Her. Shit. She was a her. All the flirting, the way I stared at her ass, it all slammed together.
Her pulse was steady, but the clammy pallor of her skin made my heart race. Blood pooled from her wounds, though not a drophad landed anywhere but the floor beneath her. I’d felt her fall, yet somehow, I found her under a table, inside a tent.
I pulled my cloak from my void and wrapped it around her, tucking it close as if it could shield her from what had already happened. Cradling her carefully, her slight frame shuddered in my arms. A broken, pain-filled wheeze slipped from her lips, and my chest tightened—, but she didn’t wake.
“What is that?” Willow exclaimed as I stood. “Is that a child? How did he get into my tent?”
I had the same question. Instead of voicing it, I pulled Quinn’s limp body close to my chest. She was a powerhouse with limited control, hiding her identity. I cradled her, understanding exactly how precious this mystery was in my arms.
Raw power I couldn't control swirled around us, making the dresses in the shop flutter. The shorter of the two women started to yell, while Freya’s gaze dropped to Quinn. The McDonalds believed anyone who didn’t share their blood was ripe for slavery. They couldn’t find out.
I bolted out of the tent, leaving waves of magic in the air behind me. One-handed, I hauled myself and Quinn, still tucked under one arm, onto the horse. We’d not taken two steps before my magic came out of me and stabbed into the little body in my arms. A ball of solid emotion formed in my chest, right next to my own beating heart. Quinn’s life filled my awareness. She had so many injuries. I’d never been so thankful someone was unconscious in my entire life.
What I’d done hit me next. This had to be a tether. I knew what they were. I knew what they represented, but I’d never created one myself. Except, Quinn now lay at the other end of my magic, and not by either of our choices.
Angela. My contract. And now this tether, burning in my chest. I didn’t want it. I hadn’t asked for it. But my magic didn’t care.
I grunted. It clearly wanted me to save her. I’d done that. Now, I had to cut this tether before it destroyed the future I sold my very genetics for.
Chapter 15
Quinn
Ididn’trememberdrivingto the forest, but I found myself standing in front of a massive tree. Long veins of red bark shot high into the sky. The green foliage high above me resembled trees stacked on top of trees, so perfectly cone-shaped it seemed almost unnatural.
I dropped my head back and spun. Was I high? Had I overdosed on my meds?
The star-filled sky twisted and twinkled. I reached out to touch the tree before remembering and pulling my hand back to my chest. Unfortunately, my body still leaned, and I fell forward into a fern-looking bush to the side.
The leaves looked so soft.
Thoughtlessly, I reached out and stroked them. Nothing bad happened.
Joy bubbled out of my throat in a peal of laughter.
I had to be high.
I don’t know how long I spent rolling and feeling every tree and bush. I was a city girl. We had some houseplants and a bit of open space near the apartment, but it was nothing like this. Even better, nothing I touched broke.
Maybe this is what I needed. I was fixed. I could be normal.
I reached into my pocket and pulled out my phone, only to feel it fall to pieces before it fully exited my pocket. Energy poured out of me, tightening, making my spine tingle with cold, magic.
I wasn’t fixed.
I was stuck in a delusion; this was a lucid dream. Somewhere, my body sat, taking my phone apart piece by piece so I’d believe magic was real.
The ground shook, and I looked down, only to find myself standing on top of a lake. Stars reflected off its calm, inky surface. I took a step, and cool water rippled away from my bare feet. Had my feet always been bare?
I moved forward, step by step, watching the ripples churn the sky’s reflection, bending stars and moonlight as though I were rearranging the heavens themselves. I laughed and turned a circle only to see myself on the shore, hunched over a log as I stripped my phone, desperate to keep the fantasy alive.
I woke with a start at the sound of a door slamming. My fall. Pain. I’d blacked out before I hit the ground. I wrenched my eyes open, expecting to see the lights of my hospital room, only to find rain streaking the skylight of my familiar dorm.
This wasn’t the operating table or a new delusion. I was back in the Architect’s castle, except I still didn’t know if I existed in a delusion…or was it my old life I’d made up?
One way I tried to control my blackouts was by letting them happen. But they pulled me into vivid, lucid dreams I could barely escape. I’d watch other versions of myself moving through their lives and dance around them, a wild witch haunting her own shadows.
I shuddered. Whatever tragic, dramatic conclusion I’d drawn from those memories died as my waking motions sent waves of pain across my nerves. My battered body was in agony.
