Gold & Fire - Segment 4 of Q's Story

Dear Reader,

You chose offense for Q's next move. You'll find it in Segment 4 below (with a brief lead-in from Segment 3). I hope you enjoy it!

-Lillian

P.S. Click here if you want to read from the beginning.

“The Somnus is a who, not a what.”

“A legend,” Q managed. “A sleeper who controls sleep and wake – for everything. If he thinks she’s the Somnus, he won’t ever let her go.”

Min shook his head, pale under the gold of his skin. “Unless he figures out that she’s just a simple sleeper. Then he’ll kill her in retaliation.”

Q looked at Darcy, and her hands shook. Darcy nodded, and Q turned back to Min. “How can we help?”

*          *          *

Dawn rose over the mansion, casting misty pinks and yellows against the clouds. Min stared at the map on his phone, and a dark red blip flashed back at him from the center of the screen.

Darcy said, “Tell me again why he’s not going to just take us all.”

“We left too many breadcrumbs,” Q answered. “Even the concierge knows where we are. Unless Dette’s influence is wider than we realized, he won’t risk it.”

“And we expect him to just hand over Mee-Kyong.”

“We’re not leaving without her,” Min said from the back seat.

“Right. Of course.” Darcy gave Q a look, but she said nothing else.

Min pushed out of the car before it stopped. As he strode up the stairs, the fatigue that dragged at him burned away under a sizzle of nerves. His pace quickened, and Q and Darcy fell behind.

Q put a hand on Darcy’s shoulder. “I need the ring.”

Darcy stopped and stared. “That’s your plan? That’s a bad plan.”

“Do you have a better one?”

Darcy pursed her lips, but she took the ring off the chain around her neck and dropped it into Q’s palm.

Shaped like a dragon coiled by its own tail, the ancient gold seemed to glow when it touched Q’s skin. Warmth shot through her, and she finally felt whole. This was who she was supposed to be. She was meant to protect, not to hide. And despite the best intentions of those who cared about her, that would never change. She took a calming breath and slipped the ring onto her finger.

The doors above them opened just as Min reached up to knock. A dark-skinned man in a black suit looked them over, then retreated into the house without a word. But he left the door open.

They followed him into a white, vaulted foyer dominated by a sculpture in its center. The figure of a woman writhed in dizzying color as flames consumed her body from foot to sternum. The guard closed the door behind them and stood before it, his arms crossed over his body.

“Homey,” Darcy said.

“I’m delighted that you think so.”

The voice came from their left, a Southern drawl dripping with oily condescension. A handsome, middle-aged man emerged from a neighboring room, his deeply tanned skin a stark contrast to the white of his clothes. He smiled at Q as his bare feet stepped delicately over the marble floor.

“Dette,” Min said, his voice like gravel.

Dette glanced at him and then away, as if the brother of his captive was not worth his attention. His blue eyes winged back to Q, and she felt the hair rise on the back of her neck.

“I must apologize for your earlier accommodations,” he said. “There was a…miscommunication.”

“It happens,” Q said evenly, as if her palms weren’t sweating. “Kidnapping must be a chaotic business.”

“Kidnapping is such a strong word. I prefer acquisition.”

Min growled. “It’s not acquisition when you take a person, you sick fu–”

“How about ‘offering’?” Q asked quickly.

Dette lifted a brow. “An interesting term. Tell me more.”

“Me for her.”

Min’s eyes shot to hers, and Darcy said, “Q, don’t!”

Q held up a hand to silence them. “I’ll stay here if you let Mee-Kyong go.”

Dette cocked his head. “She’s a stranger to you. Why would you do this?”

“Does it matter? Min’s sister goes free, and you get what you want: a sleeper in your collection.”

“Ah, but I already had a sleeper. I had you, dear Quinn. Mee-Kyong was to serve a different purpose, as I’m sure you already know.”

“Was?” Min asked, blanching.

“Oh, she’s still alive. You may even go after her if you wish, although you will almost certainly be too late.”

“Too late for what?”

“She is not who we thought, so we have no use for her. She’s been taken for disposal.” Dette held out his hand. His palm cradled a small plastic chip spotted with dried blood.

“You son of a bitch!”

Min lunged at him, a feral sound ripping from his throat. Darcy shoved her shoulder into his chest when the guard reached for his weapon.

“Stop it,” she hissed. “If you get yourself killed, we don’t have a chance of saving your sister.”

Min stared at Dette, his blood hot, but he forced himself to pull back.

Dette held his gaze for a long moment, and then shook his head at the guard. “That won’t be necessary. Yet.”

 “You’re going to kill Mee-Kyong because she’s not the Somnus,” Q said.

He nodded appreciatively. “So you see that an exchange does not help me. But I believe I will keep you, anyway. You are much more interesting than I anticipated.”

“Oh.” She smiled. “You have no idea.”

The ring grew hot on her finger. She held it out and said, “Rise!”

The ground trembled. Wind swept through the closed room, whipping her hair toward the statue of the burning woman and startling a shout from the guard. But Dette only watched her, enraptured by her power, his chest heaving in his excitement.

And the dragon on her ring came to life.

It swelled until its body spanned the room from nose to tail. Great, golden wings unfurled, shattering the statue into thousands of colored crystals. Long, sharp talons clacked against the floor. It threw back its head and roared, and flames billowed toward the vaulted ceiling.

The guard fired at the dragon, but the bullets bounced off the swollen metal and lodged into the wall. Q flung her hand toward him and said, “Sleep!” And the guard slumped onto the floor, unconscious.

Q turned back to Dette, her eyes the same flashing amber as the dragon’s.

And Dette breathed, “It’s you. You’re the Somnus."

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