The Curse (Belador #3)(32)

“To be caught that off guard is … unusual for you.” Tzader spent a moment assessing Quinn. “What shook you?”

Quinn had argued with himself for hours over how much to tell Tzader, but he, Tzader and Evalle had always had each other’s backs. He’d have to trust that Tzader would continue watching Evalle’s when Quinn was no longer around. “I told you Kizira mentioned Evalle in that vision.”

“Right.”

“But I didn’t say in what specific context her name was mentioned. I could claim having been in too much pain, but the truth is that I needed time to digest what I’d seen and heard. With Evalle’s future on the line at the time with the Tribunal, I hesitated to repeat everything said about her.”

Tzader propped his elbows on his knees and cupped his laced fingers under his chin, sorting through something mentally. “I took what you said to mean we had to keep an eye on Evalle because she was in danger.”

“I know.”

“That wasn’t it?”

“To some degree, yes, but in the vision I observed Conlan telling Kizira that when the time came to take possession of Treoir, he would deliver Evalle to Kizira so that Evalle could destroy the inhabitants and breach the castle.”

“No way. Evalle would never do that.”

Lifting a hand to hold off Tzader’s anger, Quinn said, “You’ll get no argument from me, but with Conlan loose, VIPER, Macha and even Brina will have to give every possibility serious consideration, even that one.”

“I won’t let anything or anyone harm Brina.” Tzader’s conviction shook the air. “But neither will I give Sen the evidence he needs to bury Evalle in a VIPER prison or Macha to terminate her. We’ll capture the traitor before anyone can get to Treoir. Besides, the Medb would have to find Treoir Island first.”

“That’s not the entire problem.” Quinn looked Tzader in the eye when he told him the last bit. “When I was in my hotel room, I thought I hallucinated that Kizira was there and … we made love.”

Tzader chuckled, sitting back. “That wasn’t a hallucination, bro. That’s called a fantasy.” Then he sobered and heaved a sigh. “Trust me, I understand about wanting someone you can’t have. You said you two met when you were really young. One time. Your mind and body will never forget her. That’s all. Nothing to feel guilty about, and I know you’re loyal to the Beladors.”

Quinn allowed a smile, albeit sad. “I wish this was only about lust, but there’s much more going on. When you arrived afterwards at my hotel room and woke me up, I didn’t recall everything about Kizira immediately, but I kept having a feeling that something was wrong. That someone had been inside my hotel room.”

“I couldn’t get past your warded Triquetra until you moved it from the doorknob, and no one even knows how to figure out which hotel room you’ll be in on any given day but me and Evalle.” Tzader added quietly, “What are you saying, Quinn?”

“That Kizira did come to my hotel room and we did make love.”

Rarely surprised by anything, Tzader squinted in disbelief. “Based on what proof?”

“I had scratches on my back from her nails.” In the precise spot where she’d left them on his back years earlier.

“She’s a witch. They have ways to make you believe something that’s not real. She could have put a spell on you when she saw you in Conlan’s mind.”

“She did something to me during the probe, but not a spell. In that split second when I dropped my shields and she saw me, she slipped inside my mind.”

Tzader muttered a particularly nasty curse, the impact of that not lost on him. “Okay, but that still doesn’t mean she was in your room.”

Quinn fished a strand of woven hair in the shape of a bracelet from his coat pocket. He’d have to share what he’d never told another soul. Holding up the bracelet, he said, “This is hard evidence. She made this when we were together back when we met thirteen years ago. It’s my hair. She showed this to me at that time right before admitting she was Medb and telling me she had to return to T?μr Medb. I warned her not to take it with her, that she’d regret keeping the bracelet. She put it on her wrist and said if she ever did regret her time with me, she’d give it back to me. Then she teleported away.”

“How’d you end up with the bracelet?”

“Found it on my bathroom vanity right after you left my hotel room. I tried to call out to you telepathically, but my mind exploded with so much pain I passed out again. When I came to, I found out Evalle had been taken into custody.”

Tzader said, “Figured when I didn’t get an answer even on your cell phone that you’d gone into a deep sleep to heal. I could have used more in your e-mail than ‘Leaving US. Contact you later.’”

“Sorry about that.” Quinn had plenty of reasons to be disappointed in himself these days. “I sent you and Evalle the only words I could type. I was losing my ability to communicate verbally on the way to the airport. By the time I could speak again, I was deep in the mountains, on another continent.”

“I understand.”

He trusted Tzader but didn’t specify what mountains or what continent because he’d given his oath many years ago not to tell where he went when he had to heal. “With Evalle out of VIPER prison and safe from Kizira—”