“This ship is a lot faster than theirs,” he says simply. “Sit down.” He uses his Dom voice: the one I’ve come to associate with his bedroom orders, and I immediately comply. I plop into a chair and grip the armrests tightly. Something tells me there’s no way to prepare myself for what’s about to happen.
Then Quinn pu
shes a button and the whole world seems to spin. I realize we’re going faster than I could possibly imagine, faster than I ever thought a ship could go. I feel dizzy and the monitors begin to shake. After a minute, I close my eyes and try to think about other things.
I try to think happy thoughts about escaping, happy thoughts about making it to Sapphira and landing without any trouble. I try to think happy thoughts about Ezra being able to help us.
It only makes me dizzier.
Finally, I opened my eyes. We’re still going fast, everything is still shaking, but I turn my head enough to look at Quinn, to really look at him.
In the face of danger, he’s calm.
He hasn’t cracked, hasn’t backed down. When the bad guys came, he thought quickly and figured out a way for us to escape. He figured out a way for us to stay alive without sacrificing what we’ve found.
He’s got it all together. He’s grounded, rooted. Quinn might think he doesn’t know what kind of man he is, but I do. He’s a good man, a brave man. He’s the kind of man who couldn’t let a human girl be sold to the highest bidder. He’s the kind of man who didn’t leave it up to chance.
He’s the kind of man who gets his hands dirty when he has to, and he’s the kind of man I want to be with.
Forever.
The realization hits me and finally, I understand what people mean when they say they’ve falling in love. I finally understand what people mean when they say love hits you and there’s nothing you can do about it. You can’t explain it, can’t predict it.
It was never like this with Darin.
I never felt anything like this before.
“Are you all right?” Quinn yells over the sound of the engines, which sound like they’re going to explode. They’re normally silent, normally so quiet I can barely hear them, but now they’re like a train roaring. He doesn’t turn to look at me. He’s still facing the controls, checking different computer screens and scanners, trying to keep everything working correctly.
“I’m all right,” I manage to say once I’ve caught my breath. “But that was fast.”
“Like I said,” Quinn yells again. “Fast.”
I don’t know what other special features this ship has that might help us get safely to Sapphira, but I do know one thing: Quinn is not someone who should be messed with. He’s not someone who should be taken lightly. He’s not someone the rest of the world should fuck with because once he makes up his mind to do something, he’s going to make it happen.
“All right,” he pushes a few controls and suddenly, I can feel us slow down. The engines quiet once more and he looks calmer, more relaxed. “Time to talk to big brother.”
“Are you going to send him a message?” I ask, curious at how this is going to work.
“I’m going to talk to him directly.”
“I’m guessing you don’t do this often.”
“It’s not safe from Dreagle. It’s too easy for messages to be intercepted there.”
“And out here?”
“Still not safe, but it’s time. Stay in your seat, okay? I don’t want him to see you.”
Before I can ask why Quinn doesn’t want Ezra to see me, he opens up the communication line and a blue face appears on screen. It’s his brother, obviously. Aside from the blue skin tone, they have similar facial features. Their noses look alike, and they share the same grim expression.
“Brother,” Ezra speaks first and Quinn nods. Ezra’s expression is dark, like there’s no hope left in the world. “You’re on your way.”
“I am,” Quinn says. “The green fox flies at midnight.”
“What?” Ezra looks just as confused as I am.
“The blue bear growls at midnight,” Quinn tries again.