Page 52 of Princess of Vengeance

We’re both lost in our own thoughts, but I’d bet my life they’re circling the same things—Quinn, Nico, and the endless fucking possibilities of what could be happening right now.

“He should have been back by now,” I say finally, just to get the words out of my head.

“Give them time.” Killian’s voice is just as steady and measured as it always is, but I can tell by the way the muscle in his jaw clenches that he’s just as on edge as I am.

Time.

That’s all we seem to have now. Days and nights that run together so relentlessly that this safe house is starting to feel more and more like a prison.

And it’s only gotten worse since Quinn has been gone. I’m pretty sure I’ve been through all the stages of grief and back again, but the note she sent us has at least given me the tiniest flicker of hope that things might eventually get better.

Just the fact that she reached out to us shows that she didn’t mean all that shit she said the night she left with Malcolm. Deep down, I knew it couldn’t be true, even then. She wasn’t acting like herself, and she didn’t really look like herself either. She looked…

Broken.

My throat tightens, and for a moment, I have to close my eyes and swallow hard. If Malcolm has done anything to her, I swear to god I’ll rip him limb from limb with my bare fucking hands.

Or worse—what if he’s caught Nico and Quinn together? What if that’s the hold up?

“Getting yourself worked up won’t help them.” Killian gives me a pointed look, and I belatedly realize I’ve been gripping the arms of this chair so hard that my knuckles are practically white.

“I should have gone with him.”

He shakes his head. “Nico never would’ve let you go. For the same reason he wouldn’t have let me.”

I know he’s right because we’ve been over this at least a half-dozen times since Nico has been gone. Hell, Nico said as much himself before he left.

Still, at least I could do something if I was there. If they got into some kind of trouble, I’d be right there to help.

“I hate just sitting around here, not knowing what the hell is going on. It’s driving me crazy.”

“You and me both, brother.” Killian shifts, stretching out his legs and crossing his feet. “We just have to wait and try to bepatient. Nico and Quinn can take care of themselves better than almost anyone else I’ve ever met. He’ll be back.”

The lock clicks and both of us are on our feet in an instant with our hands moving to our weapons. But it’s Nico who steps through the door, and I can instantly feel some of the tension leave my shoulders.

“Well?” I ask before he’s even fully inside. My heart is pounding so hard I can barely hear my own voice over it. “Was she there?”

He nods, and I can tell there’s something different about him. He isn’t as tense and angry as he was when he left here earlier. He’s still on edge like the rest of us, for sure, but not like he was before. “Yeah. She was there.”

Killian quickly wipes his palms on his jeans—a subtle but telling sign that he really was nervous. “Tell us everything.”

Nico walks past us and drops down onto the couch Killian just vacated with a long sigh. “She convinced Malcolm to let her rebuild Enigma, starting with a new home for Blood and Ink. There’s an old building her father used to own, right down the block from that bar, with a tunnel connecting the basements of both places.”

I can’t help but laugh a little. “That’s fucking genius.”

Even Nico grins a little as he tells us more about it. “Malcolm has guys following her, but they just see her going in and out of the shop. They don’t know about the tunnel.” He pauses and his smile slips. “She’s been coming to the bar every night and waiting for one of us to show up.”

Something in my chest tightens as I picture Quinn waiting there night after night, hoping we’d get her message, but never knowing if we would come.

Or if we still trusted her enough to try.

“Is she okay, though?” I have to ask. I have to know. “Has he…”

As badly as I need to know, I can’t force myself to finish that sentence. Thank fuck Nico is on top of it.

“He hasn’t touched her. Yet. But she says he won’t wait forever.”

Killian goes completely still, and I can immediately feel a wave of anger rolling off of him. “If that dickbag lays a hand on her, I’ll fucking?—”

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