“Okay,” Quintz said, clearly trying to appease him. “Let’s say that’s what happens—you go off and do nothing. Wait for the end of the world—of all worlds. The alternative option is that you join me and my team, whichever side we may be on. If we are truly working for the Almighty or Janka, you potentially have access to secrets, and once you find out the ruse, potentially have a way of getting rid of us, breaking free. And if we’re telling the truth, you have an opportunity to get out there and save Treycore.”
“And Kid,” Kinzer pointed out.
“The mortal is not a high priority for us. However, our sources confirm that he means something to Treycore, so we are willing to do what we can. But again, if we can’t rescue him as well, that is of little consequence.”
“It’s of great consequence, you fucking asshole.”
Kinzer reflected on poor Kid, trapped in the Nest, Treycore unable to save him from the sorts of monsters that had wound up there. Thinking how lucky they would be to even find him alive.
“Strange,” Quintz said.
“What?”
“Don’t believe I’ve ever seen someone get so worked up over a mortal who they know must die within a very brief span of existence. It is a truly beautiful quality.”
His words startled Kinzer, surprised him so much, because this was not the Quintz he’d seen torturing him: cruel, malicious, sadistic. This seemed to be a totally different immortal who sat at his side.
Was it a trick? Was Quintz fooling him to encourage him to side with them for his own nefarious reasons? Or had he truly endured a test for his loyalty to ensure he was trustworthy?
“If you trust me so much,” Kinzer asked, “why am I still cuffed?”
“I didn’t want you to beat the shit out of me once you woke up,” Quintz said. He reached into his pocket and retrieved a key, unlocking Kinzer’s cuff. “And please don’t take this as an opportunity to start trying to kick my ass, because I am a stronger immortal, and I will kick yours back.”
Kinzer chuckled. “I like this side of you a lot more, Quintz.”
Quintz smiled, a seemingly genuine smile. “Do you mind if I take this cloth to your back? Your injuries still need healing. It’s not as easy to use this shit on you because you don’t have your natural immortal healing abilities anymore, ever since…”
Kinzer’s gaze settled. He may have still had his cock, but he’d lost something as valuable, if not more—the symbol of his immortality, of his great power—something that surely, to a creature like Quintz, made him look weak, pathetic.
He took a breath and rolled onto his side. Quintz applied a moist cloth to his back. It was covered in a healing fluid that burned like a motherfucker.
“Godfuckingdammit! What is that shit?”
“Rubbing alcohol,” Quintz said. “The kind we use for immortals would be too much for you.”
Kinzer felt stupid for complaining about something that at one time he would have hardly noticed. He relaxed into the sensation before Quintz said, “So what do you say, Kinzer? Will you take this leap of faith and join us? We could use your help, desperately so, but it will require an act of faith…of trust…on your part that we’re all in this for the same reason.”
Trust wasn’t something Kinzer could so easily offer anymore, not after everything that had happened, not after the betrayal of so many. Of Janka. Of Hayde.
But as Quintz pointed out, he was out of options. If he left, he would wind up as he was before, scrambling for answers that were too hard to find. If he went with Quintz and his team, even if they turned out to be villains, he could potentially outsmart them and use whatever intel he could uncover to his own advantage. At the very least, they weren’t going to kill him, he knew that much from the fact they had kept him alive that long.
He would have to be careful about not divulging his own secrets. And if they really were going to set Treycore free, even if it was for their own wicked motives, at least he would be back in the company of one of the few immortals left whom he believed he could trust.
“You going to give me my sword back?” Kinzer asked.
Quintz chuckled. “There’s the great Kinzer I’ve heard so much about—the one we need to take down Janka and the Almighty.”
“Don’t get all excited about this,” Kinzer said. He turned back and sat up, looking Quintz in the eyes. “If I find out you’re lying to me, I’m going to slit your fucking throat.”
“I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
“Then I need to negotiate one more thing.”
“Which is?”
Kinzer pulled his fist back and threw a punch, slamming it into Quintz face so that he fell to the side, off the cot, and onto the floor.
“Fuck!” Quintz said, retrieving his glasses, which had fallen onto the floor when Kinzer had delivered his blow.
Quintz put them back on, noticing a crack in one of the lenses.
“I needed to get that off my chest,” Kinzer said. “It’s the least I deserve after what you did to me.”
Quintz got on his knees, placing his hand against his jaw before smiling. “Oh, I think I’m going to like working with you, Kinzer.”
“Can’t say I feel the same way about you.”
