They bickered all the way to the car, and Kit didn’t care. He had Quin, and Quin had him.
And soon they’d have forever, too.
TWENTY-FOUR
Quin
After the rushof the previous night, the drive down south was more subdued. Even the eighties disco music Kit favoured didn’t improve the mood. They’d taken two cars, Shaun, Rake, and DJ taking their own wheels for ease. It wasn’t a long drive, but the nights were short and the vampires required shelter.
Quin had spent the day researching properties, and he’d booked a place for a few nights around an hour from the manor house. The owners called the expensive three-bed rental a cottage, but it was big enough to host the five of them in comfort. It even had a room with a super king bed for the triad.
Now that Quin wore Xavier’s ring, he’d been able to relax a tad. Even though the metal had looked unnaturally tarnished after he woke up from a deep sleep, they hadn’t seen hide nor hair of Lawrence. It also meant that Quin could drive without fear of looking in the wing mirror and seeing eyes that weren’t his own staring back at him. He didn’t enjoy being a passenger. He preferred to be the one in control, no matter the situation. The possession had been horrible on many counts, but losing his autonomy had been the worst of all. Heading to the place whereLawrence had recreated Kit was just another thing that Quin didn’t want to be doing.
But they had to.
As the night crawled forward, Quin hummed along to the music and provided the occasional comment on the song choice, but Kit didn’t seem in a chatty mood. It made Quin feel useless.
“We’re close,” Kit said, breaking a lengthy stretch of silence.
Quin reached over and squeezed his knee. “How are you doing? And you’re not allowed to say that you’re fine.”
Kit managed a small smile. “Well, damn, because that was going to be my answer. Don’t say I’m already predictable. At this rate, I’ll bore you before the year’s out, let alone last an eternity.”
“Kit, if you think you’ll dissuade me from getting tethered to you, you’re way off the mark. Now, tell me your feelings,” Quin demanded in his most commanding Daddy voice, which he rarely used outside of the bedroom. Regardless, he wasn’t above using it to get Kit to open up.
“I…have mixed emotions, I suppose,” Kit admitted. “Some of the worst things in my life happened there. But if they hadn’t, then I wouldn’t be here with you.” His gaze flitted over to Quin’s. “The honest answer is that I don’t know how I feel, but I’m not about to have an emotional breakdown.”
Quin nodded along, staring straight ahead. It had started to drizzle, the white lights of the motorway blurring as the windscreen wipers swept across the glass. “Nobody would blame you if you needed a breakdown. It’s difficult, what you’re facing.”
“Stop being so sweet and understanding or you’ll make me cry. So, be quiet and focus on driving.”
Quin mimed zipping his mouth shut, but then mimed reopening it and said, “Just a reminder that I love you.” He closed the zip again as Kit laughed.
“You’re such a sap.”
Quin waited, silent. Kit tapped his fingers on his knees, pretending not to notice Quin looking at him out of the corner of his eye. When Kit still didn’t speak, Quin coughed pointedly.
“Oh, would you like me to say something?” Kit asked, all faux innocence.
Quin shrugged, making a show of indifference.
Kit relented. “I love you too.” There was no mistaking how his voice softened whilst saying the words.
With the initial tension eased, little time passed before they were pulling into the driveway of the rental. The others had fallen a few cars behind, so Kit and Quin located the lock box that had the keys and had let themselves into the cottage before Rake, Shaun, and DJ piled out of their vehicle.
“I need to test the beds,” DJ said as he rushed past them all into the house, Shaun chasing after him. Kit then sped into another room, disappearing before Quin’s eyes. Quin and Rake followed—both saddled with carrying the luggage for their respective boyfriends—at a more human pace.
The bedroom Kit nabbed was pleasant, if bland; done up in whites and neutrals, a few flower motifs thrown in. But then Kit pulled back the grey curtains, exposing the multi-paned windows and, even in the darkness, Quin could see the view of the fields and hills would be spectacular in the daylight. His chest clenched at the knowledge that Kit wouldn’t be able to see it like he did. He’d take a picture for him.
“So, what are we doing for the rest of our night?” Kit asked.
“I fancy stretching my legs,” Quin said. He also wanted to sniff around the area. Literally. He thought that might sound a bit unhinged to Kit, so he kept that part to himself.
“I don’t want to go out in the rain,” Kit said, pouting as he looked out of the window.
“You stay here, catch up with the guys.”
“Are you sure?”
