Chapter Text
The others were already in the chapel. Quinn, Air and Calista took their places to wait for the visitors from the other side.
Quinn took a cleansing breath, calling on his calm façade because right then? The mental whiplash from the past few hours felt like it was verging on overwhelm. To top everything else off, his instincts tingled. He felt the ether skirting around him, keeping its distance, but keeping to the edge of his awareness nonetheless.
Something was coming.
The summons was accepted, and when the two ghulehs appeared in the circle, Quinn was surprised at who accompanied Amaya.
Air broke away from Quinn’s side, joy bleeding from him when he realised his baby sister, Aella, was acting as Amaya’s chaperone today, instead of their grandmother, Ayla.
“Lala!”
He pulled Aella into a fierce hug, but Quinn focused on the other piece of his heart who watched them clinically.
Amaya.
She met his eyes and hers widened with realisation. He smirked the moment she realised he could see her. Her eyes lit up, and his heart kicked. His kit was truly a wonder to behold. A true sight for sore eyes.
She ran to him and he wrapped his arms around her, breathing her in and welcoming the warm tingles of quintessential magic she gifted to him.
“Welcome, little one,” he murmured, voice all gravel.
Amaya looked contented. Happy, in fact. Since Quinn’s ill-fated meeting with Boreas, and Amaya’s subsequent agreement, Mayim had taken over her guardianship from Agrat and Svarog. This had caused tensions amongst the seers, but things seemed to have calmed down some, thankfully. Amaya now thrived under her new mentorship.
She held him tightly and looked up at him.
“I knew this day would come. I told you to have faith, did I not?” she said, taking on that knowing tone that belied her young seasons. Quinn tensed, frowning. Amaya rolled her eyes. “I know, I know. You’re not interested in thanking the Fates. But I will give thanks on your behalf.”
Quinn sighed and stepped back. The weight of his own doubt settled heavy in his gut. She looked older. He couldn’t quite put his finger on why, but she’d grown taller and lost some of the soft youthfulness from her face since he'd last laid eyes on her. She seemed more grown up in her demeanour, somehow, too. On the cusp of adulthood, but not quite there yet.
“The Fates had no hand in this. It was of my own making,” he answered, only half believing his own words.
Amaya narrowed her stare, but she didn’t say anything more. She turned to Calista and threw her arms around the other ghuleh. They settled into chatter, and Quinn draped an arm over their shoulders.
Something else had caught his attention, though. Aella. Something had happened. The emotional currents around her pulsed off-kilter. Not dim, but perhaps unstable. Echoes of turmoil rippled beneath the surface, but she was doing her best to hide it.
He sensed a little sadness, too. The fact she was here in Ayla’s place suggested a decline in the older ghuleh’s health. A pang of grief flared in Quinn’s chest at the thought of losing such a luminous soul as Ayla’s to old age.
That wasn’t the whole of it, though.
Aella’s bright purple eyes met Quinn’s for a second, and they glowed. She quickly looked away and took a deep breath, as if bracing herself before she looked at him again.
Quinn tilted his head, studying her intently. She seemed taken aback for a moment, but composed herself quickly.
His instincts crackled, like distant thunder rolling closer, heavy with the promise of a storm yet to break.
There was magic around her. A shimmer, like stardust clinging to her skin. Quinn narrowed his eyes. This wasn’t just fatigue or grief. This was...something more. Something otherworldly.
Aella had been somewhere she wasn't supposed to be.
Her soul’s hue, normally vibrant and fierce, felt muted, like something had brushed the edge of her essence and left a dark smear behind.
Quinn remembered the vision of her; her and Convel, Andras’ hellhound, and the dread intensified.
Fuck. That was it, surely.
Destiny had played its hand and set the cogs of the future into motion.
“Isn’t that right, Quinn?” Calista’s voice broke him out of it, and Quinn flinched. She gave him a concerned look and ran her hand down his arm. “Is everything okay?” she murmured.
He blinked a few times and cleared his throat, nodding distractedly.
“Yes.” He forced a smile. “Everything’s good.”
Amaya’s eyes narrowed, and they slid to Aella. She leaned into Quinn and kept her voice lower than a whisper.
“She whispered to the dark, and it answered like it had a heart. That’s when the universe took note.”
Quinn stared at her for a heartbeat, trying to reconcile what she’d just said. Was she talking about Aella and Convel?
“What did you see?” he murmured back, a prickle of unease at the nape of his neck.
Amaya shrugged and pulled back.
“Probably the same as you,” she said, which was Amaya-speak for you’re on your own, old ghoul. Quinn exhaled. Wonderful. More riddles “Are they here?” she asked, dismissing him and completely changing the subject back to the present.
Quinn blinked, recalibrating to catch up. How did she always manage to stoke his unease like that? Was that what he did when he spoke so cryptically of his visions?
He shivered, filing that away for later scrutiny.
“Everything’s ready for you. We thought we could have dinner with Rain’s pack after, too,” Calista said.
Amaya nodded enthusiastically and she linked arms with Calista and Quinn.
“Perfect. I wonder if Aether has made the cake he promised me last time?”
Calista shrugged.
“I’m pretty sure I smelled something good when I walked past their lair earlier, so you may just be in luck.”
The joy Amaya felt washed over Quinn, and he shivered, trying to ignore the feeling that something was off.
A final check that the ghouls and ghulehs wore their human glamour, and Fire threw open the doors to the rehearsal room they’d set up as a pop-up shop.
“Let the carnage commence,” Fire muttered under his breath as Calista and Amaya skipped off towards the racks of clothes the humans had displayed, chattering happily.
Quinn chuckled, rolling his eyes at Fire. The ghouls all took up places around the room. They looked relaxed, but they were anything but. They took their security roles very seriously.
Amaya was a Council seer, and thus a precious target.
Aella was the Prime Ghoul’s baby sister, and therefore a diplomatic incident waiting to happen.
It went without saying that security at the Abbey was stepped up every time Amaya and her chaperone visited.
Quinn leaned back against a marble pillar at the edge of the room. He knew nothing about fashion or shopping, so when they indulged Amaya this way, he did what he did best. Guarding. Surveying the area for threats. Watching.
Now that he’d got his sight back again, he slipped effortlessly back into the role of silent protector.
It didn’t take too long for Quinn to sense Aella approaching. He was getting that look from her. The ‘I have questions I don’t really want answers to’ vibe. Fantastic.
He caught her in his periphery but didn’t react. She hovered a few feet away, arms crossed, leaning against the wall like she wasn’t sure what to do with herself. She was anxious. He let the awkwardness marinate. It was petty, sure, but satisfying nonetheless. It made what was to come that bit more tolerable.
It didn’t take too long for the uncomfortable silence to get to her. She was so much like Air sometimes, it was unreal.
“Shopping not your thing, huh?” she said, finally.
Quinn’s lips tried to twitch into a smile. He did his best not to give in. He didn’t turn to her. Not yet. Just kept on watching the others with casual interest.
“Your brother and my daughter have made it very clear I am less than qualified, and therefore have little to no say in any of this.”
That seemed to amuse her, and some of her anxiety melted away. She nodded.
“I bet that was a great relief for you.”
The comment caught him off guard, and Quinn barked a laugh. Air’s head whipped around and he raised a questioning brow. Quinn offered him an indulgent smile and he felt Air send him a caress through their bond. He sent one right back. Air went back to the shopping, once he was sure all was well.
Quinn’s expression turned serious and he turned to Aella. She met his eyes, then looked away.
“What vexes you, Aella?” Quinn said, voice low enough that it wouldn’t carry to the others.
She shrugged her shoulder dismissively and gave him some bullshit response.
“What makes you think anything is bothering me? Other than the state of the realms in general.” Quinn tilted his head, brows creasing into a scowl. Here it comes, he thought. “I wanted to speak to you about something.” She hesitated before correcting herself. “About someone.”
And there it was.
Quinn knew then. Knew what this was about. The ‘who’ was clear to him now. Convel. So, they’d already met.
He felt his eyes burn as the universe pressed in on him once again, gaze straying to Air for a second to ground himself. To remind him of what was at stake.
“The universe has introduced you to your destiny already, then?” he murmured.
The surprise on Aella’s face was almost comical. It was the look he’d seen countless times throughout his life, when those he knew suddenly couldn’t deny what he was. And it terrified them.
Aella’s eyes flashed with something akin to annoyance.
“What do you mean, ‘destiny’?” she hissed. Interesting. “I was going to ask what you knew about the hellhound, Convel.”
So she wanted to play at denial, then? Quinn answered in kind.
“You were going to? Okay then. I’ll bite. What would you like to know about Andras’ hound, little one?”
That put her back up even more, which was exactly his aim. She’d be more honest with him if she was rattled.
She clenched her jaw and glared at him.
“I was going to ask your opinion of him. I’ve heard the rumours. I’ve heard the graphic accounts of his viciousness. But they are all hearsay, aren’t they? You, though. You know him. You must have crossed paths with him at some point.”
Fleeting memories of the past flashed across his mind’s eye. Fangs and claws. Flecks of blood and ichor. Armies laid to waste. Andras unleashing hell’s first blade upon the unsuspecting masses.
And Aella? Quinn realised that Aella had no fucking idea who or what she was dealing with. She was in way over her head, and he couldn’t help but pity her for what he knew was to come.
He dragged a hand down his face, wondering, not for the first time, if good intentions counted for anything in demon politics.
“I’d hedge a bet that everything you’ve heard about him is the truth.” She blinked, clearly expecting him to sugar-coat things for her. To make the terrible truths more palatable. It was like she didn’t know him at all. “Aella. You’ve met him, no?” She frowned and nodded, wrapping her arms around her middle. “You were an air ghuleh, last I checked. The best judges of character our species has to offer.” He closed the distance between them, reaching out and taking her hand. She allowed it. He placed her palm over her heart. “Close your eyes. Tell me what you know about him. Forget what you’ve heard. Tell me what you feel.”
She did as he’d asked, a slow smile gradually breaking out across her face, and Quinn knew then that things between her and Convel had progressed way beyond an initial meeting.
Fuck.
“He makes me feel safe,” she breathed. “He makes me feel alive.”
Quinn exhaled and nodded to himself. Fucking hell, Convel. What the fuck had that old hound done?
He glanced at the others and told her the truth he suspected she wasn’t wholly prepared to hear. Quinn had known Convel for a very long time, and if there was one perception of him that was usually completely false, it was that he was Andras’ right hand out of loyalty. Out of choice. He did his job so well that it seemed that way, but it couldn’t be further from the truth.
What a fucking mess.
“The rumours are usually true. I’m sure he’s done all of those things and worse. The truth is a bitter pill to swallow, but your instincts about him are not wrong, Aella. Convel has been with Andras for lifetimes, but still waters run deep.”
And Convel was the fucking Mariana Trench.
Aella glared at him.
“What do you mean?” she whispered.
He hesitated for a moment, the brand at his hip suddenly feeling too tight. He rubbed at it before he realised what he was doing.
The vision of Air and Aella, beaten and bloody, chained before Andras and his minions surfaced, unbidden, and Quinn realised he had to at least arm her with the knowledge she craved. The die was already cast, so the least he could do was give her the facts to inform her choices.
“Not all who serve Andras do so by choice, Aella.” A stab of guilt from her. She knew about Quinn’s bond with Andras, and some of what he’d done, so he felt like he could speak candidly, at least. But the words surprised even him. Words he hadn’t ever admitted out loud. Especially not to Air. “I used to think I was free of Andras. That I’d served my term. Paid my debts. Walked away. It’s just an illusion. I’m here, with my mate and my pack. My family. But he could take that away from me at any moment. Nobody is ever free of him, Aella. My debt was never paid, as far as he’s concerned. And Convel? Convel doesn’t even have the illusion of choice. Convel belongs to Andras completely. Bought and paid for.”
Aella’s eyes glossed over with unshed tears, and she blinked them back. Confusion and anger bled from her, and still she denied the harsh truth of what Convel was. Of what he could likely never be for her.
“No...” she breathed in horror.
She needed to realise what he was. No more sidestepping it.
“Convel isn’t just Andras’ right hand. He’s bound to him eternally. Not by loyalty, or by blood. He’s a slave, Aella, and it’s cost him absolutely everything he’s ever had.”
She looked at him like he’d just slapped her, and Quinn felt like a bastard for being the one to pull the rug from under her. But she needed to go into this with her eyes wide open.
If Convel was free? Quinn would trust him with Air or Amaya’s lives.
He wasn’t, though, was he? And despite any noble instincts of love or mating the hellhound might have when it came to Aella, his bond to Andras overruled all of it.
Convel couldn’t help it. His contract forced him to obey the fallen angel. If Andras commanded him, he couldn’t refuse. However hard his instincts fought. However much Convel tried to rebel.
The sad thing was, in another life? Convel would’ve been the perfect mate for Aella. She wouldn’t have been safer anywhere else but with him and Quinn would have welcomed him into their family with open arms.
But he wasn’t free.
Convel couldn’t disobey his master.
The real tragedy?
Fate had marked their souls for each other…and then royally fucked them both over.
“He’s a slave,” Aella murmured. Her voice was flat. “Convel...is a slave.”
Quinn felt Air’s eyes on them, and he looked over, subtly shaking his head. When Air found out about this? That would be a whole new can of worms. But when Boreas found out? Fuck.
Quinn stroked a hand down Aella’s biceps.
“Aella. Convel does as he’s told. Whatever has happened between you two? Just know that he isn’t just what you’ve heard about him. The Convel he’s shown you when you were alone? I’d take a guess that’s probably as close to his true self as he’s capable of being, right now.”
Aella huffed a bitter laugh and met Quinn’s eyes.
“Is that supposed to make me feel better?” She blinked rapidly, a single tear escaping her eye and rolling down her cheek. She looked away again, gaze straying to Amaya and the racks of clothes she was pawing over. Aella shook her head sadly. “I’ve fallen for a demon's pet monster.”
Quinn sighed, reaching out and pulling her in for a hug. He kissed her hair.
“He’s just the blade Andras wields, Aella. That doesn’t make him the butcher.”
Aella sagged against him, and Quinn’s anger at Andras and the Fates surged anew. The injustice of it all lit a fire in his gut, and not for the first time in his life, he lamented his curse and wished that he didn’t know some of the things he knew.
Amaya’s voice cut through the moment.
“This would be absolutely perfect for Ayla!”
Quinn glanced over to the young ghuleh, who was holding up a hanger with something daring, tiny and sequinned dangling from it. It could have been a dress, but Quinn couldn’t be sure. Aella stirred against him and she snorted.
“Someone needs me to be the sensible ghuleh.”
“Looks like we’re all fucked, then,” Quinn murmured against her hair.
She sighed and pulled away, swiping at her eyes to brush the remaining tears away. Haunted purple eyes met his.
“What do I do about the Mutt?” she whispered.
Quinn chuckled at the name she’d given Convel.
“My head tells me I should warn you away from him. That nothing good will come of this," he said.
“And your heart?”
Quinn looked over to Air again. If the vision of Andras, Convel, Aella and Air came to pass, would Quinn give up his remaining time with Air because it would make his loss less devastating?
Air met his eyes and they sparkled, heat flowing through their bond. Quinn responded, earning him a slow smile and a shiver. Air bit his lip teasingly.
Who was he kidding? Quinn wouldn’t give away any of the time he had left to spend with Air. He'd fight to the death if anyone tried to take it.
Quinn swung his gaze back to Aella.
“My heart? My heart says that if you get a chance at happiness? However fleeting that may be? You should take it. Just be careful, Aella. I don’t know how Convel’s managed to keep you hidden from Andras, but if he ever finds out? That Convel’s courting you, because that’s what it looks like to me, then Andras won’t tolerate it. He won’t let anyone loosen his grip on Convel’s leash.”
“Aella, what do you think?” Amaya called, interrupting them again.
Aella took a cleansing breath and stepped away. She smiled up at Quinn.
“Thank you. For answering me honestly. I knew there was a good reason why you’re my favourite brother-in-law, Quinn.”
Quinn huffed.
“I’m your only brother-in-law, Aella.”
She flashed him a toothy grin and shrugged.
“Semantics.”
Quinn closed out the afternoon a few thousand dollars lighter, but the happiness the experience brought for Amaya was worth it.
Once the ordeal was over, they made their way back to Rain’s pack lair. Amaya’s half-brother had invited them. Even Quinn. On the way they bumped into Mist, Alpha, Omega and Ifrit.
Mist and Calista were fierce friends, so they stopped to chat.
Air, Amaya and Aella carried on towards the lairs, and Quinn was about to follow until something stopped him in his tracks.
Calista spoke to Mist, arranging some get together or other, but Quinn couldn’t concentrate on that. Not when he noticed the spark of comparability between Calista and the big fire ghoul, Alpha.
They didn’t interact at all, but it was there, plain as day to his quint vision. Quinn narrowed his eyes when Alpha glared at him.
“You got a problem, Quinn?” he said, barely keeping the snarl from his voice.
Omega rolled his eyes, and subtly stepped between them, reacting to the sudden tension. Calista and Mist stopped mid sentence to look at them, and Ifrit subtly tensed.
Quinn tilted his head, sliding his eyes from Calista and back to Alpha.
He smirked and shrugged. The thought of the two of them together was just too ridiculous to even contemplate, so it wouldn’t be an issue.
“Not right now, Alpha,” Quinn answered. “But I’m sure you’ll do something to piss me off soon enough.”
Alpha snorted, but there was no humour in it. Omega sighed and shoved Alpha away.
“What the fuck, Meg?” Alpha bitched as they carried on.
“Just keep walking, Alpha.”
Ifrit followed them and Quinn watched until they disappeared down the hallway, his gut not quite as certain about Alpha as he’d like.
Calista put her hands on her hips.
“What was that about?”
“Nothing,” Quinn said, a little too quickly. “You ready?”
Calista gave him a perplexed look, but she shrugged it off and turned to Mist.
“I’ll call you and we can talk some more, okay?”
Mist nodded and gave her a hug.
“Sure. I’ll speak to you later.”
She jogged off to catch up to the others.
“We’d best catch up to them before Air eats our share of dinner,” Quinn said.
Calista laughed and took his hand.
“It’s probably already too late.”
Quinn let her lead him towards the lair, where banter and laughter could already be heard.
Still, his thoughts lingered on Convel. On Aella. On Air. On the tangled knot of fate that had only just begun to tighten.
A storm was coming.
But for tonight? He’d have to let it wait.
___
If you want another perspective on this chapter, the original version of Aella and Quinn's conversation appears in my 'Hedonism' fic, which looks at Aella and Convel's blossoming relationship.
And their sex life 🤷😅
Link below:
https://archiveofourown.info/works/60126787/chapters/168286210
Also, if you want to find out just how wrong Quinn is to dismiss that spark between Calista and Alpha? There's a whole fic for that, which takes place not too much longer after this chapter 😅🤦🔥
It's called 'Burning For You', link below:
https://archiveofourown.info/works/54727285/chapters/138701344