Chapter 5.11

Chapter5.11

However, she could make that decision herself. If she wanted to, Rei would be responsible for her death and lose her job. Unless she wanted to go through with it.

They didn't realize at all that Quinn heard the whole thing and felt terrible. That Rei would give up his life for her touching them. Because that was what was going to happen. If he killed her, he was basically dead too, and she didn't want that. It wasn't his fault, and it wasn't his will that they did something like that to her.

Slowly she sat up, still holding the hot water bottle. Her eyes were wearily fixed on Rei.

The guard wheeled around to her, startled, as soon as he sensed the movements. Elgatos feared that he would yell at the young woman, as he did at everyone else when something didn't suit him.

Rei's eyes fixed on Quinn sceptically for a few seconds. "You heard everything, didn't you?" he asked contritely. He also wondered how long she had been aware that he had been sitting by her bedside, caressing her.

Quinn rubbed his eyes ever so slightly and decided to lie. "You guys are so loud," she remarked sleepily. "Is it morning already? Do I have to get up?"

"No, it's evening," Rei remarked more pointedly than he really wanted to. He felt overwhelmed with everything. "Do you want to die, or do you want to go through all this crap again?" he asked Quinn frostily.

"What?" the latter asked back in surprise, still looking wholly sleepy and not quite there.

The young woman could feel Rei's ice-cold breath on her skin after he got very close to her face. "I asked, do you want to die or continue to suffer?" he repeated the question slowly and clearly in control.

Quinn winced and slid away from him a little before tears came to her eyes. "I don't want to die," she whispered, frightened that the guard was so upset. "I never wanted this."

Rei fixed her from narrow eyes. "You didn't? Then why did you run away? Because you wanted to die rather than continue," he said, reminding her of her own words. She had been told that she would rather die. Before, he would never have allowed her to leave willingly, but now he was giving her a choice.

Quinn lowered his eyes. "I'm perfectly willing to put my own life on the line, but not anyone else's," she said quietly, admitting that she had undoubtedly been listening to them.

Rei's hand sprang forward and took hold of Quinn's arm. More roughly than he really wanted to. "You're not supposed to eavesdrop, and it's none of your business what I'm putting on the line!" he snapped sharply at the girl.

"You're sitting by my bed," she remarked softly, averting her eyes. "I had no choice but to hear you," she whispered, "though I couldn't move."

The dragon could feel that Quinn's skin was still cold. Just as if it had been lying outside in the snow.

"You haven't answered my question yet," he remarked pointedly, scowling. It was her right to know everything about her transformation. That was why he wanted to give her the option to end it all first or not. It was her decision alone. That she would hate Rei for it was clear to him. And that was just as well. He hated himself for having to do this.

Quinn took a deep breath and exhaled again. "I don't want to die," she repeated again softly but forcefully. That was the answer to his question. However, she did not want to answer it directly.

Rei pulled away from her and nodded. "Take care of her," he turned to Elgatos and wordlessly left the room.

This unsettled Quinn greatly, and she glanced after Rei before looking to Elgatos. "Did I say something wrong?" she asked quietly, full of anxiety.

Thoughtfully, the dragon with the orange hair swayed his head back and forth and then shook it. "No. You didn't do anything wrong. He just doesn't like the idea of you volunteering for all this suffering," Elgatos explained, pulling the chair up from the table by her bed to sit on it. "He cares about you, even if he doesn't show it."

Quinn pinched her lips together a little. "I don't want other people to get in trouble because of me," she explained her decision.

Sighing, Elgatos ran a hand through his standing hair. "He's dealing with it himself. Not because of you," he tried to make her understand.

"It is because someone is up to something with me," the young woman whispered. "And it has hit Rei."

Astonished, Elgatos looked to her. "He told you his name?" he asked, dumbfounded. He clearly hadn't expected that.

Quinn nodded slightly. "He left it up to me what I call him," she murmured, "and I had asked."

"That gives you more rights than anyone else," the older dragon remarked. The whole thing showed Elgatos that her welfare was very much on the guardian's mind. Rei wanted her to be well, considering the circumstances.

Quinn nodded slightly. "He didn't tell me where exactly I was, though."

Reluctantly, he shrugged. "It would scare you off knowing where you are and what he really is. Besides, he doesn't want to scare you even more with that," Elgatos said carefully. Probably that was also due to order. Or the Supreme thought that it didn't matter if she knew or not.

"I don't think he would scare me," she said softly. "I don't care what he is as long as he treats me well, and he does."

Elgatos sighed slightly in anguish. It was hard to break it to her that Barafu was not the place you wanted to be. "This place is not for a woman, Quinn. Rei has his reasons for not saying anything," he tried to explain. "He treats you well because women are gods, and he respects them, even though he has never walked anyone."

"My first stop with the dragons was a musty dungeon next to corpses and no daylight," she said matter-of-factly. "It can't be worse here."

Sighing, Elgatos ran a hand through his orange-red hair. It was Rei's business whether he would say anything or not.

Quinn would understand in time that the ice island could not offer her very much. Except for freezing cold, suffering, and lots of men just waiting for a chance to hurt her. An unpleasant place from which no one could escape.

She had made the decision to go through the whole ordeal for Rei's sake. Because she didn't want him to lose his job. Would she regret it once they started? No one knew what would happen. Neither Elgatos nor Rei. But least of all, Quinn, who had never thought that the guardian possessed a perhaps softer core than he would admit after all.

What else would happen? Could she get through the transformation with Rei?