Chapter 8

As we went through the endless hallways, I tried to think of something to say to break the silence. I had no problems with the strong silent type, but Quinton seemed to take it further than most. Each time I glanced up at him, his brown eyes locked on me for a second before he looked away.

“You don’t like me.” I stated.

He looked down at me. “Did I say that?”

I shook my head and followed him around another corner. “No, but your body language does.”

“You’re an expert on body language?”

His tone revealed nothing. It wasn’t cold or reflecting any real emotion. “No.

“Then don’t make assumptions that you know me or my thoughts.”

We walked up an incline in the hall toward a door.

He entered some numbers on a pad. Opening the door, he motioned for me to go through.

I did and found two large men standing on either side. They straightened, adding a few more inches to their already very tall height.

“We’re going to the infirmary.” Quinton told them.

They looked at me, then back to him.

“Is everything all right, Prince?” The one with the beard asked.

Quinton nodded. “Yeah.” He started walking.

The men stood there looking at me. When I realized they were waiting for me, I hurried to catch up to him. We were walking across some sort of courtyard in the middle of buildings. At the door to each building were more guards. Seeing this made me realize two things. The Alterealm my mother had known had changed, and this war they were fighting was serious.

When we reached the door, the guard opened it. Quinton paused and looked at him. “Tell Ira I said to switch out to the six-hour rotations.” He looked at the other guard, “I want the guards to be fresh.”

The guard nodded. “Will do.”

We went into the building. As soon as I stepped in, the shock must have shown. It didn’t look like any hospital I’d been in. The lobby was decorated like a tasteful hotel, not sterile, white and reeking of sanitizing chemicals.

“We do things differently here.” Quinton said quietly. He motioned for me to go to a door at the side.

I followed him into a room, then stopped. It was an office.

“Wait here. I’ll go find the doctor.” He stood there for a moment looking down at me. “I’ll see you when you’re finished.” Taking a deep breath, like he had something to say, but then he turned and walked out the door again without speaking.

~

I walked back out of the office feeling much like I had for the last twenty-four hours, amazed. The doctor was nothing like any doctor I’d ever talked to. I always worked with the intake at the clinic and not the doctor. This doctor showed me nothing but respect, asking if each test was acceptable. I kept expecting to see Quinton giving him that dark stare in the corner, but he hadn’t come back.

I stood there trying to decide if I was to go back out the way we’d come in or wait here for Quinton to come back. Wandering to the other end of the lobby, I looked down a hallway and didn’t see anyone, so I went down it.

A nurse came out a door and smiled at me. “Can I help you?”

“I was looking for Prince Quinton.”

She pointed, “he’s just down there with the patients they brought back.”

“Thank you.” I went down the hall. There were two guards standing outside a door. I paused, not sure if I would be allowed in.

One of them put his hand in front of me, so I would stop. “What’s your name?”

“Reagan.” I said hesitantly. “I came here with Prince Quinton.”

He dropped his hand and nodded.

I walked through quickly before he changed his mind. It was a ward of some kind, with curtains separating the beds. The people in the beds looked exhausted and malnourished. My guess was they were the people they had rescued. I grasped my own hands so I wouldn’t pull off my gloves and run around touching these poor people. I couldn’t imagine being held against my will. I’d spent my whole life avoiding that very thing.

As I reached the end, I paused when I heard Quinton speaking.

“I searched every inch of the wasteland for you. Damn near every day.” There was pain in his voice.

“I’m starting again.” A weak voice said. “But damn, your face Q.”

“I know it’s pretty, but that’s not the point, Deet.” Quinton didn’t sound as light as his words implied.

“It’s just—the huntress? The huntress fixed it?” He mumbled something. “I can’t believe it finally came true.”

Quinton cleared his throat and made some other noise I couldn’t put an action to. “Well, unfortunately it means more than just a prophecy is true.” Quinton said. “There’s a whole shit show going on now.”

“But your brothers are mated now?” The man sounded amazed, even in his weakened state.

“Yeah.” Quinton chuckled. “You need to get back on your feet and see the women fate planned for them.”

“Good? Bad?”

“They scare the hell out of me,” Quinton said quietly, “in a good way, I suppose.”

“I don’t see a tattoo on your arm yet.”

“Are you sure you don’t want something? Every time you move you look like you’re going to pass out.” The curtain moved.

I jolted, not wanting to be caught eavesdropping. I peeked around the edge of the material. “I’m all done.” I gave the man in the bed a quick smile, then looked to Quinton. “I have no idea where I’m supposed to go—or how to get there.”

Quinton stood up and jammed his hands in his pockets. “Detrick, this is Reagan.”

I looked at the man in the bed, he was a big man—or had been, but his malnourishment was clear. I could see the creases in his brow and the intense look in his eyes. I knew the look of pain. I pulled off my glove and stepped to the other side of the bed and held out my hand. “My pleasure.” He placed a cold hand in mine. His hand was huge. I placed my other, gloved, hand over it and continued to hold on. “I overheard a bit as I was walking up.” I glanced to Quinton then back to Detrick. “You guys know each other quite well?”

Detrick smiled briefly. “We grew up together.” He cleared his throat.

I grinned. “Oh. You don’t look your age at all.”

Detrick chuckled, then he frowned.

“Dammit, Reagan.” Quinton reached across and pulled our hands apart. His eyes burned into mine for a second before he pulled his hand away.

Detrick blew out a breath. “I don’t know what you just did but thank you. My whole-body hurts or did. It’s better now.” He gave me a smile. “I thought I was hallucinating the hair though.”

Putting my glove back on, I pulled my hair so I could see it. It was streaked with lighter colors now. Flipping it back, I shrugged. “No hallucinations.”

Quinton cleared his throat. “We’ll let you get some rest.”

I stepped back to the end of the bed. “Feel better soon.”

“Come back and visit anytime.” Detrick said with a smile.

Quinton sighed loudly.

“What, you know I’m the social one.” His friend offered.

“Yeah. I’ll see you later.” Quinton’s tone was somber. He motioned for me to go.

He walked beside me until we were back in the lobby, then he grabbed my arm and stepped into the office he’d left me in. Before I could ask, he spun and glared at me.

“You can’t just heal everyone you see.” His pretty eyes bore through mine.

“I don’t. That would be exhausting.” I offered, not understanding why he was reacting this way.

“What did the doctor say?” He stepped back and put his hands on his hips, his gaze not leaving mine.

“He did some tests, to double check,” I shrugged, “everything, but said I’m perfectly healthy.”

He just stood there looking at me, his expression changing more than once. “Make sure you find out the results of those tests.” Opening the door, he stomped out it. “Let’s go get your stuff.”