Becka’s headache intensified. What had started as a mild vibration had grown to a discordant harmonic within Becka’s mind, grating on her senses. There was an audible crack, like a whip snapping, and Becka fell back, landing on her butt.
“Oof!”
Quinn flinched at the sound. “Are you okay?” He offered her a hand up.
The glyphs covering Tesse’s throat faded all at once, as if someone had suddenly drained the water out of the pool holding their image.
“Curious,” Quinn muttered under his breath, and then lowered his camera to the slab and stepped close into Becka’s space without making physical contact. “Are you all right?”
Unable to find the words, Becka gave him a brief nod. She rode out the sensation until her internal seas felt still again and the energetic winds quieted. Then she pulled her hand away from Tesse, cradling her temples in her hands.
He brought his arms up around her and rubbed her shoulders gently. “Your headache is worse this time?”
She welcomed his sympathetic smile. “Yeah, I’m gonna need to find my hot sauce asap.”
“Sure, can we head back to your room for the night? I do not get the impression there is more for us to learn here.”
Becka returned Tesse’s funerary shroud to the correct location, and then led the way back to the manor. They walked in silence, with the shifter guards following close behind. No doubt they figured Becka was lost in grief after saying a final private goodbye to her twin.
Becka’s heart ached almost as much as her head. She couldn’t quite think straight. Once back at her room, she closed the door in the guards faces and then made a beeline for her suitcase. She grabbed the hot sauce and then downed a large gulp. Becka collapsed on her bed, bottle in hand.
Quinn kicked his shoes off and laid down on the divan opposite her bed. He had his camera out, no doubt reviewing the footage.
“Did you record it all?”
“I did. It’s all here. The appearance and subsequent disappearance of the glyphs. Do you want to see the video?”
Becka sat up, propping herself up with a mountain of pillows. She took another sip, the spicy heat of the sauce slowly dulling the throbbing in her head.
“I watched it live.” She pulled the fluffy comforter up around her midsection. “The stress of today has exhausted me. I feel like I could sleep for a week and it still wouldn’t be enough to recover.”
“Tomorrow is going to be a long day too. You should get some rest.”
She patted the pillows on the bed next to her. “Come here.”
He hesitated, but then came over and reclined next to her on the bed.
“Thanks,” she whispered, and then leaned up against him, her left shoulder casually against his chest. “I’m worried someone might try and listen to our conversation. Now that I have a gift, I’m more interesting.”
“I would advise you get a muffling spell installed,” he whispered back, “but I doubt it would work for you, considering.”
“Ha. Ha. What do you make of the glyphs?”
“The fact that they disappeared in the end means they were magic-based, not tattoos.”
She nodded. “That was my thinking as well. So, it’s unlikely Tesse got them as tattoos. Any magical marking she would have use to show off her skills, not hide. But then, who hid them?”
“I agree a talented Rowan illusionist would not get markings just to hide them. Plus, these are ancient symbols not at all associated with House Rowan nor Tesse’s known interests, but instead with the shadow-dwellers. Perhaps her attacker left them on her, and then hid the marks to hide their tracks?”
“But that seems convoluted? It’s not like the attacker had much time. From what you’ve said, the attack was over in a few minutes. Plus, they’d have to have skills at illusion and...whatever they did to make the markings in the first place.”
“I am just tossing around ideas, but perhaps we’ve had it wrong? Fae-touched are limited to single gifts, not many. Perhaps we are looking for multiple assailants? Or, perhaps she was marked somehow well before the attack, then it was hidden all that time? If so, what was the point? Anyway, I have already sent the video to my Chief to see what ideas the team might have. Hopefully by morning they will have some insight.”
A few quiet moments passed, until Becka couldn’t put off the inevitable question any longer.
She set her bottle of hot sauce on the bedside table and turned toward him, luxuriating in the feel of her body pressed against his firm, muscular form. “What are we going to about Maura dismissing you?”
His arms wound around her, fingers running the length of her spine. “What can we do? As a full member of House Rowan, Maura has the right to accept or deny assistance from the Enforcer’s Guild. I’ve only been allowed here until now because you, as an independent citizen, requested I stay.”
“Have you checked in with Elowen?”
“Yes, I got a message from her over dinner. I’m ordered to leave House Rowan territory by sunset tomorrow.”
Becka slipped a hand around his neck and leaned her head against his shoulder. “I really don’t want you to go.”
His fingers threaded through her hair. “I will brief Brent and his team. They will keep you safe.”
She lifted her head, meeting his gaze. “They won’t let me work with them. Not like you have.”
“Your position has changed.”
She lifted herself up. “That doesn’t mean I’m a delicate flower!” she replied, voice raised.
His smile was, again, all too charming for his own good. “No one would be foolish enough to think so.”
Becka moved back in close to him. “They’d better not.” She brushed her lips across his, and he captured them, his hand gripping the back of her neck, pulling her against him.
He pulled back. “I can taste the hot sauce on you. It’s so strong. How can you stand it?”
“It takes a lot to knock down my headaches,” she shrugged.
