Lover At Last(155)

To mark her…

The sound of his phone going off was exactly the wrong thing at the wrong time: The ringing from his coat seemed to snap her back to reality, her eyes flaring as they slid away, her hands locking on the steering wheel as if she were trying to ground herself.

She didn’t look at him as she put the window up, engaged the engine, and drove off.

Leaving Assail panting in the cold.





FIFTY-FIVE


Qhuinn left Layla’s room shortly thereafter, his shitkickers carrying him fast across the narrow rug that ran down the corridor to the head of the stairs. As he kept going by Wrath’s study, he was vaguely aware of someone calling his name, but he paid no attention.

At the far end of the hall of statues, past Z and Bella’s suite, the room where Payne and Manny stayed had a closed door, but the sound of a television quietly murmured on the far side.

Qhuinn took a second to collect the pieces of his blown mind, and then knocked.

“Enter,” came the response.

As he stepped inside, the room was awash in a blue glow, the TV providing the light. Payne was lying in the bed, her skin so pale it reflected the changing images projected onto it.

“Greetings,” she said in a slurred voice.

“Jesus…Christ…”

“No, I am afraid not.” She smiled. Or at least, half of her mouth did. “Pardon me if I do not get up to offer greetings.”

He shut the door softly. “What happened?”

Even though he sort of knew.

“Is she well?” Payne asked. “Is your female pregnant still?”

“The tests seem to indicate so.”

“Good. That pleases me.”

“Are you dying?” he blurted out. And then wanted to knee himself in his own ’nads.

She laughed roughly. “I do not believe so. I’m very weak, however.”

Qhuinn’s feet carried him across the carpet. “So…what happened?”

Payne struggled to push herself higher on her pillows, but then gave up. “I think I’m losing my gift.” She groaned as she moved her legs under the duvet. “When I first came here, I was able to lay hands and heal with little or no after effects. Every time I do it, however, the effort appears to drag me down further. And what I endeavored with your female and your young was…”

“You nearly killed yourself,” he filled in.

She shrugged. “I woke up on the floor next to her bed. I dragged myself down here. Manny got me out of bed earlier, and I did have some energy. Now, it seems to have flagged once more.”

“Is there anything I can do?”

“I think I must needs go to my mother’s sanctuary.” This was said with total derision. “For a recharge, as it were. It seems logical, as that may well have been the locus of my gift. I just need to get strong enough to make the trip, so to speak—well, that and gather the will to. I should much prefer to remain down here. The decision, however, appears to be making itself for me. One cannot negotiate with one’s physical form, after a point.”

Yeah, he knew how that was.

“I can’t…” He dragged a hand through his hair. “I don’t know how to thank you.”

“When she gives birth, then you may thank me. There is much unknown ahead that is still to be crossed.”

Not anymore, he thought. His vision, the one on the door to the Fade, was once again on track to coming true.

And this time it was going to stay that way.

Qhuinn withdrew one of the daggers from his chest and streaked the sharp blade across the inside of his palm. As blood welled and started to drip, he offered himself to the female.

“I hereby offer the oath of my—” He stopped short. He didn’t have any bloodline to speak of, not with that disavowal in his background. “I offer the oath of my honor to you and yours from now until the final beat of my heart and the last breath in my lungs. Anything you shall call upon me for shall be provided without question or hesitation.”

On one level, it seemed ridiculous to put himself out like that to the daughter of a motherfucking deity. Like Payne needed any help?

Payne’s dagger hand met his and latched on tight. “I would rather have your honor than any bloodline upon the earth.”

As their eyes met, he had a thought that it was not male-to-female, but fighter-to-fighter, in spite of their sexes.

“I will never be able to thank you enough,” he said.

“Would that she makes it through. Both of them, that is.”

“I have the sense they will now. Thanks to you.”

It felt weird to want to bow to the female, but some things you just went with, and he did. Then he turned away, not wanting to keep her up if she was going to rest.