Free Keir by Pippa Jay Page B

terrible despair as she buried her face in her hands. He ached to hold her, to ease her pain as she had done for him. Instead he stood helpless.
    “Quin,” he said. “You have brought me back from death and offered me a new life. I would walk back through Adalucien for you. I would take any pain for you. If you need me to forgive you, I do. If you want me to leave in the hope of breaking this link, I will. Do not punish yourself for this. I am, and always will be, grateful to you.”
    He touched her hair, a fleeting gesture. Her tears unnerved him, and he found himself unable to comprehend the profound remorse and self-recrimination she was subjecting herself to over an act of compassion. It wound itself into his chest and pulled tight.
    “Quin, please do not cry.” When her tears continued unabated, he panicked. “Must I beg?”
    He made to kneel but, still shaky on his feet, he lost his balance and found himself sprawled on the grass, staring up at her.
    She burst out laughing then clutched her hand to her mouth as if to hold the laughter back. “Oh, Keir, I’m so sorry.”
    She held out her hands to help him up and he rose awkwardly to sit back on the bench. After a brief hesitation, she sat beside him, sniffling as she wiped her eyes and took a deep, steadying breath. For a moment, they sat in silence, lost in thought. Keir glanced at her sidelong, sensing her sorrow as clearly as if it were his own. The weight of it pressed on his thoughts. It left him uneasy to see her so downcast, full of regrets and unnecessary pain, and to be sharing it with her. Did she realize how much he could feel? Did she feel it too?
    His stomach cramped in hunger. “Quin?”
    She turned to look at him, eyebrows arched inquiringly. “What?”
    “I am sorry but…I am very hungry.”
    Quin chuckled. “Now that you mention it, so am I. Let’s eat”
    By the time they arrived at her quarters, Keir had his arm slung around Quin’s shoulders once more. His ordeal and two days of not eating had left him with little strength despite the restorative Taler had given him before he left the medical center.
    Quin’s lodgings were set deep within the complex. An unmarked doorway opened into a short corridor with subdued yellow lighting that led to a curved bank of soft, dark-gray seating. She directed him to sit and make himself comfortable, before fetching him a drink. This time it was chilled fruit juice, another new flavor for him and tarter than anything he had tasted before. He accepted it gratefully, though the coldness and acidity of it set his teeth on edge.
    As Quin busied herself cooking, Keir took the opportunity to look around her home. Ahead of him stood the main entrance, and to his left two further doors were set at right angles. To the right, kitchen units took up the adjacent wall, with a plain wooden table and chairs opposite. The long wall leading away had a landscape painted across it, similar to the view he had seen outside. He admired it for several moments before it registered that the clouds were moving across the brilliant blue sky and a white butterfly flitted among a patch of multicolored flowers. He blinked and leaned forward, certain his eyes had tricked him.
    The curved wall behind him was made of several narrow, vertical panels of a reflective black material that looked like metal but felt surprisingly warm to the touch when he dared investigate. The rest of the walls were a muted blue-gray and the floors were covered in a dark-gray fabric.
    “I haven’t bothered to do anything about decorating it,” she explained suddenly, as if she had read his mind. “It’s just a place to come back to, and to keep things safe.”
    “Can you hear all my thoughts?” he asked, his voice tight.
    She grinned at him, the same hint of mischief on her face he had seen just before she destroyed their prison cell. “If I wanted to,” she said. “But I wouldn’t do that. In any case, I’ll teach you how to shield your