Chapter Eight
Quint
It had been a couple of days since my dinner with Astrid and Piper – and I couldn't get her out of my head. No matter what I was doing or how busy I got, at some point, Astrid's face – her laugh, her smile – something would go flitting through my mind.
Frankly, it was getting a little distracting.
I checked my phone, hoping that there would be a call or text message from her, but as with the other million times I checked, there was nothing. I sighed and dropped the phone onto my desk, trying to focus on the paperwork in front of me. Running a restaurant was hard – but it was also very enjoyable.
Being a Warden didn't keep me anywhere nearly as busy as I would have liked – surprisingly enough in a city like LA – so I'd needed to find something to occupy my time. Given my love of good food and good wine, a restaurant seemed like a natural fit.
“You're behaving like a teenage girl, you know.”
I looked up to see Alynna standing in the doorway of my office. Alynna was one of my lieutenants and an absolutely fierce warrior of the Ice Clan. Most people tended to underestimate her – to their peril. When people saw Alynna, they focused on the fact that she was tall and thin, with soft feminine curves. They saw a woman who put some time and effort into her appearance, always looking very stylish and well put together. She was olive skinned and exotic looking, with crystal blue eyes that were startling in their beauty and long, midnight black hair. Alynna was a gorgeous woman.
But what they didn't see because they couldn't see past her beauty, was that when the chips were down, she was an incredibly capable fighter. She was well versed in different forms of martial arts, could wield a sword better than almost anybody else I knew, and was as quick and light on her feet as she was ferocious. There was nobody that I'd want by my side in a battle more than her.
“A teenage girl?” I asked, arching an eyebrow.
She smiled and walked into my office, dropping down into the chair across the desk from me. She casually put her stiletto-boot clad foot on my desk and looked at me.
“You take very few lovers, Quint,” she said. “And of those few, I've seen even fewer get under your skin. But the look on your face as you checked your phone just now – it looked like a teenage girl waiting for a call from a boy she has a crush on.”
I laughed. “And you can discern that based upon nothing more than a facial expression?”
She looked at me, a playful glint in her eyes. “I'm very good at reading people,” she said. “You know this.”
She was right. I did know that. Her ability to read people was uncanny and oftentimes a little unnerving in its accuracy. She was a woman of many talents and I, for one, was very glad to have her on my side.
“Well, this has been an entertaining conversation,” I said, “but did you stop by for anything other than to mock my love life?”
“Lack of love life, you mean,” she teased.
I shook my head but couldn't stop my grin. “Fine,” I said. “What can I do for you, Alynna?”
“Well, you can call this girl you're mooning over, for starters,” she said. “Take her out, show her a good time – get yourself laid in the process. Trust me, I think you'd be a lot less moody if you were gettin' some regularly.”
“Thank you for the advice, I'll take it under advisement,” I said. “Is there anything else?”
She looked at me for a long moment, as if gauging whether or not to continue prodding me on the subject. Alynna was a good woman and she cared about me. She mocked me, but I knew it was coming from a good place. We were close – she was like a sister to me – and wanted to see me happy. But I didn't think that happiness was exactly congruous with the life of a Warden.
She nodded to herself as if coming to a decision. Taking her foot off my desk, she crossed her legs and put her hands in her lap, her face shifting from playful to business.
“I've been hearing some whispers around lately,” she said. “The Shongtal are working on something big, apparently.”
“Yeah, I came across four of them in a warehouse the other night,” I said. “Questioned one of them and didn't get much. But I'd overheard them talking about somebody – they called her the key to their plan. Thoughts?”
She shook her head. “Nothing solid yet,” she said. “But from what I've gathered, this has something to do with closing the Dragon Doors forever.”
“Sealing the Doors?”
She nodded. “To be honest, I don't know how reliable the intel is at this point,” she said. “It's all just rumor. I don't even know if the Doors can be sealed. But from the scraps I've gathered, the Shongtal think they can. And they're trying to do just that.”
I sat back in my seat and ran a hand through my hair. “Huh,” I said. “I never thought about that as a possibility. But if it were possible, it would give the Shongtal complete dominion over the human's world.”
She nodded. “It would give them an endless supply of food,” she said. “If they are able to lock the Dragonborn out of this world, it would be like setting up their own private garden.”
It was a bold strategy, a smart one. But was it even possible? And if so, how did this mysterious woman play into it? I had a thousand questions and needed to find some answers. Which meant I was going to have to take a little business trip.
“Looks like I'm going to have to go back to Chondelai,” I said. “Ask some questions of the Keepers and see what I can dig up. I'll need you to keep an eye on the territory while I'm away.”
“It's a good idea. Before you go though, you have one task to complete,” she said.
“What's that?”
“Call the girl,” Alynna said, a warm smile upon her face. “Call her, set up a date, and then go see the Keepers.”
I grinned and shook my head. “You are nothing if not persistent.”
“It's one of my better qualities,” she said. “As is my carefree spirit – which, if you hadn't noticed, is a very nice balance to your grumpy, brooding nature. We are the yin and yang, my friend. We complete one another.
“Get out,” I said and laughed.
She stood up, still grinning like a fool. “Don't be that teenage girl,” she said. “Be a man. Be a Warden and take action.”
I picked up my letter opener. “I could stab you with this.”
She shrugged, unconcerned. “You could try,” she said. “Like so many others have.”
Alynna turned and sauntered toward the door. Before she got to it though, she turned and looked back at me, her face suddenly serious.
“If the Shongtal are successful,” she said. “We're going to be in really big trouble.”
I nodded. “Which means we need to make sure they fail.”
“I believe in you, Quint,” she said.
“And I believe in you, Alynna,” I said. “We're going to be okay.”
She nodded and then turned, walking out of my office. I leaned back in my seat again and steepled my fingers beneath my chin. It was a worrying turn of events, I had to admit. If there was a chance they could seal the Doors, that would spell doom not just for those of us trapped on this side of them, but for all of humanity as well.
I would go back to Chondelai and get some answers. But as I pondered the questions I needed to ask, Astrid's face intruded into my thoughts. Again. I looked at my phone and sighed. No call. No text. I didn't have her number or even know her last name. I couldn't have called her if I'd wanted to.
I cocked my head and thought about it. I did know the name of her bookstore though. And that was someplace to start. I opened a search browser on my computer and punched up the website for The Attic. I took a virtual tour through the shop – it was impressive. It had a fantastic diversity of authors – as well as a nice collection of rare first edition books.
Then I called up another page and there was Astrid's face, looking back at me. I stared into her light brown eyes set in her flawless milky white skin and at the long red hair spilling over her shoulders. She was a striking woman – but there was more to her than that. The connection I'd felt between us – the one I'd been obsessing about for the last couple of days – was one that almost felt familiar, in a way. But try as I might, I still couldn't put my finger on it.
Alynna's taunting echoed through my head and although it made me smirk, I grimaced at the small nuggets of truth tucked away in her barbs.
Yeah, I was acting like a teenage girl. And it was time to do something about that.