Chapter Twenty Nine

Quinn’s face broke into one of his rare, full blown grins.
“ I was just kidding, Glory.”
“Oh.” Her heart gradually started beating again. “Where are we going?” Glory asked a few moments later.
“ Just somewhere we can talk.”
Glory glanced down at the ground, far, far below them.
“ Uh, are we almost there?”
A soft chuckle slipped out of his lips.
“ Yeah.”
Glory felt oddly relaxed. The beating of his wings kept gently fanning her face, and she let herself enjoy being up high.
She closed her eyes, the gentle swaying motion of Quinn’s wings making her realize how tired she was. She allowed her eyes to slip closed, just for a second. Next thing she knew, she was being shaken gently.
“ Glory.”
Glory’s eyes flew open and hear heart just about leapt out of her chest.
“ Whoa, whoa. Take it easy. Its only me.”
Glory blinked up at Quinn, the last few day’s events catching up.
“ Oh, right. Sorry.” She sat up quickly, looking around her. Quinn was crouched on his heels, wings no where in sight, looking like a model. He reached up with one hand, brushing his shaggy hair out of his eyes with his fingers.
“ You want to come over here and talk?” He nodded toward a fallen log.
“Sure.” Glory grasped his offered hand. He didn’t let go once she was on her feet, instead he intertwined his fingers through hers.
He led her to the fallen log and sat. Glory turned toward him, straddling the log. Quinn didn’t look at her, instead he studied the dense forest around them. Glory didn’t mind, instead she took the time to study his profile, marveling over his perfect features.
“ Where to begin.” he muttered to himself. Glory leaned closer.
“ How about at the beginning?” Glory offered. She was tired of not knowing what was going on.
“We would be here for a while.” Quinn’s lips tilted into a small smile.
“Oh.”
“ I guess we’ll start in your dream.”
“ My dream. Where I first saw you right?”
Quinn nodded, his full lips pressing together as if to keep him from laughing. But his mood suddenly sobered, and his already dark eyes darkened, if that was possible.
“Describe to me how you were feeling in your dream.”
Glory paused. “ It was like I was being called. Like I already knew where I was going. I kept walking, but I never felt tired. It was like where I was going, things would be better.”
Quinn was nodding with every word she said.
“ That’s because you were dead.”
Glory’s mouth fell open and she gaped at him.
“Excuse me?”
“ That calling you felt, that Drive, was you being summoned to the after world. I stopped you.”
“ How?” Glory frowned, her voice sounding breathless.
Quinn sighed. “ The tree. The water. It’s basically the equivalent to the tree of life. You drank it, it healed you. You’re here now. The end.” His voice was becoming curt.
“ What’s wrong?” Was he wishing he hadn’t saved her? Was he wishing that he wouldn’t have interfered and just let her go?
Something snapped in the brush.
Sapphire blue eyes peered out of the shadows. They honed in on Glory, pinning her to the spot.
Glory couldn’t look away. She was acutely aware of Quinn’s wings sweeping out, make a gently breeze that ruffled her hair against her face. But she couldn’t look at his magnificence, she was still staring at the blue eyes.
“ Who is this?” Quinn asked, amusement dancing through his voice.
“ Damien.” Glory was able to speak.
“Do we know Damien?” Quinn grinned, danger lacing his tone and making his dark features shine.
“ I know him.” She could see out of her peripheral vision Quinn’s dark wing behind her, making her feel oddly protected.
Glory bit back a groan as her mind was overcame of the feeling of Damien taking over. No surprise there. She rose, more like Damien made her stand up, and she walked over toward the brush. She wasn’t surprised in the least bit to see the large Cheetah crouched there.
“What are you doing here?” She snapped, glaring down at him.
In a blink, Damien, in human form, was crouched where the cheetah had just been.
“ They’re all looking for you. I was just the first to find you.” His voice was low and dangerous. He was glaring at Quinn with a burning hatred so bright, Glory thought she could probably cut the air with a knife there was so much tension.
Quinn was standing on the fallen log, dark wings surrounding him, looking more dangerous than ever.
“ Aden’s coming?”
“ That’s right.”
Dread welled up in Glory’s stomach. This wasn’t going to be good.
“How do they know where we are?”
Damien finally stopped glaring at Quinn long enough to rest his eyes briefly on Glory.
“ They cant read your mind anymore, but they can still read mine.”
“What?” Glory exclaimed.
“ Since That guy showed up, they say its like you’re blank. Just white.”
Glory thought back. She was slightly aware of them making that statement. Before her shower. Before Quinn showed up. Things of the past were getting kind of fuzzy. She frowned and glanced over at Quinn. Could he control her memory?
She glanced back at Damien, and opened her mouth, starting to ask another question. He’s shoulders rose as he inhaled deeply.
“ They’re here.”
Glory barely had time to take a breath before Aden’s arms were around her.
“Are you ok?” He whispered against the top of her head.
Glory nodded, relaxing in his strong embrace. She tucked her face in the crook of his neck. She could feel his heart pounding underneath his shirt.
“ Don’t ever do that again.” He tried to sound stern, but his voice sounded relieved. He held her for a minute, and Glory felt love radiating off of him. Then he slowly straightened, and turned to face Quinn.
Quinn was crouched on his heels now, wings spread to balance him. His dark face was smiling.
Aden stiffened as Quinn’s voice rang out, strong and dark.
“ Hello, Brother.”