Page 93 of MidKnight
For tonight, they’re only trying to get them to enlist. Probably on a magically binding scroll. And they might have a harder time of it than they expect. As soon as the one started singing, I planted an image of a witch—Quinn sent me a mental picture of a gnarled old witch—in the heads of the half-dozen most violent men in the place. They’ll think they’re being tricked. It’s why I pulled you out. I fully expect a riot to start down there.
Sure enough, I heard yelling in the distance. I looked back to see torches leaving the tavern.
I sighed in relief and turned back to Quinn.Thank you.
He grinned.
I smiled at the mischief in his grey eyes. I thought:You wanted five hours? Well, then, I’m not arguing with you.
Because I wanted release. I craved it. All this tension, all this nervous energy weighed on me. This fear threatened to eat me whole. I needed a momentary escape.
Quinn grinned against my mouth and kissed me again when he felt me acquiesce. Slowly, his tongue began plundering deeper. He spun us slightly in midair. Without gravity to stop us, we kept languidly spinning in the moonlight, our feet dangling above the treetops.
I’ve loved you from the day I saw you,Quinn’s mind whispered even as his mouth traced a hot path down my neck, setting my icy skin alight.
You were so hot that day,I thought in return.Your eyes—I pictured him in Kylee’s tavern and sent the image to him.
Not that day.Quinn sent me an image of a market. I’d been in a disguise spell, selling eggs. I’d given a little beggar boy a loaf of bread.
I pulled back to study his face, astonished. That had been a least a year before he’d caught me.How did you know that was me?
He shrugged.I could see you in your actions. You’ve always been a pure heart. A wild, wicked mouth—which I love—once the real you was unleashed.He kissed the corner of my lip.But a pure heart.
My mind spun dizzily at the revelation.But … you didn’t bring me in.I’d been at that market a year before he caught me and brought me back to claim the throne.
His fingers fumbled with the ties at the front of my shirt. The cold was making us stiff and movement hard. Quinn directed us lower, out of the winter wind.
You were happy,he shrugged and caressed my cheek before going back to the ties.If you were happy and weren’t ready for the crown, I wasn’t ready to force you back.
But—
Happiness matters. Don’t forget that. Duty is good. Selflessness great. But happiness matters, too.
Whose happiness though? We’re about to get put in the crosshairs of a war and if I can do anything to stop it … it’s my duty. To sacrifice for Evaness. It’s what mother would have done. She did do. She stole a child to protect this country. She magicked that baby and raised it as her own, knowing that she’d be a target—
He stroked my cheek.Your mother’s way isn’t the only way.
How else can you be queen?
He gave a shrug.You muddle through, day by day.
I’m pretty certain muddling through won’t stop any wars.
You can plan as much as you want … but sometimes, you just know when things aren’t right. It’s why I couldn’t take you that day at the market. It wasn’t right.
What was different at Kylee’s Tavern?
You were furious. Gods, the vixen in you was out that day. You weren’t happy anymore. You were frustrated. Lost. And your anger was so …
Off-putting?I laughed.
Hot.
Quinn’s lips smashed into mine and he angled us down through the trees quickly until my feet landed on a pile of dead leaves.
“Wait! We don’t have any more Flight!”
Quinn didn’t answer my protest.
