Essence of Quinn Parts 3 & 4: Papa IV Era & The Main Event - Fate Breaker (MxM)

Home Truths

Amaya shrugged free of Quinn’s hold and scooted over to the edge of the bed, dangling her legs off the side of it.

“We will talk you through what will happen,” Shay said. “But there is more to this. Much more. You need to hear it all before you make your final decision.”

Amaya glanced over at him and sighed a world weary sigh that was way beyond her years.

“There is no need to try and soften the blow of whatever you are fretting about telling me. I may still look like a kit but I am far from it,” she said quietly and seriously.

Those words spoke to Quinn on a subconscious level and he realised that he had been almost the same age as her when he’d left his family. He didn’t remember much of his young life clearly, but he had always known that in his mind he’d felt older than his siblings who were not that many seasons ahead of him.

He’d been forced to grow up a lot quicker than they had and he’d learned things very early that he probably shouldn’t have. His grandsire had made sure that he'd been given knowledge and truth because he'd known that his sire had wanted him gone. They’d both given him the tools to survive on his own, with vastly differing methods.

Quinn got the impression that Amaya had been brought up in much the same way, albeit not for the same reasons, having to grow up quicker than an average ghoul kit. He didn’t even want to think about some of the visions she’d have seen throughout her short life and it made him realise that just the same as him, she hadn’t had a childhood either.

At least Quinn and Ashtoreth had tried to make Zaya’s early life as normal as possible. Yes, she’d inherited his curse and she had visions of things that someone her age should never have seen, but at least she’d had Quinn to guide her through it. He and Ash had made sure that outside of the seer stuff, their family life had been as normal as it could be for her.

Amaya hadn’t had any of that, he was willing to bet. From the little that she’d said so far, despite her illusions of family about the ghuleh who brought her up, she’d been a tool from the get go. It broke his heart all over again when he thought about it.

The years that Quinn had been here on Earth, building this life that he now loved and finding his true self again – all of those years, this kit had been learning to live with the curse that he had given to her without any decent kind of guidance.

What a fucking legacy.

Air came to stand by Quinn’s side and he put a hand on his shoulder. He leaned into the touch, grateful that he was there because this whole thing was just so hard on all involved and he was thankful that he didn’t have to be alone in this.

They’d decided that Shay should be the one to break the news to her. Secondo had asked Quinn if he’d wanted to be there or not when she was told the whole story. He’d decided that he should be. He would just have to suck it up and control the emotions that threatened to swamp him.

He would be able to do it. For her.

“Boreas, the Prime Ghoul, has been searching for you child, for many, many seasons. Almost since the moment that you were conceived, in fact,” Shay said.

Amaya swivelled round to face him and her brows knitted together as she digested that.

“Go on,” she said softly, suddenly wary. “Why has he been looking for me? To use me like my Mama told me he would?”

An edge of defiance had crept into her voice and if Quinn hadn't been so nervous he would have smirked at her with pride.

Shay sighed and looked at Quinn before sliding his eyes back to Amaya. He moved towards her and sat down on the opposite end of the bed, perching on the edge.