Chapter 39

The Fremont District, Seattle Washington

The Lady Iris’s magic shifted Quinn and the boy to Elizabeth’s Fremont carriage house in what Quinn always thought of as a star trek transporter style. They arrived in full winter with six inches of snow on the ground. The boy reached down and grabbed a hand full then looked up two Quinn confused. Apparently, he’d never seen snow before.

“It’s called snow,” Quinn whistle clicked in low alfar. It’s frozen water, similar to ice. It sometimes snows here during this realm’s rainy season.”

The boy nodded his eyes wide with wonder and tasted it.

“Come on, lad let us see who is here.”

Quinn knocked. Then after waiting several beats for someone to answer, he opened it and led the boy in. He could hear sounds of a furious debate—several feminine voices all talking at once in another room just off the hallway where they were standing. Quinn took a moment to admire the precision of the white oak wainscoting, then he and the boy walked to the other room. The four women were so deep in the middle of their argument that they didn’t notice Quinn and the boy watching them bemusedly from the doorway.

The boy’s cry silenced them.

“Mama?”

There was a shriek and a sobbing Wraith rushed to him and swept him up while the others clustered around him.

Niamh separated from the group, walked up to Quinn, slapped him then grabbed him into a fierce hug. “Where have you been, it’s been months.’

“We thought you were dead.” A tear faced Katherine joined in.

Quinn thought about jokingly repeating Samuel Clemons quote about his demise but thought better of it.

“Sometimes, time flows weirdly when you travel between realms. It’s only been a couple of days for me. I’ve been rubbing elbows with the cream of Doaine Sidhe society,” he said lightly. “What’s been going on here.”

Katrinka came running from the kitchen, “Daddy, Daddy.” She leapt up into his arms.

His heart melted. He held her tightly.

“Can we go home now. I want to see my horse.

Quinn didn’t notice the significant look that passed between the others.

He gave the little girl a kiss on the forehead and said, “Why don’t we all sit down. What’s been going on here.”

Elisabeth took over and told how the two dragons had attacked the building in Eastmarket with dragon fire and how the area was devastated.

Nimah chimed in, “We stopped at Edie’s before we left. Edie told us to tell you that the goblins had collected that little goblin’s body. They inducted him into the clan as they promised and buried him with the ancestors. She said she adopted little Clover.”

Once more thoughts of the cheerful little Klzyx’s fate stabbed Quinn’s conscience. He had so much to make amends for.