I let out a gasp, my body tight with desire, the intensity between us growing with each passing second.
With great care he unwound Cora from my neck, settling her into a bed of moss behind a log. Placing his finger to his lips, he came back to where I sat.
He leaned forward and nuzzled my neck, nipping his way along my collarbone, his voice low. “Ah Quinn, I want you so badly, but the Council will want to be sure you are the one the prophecy speaks of. It won’t matter to them that I know it in my soul. You belong to me, but we must wait if the prophecy is to be fulfilled properly, or there will be no peace.” His lips made their way up my neck and to my trembling mouth. Luke was the one I’d been waiting for, the one who made my heart pound and my blood rage within me for his touch.
His lips hovered over mine and I waited for the moment, my body shaking with need.
A breath was all that was left between us when something sharp stung my hand. I yelped and fell backwards as Luke did the same, both of us rubbing our hands. Cora coiled up beside us. “You’d best let her go boy or you will taste my venom a second time,” Cora said. Pain flickered and then slid away from me. Cora glanced at me. “You will build an immunity to my venom, it will hurt less, but it will always sting.”
Luke’s face tightened and he cursed under his breath. Shifting his weight, he stood and I scrambled to stand with him. At least that’s what I was trying to do. It was as if only the mere thought of standing up caused my body to respond in a lightning-fast manner. There was no time lapse between my thoughts and my actions.
I let out a gasp and Luke nodded. “You will begin to see Quinn. Like in the hospital, where the healing of your leg was so fast, or how strong you were, or how long you could hold your breath. This is a gift and a curse to have your blood Quickened, and each day you will find more of what that truly means.” He let out a small sigh. “I will protect you, but I must keep my distance. Otherwise I cannot be certain I can control myself.” He started away from me and a pang twisted around my heart. The passion he’d ignited was burning still and it was far from unpleasant; the safety I’d felt within his arms was something I’d been searching for my whole life.
A lump rose in my throat, emotions I didn’t want right now filling me up and threatening to spill over.
“Will you help me, find my way into the Barrier now?” I asked.
He shook his head. “More than ever, no. I cannot protect you if you cross to the Fomorii.” Luke paused. “I will not be the one responsible for your death. I could not bear that.”
His words sent chills through me, and I wrapped my arms around my body, shivering in the weak light that burned through the mist. In a swirl of air and fog, Luke was gone and I was alone with Cora.
I started out towards the hotel, my body aching and desperate for warmth, food and comfort; my mind freaking out at the delay it would be to take those things in. It wasn’t until I was on the wooden boardwalk that curled through the forest that a thought stopped me. I stood looking at the Wickaninnish and considered how it would look to see a five-foot-long neon blue snake wrapped around my neck and me still in my pyjamas as I walked in through the doors.
“That won’t work,” I said.
“What was that?” Cora mumbled, lifting her head.
“I can’t just walk in with you wrapped around my neck. I can hide the knife, its small enough. But you’re too big.”
She shifted her coils. “I told you, the humans can’t see me. You’ve no fear.” Her tongue forked out to taste the air. I doubted that, but then the couple certainly hadn’t heard her talking earlier.
As I stepped into the front door of the hotel I looked over at the counter. John was still at the desk, but he had his head down, his eyes focused on the computer.
Tiptoeing across the tile floor, I’d made it to the bottom of the stair before he stopped me. Crap, I’d known that Cora would be seen!
“Ms. Lorcan! Are you all right? We did a head count after the earthquake and we couldn’t find you. We had the police here and everything.” I cringed as he spoke, feeling guilty, like a teenager caught sneaking out at night. He said nothing about the five-foot-long snake across my shoulders.
I looked over at him. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think; I just went for a walk to calm my nerves.”
He nodded. “I understand, but if there’s another quake do let us know if you plan on leaving the premises.”
“Of course.” I ran up the stairs, zipping past the first and second landing and finding myself on the third floor in a matter of seconds.
Cora chuckled in her makeshift hammock. “Now you begin to see what it means to be Quickened.”
“What’s happened to me?” I asked as I stepped through the threshold to my room and leaned against the door.
“Quickening wakens the Fae blood you carry. Because you are a half breed you never would have been able to tap into your full powers without help. Now you are just as fast, strong and powerful as any Tuatha or Fomorii. You’ll need training to reach your potential, of course, but for now trust your instincts Quinn, they will guide you.”
A scent reached my nose and I breathed deep. Rotting leaves and mold. I wrinkled my face up and sneezed. “That is awful.”
“It is the stink of a dead Fomorii. What have you been doing?” Cora said, slithering onto the king-size bed and stretching out to her full length.
I cringed. I’d conveniently forgotten about that. I opened several windows to air the smell out. “I’ll tell you over breakfast.”
I left Cora there while I ordered breakfast, showered, dressed and re-braided my hair.
The food was hot and filling, though I truly have no idea what it was. I ate it as fast as I could. We had to get moving and I had a thought that might bring the Barrier down.
“My blade, my knife is special, isn’t it?” I held it up for Cora to see.
“It is.” That was all she said, no matter that I asked her several more questions; nothing else was gained.
“Okay, fine. Don’t tell me anything about it. Just one thing—is it strong enough, special enough, to break through that Barrier?” I asked, leaning over the bed, my knife held between both hands.
Cora took a deep breath and wound herself around the knife, deftly taking it from me. Her tongue flicked out and tasted the steel. “With the right elements, yes, the blade could possibly cut through it.”
I let out a sigh of relief. I knew I’d been right to trust Cora. “Then let’s go!”
“It won’t go through the thick part of the Barrier Quinn, no matter how strong you are now. The right elements must be present. You must be of the Fomorii to travel through the Barrier. If you could convince one of them to take you without harming you . . .”
My head drooped. “We already know that won’t happen.” Luke had made it clear he wasn’t going to help me through the Barrier, and I had no doubt that Bres would be on Luke’s side.
Cora unravelled herself from the knife. “No, it won’t. I know of none who carry enough Fomorii blood to take your hand and walk you through the Barrier.”
I sat back on my heels, despair once more rising within me. The smell of rotted leaves assaulted my nose again. I jumped up, ran to the closet and flung the door open, gagging at the smell that enveloped me.
I pulled the black garbage bag out and held it up. I really, really did not want to open this.
Making a face, I took a shallow breath and asked, “So, does the Fomorii have to be alive to make walking though the Barrier possible?”
12
Gagging and heaving, I opened the bag and poured the contents into the tub. The flesh was decomposing at an alarming rate; even the bones were barely more than mush. Damn, I’d been hoping to take one and just shove my way through the Barrier. But there was still a lot of blood, most of it pooled in the bottom of the black garbage bag; maybe I could still use it. I poured it into the tub with the arms, doing my best not to splash the horrid stuff about.
“When did this happen?” Cora asked, her blue scales flashing as she zipped across the floor and peeked over the side of the tub.
“Last night. I saw Ashling in the mirror, and then a Fomorii came through her cell door and attacked me. The mirror shattered and the arms fell off,” I said, pulling the top of my t-shirt up over my nose and breathing through it. It wasn’t much of a filter but it was better than nothing at all.
“This might just work,” she muttered. Her tail flicked around and she pointed with it to my knife and then to the pool of black, rank blood in the bottom of the tub. “Dip your knife in the blood.” I did as she said, gingerly putting the blade all the way in. Steam rose and the blood bubbled, the boiling action only intensifying the smell. I gagged and nearly dropped my knife.
“Don’t go soft on me now. You’ve got worse than this to face yet,” Cora said.
I shuddered. “I don’t mind facing it; it’s the smell that I don’t like.”
As I drew the blade out the black blood seemed to absorb into it. I held it up to the light, twisting it every which way, noting the edge was no longer shining. “It’s dulled the knife.”
Cora grunted. “The blade is not dulled, only stained. Now your clothes.”
I looked down at her. “Now my clothes what?” Again she flicked the tip of her tail at the tub. She had to be kidding me. I stared at the tub, then looked at Cora. “Are you sure?” I asked.
She bobbed her head. “Yes. And if I thought you could stomach it I’d have you drink some of it down. The more Fomorii blood on and in you, the better chance you’ll have.”
Stripping down, I tossed my white shirt and light-coloured jeans into the foul mess. They soaked the fluid right up and the smell lessened considerably. The white shirt was now a deep gray with flecks of red and black and the jeans looked as if someone had taken a can of rust coloured spray paint to them. I pulled them out and held them up. They were perfectly dry.
“Put them on Quinn. And then it is time for you to go,” she said, slithering out of the bathroom and back up onto the king-sized bed.