MARK OF LOVE (Lovemark #3)

15. Quilla

Chapter 15

Quilla

Indigo hadn’t been lying. Graykeys really had murdered most of his family.

And don’t ask me when I’d started thinking of him as Indigo. The more I’d read his journal, the more he’d become Indigo.

But I wasn’t going to let him know that just yet.

His family history was almost as sad as my own. His parents had been killed during the tenth reaping, just as mine had. His great-grandparents were assassinated in the ninth reaping. A distant Moast uncle and cousin were slain in the Great Lowden War following the eleventh reaping. Then his grandmother and beloved grandpa had died in a highly questionable accident by members of King Orick’s royal procession when they’d been traveling to High Cliff to sign a treaty, which never got around to being signed.

He really had no love lost for my people.

And yet revenge wasn’t his driving force. He might’ve kept impeccable records about the Graykeys and was still keeping track of them, but it didn’t take me long to realize Earth was his main obsession.

From his notes, I realized his great-grandmother had been switched here from Earth when some Graykey had taken an amulet through the portal eighty-three years ago. He called the earthlings who were pulled here to take the place of a Graykey going there Replacements. Made sense to me, so I shrugged, going with it.

The more he wrote about the stories his grandfather told him about her, the more I realized I knew who he was talking about. Her disappearance had been legendary on Earth when I had visited, even all those years after her disappearance. The urge to tell Indigo what I knew about her filled my tongue, but I swallowed it back.

He’d love to hear what I knew, so I couldn’t tell him. I was still mad over learning about his involvement in tracking my people down. But I wanted to tell him, which made everything worse.

What was wrong with me? I shouldn’t have any desire to converse with the vile man at all.

Except I did.

A part of him came through his writing that I hadn’t noticed before. He was thoughtful and thorough with his ideas. And even though he had more of a vested interest in wiping out my family than just about anyone I knew, he’d considered alternatives than outright g******e. In another list—I never would’ve taken him for being such a list maker, but his book was full of them—he had come up with different ways to stop Graykey destruction.

His number one option had been to simply break the curse, but not a single living soul had any idea how to do that, so he contemplated putting all the Graykeys on an island, away from the rest of the Outer Realms, so they couldn’t hurt anyone outside the family. He’d come up with the idea for a register, so they could be found easily and quickly, then simply detained for a short spell whenever a reaping began, until the bloodlust was over, then released again. He’d even wondered if sterilization would work to stop more generations from emerging.

But a sub-note under the list told me King Ignatius had nixed all these ideas, meaning Indigo had approached his king with more merciful solutions.

Before ever meeting me.

I glanced up. Why hadn’t he told me that?

I glanced back down at the words that momentarily blurred before me. Maybe he didn’t think it would matter since he’d helped his kingdom track me down regardless. So no, he wasn’t perfect by any means. But maybe he wasn’t a complete soulless monster either. He was simply human with flaws, like anyone else.

I’m not sure why that made my heart soften toward him in any way, but I’d always been suspicious of people who’d acted too pretty and polished and perfect. There was no such thing as perfect. It made me wonder what atrocities they were hiding. I’d just as soon know what their downsides were from the beginning. So it was nice to see upfront what lurked behind Indigo’s irritating, charming smile. It was even nicer that he didn’t try to make excuses or cover anything up once he was exposed.

Not that I was thawing toward him.

I was just noticing that he was different than I thought he’d be. That’s all. I still had no interest in having a true love partner.

None at all.

And the fact that I caught myself sneaking glances at him more often than I should meant nothing either. He was handsome; why shouldn’t I treat my eyes with some pleasant scenery? Didn’t mean that I wanted to know how it would feel to touch him, or if he smelled as nice as he looked. And the fact that I wanted to egg him into talking to me again was only because I liked the tenor of his voice; it had nothing to do with being charmed by the things he actually said or the stupid jokes he told.

Because I wasn’t.

And why the hell wasn’t he talking anymore? Yesterday, and even this morning, I couldn’t get him to shut up. The man had rattled on incessantly, barely taking a break for air. But since I’d discovered his involvement with hunting Graykeys, he sat there as quiet as a tomb, looking miserable and distinctly uncomfortable while I read his book.

He probably assumed I hated him now. I mean, I was apathetic, of course. He meant nothing to me. But seeing him look so defeated and miserable caused a slight stir of sympathy, or maybe it was regret, to waffle through me. It was a stupid emotion, whatever it was, so I immediately tried to squelch it, except he must’ve felt it anyway.

He lifted his face, concern wrinkling his brow. “Quilla?”

“Don’t say my name,” I snapped.

Er, at least, it was meant to be a sharp, cracking snap. Except it came out sounding more like a breathless whisper. Dammit.

Indigo blinked. “Why not?”

“Because I don’t like how it sounds in your mouth.”

God, why had I said the word mouth? Now I was thinking about his mouth. And looking at it, too. And remembering how he’d pressed it against mine just a while ago, all heat and passion and hard pressure, demanding and raging, making me crave more.

Wait, no. I craved nothing from him.

Except the jump in my pulse proved that was a lie.

The bastard felt the need and energy and anticipation in my emotions, too. His lips quirked up into a sexy smirk just before he crooned, “Yes, you do.” Then he chuckled, and I absolutely hated how amazing the sound was. “I think you like it a lot.”

“Yeah, well, you think too much. You should really stop that. Your thoughts are overwhelmingly ignorant.” My pulse jerked again with my lies. “They lead you to write this drivel.”

I lifted his book, then turned it upside down before letting it fall to the ground, landing page-first in the dirt and rocks.

A muscle jumped in his jaw. The man did not want his precious journal to be vandalized, that was obvious.

But he didn’t comment about the abuse, he merely smirked and countered, “Really? You were reading it awfully ardently for someone who considers it drivel.”

“I was skimming,” I shot back archly. “Trying to find something of interest. Which I didn’t.”

He laughed this time, not to be confused with his deep husky chuckle. This was a full, open shout of pure amusement. It made a strange ache cramp the pit of my stomach, as if my gut experienced a desperate longing to make a similar sound.

“I like the way you lie,” he finally told me, his eyes glittering and lips smiling wide as he spoke.

I lifted a single eyebrow. “Lie?”

“Yes.” He nodded. “It’s refreshing. People usually say something nice they don’t mean. But you’re the opposite. You say cruel things you don’t mean, and it’s highly entertaining. You don’t have to hide what you enjoy from me, though. I would never use your preferences against you.”

“You’re mistaken, High Clifter,” I seethed. “I meant every word.”

He smiled, but his eyes turned serious before he murmured, “Yeah. Maybe you do. Just a little.” Then he shrugged. “But that’s okay. It only makes you more alluring.” His gaze strayed to his book on the ground, where his brow furrowed a moment before he turned back to me. “I had no idea what to expect when I met you. But so far, I’ve been delightfully surprised.” Chuckling to himself, he leaned his head back against the tree he was sitting against and ended the moment with a long sigh. “Who knew I’d go for an angry girl who could aggravate me to the point that I’d want to kiss all the fury out of her one moment before she made me ache to pull her into my arms and hug the pain and sorrow out of her the next? You’re like a dazzling empress I want to worship constantly in every way.”

I honestly didn’t know how to respond to that, so it was a good thing Melaina came cantering into the clearing, preventing me from having to.

“Hello, loves,” she called, waving her fingers. “Doesn’t look like anything too fun happened while I was away. Hmm? What a tragedy.”

With a chuckle, she dismounted, and the horse immediately trotted over to its last owner, nudging its muzzle against Indigo’s head.

“Hey, girl,” Indigo greeted with a smile as he patted her neck and shoulder. “Been missing me, have you?”

Melaina snorted. “Of course she doesn’t miss you. She’s just trying to tell you goodbye because she has a better owner now.”

Shifting her an amused glance, Indigo pulled a treat from his pocket that the mare immediately sought, eating straight from his hand. “That,” he agreed slyly. “Or she knows where the good stuff is.”

His unicorn/zebra thing suddenly appeared at his side, back in cat form. Meowing pathetically, the animal leaped into his lap, where Indigo good-naturedly pulled out a treat for her too.

I rolled my eyes. He was too soft for his own good. People probably took advantage of him daily.

Weak, I thought to myself as I pushed to my feet and focused on Melaina, even though something deep inside me didn’t agree with my own silent claim. Kindness could have its own brand of strength. A quieter, but deeper, and more loyal strength.

“So I learned how he knows so much about Earth,” I announced, nudging his book on the ground with the toe of my boot, noticing him flinch when I bumped it too hard for his comfort. “His great-grandmother was born on Earth and was pulled here to take someone’s place when they went through the portal permanently.”

I told her a bit about his history that he’d written. He’d lived in High Cliff with his parents until he was eight when the three of them went to Lowden as emissaries. They were only there a few moon cycles before the tenth reaping began, and both his parents were killed. I even told her it was her own son who killed them.

Melaina didn’t seem shocked at all to hear that. Studying her nails as if bored, she merely shrugged. “Who hasn’t Qualmer killed? He would’ve taken out both you and me, his siblings, and Taiki too if I hadn’t stabbed him in the eye.”

“Anyway,” I went on. “Indigo returned to High Cliff then to live with his grandfather, who was the earthling’s son. His grandfather told him all about Earth, and he calls the earthlings we trade places with Replace—”

“Indigo, hmm?” Melaina cut in with sudden interest. Her eyebrows shot sky-high. “Calling him by his given name now, are we, darling? My, my. You two certainly did get friendly while I was gone. Maybe I missed something interesting after all.”

“I snuck a kiss in when she wasn’t expecting it,” he was entirely too pleased to report.

“Did you?” Melaina turned to him. “And how did that go?”

Indigo shrugged, his grin rueful as he continued to pet the purring cat on his lap. “She didn’t kill me.”

“Yet,” I growled. “I still plan to. When you’re no longer useful.”

He grinned and blew me a kiss. “Kill me with kindness maybe.”

Huffing, I turned away and focused on Melaina. “How were sales?”

“Despite the anger and disdain you put into each loaf of bread you cooked, I was able to sell them all.” She upended a sack on the ground to let a pile of coins slide out and bounce across the grass. “I didn’t even let any of those parentless, little beggar brats that you would’ve let steal loaf after loaf abscond with any.”

“You give free bread to orphans?” Indigo asked, gazing at me softly. “That’s sweet. I knew there was innate goodness inside you.”

I sighed, determined to ignore him as Melaina sat before her bounty and began to count our proceeds. “Is it enough to make the ferry and canyon toll?”

“Canyon toll? Wait, you’re planning on taking the canyon pass to Tyler?” Indigo demanded, butting in and refusing to mind his own business.

I focused on my aunt. “We should stay here, get an early night’s rest, and put in a full day’s ride tomorrow, and then take the pass the day after that.”

“Um, hello?” Indigo had gotten to his feet and was stepping between me and my aunt, lifting his bound hands and waving at us to signify he had something to say. “No,” he told me simply when I spared him an irritated scowl. “We’re not taking the canyon pass. It’s too dangerous. There are High Cliff knights guarding each end. They check every person that enters, and a glamour won’t hide your mark. Every arm gets watered down so they can see right past them.”

“Calm yourself, sweetling,” Melaina told him with a charmed smile as she gathered the coins back into her pouch and cinched the bag closed. Rising to her feet, she slid her nails along his jawline as she explained, “We came up through that very same pass to get here and made it through just fine. We will this time too.”

He blinked at her in confusion, even as he tilted his face away from her touch. “You did? How?”

“Don’t worry about it,” she cooed.

“Don’t worry about it?” he shot back, his brow furrowing into a deep frown. “You’re talking about taking my mate through perilous territory, risking her life, and you expect me to blindly trust whatever scheme miraculously worked for you once to actually work again? I don’t f*****g think so. It’s too risky. She’s not doing it.”

“Excuse me?” I cut in, stepping toward him and ready to relieve him of some vital piece of his anatomy for not trusting my own competency to evade execution. “You don’t make decisions for me.”

But the bastard completely ignored me. “What’s so important in Tyler that you have to go there, anyway?” he asked Melaina.

“Our ticket out of here,” she shot back, clearly growing vexed with his obstinance. “Forever.”

With a bewildered squint, he demanded, “Out of where?”

“Out of here!” she exploded, waving madly at the air surrounding her. “Out of this lame-ass, out-of-date world that no longer contains the love of my life and my two children who aren’t evil.”

A trickle of blood formed in the corner of her eye, but she wiped it away before snarling at him and focusing on her rage again so she wouldn’t get too compassionately sentimental. “Now stop asking questions before I stab you again, and I won’t let Quilla resuscitate you this time.”

Lips parting, Indigo spun toward me. “You’re going back to Earth,” he realized. “So that must mean you know how to complete the ritual and trade places with someone there, so you can stay permanently.” His mouth formed a shocked O before he frowned in thought. “Wait. You had to have always known what it takes to stay there if three of the traveling party that went with you in three-ten are still there. But why would two of you come back?”

Eyes darting back and forth, he considered that conundrum for a second before he suddenly snapped his fingers. “Because you needed something physical to complete the replacement process, something you obviously didn’t have enough of the first time through.” He looked up at me. “And that thing’s in Tyler. Isn’t it?”

Melaina stepped cautiously closer to him, eyeing him suspiciously the entire way, before she spun abruptly and slapped me hard across the face.

“Hey!” Indigo shot forward, inserting his body between us with his back to me so he could face off with Melaina and push her a step back with his bound hands. “What the hell? You don’t touch her like that.”

“What the f**k did you tell him?” she roared at me over his shoulder, trying to bully her way past him so she could reach me again.

“I didn’t tell him anything!” I cried, backing away because she got a little too close to my face when she swiped out past his arm with her fingernails extended. “Psycho woman.”

“Then how did he know all that?” Fuming, she breathed hard and snarled at me with a murderous glare.

“I was trying to tell you,” I clipped back, beyond tired of her snap judgment and instant accusation that I’d been the one to mess up. “It’s all in his book.”

“His book?” She wrinkled her nose as if the word was foreign to her.

“Yes,” Indigo answered for me. “I wrote all about what I know and how I learned about it in my journal. Now stop accusing Quilla of betrayal.”

Stepping away from Melaina, because she no longer seemed homicidal, he bent down and plucked his journal from the ground. After tugging his necklace pendant from the hidden knot/lock and putting it back around his neck, he frowned and blew dirt and rocks from the pages before trying to iron them back to rights with his hand as best he could with them bound together.

“Dammit. This page is wrinkled now. And—” He choked on his own horror. “This one is torn. Son of a b***h! My baby’s been frayed.”

I turned from him, letting him mourn the one-inch tear on a single page in his book, and I narrowed my eyes at Melaina. “His great-grandmother was an earthling, which led to his fascination with Earth and tracking down everything to do with it. He figured out quite a bit about what it takes to get there from his research, but he doesn’t know exactly what we need, nor did he realize only Graykeys and their mates can go travel through the portal. He calls the earthlings who come here, trading places with us Replacements.”

“Replacements?” Sniffing, Melaina rolled her eyes. “What a stupid term to use.”

Indigo wasn’t paying any attention to her, though. He was too busy thinking again, because he suddenly said, “I’m still confused about how only Graykeys can travel to the other dimension. There was an elderly nanny in Donnelly who went to Earth for a few moon cycles. I’m sure of it.”

“Then she was a Graykey,” Melaina said simply, shrugging him off.

He frowned. “But she…” His eyes widened. Reopening the book he was still holding, he ran his fingers over the page until he stopped. “There,” he murmured. “Janicka of House Godone and claimed mate of Percy of House Graykey. Born in two-fifty-two, she’d be seventy-six now, which would match Nanny Wynter’s approximate age.”

“What in the world are you babbling on about?” Melaina wondered irritably.

But I remembered reading what he’d written about Janicka Godone. “She’s the one who somehow managed to break her bond with her Graykey mate,” I said. “She ran off and was never heard from again.”

Indigo nodded, glancing my way. “Right after her mother-in-law died in two-seventy-eight when she stole two of Janicka and Percy’s infant children and made them disappear. I thought she’d just gone to Earth to be with the kids, because that had to have been where they disappeared to, right? But what if she didn’t have whatever it is you need to stay, so she had to remain in the Outer Realms? It would make sense for her to change her identity and go to Donnelly to become a nanny. Shit.” He shook his head. “No wonder why she always avoided me whenever I tried to interview her about her trip. I was a High Cliff knight. If her true identity was ever discovered, of course, she’d think I’d turn her in to King Ignatius to be tortured and questioned about the whereabouts of all the other remaining Graykeys.”

“So, you’re saying you know where the mate of Percy Graykey is? Right now?” Melaina asked with interest.

He widened his eyes, then he straightened. “No,” he said, the lie pathetically obvious.

“I mean her no harm, silly boy,” Melaina waved a distracted hand. “Just intrigued by her. Janicka was before my time, you see, but I heard the stories. Percy considered it a great conquest when he caught her and claimed her as his. She was a pure mage with multiple gifts. She could produce force fields around entire villages and read a person’s character, as well as bits of their future by simply touching them. Plus, I guess she also figured out how to break the bond to her f*****g Graykey mate. The lucky bitch.”

When Indigo simply stared at her, she cleared her throat and lifted her chin. “As you can tell, I’m a fan of her work. I was not able to break the bond with my mate. Once Quilla and I returned from Earth the first time, I was compelled against my will back to my husband’s side. Things had calmed down after the reaping by then, thank God, but I had to disguise her as one of my maids until Qualmer—who shares my gift with disguises—ran across her and was able to look past the glamour to see her true image. And the i***t tried to diddle her, of all things, so I was forced to send her off to boarding school in—”

“He did what?” Indigo roared, looking ready to commit murder with his bare hands.

But Melaina waved his fury aside. “Yes, yes. He’s as wicked as his father, I know. But luckily, I was able to go off on my own when my husband, Pallo, was blessedly executed near the beginning of the Great Lowden War. By the way, thank your countrymen for me someday, will you, sweets? Life’s been infinitely better since they executed him. I found my way back to Quilla, and together, we’ve been searching for a pair of amulets ever since.”

“Amulets?” Indigo repeated, immediately latching on to the word.

Melaina cringed and cursed fluidly. “Dammit. Forget you heard that.”

And just like that, the secret was out of the bag.