Accidentally Aphrodite - Dakota Cassidy Page 0,83
the forums, huh?” With a wink and a smile that would make women all over the planet melt, he and Eris disappeared.
Marty and Wanda shook their heads in unison, glanced at each other and squealed. “Was he not the most divine, Wanda?” she gushed.
Wanda grinned, half of her hair falling from the perfect chignon she favored, her red wool dress torn and covered in soot. “Not a lie! Did you see him just make everything stop? Like just done. Totally over. And the way he kissed Quinn’s fingers to heal them? Sa-woon!”
Their giggles warmed Quinn’s heart, and when their eyes landed on her, they held out their arms and she gave them each a tight hug. “Ingrid told me about you guys in action, and I thought I believed, but after seeing that, there’s not a shred of doubt. Thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you.”
“Jesus,” Marty breathed into Quinn’s hair. “You pulled yourself off that wall, Quinn. To see you nailed there…” She stopped herself and audibly gulped.
Wanda pressed a kiss to Quinn’s forehead, her breath shuddering in and out. “Thank God you’re all right,” she whispered before setting Quinn away from her. “Now let’s get this mess cleaned up, ladies!”
Ingrid, Archibald and Darnell plowed into the coliseum—which was slowly returning to her tiny bedroom—their eyes wide. Ingrid stumbled over the littered floor and lunged for Quinn.
“Don’t let me hear you ever call yourself a chicken again, Quinn Morris. And don’t ever scare the shit out of me like that again. I’d never survive the rest of art history without you. I’m so glad you’re all right.”
Quinn took a deep breath and nodded. “You’re right; you’d never survive without me in art history.”
Ingrid giggled as Darnell wrapped his arms around both of them and hugged. “Daggone, Miss, Quinn. You tougher ’n I’ll ever be. I’m sorry I wasn’t here for ya. I don’t know what that crazy lady did, but she sealed the whole dang place after Marty and Wanda got through. Not even my magic could get me in here.”
Thank God. Thank God Marty and Wanda had made it through.
Archibald stuck his head between them all and grazed Quinn’s cheek with his knuckles. “I’m going to prepare the best chocolate cake you’ve ever eaten in honor of such a fierce warrior! But for now, we must make haste, family! Darnell, you get the shovel. Ingrid, locate a broom, would you?”
As they broke apart, each heading off to begin cleaning up, Quinn bent at the waist and breathed. The horror of those spikes in her hands hitting her once again.
But Nina patted her on the back, wrapping an arm around her neck and pulling her upward, dropping her chin to the top of Quinn’s head. “Jesus fuck and a sidecar, Mini-Goddess. You’re a GD badass, and you tried to save my boy Carl. Can’t ever say thank you enough.”
Quinn inhaled the scent of Nina, full of cinnamon and cloves, and rested her cheek on the vampire’s shoulder, tears stinging her eyes. “Do you feel all gooey on the inside right now, Nina?” she teased, her voice gruff, her throat tight.
“Like a goddamn toasted marshmallow, Love Maker,” she replied, hoarse and low.
Quinn squeezed her arm and pulled back, her eyes catching sight of Carl’s missing hand. “Carl! Your hand, buddy!”
But Carl was busy picking through the rubble with Khristos, using his one hand to dig furiously through her shredded pillows and crumbled rock, grunting until he found whatever he was looking for.
He pulled something tattered from the remains of the mess and held it up, giving her his endearing lopsided grin.
She fell to her knees in front of him with a sob, right there in the middle of the mess, and hugged him hard.
It was a book. He’d tried to take out the cyclops with a copy of Jane Eyre.
“Carl,” she whispered against his cold cheek. “Thank you. You were so brave.”
He thumped Quinn on the back once more as Nina helped him up, giving Khristos’s shoulder a squeeze. “Thanks for looking out for my Carl and Goddess-Lite, dude. You might not have any supernatural powers, but that was some damn tackle.” She looked to Carl then, her eyes soft. “Now, c’mon, buddy, looks like we got some duct-taping to do.” Leading Carl off, she left Quinn and Khristos alone.
Her chest throbbed, her heart pounded. As Eris had spiked her hands to the wall, one painful hammer to the metal at a time, Quinn had only one thought during