He’d thought he’d seen a wisp of wild red hair from that little termagant, Luigsech, an hour ago. But sunrise reflections had been playing with his eyes.
His insides roiled every time he thought about what Tristan must be enduring.
He tried contacting Tristan continually with no success.
Why had he sent Tristan after that being? Yes, he held Tristan’s ability in high regard, but damn. Daegan would trade places if he could.
A voice Daegan had been waiting to hear came into his mind. This is Quinn. I’m ready to teleport with Reese.
Daegan wasted no time complying, but Quinn and Reese didn’t appear as quickly as they should have. He had a moment of fear for their lives if the venom in his body was corrupting his power, but they finally showed inside the cloaking. Daegan expanded it to protect their presence and any conversation.
“I can carry the damned bag myself,” Reese argued, hands flying in front of Quinn’s expressionless face. She stopped in midpoint and turned to Daegan. Then she gave Quinn a censoring glare. “Why do you always make me look like a harpy in front of him?”
Daegan didn’t know what was going on, but he wanted Reese at ease. “I do not think ya are a harpy.”
Jaw set and eyes flashing anger, Reese sweetened her tone. “That’s a lie, but thanks, Daegan.”
Quinn looked no happier.
Daegan asked telepathically, What is wrong, Quinn?
His Maistir huffed out a breath and answered the same covert way. Nothing as important as findin’ Tristan. I'll explain later.
Daegan turned to Reese, speaking out loud. “Thank ya for comin’ to help, Reese. I promise ya we will keep demons away from ya while we do this.”
That jarred her out of her silence. Her gaze darted around in every direction. She smoothed her hands over the front of her long-sleeved button-down beige T-shirt. She’d dressed ready to work in jeans and sneakers. “You’re welcome. I can handle demons. I just don't deal well with asshats.”
Quinn shook his head to just move on.
Daegan agreed. Whatever conflict those two had would have to be worked out later. “Have ya told Reese what is goin’ on yet, Quinn?”
Reese jumped in and replied, “No, he hasn’t. Specifics would be expecting too much from him.”
Quinn did not take the bait. Instead, he explained, “I only shared what was required to request your help. Had you refused, that would have been acceptable, but I would have had no reason to share additional details you had no need for at that point.”
“What in the blue blazes ... ?” Reese shot him a death glare. “All that crap you just said can be summed up in one sentence. Information is on a need-to-know basis.” After that criticism, Reese turned a friendly face to Daegan. “I would love to know what’s going on, like the details of how Tristan was captured.”
Daegan would sympathize with Quinn, but since he had no idea what had caused the friction between those two he didn’t take a side. “Tristan came here with me. We were investigatin’ a woman who works in that ancestral research centre across the street. She rode her bike from here to a grocery buildin’ where she met with someone called Cavan. We followed to watch, but the man hid his identity with glamour and cloakin’. When those two parted ways, Tristan followed Cavan and I followed the woman. Cavan captured Tristan while I was fightin’ Imortiks at the woman’s cottage.”
“Wow. Okay, so what’s first?” Reese turned to the side and studied the centre. “Is that place across the street open?”
“Not yet, accordin’ to the hours on the glass.” Daegan cast a look in the same direction. “It should open in ten minutes. The woman who spoke to Cavan yesterday told me she had to be here this mornin’ to meet with him, but neither have shown.”
“She just told you all that?” Reese asked with a look of disbelief.
“Reese,” Quinn said quietly.
“What? I’m just trying to understand everything going on.” She returned to facing Daegan.
“No, she did not just offer that information. We had a conversation where I explained how she has to help me find Cavan so we can save Tristan.”
“Ah. Not a friendly talk then.”
“Not especially and Imortiks attacked before we could finish that conversation. By the time I killed the last one, the woman had escaped.” When Reese lifted her eyebrows in surprise, Daegan added, “I have no idea who Cavan is or where he took Tristan. The only person who can tell me is the woman I spoke to at that cottage last night. Casidhe Luigsech.”
Quinn's eyebrows lifted at the mention of the woman's name. Evidently Evalle and Storm had informed Quinn of the council meeting details.
Worry entered Quinn’s calm demeanor. “So you’ve encountered Imortiks since coming here?”
Daegan admitted, “Yes. I fought a couple last night, plus demons, includin’ one that glowed, at this woman's cottage. She lives a fair piece outside the village. As I mentioned, Luigsech disappeared while I was outside fightin’ the demons.”
“Well, that sucks,” Reese groused. “She didn’t hang around in case you were hurt or needed help?”
Her reaction drew a smile from Quinn, an expression Daegan would call admiration.
Those two had some kind of strange relationship.
He couldn’t believe he was going to defend Luigsech, but he would not allow Reese’s assumption to stand. “Actually, the Luigsech woman pulled out a sword that hummed with energy. She panicked a little at first, but instead of screamin’ and runnin’ in circles, she slashed the heads off Imortiks.”
“You’re joking,” Quinn said, sounding unconvinced.
“I am not. She has trainin’ and power, which surprised me as much as possessin’ a sword with very old energy. I believe that weapon may have come from my time. It’s hard to explain, but energy that old has its own signature. I did not realize
