Balm (4 page)

She patted him on the arm. “Just sell me to the temple as the sacrifice, and all will be well.”

“Those words don’t belong together. I wish the Orb could have given us something a little less deadly to start your new career.” Iskanu wasn’t pleased.

“You are adorable when you are worried.” Quinn rose on her toes and pressed a kiss to his cheek.

He moved his head to meet her lips with his and wrapped his arms around her. She felt the power surrounding her, and she countered it with energy from her own body. Together, they crossed time and space to their destination.

Bare feet on hot sand was not her idea of comfortable, but they arrived in the shadows of the city where she would find the man who wanted to kill her. She just hoped that she was quicker with her talent than he was with the knife.

“Ready?” Iskanu draped a piece of leather around his shoulders and over his head, making a makeshift hood and shadowing his eyes. When he was done, he looked exceedingly forbidding, and she had to admit that the dark and dangerous appearance suited him.

Quinn nodded. “I am ready. Do it.”

He pressed a kiss to her forehead and lifted one of the strands from her skirt, tying it across her eyes. Another strand wrapped around her wrists once she was blinded and just like that, she was helpless.

Quinn opened her mind to give her sensory input as to living things, and Iskanu tugged at her wrists with a grunt, hauling her into the light.

She heard the marketplace around her as she was escorted through the streets. The idea was to have her sold as a sacrifice to the palace and that meant putting her up for sale in the living market.

Every type of living creature was sold on the steps of the palace proper, and sentient beings were no exception. The purchaser for the king was in attendance as he was every day if the Orb’s images were accurate.

Iskanu was moving slowly, but Quinn still stumbled against him now and then. He spoke to an organizer and waited for his turn to auction off his wares.

Quinn listened to the sobbing of women and the snarling of the men who were taken up the steps one by one and sold.

When Iskanu tugged her forward, she knew better than to expect calming words. She stood with her head high and as much dignity as she could manage while he described her body, tugging her clothing until it all hung from the chain at her waist.

The crowd was excited. Quinn could feel it. A masculine voice asked, “Why are her eyes covered? Is she blind?”

“She is marked by the gods.” Iskanu’s tone was embarrassed. It was precisely what it should be to draw in the acquisitions specialist for the palace.

“Show me.”

A few tugs and light beat at her lids.

“Open your eyes.” Iskanu put a hand under her chin, and as she opened her eyes, an eight-foot male with deep mahogany skin was staring at her.

He gasped, calmed his expression and nodded. “You have no objection to her being used as a sacrifice?”

“I am done with her. You may do with her as you will.” Iskanu’s voice was cold.

“Good. Thank you for your cooperation.” The tall male removed a pouch from his waist. “This sale is concluded. She will be sacrifice on the next quarter.”

Quinn didn’t flinch, didn’t show any expression. The wrap around her wrists was removed and her new owner gripped her left forearm as he hauled her into the palace proper.

Iskanu was left behind, and Quinn did not look back. If he were truly an unconcerned owner, she would not beg him for a favour.

“You aren’t very attached to your owner.”

“A quick death is a blessing when compared to a life with him.”

The man frowned. “Did he damage you?”

“Betrayal of trust is not damage. I was a free woman in my home until he came.”

The man nodded in relief. “That is understandable. We are going to the groomers. They will prepare you to attend this evening’s sacrifice.”

She blinked. “I thought I was not to be sacrificed until the next quarter.”

“The next sacrifice is always present to assist the current one to the altar. It is tradition.”

They had passed guard after guard as they walked deeply into the palace itself.

“Will they tell me what to do?”

“You will be given enough instruction to get you through and to the altar itself.”

She licked her lips nervously and kept silent.

After half an hour from front gate to the huge door within the palace, her escort stopped. “Here I leave you. Be beautiful, die well.”

There was no option. A smaller door within the huge one swung open and a woman in plain grey clothing stepped out. “Come with me.”

Quinn had no choice. She followed the woman into what appeared to be the women’s quarters and was immediately surrounded by a gaggle of women in the same sombre grey.

The groomers did their work quickly and efficiently. She was stripped, scrubbed, dipped, scrubbed again, waxed and her hair was divided and braided with a series of gems and metal links.

The moment that she looked at herself in the mirror, she knew that she had never looked better. Her skin was set off by a silvery gauze and completely visible through the gossamer fabric.

When she was dressed and fit for company, she was taken to the current sacrifice and introduced.

“I am pleased to meet you, newcomer.” The young woman could not have been more than nineteen. Her voice trembled a little, but she didn’t look up from her stitchery.

“My name is Quinn.”

“We have no need of names. I am First. You are Next. That is all you need to know.”

First finally looked up and blinked in surprise at the colour of Quinn’s eyes. “The gods will truly be happy with your sacrifice. My eyes are not nearly as dark as yours.”

Quinn blinked as the navy blue gaze looked her over. She had never seen eyes that colour. Her own blue eyes had more of a cornflower tint.

“I hope so. There is little left in my life but pleasing the gods who marked me.”

First nodded and gave her a trembling smile, “As it should be.”

Quinn sat where she was told to and began her own stitchery. She would have twelve weeks to complete it, and it was going to take all of her concentration to pretend that she was still going to be here when the time was up.

“First, it is time.” The woman who spoke was in formal robes.

Quinn’s quiet companion dragged in a deep breath and got to her feet. “Come, Next. It is time.”

Quinn rose and followed her to the exit. Her gaze was on high alert, and when she saw her chance to remove a victim from the mix, she took it.

A servant was walking the hall with an ewer, and it took no effort for Quinn to lightly brush her mind and make her stumble. The ewer spilled, First fell and the crack of her breaking wrist filled the marble hall.

Everyone froze.

“First, are you all right?” Quinn was down on her knees.

Relief and pain were warring in First’s eyes. “My arm is broken. I am not a whole sacrifice.”

The woman escorting them knelt next to First and looked at her dangling wrist. “You must return to your quarters, First. Siloa will take you.”

First got to her feet with tears rolling down her cheeks. She turned to the assistant and cradled her arm as she was led back to her quarters.

The escort frowned at Quinn. “Next, you are now First. Listen closely, because we don’t have much time.”

Quinn got to her feet and the escort straightened the gossamer gown before resuming their journey toward a growing roar.

“The king will allow you to kiss his hands, and you will be taken to the altar board where you will be strapped into place for the sacrifice. He will rip your soul from your body as he drives the knife into your throat. For honour and a good harvest, you must keep your eyes open during the entire procedure. Normally, you would help the First through her death, but now, you will be there alone. I cannot come with you.”

Quinn nodded. “I will do my best.”

The escort let out a low breath. “I hope so.”

They walked to another ornate door, and as it swung open, Quinn lifted her head and stepped out into a huge arena glistening with lights.

The king sitting on the throne was the man in the Orb’s images.

She walked barefoot down the path worn smooth by countless women before her. As she moved, the crowd gradually went quiet, her eyes visible to those near her.

It took her five minutes of walking down the path to reach the dais of the king. He sat in his throne and waited for her to arrive.

When she was next to him, she knelt at his side. He extended his hand to her, and she noted the light lavender tinge to his skin. She raised one hand to his and pressed her lips to his knuckles, inhaling the Orb’s energy as she straightened.

Quinn looked up into his eyes, and to her surprise, dark energy faded from his eyes, leaving light green orbs in its place.

The power continued to flow from him to her, and the darkness inside him reared up, his knife hand raised over his head to kill her where she knelt.

Chapter Seven

Enforcer training kicked in, and she stopped the knife in its descent with her hand rearing up to strike his inner wrist. The knife clattered to one side and gleamed in the bright light of the arena.

She drained the power as quickly as she could using the grip on his forearm to increase the strength of the draw, rising as the power of the Orb filled her. He knelt before her in a perverse parody of their earlier positions.

When his body was empty of Orb energy, she walked to the edge of the platform, throwing her arms wide and disappearing in a burst of light.

Arms and the familiar scent of Iskanu surrounded her. “Let it out, Quinn.”

She stared at the open vault of whatever force held the atmosphere in and exhaled the extra energy that she had just stolen. It swirled around her head for a moment before making a beeline for Kali.

With a smile, the woman raised her hand and accepted the energy. “That went well, Quinn.”

Iskanu was stroking her hair, and she was holding onto him for dear life. Quinn muttered, “Oh, yeah. Fabulous. He was going to gut me.”

Kali grinned. “Don’t be so dramatic. You could have gotten out of there at any time.”

Quinn blinked. Aside from her physical and psychic fatigue, she actually was fine. “Fine. You have a point. What are you doing here, by the way?”

Kali blinked innocently. “Simply retrieving the power was only the first part of your assignment. Recognizing this as home was the true purpose of the challenge.”

Iskanu growled.

Quinn blinked. It was not a noise she had ever heard him make before. It sent a warm wave through her heart. He was angry on her behalf. “Down boy.”

Kali snickered. “Let him be angry. It was a bastardy move on the part of the Orb. He was the worst of the independent descendants if that makes you feel any better.”

“Do they all go mad like that?”

“Let me show you.” Kali walked down the hall, past the bedroom and into the casual area where a large mirror took up space on one wall. With the most delicate brush of her fingers, the mirror came to life.

The first image was that of a child playing with a doll. Another child said something that the focus didn’t like, and the doll burst into flames.

“What you are seeing is Naska. She is a normal girl aside from her ability to cause fires. The energy has begun to work on her moral centre, and soon, she will use it to manipulate those around her, because there is no one to keep her in check.”

Images flicked across the screen of the girl growing into a woman, and every scenario was more violent than the last.

Kali sighed. “Those born to that universe were never meant to carry that much power from the universe long dead. It cannot help but drive them insane, they are reaching for a universe that is no longer there.”

Quinn blinked. “That is very complicated, but how does it work with the rest of us? Will we all go nuts?”

Kali shifted into her stellar skin pattern, and the Orb spoke. “There is a reason that I only claim those who have been tuned to me after their deaths. Your bond with the universe you were born to is severed, and so, I am free to take you as my own.”

Iskanu stood behind Quinn and wrapped his arms around her. “I beg to differ, she is mine.”

Kali resumed her normal appearance of a redheaded Terran and laughed. Mist coiled around her. “We all belong to someone, but we also belong to the Orb.”

The mist slid under Kali’s clothing, and with a low throaty chuckle, Kali and the mist disappeared.

Quinn looked up at Iskanu. “Was that mist…”

“Odin. He is a multi-form.” Iskanu ran his hands over her torso in a slow exploration, part seduction, part verification that she was in one piece.

Quinn turned in his arms. “Were you worried?”

“I was petrified.” His hands slowly caressed her back.

“Good. You matched me emotion for emotion then. I had to break a woman’s arm to get me into the arena. I hope she is all right.”

“Did you want to check on her?”

Quinn closed her eyes and shook her head, pressing her forehead to his chest. “I don’t want to look yet. If something happened to her, it is my fault. She was destined for a horrible death, but I didn’t rescue her from it. I simply took power away from an insane ruler. That could have made him more dangerous than ever.”

“The Orb would not have sent us if we couldn’t make a difference.” There was absolute certainty in his tone, and she looked up into his expression of concern.

She went up on her toes and brushed her lips against his. “I am glad you think so. What do you think of my new outfit?”

He chuckled at her obvious manipulation of his attention. “It is lovely, but I believe that there is something missing.”

He cupped her sex through her clothing and slowly rubbed her bare flesh.

“Oh, that. Right. They shaved me, only left my eyebrows and the hair on my head.” Her skin heated as the fabric pressed against her, and she rapidly became damp as his caress increased in pressure and speed.

Iskanu hooked his fingers upward as he continued to flex them. Her clit throbbed with tension, and wet heat coated his hand.