Authors: Linda Lamberson
“I knew he’d be safe with you,” Dylan replied. “Besides, I wanted to give you two time to be together. It’s been pretty lonely up here for him while you were gone. I mean, I could only do so much to entertain the guy. Plus, I know your
soul
was just aching to be back with him.” He winked and flashed me a mischievous grin.
“Thanks,” I said, ignoring the innuendo. “And thanks for checking in on Quinn while I was away.”
“No problem. College Boy’s a decent guy. And I’m glad I was able to update him on what little I’d heard about you. It seemed to ease his mind some.”
“Hey, how did you even know where to find him once Quinn was on the road?” I asked Dylan. “How were you able to keep track of him?”
Dylan flashed me a smitten look.
“Oh,
her.
You going to tell me about this
girlfriend
of yours?” I teased.
Dylan initially scowled at my characterization but then smiled excitedly. “Her name is Minerva, but I call her ‘M.’” His eyes lit up like a Christmas tree at the mere mention of her name, which made me smile. “I first ran into her maybe a week after she was assigned to Quinn. He was still in Bloomington at the time.” Dylan chuckled. “Boy, was she pissed off when she saw me. I think she was under the impression that I was trying to invade her turf, either that or she must’ve gotten the idea someone thought she needed help—which she
didn’t
, by the way,” Dylan quickly added in her defense. “Anyway, I thought she was going to take my head off when she first saw me.”
“And then?”
“I kept showing up night after night to check in on Quinn while he slept. I didn’t try to engage her, and I didn’t let Quinn know I was there because I hadn’t heard any good news about you, and I didn’t want to show up empty-handed, you know?”
I nodded.
“So once M realized I wasn’t a threat and that she couldn’t get rid of me, she sucked it up and dealt with me. That’s when I worked my magic,” Dylan noted, grinning as he cracked his knuckles. “And it turned out she couldn’t resist my charming personality—or my stellar manly prowess.” He winked and flexed his biceps.
“Do we really need to go there?” I asked, cringing a little to mock him.
“You’re just jealous you never got a piece of Big D,” he joked, pointing at himself with both thumbs. “And now it’s too late.”
“Yeah, that’s it!” I laughed.
“M and I started hanging out every night while College Boy slept, and he was never the wiser. And while he was on the road, she kept me posted on his whereabouts.
“Hey,” he threw in, “did you know Watchers communicate telepathically with each other like we do? And that we can communicate telepathically with them?”
“No,” I replied. “Actually, I hardly know anything about them.”
“Well, they were created after we were, shortly after the Servants agreed to the Three Incident rule. The Order wanted to make sure the Servants held up their end of the deal, and Watchers make sure the demons don’t cheat the system.”
“Peter told me Watchers don’t protect humans from Servants—that it’s not their job.”
“He’s right in a way. Watchers are more of an insurance policy—witnesses should the Servants ever violate their end of the bargain. I guess the shit would really hit the fan if the Servants ever breached their Agreement with us. But don’t get me wrong, it’s not like Watchers
can’t
fight. They basically go through the same training we do, and they’re allowed to intervene on their charges’ behalf, as long as there are no safety or exposure risks. In fact, they’re a lot like us. Almost everything about them, about their existence, is modeled after us. They have their own Realm, called the Gallery, with their own Rules and Council. Watchers can telecommunicate, teleport, phase, heal—hell, even their senses are heightened like ours, if you know what I mean.” He raised his brows twice quickly.
“Dylan, can you at least
try
to keep sex from being the main topic of conversation for more than two seconds?” I grumbled.
“Hey, you know me—always thinking with my
head.
” He chuckled as I rolled my eyes. “Anyway, M and I have kinda had to keep things on the down low.”
“Why’s that?”
“Because, as a general rule, we don’t talk to them and they don’t talk to us. It’s really messed up—like, we hear things about each other through the grapevine, but neither side wants to acknowledge the other’s role in this whole mess,” Dylan explained. “Our only communication is what we choose to share in our charges’ files—which is pretty limited most of the time. Perfect example: When M was assigned to Quinn, she had the CliffsNotes version of his case, but had no idea about your relationship with College Boy or the details of your run-ins with the Servants.”
“Kind of makes you wonder how they can do their jobs without an accurate picture of who they’re watching, doesn’t it?” I asked.
“Yup,” he agreed. “That’s why I filled M in on your guys’ story—the attacks, the portal, the whole deal—she’s cool with it.”
Instantly, I felt all the color drain from my face; I must’ve looked as white as a ghost. The thought of a perfect stranger, an
immortal
stranger, being privy to the ins and outs of Quinn’s and my situation terrified me. And it made me mega-pissed to hear Dylan had risked our safety on some random girl for whom he’d supposedly developed “feelings,” when he was probably just mesmerized by the great sex. For all I knew, there might be nothing
random
about her. Maybe she was a plant, a spy, sent to weasel her way into our group and learn our secrets—secrets the first-rate dumbass I’d just volunteered to be Quinn’s Shepherd handed to her on a silver platter.
“Dylan!” I seethed. “Are you out of your mind? How can you tell a complete stranger all of that? Just because you’ve slept with her a few times doesn’t mean she’s trustworthy!”
“First of all, M is
not
a stranger!” he snapped back. “And second, she’s totally trustworthy.”
“And you’re basing that deep-seated trust on what? The way she—”
“Watch it!” Dylan snarled, catching me off guard. I’d never seen Dylan so angry before. “You’re out of line, K.C. I realize my telling M everything is flipping you out. I probably should’ve come to you first before telling her, and I’m sorry about that. But you’ve got nothing to freak out about here. Believe me, she’s not going to tell anyone anything. She’s not like that. She’s one of us. You’ll see when you meet her.”
“And when will that be?” I asked, dropping the edge in my voice.
“Soon,” he replied, also more calmly.
I suddenly felt very protective of Dylan. He obviously cared about this girl way more than I’d realized. And while I still had doubts about their relationship, I no longer questioned the strength of his feelings for her, which worried me on a whole other level. Dylan didn’t get emotionally attached to the girls he hooked up with—he used them for sex. Letting someone in was new for him, and the last thing I wanted was for him to get played.
“So, you two are pretty close, huh?” I asked.
“Let’s just say that I’m no longer who you accused me of being. What was it again? Oh yeah, the guy who was ‘screwing the entire female population in New York,’” he replied with a mocking edge in his voice.
“You’re telling me you’re monogamous now?”
He laughed. “Like I said, M’s amazing. She’s beautiful, smart, feisty, sexy—kind of like someone else I know.” He winked at me, knowing full well that I sucked at taking compliments. True to form, I instantly felt the blood rush to my cheeks.
“And she keeps me in check. Since I met M, I haven’t strayed once—haven’t even wanted to. I respect her too much as a friend.”
“And the trustworthy part? You’re sure about that?” I asked. “You haven’t known her all that long—especially by our standards.”
“Hey, I’m a great judge of character,” Dylan remarked, sounding insulted.
“Yes, but is it possible you might be playing into her hands?” I framed the question as delicately as I could.
“You want to know if I think Ms. White-Hot-and-Sexy is taking me for a ride so she can pump me for information about you two,” Dylan called me out. “I’m not an idiot, K.C. Yeah, sure, in the beginning the thought crossed my mind, but not anymore. I know she’s not playing me.
“I know it all sounds too good to be true,” he continued when I said nothing. “I mean, it’s like the most amazing woman fell from the stars and into my lap. But she’s the real deal. What we have is real.”
I looked at Dylan and sighed compassionately, hoping for all our sakes he was right about this girl.
“Look, M’s a Watcher. She plays by the same Rules we do. And I know for a fact
she can’t lie.”
“Supposedly, neither can Peter,” I countered flippantly.
“Give me a little credit, K.C.,” Dylan said in a more exasperated tone. “I didn’t just blurt everything out all at once. I started with the small stuff to test her. First, I told her about the last attack on Quinn and how the Servants stole some of his blood. I also mentioned that his ‘Shepherd’ destroyed one of them. I thought it was in Quinn’s and her best interests for her to know in case they came after him again. You should’ve seen her reaction. I don’t care who you are, no one could fake the look on her face—M was totally shocked on both counts.
“So then I started telling her about you—not the big stuff, just the offbeat, fun anecdotal stuff, like how you and I got to be friends. One thing led to another and I found myself explaining how I could spot portals. M had never heard of them before, so I brought her up here—not while Quinn was up here, of course. And before you get all worked up,
no
, Quinn was not left alone to fend for himself. I called in a favor.”
“Since when can you call in favors?” I asked in surprise.
“Hey, now,” Dylan said, pretending to be offended, “you’re not the only one who has a reputation for facing off with a Servant.”
“So, who’s the
one
Shepherd who worships you enough to do you a favor?” I teased.
“Ha, ha, ha. He’s new. You’d like him—really quick to pick up healing and telecommunication, but a little slower on the teleportation and defensive arts stuff.”
“There’s a new Shepherd?” I asked, bewildered. “How come I didn’t hear?”
“Um, maybe it’s because you chose to spend those two days in the Archives in total isolation from everyone and everything, brooding miserably over Quinn.”
“Who is he? How old is he?” I asked, ignoring Dylan’s remark.
“His name is Zach, and he was about eighteen, nineteen tops, when he died.”
“Whoa.” I thought back to Teddy’s comment when I first met Dylan—about how it was a shame Shepherds seemed to be getting younger and younger these days. I wondered if this trend was more than just a coincidence.
“And how is it that this young Zach willingly became your errand boy?”
“I won him over with my winning personality.”
“Dylan.” I eyed him suspiciously.
“Okay, okay. So
maybe
it has a little something to do with my telling him what it was like to come face to face with a Servant and live to tell the tale.”
“Dylan!”
“What? I gave him the ‘kids-don’t-try-this-at-home’ speech. I told him it was crazy dangerous.”
I closed my eyes and shook my head in disapproval.
“
Anyway
, it ended up being a good thing. I spent some quality time sparring with the kid and helped him hone his defensive arts skills. In return, Zach agreed to watch Quinn for a few. Not to toot my own horn about my mad teaching skills, but the newbie’s a damn good fighter now.”
“Dylan, you solicited a
babysitter
for Quinn,” I stated in disgust.
“Not a
babysitter
—more like a concerned friend who covertly looked after a soul in trouble for a bit while I ran an errand.”
“Did Zach know what kind of
errand
you running?” I asked pointedly.
“Of course not.”
“And he wasn’t curious?”
“I’m sure he was, but I don’t kiss and tell.” He smirked. “Besides, M was in her phantom form, so he never saw her.”
“Dylan, did it ever occur to you that you couldn’t have heard Zach’s calls for help while you were having sex with your girlfriend in the portal?”
“Quinn was fine. He was asleep the whole time.”
“But you didn’t know he’d be fine beforehand,” I argued.
“I knew nothing was going to happen,” Dylan claimed.
“You only wanted to believe that so you could get laid,” I accused. “You are so freaking irresponsible!” I lowered my voice to a harsh whisper for fear of waking Quinn. “Ugh! What was I thinking making you Quinn’s Shepherd?!?”
“K.C., if either M or I thought for one second Quinn would’ve been in any danger, we never would’ve left his side. But we knew he’d be fine. All was quiet on the home front. The double-duty protection Quinn was already receiving from both M and me had been enough to ward off any attackers for miles. Adding a third presence surely would’ve kept any demons at bay. Even so, Zach had clear instructions to attack first and ask questions later, and he was
more
than capable of doing just that. But guess what? He didn’t need to because
nothing happened
. M and I were in the portal for thirty
Mora
minutes, max, and came right back.”
I glared at Dylan with daggers in my eyes as I imagined the ways Quinn could’ve been harmed in thirty minutes. I started towards Dylan with clenched fists.
“Hey, don’t be mad, okay?” Dylan begged, holding his hands up in surrender as he began backing away. “There was so much sexual tension between us, M was getting distracted. In fact, we were both having trouble staying focused on College Boy’s safety. So I convinced her that if we just got it out of our system, we’d be fine. It only happened once—well, up until you were reassigned to Quinn.” Dylan flashed me his brilliant smile—I could only imagine its effect on Minerva. It was Dylan’s secret weapon, just like Quinn’s smile was his. Combine that smile with Dylan’s looks and “manly prowess,” and I’m sure he had little trouble convincing Minerva to sleep with him.