Maji.
She was so much more.
And true to his word—he was never letting her go.
The In-Between
“Sometimes the difference between real and fake is simply a change in perspective.”
— Quinn Darkova, vassal of House Fierté, fear twister
Smoke and shadows surrounded her. Vastness and night. The pain had consumed her so wholly that she’d lost everything to hold on to, and yet still, she clung to that tiny scrap of presence inside her. That ember of life. She wasn’t ready to die, no matter how fearlessly she faced the possibility.
There was still so much she had to do, so much she had to fight for. When everything was stripped away, she hovered on the edge of oblivion. There was only one thing that would save her now.
Spite.
Quinn had survived a childhood with monsters—not just with the creature that lived within her, but those that had raised her and then abandoned her in the worst possible way. She’d lived through her adolescence as a slave and eventually found freedom. She’d only tasted the briefest moments of independence before Lazarus had found her—and discovered that what she’d had wasn’t freedom at all. Not like what she was gaining by being with him. An old woman not long for this world had told her that no one and nothing was ever truly free, but that they—people—could pick and choose the things that caged them.
Quinn was finally starting to understand, and she refused for her time to be up. No. She would hold on, because nothing in this world had yet to break her and nothing would now. Her vengeance for those who had attempted to destroy her still simmered in her veins, and one day, if she played her cards right, Lazarus would allow her the retribution she deserved. He would have no choice, because to be his vassal was to be protected from all, including the law. All but him, and he wasn’t someone she needed protection from.
So, she held on and she waited.
The coils of black smoke drifted toward her, slipping beneath the skin. Dark shadows clung to her like droplets of water, seeking, searching for a way back in and she welcomed them.
She pulled and she plucked until every essence of darkness that surrounded her had been torn from the air and returned to her, because if she was going survive—she was going to have to take it. All of it. Every last bit was hers to consume. She needed it if she wanted to live. And she did, more than anything.
Breath filled her non-corporeal lungs as the invisible cuts sealed and the pain faded.
There was something more, something that hadn’t been there before. It slithered inside, having been absorbed along with the darkness.
In the void of her own mind, Quinn’s lips parted as she whispered, “Who’s there?”
A hissing filled her ears. A presence brushed against her mind.
She felt the cool hardness of scales sliding against her calves and when she looked down, she stared and blinked. A snake, easily twice the length she was tall began to curl around her feet and legs. Though there was nothing under them, no ground, no forest, no world to speak of—it still moved as if it did—much as she did here, in this place in the in-between.
She moved her foot, waiting to see what the animal would do, but it simply adjusted with her, seeking her out and curling around her limbs.
That’s when she realized with a start that the beast was not here to harm.
No … it’s protecting me.
Quinn leaned over slowly and the creature turned its head to stare at her. Eyes the color of onyx stones stared back, so clean and deep. It was chilling how they looked straight to her soul.
“Who are you?” she asked the creature. Her pale fingers touched the scales of its body and the snake shivered, but not out of fear.
The serpent opened its mouth and let out another hiss, but this time she felt it. That slight prodding against her mind. She didn’t know how to open it up, only that she needed to if she was going to understand it. Sinking to her knees, the snake gave her space to sit before curling around her once more. She stroked its head and murmured soft reassurances.
Quinn couldn’t explain it, but she felt connected to this animal. Something about the snake resonated within her, made her feel possessive of it, but for the life of her, she couldn’t understand why.
“When we get out of here, you and