“I’ve been gone for what? Three months? Children can certainly change in three months, but this wild swing of Quill’s personality must have come from somewhere. Think about it in correlation to when Aeris started coming around. The gods always circle their prey before they strike. She was manipulating her.”
Thea looked between us, copper brows pulled together. Finally, she nodded. “All right. We’ll be careful. But I still think you’re being too harsh.”
I softened my tone. “I hope you’re right about her. I really do. But for now, we watch and wait. We won’t shut her out for Quill, but that door isn’t wide open, as far as I’m concerned.” I locked eyes with Archer. “About Stirling, I think we need to check on the orphans. From there we’ll know where we should be.”
“Are you sure you want to go back there?” His eyes dropped to my wrists, to the darkness spreading across my skin.
“Being in Requiem won’t save me from Alastor. I don’t know when he’ll summon me, but I need to make sure this is taken care of first. Just in case.” The voices screamed in protest, but I pushed them down. I had to do something, had to move, had to act before I lost all control.
“You’re not taking care of me, Fingers. Where you go, I go. If Alastor summons you, well, I guess he’s in for a rude awakening when we both show up.”
“I’m sure he’ll be a big fan of that.”
11
Paesha
Did I have the strength to open that door? Could I stand in his home, in his study, and not be consumed by the thoughts of him? Could I forget it all? His hands on me, his lips on mine?
Yes. I could. Because fuck him. And the book that lay under my pillow, burning hot and mostly ignored, though I could likely draw the etchings on the spine in my sleep at this point. If I ever slept again, but as the door slowly crept open and Quill came stumbling in, rubbing her eyes, I simply scooted over and lifted the covers, letting her crawl in beside me.
“Are you fixed?” she whispered, dragging her little finger down my nose.
“I’m working on it, my girl. I promise.”
“Your heart still hurts.”
“Yes, it does.”
She wrapped her arms around me, her breath warm against my skin. “That wasn’t a question.”
“We thought maybe we could go on a little adventure today. Remember when I told you about the children in Stirling?”
“We get to go meet them?”
“We do. But only if you’re on your best behavior, Quilly. No tantrums. No big bursts of magic.”
“I can’t believe there’s an entire house of children. I’m so excited. I could take some of my books and things.”
“That would be kind.”
Quill hadn’t been around many children because there were so few in Requiem, but I imagined it’d be good for her to be around others her age. To see it was okay to be nine with no pressure to be anything more than that. No matter what her power would have her believe.
“Did you sleep at all?”Archer asked as we stood together at the door, waiting for the others to join us.
“No. You?”
“Nope. But I’ve got to face it, I guess. If this is what you’re sure you want to do, we do it together.”
The bands, reminding me I belonged to Alastor, burned so severely, it was hard to ignore them, but I did my best, forcing a smile as I watched Quill come bouncing down the steps toward us, a bag flung over her shoulder. She held up her pointer finger. “I got a paper cut from one of the books. I don’t have to put the stinging stuff on it, do I?”
She hated Elowen’s tinctures.
Archer knelt down. “I think a paper cut is probably okay to heal on its own, but I could take care of it for you if you wanted me to.”
I nearly choked on my gasp. Archer hated using his magic.
“Why does that make you nervous?” Quill asked, tilting her head as she looked at Archer. “I can tell, you know?”
