The Curse (Belador #3)(38)

He paused in tapping and opened his hand in a maybe/maybe-not motion.

“Seriously, Quinn. Macha was the only person who could get me out of that prison, and she did, so it all worked out.” For now. But Evalle wouldn’t burden him with her problems when he seemed to be just getting back on his feet. “Z said you were bad after the mind probe. I’m just glad you’re okay. We missed you. Where were you?”

Quinn’s lips tilted, a smile slow in coming. He’d always been the one to joke with her, always ready to lift her spirits. “I missed you as well. I would be happy to share where I’ve been, but it’s a place hidden high in the mountains in another country that has been kept secret for more than eight hundred years. They’ve taken me in before when I needed their … gifts. I know I can trust you, but I gave my word to never share the location.”

She wasn’t insulted. In fact, now she felt better about not being able to tell him where she’d been earlier. “Hey, no problem. I was just curious where someone with a mind like yours went for a tune-up.” Her joke fell flat.

She couldn’t put her finger on why things were weird between them when they’d always been comfortable in each other’s company. Now would be the time and place to ask Quinn about Kizira, but Evalle couldn’t make herself bring it up yet.

No reason to rush.

She picked at a loose thread on her jeans and couldn’t figure out where to look. To get the conversation moving, she switched to a subject that should be easier. “Any word on the Svart trolls?”

“Yes. Tzader asked me to catch you up.” Quinn paused as the waitress served Evalle, then he hit the high points with his usual precise way of speaking.

She noticed how his attention flitted between the coffee mug and the edge of the plastic menu he picked at with his thumbnail.

The imperturbable Quinn nervous?

No way. She opened her empathic senses just enough to get some read on him. The first feedback surprised her. Why would Quinn be feeling distressed? The next sensation she picked up hurt her heart.

Quinn was sad.

So not like him.

He finished his rundown on the Svarts by saying, “Sen has made it abundantly clear that he expects us to find a way to deal with the trolls without constantly calling him.”

“As if we want to call him? What does he expect us to do?”

“Sen offered no remedy, but Tzader has an idea. He thinks if we could acquire a weapon that would kill trolls and other nonhumans in a way that doesn’t harm humans or expose our activity to them, we wouldn’t have to call on Sen so often. A weapon that could be used at close range.”

“There’s only one person who might have that.”

Quinn lowered his voice even though the closest patron was some poor old homeless guy six booths away who had nodded off. “We know. Isak Nyght.”

“The problem with that is keeping Isak out of our way the minute he catches wind of any nonhuman activity.”

“Exactly.” Quinn stopped fingering his coffee mug and studied her now. “We thought you could ask Isak.”

Evalle had finished all she could eat and tossed the paper napkin on top of her plate, then shoved it away. “He’ll be suspicious if I ask.”

“Not if you tell him you want it for your own protection. Based upon his interest in you, I believe he would loan you a weapon.”

Now she got it. “You want me to play the girl card? Are you serious?”

That got a smile out of Quinn. “You make it sound as though you aren’t equipped for such a mission.”

“Oh, sure. But that’s like using a car built from scrap parts to chauffeur the governor around.”

“You discount your appeal, Evalle.”

“No, I’m a realist. I have no idea how to flirt and you know that.”

“I don’t think that will be necessary. Isak Nyght took an interest in you the first time he found you with a demon. Do you look any different now than you did then?”

“No.” She’d even shared a meal with Isak wearing clothes ripped from battle, bruises on her arms and her hair askew. But that was the best a man could expect when he sent an armed team to snatch her off the street just to have dinner with him.

“Unless … you’re concerned about exposing your identity to Isak. I won’t agree to anything that puts you at that type of risk.”

She waved that off with a flip of her hand. “Nah. We seem to be past his wanting me to take off my sunglasses. As long as I keep these on, he has no reason to suspect I’m an Alterant.”

Quinn was right. Isak had taken an interest in her, one that might come back to bite her someday, but he’d made it clear in the past that she could come to him if she ever needed help with a threat. This should count. “I’ll do it, but I’m surprised Tzader’s going along with me seeing Isak.”

“It took some convincing to persuade our overprotective friend.” When she grinned, Quinn continued. “He balked when I suggested you as the best choice to approach Isak, but he finally agreed.”

Should she feel proud that Quinn believed in her ability to gain a weapon they desperately needed, or suspicious of a secret ulterior motive because of what Kizira had said? Why can’t that witch stay out of my world? I trust Quinn. Period.

Quinn must have taken her silence as concern. “If you’d prefer, I could accompany you.”