its way up his leg. Quinn lifted an eyebrow and directed the thread to follow him. He shook it off and stomped on it, but the thread merely squirmed from under his foot and slithered away before dispersing.
“That’s your first lesson,” Lazarus said. She stiffened as she let the web unravel entirely and stopped teasing Draeven. “You control the power, not the other way around. The more you practice, the easier it will become.”
Quinn nodded, but still didn’t turn to meet his dark eyes. “What else can I do?” she asked.
Lazarus didn’t respond right away, but she noticed when Draeven looked over her head, nodded, and grabbed his things and headed back to camp. Then, with creeping stillness, Lazarus leaned in close. She could feel the heat of him at her back as he turned his head and spoke in a low, quiet voice that sent shivers crawling up her spine. “You can destroy the world,” he said. “But only if you learn to control it.”
She gulped, her heart thudding against her breast. “And if I don’t?”
“You already know the answer to that.”
She thought about his words and then asked, “Is that what you want to do?”
He chuckled darkly, but there was no amusement in the sound. “No,” he answered. “I don’t want to destroy the world.”
She grew more curious, more daring. “What do you want to do, then?”
His breath whispered against her temple. “Remake it.”
Quinn whirled around, but he was gone. The only remainder of his presence was the small rustling of leaves and the smell of burning wood tickling her nostrils.
After a moment of staring through the trees as the last of the sun’s rays disappeared from the small sliver of sky above her head, she started back towards camp—marching with her head down and her thoughts muddled.
“There you are.” Lorraine’s voice dragged her from her inner thoughts as she arrived back at the campsite to see that Dominicus and Lorraine had everything set up. Draeven was laid back with a bowl of something in his hands as he talked quietly with Dominicus. But Lazarus was nowhere to be seen. Draeven caught her looking his way and silently shook his head. “Dinner is ready.”
“Thanks,” Quinn said absently as Lorraine led her over to a spot by the fire and handed her a bowl of whatever was cooking in the pot.
Quinn sat, letting the bowl warm her palms for several moments before she started eating. The bowl was filled with meaty stew—Dominicus must have caught something. While a bit bland, Quinn didn’t complain—she had gone far too many times without eating much at all to turn down perfectly good food.
As the moon rose higher in the night sky, the fire started to die down. Lorraine took their bowls and began cleaning while Quinn waited for Lazarus to return. When Dominicus turned in for the night, grunting as he rolled himself in his blankets, Quinn gave up and turned towards Draeven and Lorraine.
She bit her lip, wondering if she should voice her thoughts. She wasn’t sure if they could be trusted, but then she wasn’t sure what harm it would do if Lazarus knew she was asking about him. He probably already expected it.
Lorraine—surprisingly—was the one to draw it out of her. “If you think any harder on whatever is going on in that mind of yours, girl, you’re likely to give yourself head pains.”
Quinn sighed and scooted closer so that her side was facing the fire as she turned and looked at the other woman. “What do you suggest, then?”
Lorraine shrugged as she worked. “Ask what you want to ask.”
“No promises on the answers,” Draeven said.
Quinn shot him a look and he winked at her, earning one of her signature scowls. “How can I trust you won’t go running off to Lazarus?”
Lorraine stopped what she was doing and turned to Quinn with an exasperated sigh. “That’s Master Lazarus,” she snapped. “How many times must I—”
“You don’t know,” Draeven interrupted in answer. Quinn glanced his way. Once he had her attention, he shrugged and leaned back, watching her curiously. “But we don’t tell Lazarus everything. That would just piss him off if we went running to him about every little detail.”
“This is about him,” Quinn said.
He shrugged again. “And? What do you want to know?”
“Why do you follow him?”
There was a brief moment of silence. Neither of them appeared shocked by her question, however. Lorraine was the first to answer.
“Master Lazarus has been good to me,” she said simply.
“How so?”