. Because without you here, both of them are as good as dead. Maybe you’ll be lucky and you’ll get to see them on the other side. I would say they’d be happy to see you but… well, I’m sure they’ll be pissed that you’re the reason they’re dead. Both of them. Their deaths will be on your hands. Shay and Amira! Dead because of you!” he was shouting now, his concern and anger getting the better of him and she responded in kind.
“No!” In answer to his cruel words, her body erupted in flames, high and hot and full of anguish. A moment later and she was on her feet, stalking towards him. The closer she got to him, the higher the flames crawled, incinerating everything in their path. The light bulb burst in the heart and the metal walls seemed to cave outwards. He was sweating profusely and a small voice inside him warned him that he was liable to cook in the metal tomb he had put himself in as she came closer still.
“Quinn,” he whispered painfully as she came closer, her eyes bright, reflecting the orange and blue flames around her. She pulled her hand back with gusto as she approached him before releasing it, bringing it crashing down on his scarred cheek with an almighty crack. As she did, her flames went out and they were plunged into darkness. She slumped weakly to the floor panting and he wasn’t far behind her.
“Quinn?” he murmured into the darkness after a few minutes of panting. Her flames might have rescinded but the basement was still unbearably hot. Sweat poured from him, dripping into his eyes as he reached out a hand to find her.
“You’re an asshole, you know that?” she muttered, sounding much more like herself that she had in a while.
“I do…” he replied with a smirk.
“Thank you,” she muttered reluctantly after a moment just as a loud knocking followed by a painful expletive sounded on the hatch above them.
“For crying out loud… what the hell is going on down there?” Aaron’s voice, muffled by the metal door echoed through the bunker. “Hello?” he asked again, sounding a little more worried than irritated.
“We’re okay,” Slade called, “we’re coming up.”
“Erm… Slade, can I… I think I’m naked again.” Quinn murmured somewhat dejectedly beside him and he barely supressed a snort.
“Yep. You most definitely are. Again. In fact, I’m starting to think you’re doing this on purpose,” he grinned though she couldn’t see it in the darkness. Apparently, she sensed it though because her elbow jutted out into his ribs. He huffed out in pain but with a smile on his face as he pulled off his shirt.
“Here… put this on… and stop hitting me, woman,” he grunted as he began the climb up the stairway, his feet burning with each step on the dangerously soft metal. He opened the hatch to a gust of cool air and bright sunlight. Blinking against it, he saw Aaron’s concerned face peering at him with Shay hovering just behind his shoulder.
“Is she alright?” Shay asked, worriedly.
“She’s fine, Squidge. I think…” Slade murmured, climbing out of the basement and pointedly ignoring the pained look on Aaron’s face as he turned round to hold out a hand to Quinn. She came up behind him, looking sheepish. Her red hair was in disarray, poking out in odd angles but it didn’t take away from the fact that she was a vision wearing nothing but his shirt. He cleared his throat, suddenly realising how awkward it was. He was staring at Quinn, Quinn was staring at the floor, Aaron was staring at him and Shay was rubber necking between the three of them as they all stood silently in the kitchen.
“Erm… well. Aaron this is Quinn. Quinn meet Aaron.” Yeah… smooth.
“Good to meet you and everything but… what the hell is going on here?” Aaron exclaimed, drawing a snort of laughter from Shay. Slade threw a disapproving look in her direction as Quinn looked up at her with a small smile. Great. Apparently she found this whole thing funny as well.
“Maybe we could sit and talk about this somewhere a little less… awkward,” he offered, eliciting giggles from both Shay and Quinn. He gave the redhead an incredulous look as Aaron looked at him as though he had brought a crazy person into his house, which, hells, he might just have done. Eventually though, Aaron nodded and with one last disgruntled glance in his direction, led the way to a small, cosy sitting room. There were two cream coloured sofas lining two of the walls, with several bookcases lining the wall and a holocaster in the centre on a small table. Slade let out a whistle when he saw it.
“Wow, must be doing well for yourself to get one of those?” Slade murmured, phrasing it like a question though it sounded more like an accusation.
“Perk of the job, I guess,” Aaron muttered with a shrug as he took a seat close to the window. Slade walked over and drew the curtains, just in case, before taking a seat beside him. Quinn and Shay took places on the opposite sofa. Well Quinn sat and Shay floated above the seat but same difference. Then things got really awkward.
Chapter 9
“I’m glad you’re okay,” Shay murmured, her small hands reaching out to clutch one of Quinn’s. Quinn squeezed back and gave her a weak smile.
“Yeah I… I don’t know what happened back there.”
“I was really scared Quinn, I thought… I thought you were going to die,” she murmured, tears filling her large luminous eyes.
“Me too,” Quinn said after a moment. No point in lying about it. “But I didn’t and I feel much better. Seems like your Father’s not just a pretty face,” she said with a smile.
“You think his face is pretty?” Shay said with a giggle and a wiggle of her eyebrows. Quinn chuckled and shook her head as she caught a sideways glance from Slade. The other immortal though was staring at her as though she were some form of shit-covered vermin.
“What’s his problem?” she murmured to Shay who sighed loudly.
“He can’t see me. He thinks my dad is hallucinating out of grief or something. I’m guessing he thinks you’re making it worse.”
“Huh… makes sense, I guess.”
“Okay, I’m sorry… who the fuck is she talking to,” Aaron suddenly shouted, standing to his feet.
“Aaron…” Slade began, hanging his head in clear frustration.
“No Slade… you, you I expect to be a bit messed up… seeing your dead daughter and all that but this one… if she thinks she can mess with your emotions like that then she can get the fuck out,” he blared, clearly protective of his big brother.
“Hey… I’m sorry you think that but-,” Quinn began, standing up and holding her hands out in front of her defensively.
“Don’t give me that. You’re sick. You want platinum from him or something? Maybe you want sex, how the hell should I know? But you can’t be using people’s grief against them like that, it ain’t right,” he continued, clearly a slave to his own outrage as Quinn felt a blush creep over her cheeks though she couldn’t understand what had caused it.
“Tell him if he doesn’t sit down I’ll tell Dad about the time I walked in on him and Deadre in the barn,” Shay murmured into Quinn’s ear and she repeated it as low as she could but Slade still caught the end of it. Aaron took a step back as though she slapped him as Slade frowned at him.
“Deadre? As in Deadre Farmer? She was married, Aaron,” Slade said, with a disapproving frown.
“But… but she… what the hell is she?” Aaron murmured, clearly afraid.
“Who? Me or Shay?” Quinn said with a sarcastic grin.
“Shay is dead,” Aaron spat at her, his anger returning and overpowering his confusion.
“No she isn’t. She is just… separated. I can see her and so can Slade. Now, if I were you I would stop telling him his daughter is dead. Just a thought,” Quinn nodded in Slade’s direction who was busy balling his fists and grinding his teeth, looking up at Aaron from beneath his furrowed eyebrows.
“Look, Brother… I am sorry but… this isn’t healthy. Your daughter, my niece, was lost to us… she isn’t coming back, Slade.”
“Hey, that’s enough,” Quinn said, angrily as Shay began to sob beside her. Slade also stood to his full six foot five height, towering over his brother, his chest heaving with anger and pain.
“Aaron, please… I know you don’t believe me but she is here. She is alive. The king-“
“The king killed her, Slade,” Aaron shouted, apparently unafraid of his brothers dominating visage. He took a step closer to Slade and reacting on instinct and nothing else, Quinn reached out and grabbed his arm. He turned towards her, sneering, but stopped short, the colour draining from his face as he looked in Shay’s direction.
“Shayby?” he murmured softly, his voice breaking. Moving towards her, he pulled his arm free from Quinn’s grasp and then seemed to stop short looking around him. Quinn looked over at Shay with a frown before grabbing hold of Aaron’s arm once more. He gasped as Shay appeared in front of him once more and let out a hoarse cry as he reached toward her. His hand never connected though, it just passed right through the young girl as Slade’s had done so many times.
“You… You’re beautiful, Shayby… Have I… have I lost my mind too?” he asked softly, though it was unclear who he was asking. His voice was barely above a whisper and his facial expression was somewhere between horror and wonder.
“Don’t be silly, Claren,” Shay said with a small smile. The pet name she had for him seemed to cut through him like a knife and he shuddered as a silent tear rolled down his cheek.
“This isn’t possible,” he muttered eventually, his senses apparently returning. He peered down at Quinn, an accusation in his eyes. “You’re doing this.”
She rolled her eyes and gave a huff, “whatever. If you want to believe that then fine. I haven’t got the energy to argue with you,” she finished, though she didn’t remove her hand.
“Claren, my body is still in Union City. We’re going to find it and Quinn is going to help me get back into it,” Shay said excitedly with a smile, her fingers twirling her ghostly hair. Quinn smiled at her before peering back at Slade. He was looking at her with such an odd expression. It made her somewhat uncomfortable. It wasn’t nasty or accusatory at all but there was something in his eyes that unnerved her, made her feel vulnerable. She ducked her head, turning away from him to find herself facing Aaron’s cold stare instead.
“Take your hands off of me,” he sneered, ripping his arm away. Shay let out a cry and Quinn moved to comfort her, taking hold of her hand. Aaron stared at her as if she was the lowest form of life left on the planet. “You make me sick,” he spat, before turning on his heel and storming out of the room. Quinn puffed out a breath of air from her cheeks and plopped down on the sofa. This was not the first time, or even the hundredth, that she had been looked at like some evil entity. Sadly, she was used to it. Every clan member, despite their acceptance of her and her sister, had been too afraid to be near her. Her gifts were frowned upon by those who knew of them but worse than that, as gifts were a manifestation of the soul, they deemed hers to be as dark as the shadows she wielded. Hell, she wasn’t even sure if they were wrong.
“I’m sorry, Quinn,” Slade murmured as he turned and followed his brother out of the room, slamming the door behind him. A few moments later and she heard them engaging in a heated argument. Shay seemed troubled by it, her hands wringing together as she ‘paced’ back and forth in front of the door, though her feet never touched the floor.
“Hey come on, come and sit with me. Tell me what happened when I was out,” Quinn gestured towards the sofa with a yawn. She understood she had been asleep most of the day but she was exhausted. Shay released a sigh of her own and came to hover beside her.
“He isn’t a bad man, you know?” she murmured, her fingers fiddling with the front of her night dress.
“I’m sure he’s not. He just seems worried for your Father. There isn’t anything wrong with that,” Quinn said, firmly believing it. Everyone should be so lucky. “If my Father had had someone watching his back like that, maybe he’d still be here,” she said with a sad smile.
“What happened to him?”
“He went out on a hunt one day and didn’t come back.” She said matter-of-factly, hoping to end the conversation there but Shay was looking up at her, curiosity oozing from her. “Story goes, the hunt was ambushed by Mech mutts and he took an arrow in the heart meant for one of them.”
“I’m sorry, Quinn. My Father is all I have… well, all I had. Until you,” she murmured, shyly tucking her hair behind her ear.
“Aw… you’ll make me blush,” Quinn said with a smile, pushing her shoulder into the younger girl. She chuckled beside her and pushed back.
“So… was I really embarrassing?” Quinn murmured, unsure if she wanted to know.
“Honestly, I don’t know. Dad wouldn’t tell me what happened at the outlander camp but I know you saved him and then passed out. He carried you out until he found me, had a go at me and then we made our way here. You were unconscious. Not snoring or drooling or anything though,” she added with a grin.
“Oh well, that’s a relief,” Quinn said with a chuckle, shaking her head.
“What do you think they’re talking about?” Shay asked, looking towards the door. The shouting seemed to have stopped now but neither man had returned.
“You and me, I’m guessing. Your Dad is probably saying that you’re real and I’m not evil and Aaron is probably saying the opposite,” she said with a shrug. “Hey, why do you call him Claren?”
“When I was little, I couldn’t say Uncle Aaron so…”
“Claren.”
“Yep,” she said with a smile. “I guess it stuck.”
The door opened and Aaron walked in with Slade, looking frustrated behind him. “My brother says you saved his life.” Aaron began, his shoulders shaking with visible irritation. “Thanks. You can stay the night.” With that, the blonde, clean shaven and reasonably well dressed man turned around and left the room. Quinn raised her eyebrows knowing that that was as good as it was going to get before offering Shay a small smile.
“See, I’m making friends,” she murmured sardonically. Shay let out a snort of laughter as she shook her head and even Slade gave her a weak, apologetic smile.
“I’m sorry, he’s just-,” he began.
“Don’t worry about it. Honestly.” She said, around another yawn.
“Thanks. Aaron has some clothes for you and there’s a shower down the hall. I’m going to make us something to eat,” he said awkwardly, his eyes lingering on her exposed legs before he looked away and headed down the hallway. Was he… had he been… nope. Not going there. She stood and wandered down the hallway to the room he had pointed to, she opened it slowly and poked her head inside. It was a pretty room. Pink and purple flowers decorated the wall and there was a real bed in the centre. She couldn’t remember the last time she had slept in a proper bed… or had a shower for that matter. It had been years, she knew that much. Feeling
a little excited at the prospect she opened a couple of drawers and found the clothes Slade had mentioned. There were a few t-shirts, some real underwear, a freaking bra, though it was a little too big, and a pair of pants made from cotton. Actual cotton. She smiled widely at them, turning towards the door with them in hand to find Aaron standing in the doorway.
“Oh… erm, hi,” she muttered awkwardly, shifting from foot to foot with the, too big, bra dangling from her fingertips. If the large immortal wasn’t so intimidating she might have found it comical.
“These clothes belonged to Cammy. Did Slade tell you about her?” he asked, without moving. She shook her head though she could probably guess who that was.
“Cammy was his wife. I’m surprised you haven’t seen her too,” he sneered.
“I don’t see the dead. I’m not a seer,” she said, a little more defensively than she intended.
“No… of course not. There is no hope to sell in seeing the dead is there. I mean, he buried Cammy. Saw her body return to the earth with his own eyes but Shay… well, he never saw her again. You can use that, can’t you?” She could feel the venom dripping from his words and she frowned at him in defiance.
“Screw you, okay? Did he tell you that he found me? That he practically kidnapped me? I didn’t ask to be here,” she said vehemently, her hands balling into fists, the clothes tightly clenched in them.
“So you’re just trying to protect yourself then? Well go now, I’ll stop him coming after you,” this time he appeared to be pleading and she felt for him. She really did.
“I… I’m sorry Aaron. I really am but I made a promise and I intend to see it through. After that, I’ll be gone and you won’t have to see me again, alright?” Aaron huffed, clearly pissed that she hadn’t accepted his offer before turning around and walking down the hallway, muttering to himself angrily. She peered after him only to see Slade standing at the bottom of the hallway, looking angry. He gave Aaron a dirty look as the blonde immortal walked past ignoring it and then looked back at her. The look he gave her made her gut wrench. He seemed… hurt. He turned away and as quickly as she’d seen it, the look was gone. Shaking her head in confusion she headed towards the bathroom and tried to work out the difficult enigma that was the shower. It took about ten minutes but she eventually figured out how to turn it on. Heaving a sigh of sheer ecstasy she climbed inside, under the hot water as it kneaded her sore muscles and washed off dirt she hadn’t known she was covered in. By the time she was finished, the bottom of the shower was caked in twigs, leaves and mud and she felt a pang of shame for allowing herself to get so dirty. Then again she had rolled around in the mud naked a day or so ago. As she stepped out she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. Her long auburn hair almost reached the base of her spine and it was a good shade or two lighter than she remembered it being. It really had been a long time since she’d showered. She threw a towel over her head and roughly dried the long strands but as she moved she spotted something in the mirror that made her pause. Squinting and twisting she eyed an odd marking that decorated the top of her back. It started at the top of her spine, in a central point between her shoulder blades. A charcoal-coloured vine-like pattern spread erratically, yet somehow rhythmically, like symmetrical lightning bolts, over her back, reaching towards her shoulders. She reached up and awkwardly ran her fingers over the branded skin, frowning. It felt warm to the touch and slightly raised. She didn’t know where it had come from but it certainly hadn’t been there before. A little concerned she dressed quickly, pulling on the underwear with, what was now, slightly muted excitement and fussing with the bra for longer than should have been necessary for any woman, but then it had been a while since she’d worn one. When she was fully clothed, except for her bare feet, she cleaned out the bottom of the shower, putting the twigs and leaves in a small bin beside the toilet. Speaking of the toilet… it had been years since she’d used a proper one of those as well. She looked at it dubiously for a while before deciding it would be safer to leave that one until she had a bit more courage. She picked up Slade’s shirt from the floor, moving it between her fingers as she once again pondered the look he had thrown her before disappearing down the corridor. Why was it worrying her so much? Deciding it would be better to ignore it for now she turned back to the mirror, eyeing a tired auburn haired woman whose skin was also a few shades lighter than she remembered it. Her grey eyes were bright and her lips were full. If it hadn’t been for the shadows beneath her eyes anyone would have been forgiven for believing she was the picture of health. In reality she was exhausted beyond belief and then there was her new branding… Shrugging to herself she gathered what remained of her will and left the bathroom in much the same state as she had found it in and was met with the sweet smell of cooking meat. With her mouth watering and her mind suddenly clear of any worries, she allowed her senses to guide her towards the kitchen where she found Slade and Aaron, apparently past their earlier argument, shoving each other and laughing. Aaron was poking fun at Slade’s cooking abilities and Slade was making juvenile comments about Aaron’s manhood. They seemed like… brothers. Feeling as though she was intruding she started backing out of the kitchen when Shay appeared behind her, startling her.
Dancing with Shadows Page 9