Page 43 of Memories Like Fangs
Bounding Overwatch
QUINN
“Well, now that everyone has beenverywell-acquainted with each other,” Izzy said with the amused tone of a teacher calming her young, raucous classroom yet the poise and patience of a goddess of wisdom speaking to mere mortals. The heated, tense energy around the room cooled to a chilly apathy by the time she, Rhois, and Journee landed just shy of the wide branch leading to the elevator. Izzy continued, “I do think that it’s time for us to get started with our plan to find Byrd.”
“How are we saving her?” Everett asked from behind me. I didn’t turn around to look at him, but I knew from where his voice sounded, he was standing up now. My nose had stopped bleeding some time ago, but now my whole face had the aching, stinging soreness that came from trying to do weeks’ worth of healing in under an hour. I knew without looking in a mirror that my face was black, blue, and red like a bad riddle. Yet, my knuckles no longer had the same bruises or lingering pain. I hated that my face showed I had been punched longer than my knuckles showed the punching I had done.
In response to Everett’s question, Izzy’s eyes flared into a radiant ochre that flowed out from her eyes like glitter. Her pupils narrowed into cat-like slits, and her nails lengthened intotalons. Lines of flame followed behind her sharp tips as she created a complex series of what I knew were sigils, having seen other witches at work.
By the time she spoke again, I had almost forgotten Everett had asked anything. “For her spell to be blocking Byrd’s dragon, her bond with Quinn, and her location from both hunters and magic-wielders, the Blood Witch-Fae that took Byrd is ridiculously skilled. As powerful as that spell is, however, it has its consequences and its sacrifice: concentration. In order to maintain it, the Blood Fitch must focus at all times. If she uses another spell, she will be unable to keep the containment spell going. That will be our opening.”
Izzy connected the magical symbols together with straight lines, forming a pentagram. While she was drawing a circle, she continued to explain. “We will have a pair of witches watching, tracking, and waiting for that door to open at all times. Once we make contact, one witch will use a spell to incapacitate the Blood Fitch while the rest of us will send Quinn in to talk to Byrd. If all works according to plan, Quinn will have about seven minutes to speak to Byrd.”
“Oh, that’s fucking wild!” Maisie said. “Sign me the fuck up, please!”
The Guardians chuckled at her eagerness.
“Wait, if we are going to subdue the Blood Fitch, why not just teleport in while she’s unconscious and rescue Byrd that way?” Talli asked.
Rhois shook her head. “We have no idea what we are getting ourselves into by doing that. This is risky as-is since we do not know if the Blood Fitch is working alone or with a team of witches or even more powerful creatures at her disposal. We know already that she may be a huntress or have a hunter working with her. Sending someone to teleport could backfire. Doing it this way, sending someone as an apparition, allows usto get some information to see what we are getting ourselves into without losing anyone in the process.”
“Doing reconnaissance,” Cole noted. I nodded in agreement, remembering how that was protocol among hunters. Hear and Observe were literally the first parts of our code.
“Ah, I see you are where the intellect went among the brothers,” Rhois smiled.
“Hey, I never claimed to be the smart one, so I’m not mad at that. Someone has to be the hot triplet,” Cody shrugged, making the rest of us either roll our eyes, scoff, or shake their heads.
Izzy finished her drawing. Then, she shoved against it. The drawing expanded in size as it flew through the air toward us. It stopped directly in the middle between us before rotating and landing there. It blazed high and bright before settling, burning, and etching itself into the Vault’s wooden floor. As it did, Izzy blinked, her eyes and nails returning to normal.
“So, why isshe—” Everett asked gruffly, pointing to me. It made my skin bristle, and I wanted to punch him in his stupid mouth again. “—going and not someone like me or the girls who have known Byrd for much longer? I mean, this girl has known Byrd for what? A few months, maybe?”
My fists clenched as I crossed my arms. I bit the inside of my cheek hard enough to taste blood there again.It’s her uncle, Quinn. He’s grieving, Quinn. He’s being a dumbass, but you can’t beat his ass up again. Byrd wouldn’t want that. Byrd loves him, or something.
If Rhois noticed the heat of anger rising again between me and Everett to levels that could have melted all of the ice in the Archive, she made no indication of it as she answered Everett’s question calmly. “Quinn is Byrd’s fated mate. There is magic in their bond that makes it the easiest tether to pull from during the ritual. It is also incredibly strong. This is not to say that your relationship with Byrd isn’t also powerful, but fatedmates are a connection rooted in ancient magic that cannot be underestimated. It would take too much additional work and time to try to use anyone else.”
Everett snorted, “What bullshit.”
“Everett, that’s enough,” Talli, the woman who had arrived at the same time as him and Thompson, declared.
“Oh, come the fuck on, Tal, you don’t honestly believe this, do you?”
“I believe that you punched a young woman because you are hurt, angry, feeling guilty, and you don’t know what else to do. I also believe that people are not just what the monsters of their kind have done. Hunters took so much from us, yes, but Quinn is not one of the ones who did it. Byrd chose and accepted Quinn for a reason, and our girl isn’t stupid. Never has been. Even still, what would Doe and Forrest say to you about all of this?”
I could hear how begrudging Everett was in his voice as he answered. “Forrest would probably say I shouldn’t be punching women anyway. And, Doe would say that she’s about the same size as me and could have laid me out easily regardless of her being a woman or not.”
The cousins snickered next to me. When I shot them a glare, Cole at least had the sense to try to cover his up with a cough. Cody avoided my eyes. Nat, on the other hand, just shrugged. “You are kind of a big bitch, Quinny. Like, you’re like the She-Hulk, but Mexican and not green.”
As I rolled my eyes, Talli continued, sounding like an exasperated parent. “So, if they would be okay, what’s your reasoning?”
Everett huffed stubbornly but didn’t say much else.
“Well, now,” Rhois said, stepping forward. “Izzy and Journee will take the first shift to watch the Blood Witch-Fae. Then, it’ll be Maisie and Teddy. Finally, Talli with Izzy before we repeat. Once the Blood Bitch has been located, one of the witches notparticipating in the monitor spell will incapacitate her. Then, the rest of us will do the ritual. Once that is completed, we will need you, Simone, to heal Talli, Maisie, and Quinn with your powers. Everett, you heal Thompson, and I will do the same for my partners.”
“Oh, I didn’t know you could heal!” Simone said, awestruck.
Rhois smiled. “I can’t technically. But, you know how I said the bond of fated mates is rooted in deep, ancient magic? Well, that power goes deep, all the way into the blood. It can easily heal and restore a wounded mate from the brink of death.”
“So, what should the rest of us do in the meantime?” Cody asked.
