Erick let out a surprised hum and shut up, thankfully.
I kissed the back of Quinn’s sleeping head, drawing on her strength. If Quinn could do this, I could do this. Despite being alone and painfully naïve, she still managed to beplayful. Her dull eyes were dazzled by bits of magic I’d taken for granted. I’d never observed someone so infectiously spontaneous. She had a zest for life that gave me hope for something better.
My tears dried.
The beginning of sunrise filled the room with shadows.
Erick cleared his throat. “There’s much to be gained by joining the Architect.”
I frowned. I’d already said too much. “Indeed.”
Erick hummed before climbing out of his bed. Like me, he didn’t need to be here. Where my family was the most powerful in the North, or so my Prophet had taught us, his was the most powerful in the South, which was an actual fact. If I chose to go home, I would have a wealth of information to share with my family about the Architect’s budding goals. Maybe that’s why my Prophet agreed to let me come here.
Erick was likely in the same boat: with the support of his family, to gather information and look for weaknesses.
And there were so many holes in the Architect’s castle. His dream of inclusion was a joke, and his open-arms policy meant anyone and everyone could infiltrate his family. I could sneak an army past his poor defenses and lax rules. How he kept this castle for the last seven years was beyond me.
“A kid named Brody’s been showing up here a lot, looking for her,” Erick said on his way down the stairs. “I suggest we do something about that.”
“We?” I asked. Erick paused on a step right before his head disappeared and looked back at me. “We seem to have a similar perspective on our education. Might as well make friends.”
Erick wasn’t a mentalist who could read my mind, but his thoughts and mine apparently ran parallel. I didn’t answer. He could take my silence however he wanted.
The door to Quinn’s dorm clicked shut, and I snuggled back into her warmth, sleep overtaking me once more.
When I woke again, the sun streamed through her skylight. This time, Quinn stirred when I did. She blushed to find my arms wrapped around her, but didn’t pull away. My magic sang, and hope pushed away the remaining darkness clinging to my thoughts.
“Thanks for, well…” She trailed off, leaving a nice, quiet moment for her stomach to growl.
I didn’t want to let go of her, but I did, jumping off her bed and heading for her little kitchenette. “How did you fall far enough to get hurt like that?”
“I’m that special,” she responded.
I bit my lips together and spun, waiting to have my words from our first meeting thrown in my face, but Quinn wasn’t paying attention to me.
She ran her hands along her body as if amazed she was still in one piece. I frowned and took a breath to call her out on her lack of faith in my healing abilities, just as she lifted her shirt. The smooth underside of each of her breasts peeked out as she fingered her too-thin stomach. My words caught in my throat while my brain descended to my dick. Old me wouldn’t have hesitated. I imagined running my fingers along her sides and pulling her oversized shirt above her head to trap her arms so I could feast on her nipples.
I turned away from her and clenched my fist. After what I learned, I should probably have my dick cut off. Wrong. I was wrong. My daughter hadn’t stood a chance.
“I shouldn’t have called you special,” I said, once again looking for food or anything in the barren wasteland that was her pantry.
“It’s fine,” Quinn said. “You’re still an asshole and just as special as me in your own way.” She winked before her face fell. “And I was being stupid. I climbed where I shouldn’t and got hurt because of it.”
Climbed. Erick said she insisted she fell, but I didn’t believe it for a second.
She curled her legs to her chest and rested her chin on them. “Thank you again.”
The first time we met, my magic dazzled her. This morning, her simple thank you made my world brighter. A moment later, her insult sank in. I narrowed my eyes but inclined my head.
“You have no food.” I pushed away from her kitchenette. “Let’s go to the Happy Rooster. You lack focus. It’s keeping you from your magic.”
Her face fell. “Not the Happy Rooster.” She bit her bottom lip. “I think it’s more than lacking focus… I blacked out instead of saving myself and ended up unconscious in my dorm. Maybe I’m not compatible with the magic here. All I seem to be able to do is destroy stuff. I can’t even make the cauldrons glow.”
I narrowed my eyes. “The magic here? There’s no difference between the magic here and the rest of the world. Magic is energy. It’s an endless cycle.”
Quinn wrinkled her nose. “Right. Sorry.”
I narrowed my eyes but didn’t press for an explanation. “Any idea how you got back here, to your dorm?”
