Essence of Quinn Parts 3 & 4 (MxM)

Phantom Limb

By the time they got back to the Abbey, Quinn was pissed off. He and Fire were soaked to the skin after being out in the freezing rain for most of the afternoon.

The night of Itzal’s death ritual, a fierce storm had raged over the city and it had knocked out the surveillance cameras that they’d set up to keep an eye on Santos and his witches. Quinn wasn’t one hundred percent convinced that the damage had been caused by the weather but that was by the by now. With all of the commotion and the gruelling ritual to bring Itzal back, it had only been noticed late the following day.

Quinn and Fire had been to try and recover their equipment and replace it with new, but the weather had been against them yet again. They’d managed to set them up again but it was probably pointless. They got the feeling that Santos’ congregation would have scattered once they knew that Itzal was gone for good and Santos was dead.

Secondo had assured them that they probably hadn’t missed too much in the twenty four hour black spot, but Quinn couldn’t shake the feeling that this wasn’t over and done with.

Santos, if the bond he’d shared with Itzal had behaved correctly, should be dead. Secondo was confident that he was gone, as were the witches. Quinn, however, wasn’t convinced about that either.

He knew that breaking the sorcerer’s bond with Itzal should have killed him, but he couldn’t help thinking about the visions he’d had regarding Itzal and Sunshine; visions that hadn’t happened yet. Santos was involved in them and although those events were not the unavoidable kind and were open to change, Quinn was still worried.

They dried off as best they could in one of the Abbey’s bathrooms and then headed to Secondo’s office to give their report.

He looked up from his scrolls when they arrived and gave them a curt nod. He seemed distracted.

Fire told him what had happened and set about seeing if he could get any information from the damaged equipment.

“Is everything okay, Secondo?” Quinn asked.

He shook his head and stood up, moving to stand in front of the fire place and staring down into the flames.

“Itzal is convinced that he saw Santos in the city yesterday.”

Fire stopped what he was doing and looked up. Quinn scowled.

“And you believe him?”

Secondo sighed and shrugged.

“He showed me what he’d seen and it’s possible, I suppose. It could also have been any number of dark haired men that he saw. I would like to think that he is still nervous and jumpy from his ritual the other day, that he was overwhelmed.” Secondo looked over at Quinn. “You think he is right though, don’t you?”

Quinn came to stand next to the fire with Secondo. The warmth from it was welcome, he could still feel the chill from being out in the cold.

“I cannot say how he could have survived, but I get the feeling that maybe he did. It came from a vision I had, just a niggling doubt, but now that you’ve mentioned Itzal’s concerns? I think there is more than a fair chance that he is still out there.”

Secondo cursed, clearly hoping that Quinn would have played it down.

“Well, I have forbidden he or Sunshine from leaving the Abbey until we know for definite, just in case.”

It made sense.

“How is Itzal doing?” Quinn asked.

He felt that same pull that Air did, that the others did. Concern for his wellbeing. Usually a new summon would spend the days following their arrival with their new pack and their summoner, but Itzal had Sunshine already and had been holed up with her in Papa’s ghoul lair. Quinn could tell that the whole pack was missing him, even though they didn’t know him that well yet. He understood now why the others had made such an effort to include him when he had first arrived on Earth.