Quinn
Brit’sroaringlaughcutthrough the noise at The Happy Rooster, and my heart swelled. Rowan joined our usual table tonight, and I sat sandwiched between him and Cayden. Cayden’s ankle and mine twisted together under the table. Brit, Everly, and Hero sat across from us.
It had been weeks since I teleported out of the Alun, and my life looked nothing like before. With no more train duty, I slept late. My tag-alongs were a thing of the past. My life revolved around one-on-one platonic work with Xan in the Alun, where I learned how to defend myself in this world.
Every few days, I found yet another stuffed toy and a note from ‘PH’ where my library books appeared. On those mornings, I marched myself to Everly’s dorm because of Hero. Her twin fighting machine’s Majekah, had nothing to do with fighting. He knew exactly what was in anything magical or mundane just by messing with it. PH’s giftswere never magical, just toys from my time. I had no idea what message he was trying to send.
Despite my days being easier and more focused on exactly what I wanted, my emotions were all over the place. Ezra’s training was filled with touches, reminding me of exactly what my evenings could look like.
“Xan came onto me in the Alun,” I’d said to Ezra the minute I’d gotten the chance.“I will not come between you.”
Ezra stepped into my personal space, making my heart race. He ran his hand down my cheek. “I know. My lover let me watch his memory of it.” His touch continued down my neck and brushed the exact spot Xan had kissed me. “We miss you.”
I thought my heart was going to stop. My skin was suddenly too cold and too hot at the same time. My sex literally squeezed around nothing. Tension filled the gym, making it hard to breathe. Ezra leaned down, as if he were going to kiss the spot as well, before taking a step back.
“We’re training legs today, followed by deep stretches. Can you handle that?”
I pressed my hand to my chest and nodded, not trusting myself to speak.
Just remembering stole my breath.
Xan, his opposite, stayed polite, almost too polite, like he had something to prove.
On the other side of my love life, literally, Cayden remained my constant, while Rowan struggled. Sometimes I knew it was his contract, but I also messed with him whenever I got the chance. More and more often, I didn’t have to give him fake smiles or odd reactions that didn’t match my emotions. Knowing that he knew but wasn’t stepping up made me so angry that random bouts of fury and frustration needed no acting. Weeks had passed, and the man still pretended hedidn’t feel my every emotion. I didn’t understand what he was waiting for.
The Rooster’s hum rose and fell. I twirled a strand of crystal hair, watching rainbows dance on my forearm. Rowan tucked it behind my ear, and I blinked. I’d forgotten we were even at the pub.
Before I could decide if I was angry at Rowan or not, Cayden’s voice cut through the din.
“‘How dare you?’” he read from a pale-green scrawl. “‘Quinn’s the mate to our leader, the mother of the next generation, and you dare keep her at your side? Do you think you’re the Architect?’”
“Lame. Dare twice in one threatening message. The last one had better insults,” Everly said while taking a sip of her cider. “Read the one where they said they hexed your dick again, Cayden. I really liked that one.”
I chuckled. It wasn’t the majority, but a few people were unhappy that I wasn’t pregnant and glued to the Architect’s hip. Xan even sent out a message reminding the family of our goals of choice and freedom. I was training directly under him because of my potential, and not my gender. His messagemaybehelped? I couldn’t tell.
“I don’t know.” Cayden sipped his wine. “The one about your tuna swimming up the wrong stream to tempt Quinn away from men was really creative.”
Everly and Brit both burst out laughing.
My cheeks burned.
Matt glided to our table and replaced our empty glasses with full ones.
I put my hand up and wiggled my fingers at him. “And another round of those new chunky chips covered in gravy, please.”
Matt scowled at me but nodded and stomped off. I still didn’t like the bartender, but with Horax gone, so was Matt’s leverage. I happily ordered every drink and meal he’d refused me.
“There’s a whole storm gathering over our heads, and we’re pretending it’s a breeze,” Everly suddenly said.
I jerked toward Rowan, who went still as a statue.
“Oh, wow. I thought for sure you’d look at Cayden first,” Everly peered at me. “You both look guilty as hell. We all know the minute Rowan’s free, he’s going to pin you to his bed for a month. Chill, it’s normal.” Everly winked.
I turned beet red, and Rowan let out a strained belly laugh.
“I meant you know who,” Everly said. “Did you finish your map in case it happens again?”
I pursed my lips. The air around us swirled, and the hum of the pub muted.
