Quentin saton the other side of the cell. He knew it was an old castle, but he hadn’t expected dungeons to still exist. Or for the phoenix shifters to use them. He didn’t know if this one had been prepared for Everest or if they had modernized them at some point so the cells had a proper bed. They certainly weren’t dank, cold, stone rooms filled with straw and little else. The lack of natural light was disturbing, though. As was the way Everest stared at him.
He was still wearing the cuffs, though Orion had separated them so Everest could be more comfortable.
“I need to know everything you’ve told the Shadow Board.”
“Give me pen and paper, and I’ll write it down for you.”
Quentin shook his head. “We both know that’s not how this works.”
He hoped he sounded as though he knew what he was doing.
“You’re a bit too young to be an agent.”
Quentin smiled. Aside from the fact he wasn’t, he was also older than Everest. Though not by much. “They like my magic and my other skills. As you noted, Kaine does like brains.”
Everest kept his glare steady, and his thoughts focused. He was doing a bloody good job of blocking him.
“Let’s try something different. Why didn’t you trust your brothers that they had it in hand?”
“I already answered that.”
But the change in question was enough for Everest’s focus to waver. That was how he did this. He kept asking different questions, forcing Everest to constantly think up new responses.
“Were you really willing to risk the exposure of all paranormals to find your brother?”
Everest blinked and shrugged.
And Quentin saw the crack in the facade and slipped through.
He didn’t know what he thought being in somebody else’s mind would be like, but it wasn’t like his at all. Everest’s seemed so much bigger, as though he could wander forever and never find what he was looking for. He walked along the corridor past open doors and closed ones, and while it twisted and turned, there seemed to be no end. Yet there must be. There must be a first memory from this life.
Or were these all of Everest’s memories? Of all the lives he’d ever lived? Was it all here, even though he didn’t remember?
For a moment, Quentin forgot what he was supposed to be doing because he wanted to go all the way back to the start. Not that he knew where that was in this endless corridor…
Nor did he want to dig that deep, because it would be far too easy to become lost. And if he got lost in here, he’d never find his way out.
Focus.
He needed to know about the Shadow Board.
As he thought about it, some doors opened and others closed.
He peered into the first one, and he realized it wasn’t this life because Everest was an old man. And yet, he must’ve known about the Shadow Board in that life.
The old man turned to him. “Get out.”
“What did you tell the Shadow Board?”
“What they wanted to know,” Everest said from behind him.
Quentin turned. Everest seemed younger now, a little more scared, as though he couldn’t lie to himself with as much ease as he lied to his brothers.
“And what was that? I know you’re trying to help Olier.”
“I had to because no one else cared. They abandoned him. I abandoned him.”
“So when you had the chance, you took it?”
“The Shadow Board and the Coven are using me, so I should get something out of it.”
“How did you decide which information to feed them?”
Everest smiled, and the sharp wings of his butterfly swept over Quentin’s skin. “The trick with information is to give someone just enough?—”
Quentin turned as the fiery heat of Kaine’s butterfly brushed against him. Was he real or another part of Everest’s mind? He had to be real because no one else knew that was how he saw his mate. “Kaine?”
I’m sorry.
Kaine’s words echoed in his head, and then everything was burning.
Quentin blinked and rocked back in his chair, clutching his head. His pulse was heavy and slow, and his blood was on fire. He sucked in a breath, but it wasn’t enough.
I want the chance to fall in love with you. Kaine was still talking to him. Whispering in his mind. Write my book for me. Do something amazing with the weeks you have if I don’t make it.
Orion swore.
Jacob asked him something.
Everest laughed. “Come into in my head again, witch, and you’ll spend the rest of your life opening and closing doors, trying to find your way out.”
He was sweating as if… He reached for Kaine. The bond was still there, but it was different. It was wilder and hotter, and Kaine was different, too.
Jacob put his hand on Quentin’s shoulder and then pulled it away as if burned. “Are you okay?”
Quentin stared at Everest. He might look nineteen and act as though all he cared about were sex and parties, but that was a mask.
Somehow, he’d unlocked his memories of the past. He knew everything.
Everest’s smile sharpened. “What did you see, witch?”
“That you will burn the world to absolve yourself of the guilt of abandoning Olier.” Quentin stood. “The guilt over losing one brother is bad. Imagine what losing four will feel like.”
“I only have three.”
“You think Olier will want to associate with you after you hand all shifters over to the people who have held him captive?” He stepped back. He never wanted to step inside Everest’s head again. “Spend some time thinking about what you’ve done…all of it.”
Everest’s eyes widened for a split second as he realized what Quentin had seen. Quentin gave him a single nod as confirmation, then left the room. As soon as they were out of earshot, he turned to Jacob.
“I’m fine, but Kaine has shifted, I think. How can you tell?”
Jacob looked at him. “If it felt as though he shifted, he did. Trust your magic.”
Orion jerked his head at the door that now separated them from where Everest was being held. “What about him? What did you learn?”
The heat fluttered inside of him. He plucked his shirt, half tempted to take it off and just wear his undershirt. “That’s a much bigger conversation.” And one that the other phoenixes needed to be there for.
Find me.
The hot whisper ran through him.
The only reason Kaine would have shifted was because he was in trouble.
The Shadow Board had been waiting for him. And Kaine was the only one who could stop them. “We need to find Kaine.”
He did not want to write in Kaine’s book or only have two weeks left to live while he pined for his lost mate.
A mate who didn’t love him but who wanted that chance.
He wanted that chance, too.
Jacob pulled his phone out of his pocket, and Orion propelled Quentin along the corridor. Neither of them questioned him. They just accepted what he said because he was Kaine’s mate and assumed the order had come from Kaine.
Had he imagined it?
No. There was an urgent beating within him, and it wasn’t his own fear of magic. There were no thoughts pressing into him and demanding attention. He could sense Jacob and Orion’s thoughts, and if he paid attention to them, he’d be able to watch their butterflies and read their surface thoughts. But the thoughts that weren’t his, the thoughts that were within him, belonged to Kaine.
And he was still far too hot. Usually, he wouldn’t complain, given that he was so used to being cold. But this heat felt different.
And he didn’t like the way it ran through his veins.