Essence of Quinn Parts 3 & 4 (MxM)

Calista

Quinn carefully pushed his way to the front of the small crowd who had invaded the room. He and Air, Boreas, Amon and three guards. A quintessence ghuleh was seated on the nest of furs next to Calista. She sat with a blanket wrapped around her shoulders. He made his movements slow and deliberate because he could feel how skittish she was. He knew that she recognised him though and her reaction was not what he had been expecting. He'd thought that she would be afraid or angry or a mixture of both. He was surprised when the main thing he felt from her was relief. It caught him off guard because he had prepared himself for the other emotions, but not for this one.

Her eyes never left his and Quinn tried sending her some quintessential magic to soothe her. He could hear her frantic heartbeat, like that of a panicked bird, and her shallow breaths gave the underlying fear that she still felt away. She didn't make any move to try and run away though and he was impressed with her bravery.

She was as petite as he remembered, maybe even more so. He gave her a quick scan for physical injuries and couldn't find any. On first inspection she didn't look like she had any bruises or scars which he was glad about. Emotionally was an entirely different matter though. The quintessence ghuleh was sending her a steady stream of magic and Quinn subconsciously sent her some of his own. He didn't force it, just let it work in the background for now.

Quinn didn't think that she'd been eating properly, probably not for a while, and he suddenly understood his pack mates' concern when they realised that he wasn't eating enough either. She called to his protective nature and it made him angry that she'd had to go through something like this. She didn't look too different to how he remembered her, but she felt exhausted.

"She has been very nervous around all of us. Hasn't let any of us get too close, except for Lyra," Boreas said quietly as he gestured towards the quintessence ghuleh.

Quinn frowned and he sensed Air's protective side rising to the surface also. He could feel the other ghoul itching to go to her and offer comfort but he managed to resist and stayed calmly behind Quinn.

"Calista?" Quinn said on a whisper.

She blinked and he saw her eyes misting over. Before Quinn had a chance to react she launched herself at him. The blanket dropped from her shoulders and she threw herself against his chest, gripping onto his shirt and burying her face into it. He was momentarily stunned and he felt the guards moving in around them.

"Stay back!" Quinn said. "We are fine. Leave us be."

The guards stepped away and Quinn carefully closed his arms around Calista's back.

"We searched and searched for you. I'm so sorry. We thought that you were dead," he whispered against her hair.

She made a whimpering sound and seemed to grip him tighter. Quinn turned his face to Air, not quite sure what he should do. The other ghoul slowly approached and touched her hair gently. She flinched and he pulled his hand away.

"Do you want us to leave, little one?" Air asked her gently.

There was no response. Quinn looked to Lyra, the ghuleh who knew her the best.

"Has she tried to speak at all?" Quinn asked her.

He felt bad for speaking about her when she was right there in his arms, but what else could they do?

She shook her head sadly.

"No, she's been almost catatonic since she arrived last night. This is the most extreme reaction she's had to anyone," she said, nodding towards the smaller ghuleh.

Quinn stroked soothing circles around her back, feeling all of the bones protruding from under her skin. He could feel his own panic and guilt rising at the knowledge that he had done this to her. Because of him, her family had been snatched away and she'd been subjected to fuck knows what for the last twenty years or more.