“Why the hell are you doing this!?” Snowhawk yelled as she pushed Quillen away.
“I already told you, love, I want what’s mine.”
“And who’s to say I ever was?”
“I am, dear Snowhawk. The wolf won’t have anyone to help him steal you away this time.”
“He didn’t before either. Or has your mind twisted so much you forgot? You left. I was alone.”
“So are you saying he’ll be coming after you again?”
“He never came after me in the first place!”
“Regardless,” he replied with a smirk.
“What happened to you, Legacy? You used to be so kind, so gentle.”
“It’s amazing what can happen when the one you love is stolen from you,” he darkly replied. “So,” he continued a moment later, “why didn’t you fight him off?”
“What was there to fight?”
“Plenty. I had figured he simply grabbed you by the throat and held you down when you went to ‘visit’ that night. That is one of your weaknesses, after all,” Quillen grinned as one hand moved to her neck and gently stroked it. “Don’t be afraid, dear bird,” he half chuckled at the look of fear that crossed her face at his touch. He leaned down and gently kissed her again. “And my name is ‘Quillen’ now, love. Can’t have any of the others finding out, can we?”
Snowhawk clinched her eyes shut as tears began to well up in them. “Don’t make me choose. Not again.”
“There shouldn’t be much of a choice, dear Snowhawk,” he stated as he pulled her to him. He lifted her chin up with one hand, leaning down to kiss her again as his other hand reached up and pressed on her neck as he had some hours earlier. She was instantly dropped into a deep sleep. “I’m sorry, love. You have to stay. Goodnight, my sweet Snowhawk. You shall see our son soon.” He lowered the partition again and informed the driver to return to the estate.
*********
Elsewhere in the city, a very angered Janus jumped out of his vehicle and entered his estate. “That damn fool picked the wrong wolf to screw with,” he growled as he stormed into his library and to his maps of the city. “There are only so many places in this city where a Delphin can be hidden. And there are only so many beings in this city named ‘Quillen.'” He sighed. “This will require more work than finding her the last time.” He just hoped that who ever this guy was working for had no intentions of hurting her.
He eventually fell asleep while looking over all the maps, trying to figure out where they could be and who could be the responsible party. The thought came to him in his sleep: what if Nytehawk was behind this? Would she have been the one to suggest it, or could someone have manipulated the power she held to their own advantage? “What if Legacy hadn’t died then?” Snowhawk’s voice repeated in his mind. Given what had been said about personality and appearance chances, there was a high chance that the man Quillen was Legacy. His anger and frustration at losing Snowhawk brought on a severe obsessive state. Though what he might do to try and hang onto her was forethought in Janus’ mind.
Quillen was much larger and most likely much stronger than Snowhawk, if he had kept those traits from Legacy, assuming they were indeed one in the same. Legacy had also been highly intelligent. But what else? he thought. What else makes him such a threat? Then he realized Legacy knew Snowhawk almost as well as he did. And Quillen’s intentions would most likely not be with her best interests in mind.
*********
Trying to understand why a broken horn causes a shift in personality is about equal to trying to understand the logic of a three year old human child: It just is and any further reasoning will leave one with a migraine. The cause had never been discovered, but the effects were widely known. An alternate personality formed, a mirror dredging up everything the injured one was not. In Legacy’s case, his kindness was tossed away, leaving a hurt, vindictive soul determined to reclaim what he felt was rightfully his. And willing to do so at any cost.
Buried somewhere in him was his kindness, his gentleness, everything that had made him Legacy. However, this old self was so far locked away, and his new persona of Quillen was so strongly attached, little hope could be held out for the old Legacy to ever return.
Quillen cradled Snowhawk’s unconscious form as the vehicle pulled into the Society leader’s estate. The car stopped in front of the grand mansion. Quillen carefully picked her up and carried her out of the vehicle. He was met on the steps by Nytehawk, Hunter, and Jerome.
“She looks smaller than I remember,” Hunter commented.
“Two years can really change someone,” Nytehawk near whispered as she gently touched her cousin’s arm. “Did you have any trouble, Quillen?”
“Only from her. I found her asleep and she was very– disoriented when she awoke.”
“I guess that explains why she’s unconscious then,” Jerome stated, glaring at Quillen.
“Yes, it would,” he replied, returning the glare.
“I had a room prepared for her upstairs. We can take her there and wake her up,” Nytehawk said, not having noticed the glares.
“Lead the way,” Quillen responded.
Nytehawk nodded and walked up the stairs leading into the estate, the other following her. As they walked, Jerome very casually mentioned, “You took a big risk by putting her under like that.”
“Who’s to say I don’t know her better than any of you suspect?”
“Even if you had Guardian training, the only way you could know her that well is if you had had an extended, intimate relationship.”
Quillen smirked. “I have my secrets, Jerome. Just as you have yours.”
They reached the room that had been set up for Snowhawk and turned in. It was a moderate sized room, furnished with a queen sized bed, a desk, various chairs, a couple small tables, and various lamps of varying intensities. Quillen carefully laid Snowhawk on the bed, then gently brushed her bangs from her eyes, his hand lingering near her face almost too long.
“Quillen, could you wait to awaken her for a moment so I can bring Valerian in?” Nytehawk asked.
“Most certainly.” Nytehawk gave a small bow of thanks and quickly exited the room. “Soon, bird,” Quillen quietly said to the still unconscious Snowhawk. “Soon you will see your son.”
The use of “bird” caught Jerome’s attention. Only two ever referred to her like that: Janus and Legacy, and the latter only rarely. The Golden Guardian narrowed his green eyes slightly. He was beginning to piece everything together and he didn’t like the picture. “You’ll only be able to fool her for so long, then the consequences won’t be pretty,” he half growled under his breath.
“I’m sure you’re right, Jerome,” Quillen returned.
Hunter was at a loss. “What?”
“Nothing,” Quillen responded. “Just a little friendly rivalry”
“I’m sure,” Hunter warily replied.
A half moment later, Nytehawk returned with Valerian. The boy ran to the bedside when he saw Snowhawk. “Mom?” he said worriedly. “What’s wrong with her?”
“Nothing. Just asleep,” Quillen said reassuringly, then reached to her neck and awoke her as he had earlier.
Green eyes fluttered open again and she slowly began to see who was around her. First a flash of gold, Jerome, then her cousin’s pale blue fur, followed by Hunter’s gray fur, then a young, lavender-furred Delphin. “Where am I?” she half moaned, then felt a pair of small arms latch onto her.
“Mom,” the young one whispered.
“Wha– Valerian?”
He nodded and she could feel his silent tears on her shoulder. “You’re home.”
“It would appear I am,” she whispered, still waking up.
“Snowhawk,” Nyte began, “welcome back.”
“Yeah, I guess.”
“Snow–”
“Nytehawk, this is not my home, it’s yours. I don’t belong in your world anymore. Not this– Society. I never did.”
“Snow, you do belong. This is your destiny. Here. Not off in some cabin in the forest. You’re a Royal.”
“No. You are, Nyte. I never was.” She flinched almost imperceptibly in pain, then sighed as she closed her eyes. No point in being awake for now.
“Mom, don’t leave. Please. Not for a little while anyway.”
Snowhawk replied with a soft smile. “Don’t be afraid, son,” she whispered, then drifted to sleep as the stress of the day caught up with her.
“Mom…”
“Don’t worry, Valerian,” Hunter reassured, “she’s just asleep.”
“She sleeps a lot,” the child commented.
Quillen nodded. “Your mother needs to rest for now. She’ll be better in the morning.”
Jerome rested his hand on the boy’s shoulder. “Come on, Valerian, I’ll teach you more about the Guardians of the old Society.”
“Okay,” he responded, somewhat sadly since he didn’t want to leave his mom.
“Go on, Valerian,” Quillen told him “I’ll stay here and make sure she’s safe tonight.”
The young Delphin nodded and followed Jerome out of the room, stopping at the door to look back at his mother.
Nytehawk turned to Quillen. “So you’ll watch over her tonight?”
“Yes. As if it were my life’s purpose.”
“Good, I would hate for anything to happen to her so soon after getting back.” She took a hold of Hunter’s arm and walked out of the room. “Do you think he’s changed, Hunter?” she asked as the walked to their room.
“Yes. Jerome suspects too, I think. They were doing a lot of glaring at each other.”
Nytehawk nodded. “We’ll just have to see what his intentions are.”
Back in the room, Quillen walked to the bed after locking the door, and then brushed a stray lock of Snowhawk’s hair from her face. “What will I have to do to make you forget him?” he quietly asked to no one as he ran the backs of his knuckles along her jaw. “What indeed,” He pulled her chin up and leaned down to give her another kiss, then looked at her face for another moment, softly stroking her cheek. Then he pulled his shirt off and lay down on the bed behind her and wrapped his arms around her. He held her tightly, then drifted to sleep, his head on her shoulder.
*********
Back at his estate, Janus now sat in a state of quiet contemplation. He had an idea of where to look for his bird, but didn’t want to make a move until he was certain. He was awaiting a call from one of his informants to verify Snowhawk’s location. The waiting was the hardest part. He clinched his fists at the thought of what that– Quillen may have done, or be doing, to his bird. The jealousy was almost overwhelming, but he fought it away again. He needed a clear head to think and act here. The mere fact that Quillen had laid a hand on her in the first place was enough reason to beat him to a bloody pulp. Adding in how he had done it was enough to beat the bloody pulp within an inch of it’s life. Had he done anything else to her… “If he has, I will kill him personally.” His phone beeped at him and he quickly snatched it up, answering the message. “Yes?”
“We think we have her location,” the man on the other end replied.
“Good. Continue monitoring. I want to be certain on this.”
“Yes, sir,” the voice replied, then the line clicked.
The two had come too far for someone to screw this up, especially someone that was supposedly dead. Janus had no idea just how simple it would be to discover exactly where Snowhawk was. And all in thanks to the evening news.
*********
Several days would pass. During this time, as Quillen tried to make Snowhawk forget about Janus, he also convinced Nytehawk that the time to move against the remaining slavers was now. She gave him the authority to essentially begin a war.
With that completed, he stalked off to the separate house Snowhawk had been moved to. There was one other thing he wanted to accomplish.
*********
Snowhawk dozed somewhat peacefully for one of the first times since she had been taken. Valerian slept, semi curled, next to his mother. It was another unseasonably warm, lazy afternoon, one that simply felt like the calm before the storm. The door to her bedroom swung open, a quiet creak awakening Valerian. He sat halfway up, trying not to disturb his mother and looked to the doorway. “Quillen, what are you doing here?”
“I need to speak with your mother on a private matter,” he evenly replied.
“Oh, okay,” the young Delphin responded, frowning, then carefully slid off the bed. He still had no idea of Quillen’s true identity.
“I think Jerome wanted to show you a few new things today. He’s in the gardens if you want to find him.”
“Okay!” he smiled, then sprinted from the room, his small hooves sliding around on the smooth stone floors.
Once the boy was gone, Quillen grinned darkly and stalked to the bed, sitting on the edge. He gently touched her human face, awakening her. “Good afternoon, love.”
She sat up slowly, pushing herself up until his hand caught her chin. “What are you doing?” she groggily asked.
“Nothing, love,” he said as he leaned to her then kissed her. His hands reached to the back of her neck and unhooked the velvet choker Janus had given her. As he tossed it aside with one hand, he removed a collar from his pocket with the other, still distracting her with the kiss. He moved his hands back to her neck, one wrist resting on each shoulder, the collar trailing down her back from his right hand. He leaned forward, as his other hand took a hold of the free end, and pushed her back onto the bed. He brought his hands to the front of her throat and locked the collar onto her.
She heard the quiet click of the lock and forced him off her, sitting back up. “What the hell are you doing!?”
“It’s for your own protection, love. We’re about to go to war. I can’t have you running off on me in the middle of a battle. You could end up getting hurt. Or worse, killed.”
Snowhawk glared at him. “I can take care of myself. Now unlock this damn thing,” she demanded as she tugged at it.
“I think not, dear bird,” he smirked. “You know, that’s a good look for you.”
“I assume you convinced Nyte into letting you do this.”
“Actually, she has no idea. You see, dear,” he began, running a finger along her jaw, “Nytehawk is just a figure head for us. I have been given as much power I need to strengthen the Society. I’m going to turn this into a full Empire.”
“With you at the head, I assume.”
“No. Nytehawk will remain as the leader, I’ll be the one ‘working to defend’ as it was in our past.
“You make it sound so noble,” she dryly remarked.
“Oh it is, dear Snowhawk, it is,” he returned, the sound of another lock clicking was heard as he fastened a chain to her collar. “An even better look,” he grinned.
Her eyes narrowed and she glared daggers at him. He gave a small smirk of amusement. “So I guess Legacy really is dead.” She drew her hand back to slap him, but he caught her small wrist in his hand.
“I don’t recommend that, love.” He pulled her to him, grabbing her waist tightly with his free hand. “You can’t fight me, dear bird. And I will never let you get away from me again.” He again reached to her neck and dropped her into a deep sleep.
A half minute later, Nytehawk entered the small house, intent on speaking with her cousin. Quillen sensed the female and carefully turned Snowhawk so she was facing him and the chain and collar were hidden. Nytehawk turned into the room and was surprised to see Quillen there. Even more so to see Snow apparently asleep in his arms. “Quillen, is Snowhawk alright?”
“She’s fine. Just exhausted herself.”
“And so she fell asleep on you?”
“Pretty much,” he replied and he gave her a very slight squeeze. “I don’t believe she’s properly rested in years.”
“Your intentions had better be nothing more than honest, Quillen,” she warned, noticing the squeeze.
“And I assure you, they are,” he grinned. He paused for a moment, then began, “I’ll need to take her with me tonight. I feel it would be safer for the both of you.”
“Do you suspect Janus knows?”
“The news last night said ‘at least one slave had been recovered’ then continued on to say her relationship to you.” His grin turned to a smirk. “And quite honestly, how many cousins do you have alive?”
Nytehawk sighed. “Just her that I know of. Damn, not the most opportune timing, was it?”
“Not in the least.”
“Very well,” she sighed, “you may take her with you.”
He grinned and gave a nod of thanks.
*********
Quillen left the estate late that evening, driving to an end of town where she once had an apartment. Two days ago, he came here to have everything prepared. He picked up the still sleeping Snowhawk and carried her into the building, then to her former residence. He further carried her into the bedroom and carefully laid her on the bed, then reattached the chain to her collar and connected the free end to the bed. He bound her hands behind her back, then re-awoke her. “Good evening, love,” he grinned, his hand slipping through the flap of her dress and resting on her rear. She gave a small cry of pain as he flipped her onto her back. The look of fear in her eyes was quite apparent as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a dagger, then brought it toward her.
*********
A half-inch stack of papers landed on the desk in front of a half asleep Janus. “We have her location. And we’ve discovered the Society wants to start a war against all the slavers,” the tall, dark furred Lupino female standing opposite him stated.
“Thank you, Nyx,” he groggily replied.
“Quillen’s on the move. He’s taken Snowhawk to the far side of town. An old apartment of hers. You know what he’s planning, do you not?”
“He wants to reclaim her. And he’ll probably not be gentle about it.”
“Are you moving now or will you wait?”
He paused for a moment to think. “If he does what I think he’ll do, it doesn’t matter when we move. We’d never make it on time. If he hurts her…” Janus sighed, “But he won’t be expecting a move so soon, so we’ll leave now. I’ll be counting on you and your crew for a diversion.”
“Shouldn’t be a problem.”
“Thank you.” The other Lupino bowed and turned, then quickly exited the library. Janus waited another moment as he fully awoke, then stood and half ran to his garage.
Nyx greeted him there. “We’re ready to go at anytime.”
“Good. We’re moving now. Maybe I’ll catch the son of a bitch in the act so I’ll have more reason to kill him.”
The female turned and gave her crew a signal as she trotted over to them. A small fleet of vehicles moved out, Janus following several minutes later in one of his personal cars. After some forty minutes of driving to reach Snowhawk’s location he sent a signal over a radio to Nyx that he was ready when they were.
And halfway across town, an explosion blew several of the windows in the Society Leader’s home and set off every car alarm within miles.
*********
Back in Snow’s old apartment, Quillen let go of her now naked, half-unconscious form. She fell to the side, her raggedly cut hair draping across her neck. Her body ached from the abuse she had been subjected to. Quillen stood from the bed and stalked out of the room. Breaking her was just half the fun. He looked at the hair in his hand and grinned, then tied it together with one of her old ribbons. He set the bundle on a table, then looked to his computer and the message flashing “urgent.” He growled lowly as he had been called back across town.
Quillen re-entered the room and tossed a blanket over Snow’s bruised and bloodied form. She was crying softly, he noted, as he leaned down to give her a small kiss. “I shall return soon,” he whispered, then left the room, grabbing his sword and tying the sheath to his belt on the way out. She heard the front door unlock, open, close, then lock again as he left.
With that, she was alone. Helpless. She hurt too much to move, not that she could go very far if she could. While it was true she had been raped and beaten before, it was never by someone she had once trusted. She lay where she was for a few moments, then her stomach twisted in fear as she heard the door unlock and open again.
*********
Janus tentatively stepped into the old apartment, looking around for any others that might have been inside, after narrowly missing Quillen in the hallway. He knew Snowhawk was here, as he could faintly smell her. He listened carefully for a few moments, then heard something like quiet cries, of both sadness and pain. He also caught the scent of blood. Janus followed scent and sound back to a bedroom. He slowly opened the door and the smell of blood was strong enough to force him to shift from his Lupino form. His gut wrenched as he realized the blood he smelled was Snowhawk’s. The figure on the bed lay nearly motionless. “Sn– Snowhawk?” he almost whispered. She made no movement. He slowly moved toward the bed and could see long cuts on her exposed shoulder and her raggedly cropped hair. He gingerly touched an uncut place on her shoulder and she whimpered in pain. He knelt next to the bed and brushed her hair from her eyes. “My poor bird, I’m so sorry. I should have gotten here sooner and stopped him. I couldn’t find you.” She made no response, the shock of not a half hour earlier still held her in a near paralyzed fear. Slowly, he pulled the blanket off her, revealing just how much damage had been physically done. He caught site of her bound hands and first tried to untie them, then cut them with his pocketknife. Blood stained the rope and her wrists bled from the thin, wiry rope. He carefully pulled her arms from behind her, hating to hear her cries of pain. One of her hands immediately went to her face and covered it. Just from that movement, Janus knew how much she was hurting. Not physically, but mentally. She most likely felt as if she had betrayed him, that she should have been able to fight her attacker off, that she was weak for allowing this to happen to her. He didn’t want to further harm her by touching her, but he felt that he had to at this time. He carefully gathered her in his arms and held her as she cried and whimpered in pain.
“Well now, what have we here?” Quillen’s voice interrupted. “I thought they killed all the wolves around here.”
Janus bristled, a feat strangely accomplished in his human form. “What did you do to her, you son of a bitch?”
“I figured that would be obvious, slaver. I took back what’s mine,” he grinned. “By the way, the explosion was a nice touch, but not enough to keep me gone. Especially from a creature as sweet as her.”
“You can’t take back what was never yours, Legacy.”
“Right,” he replies sarcastically. “And Legacy’s dead, wolf.”
“Along with his gentle sincerity, I’m guessing.”
“Mostly.” Quillen’s face darkened. “Now let her go. I have unfinished business.”
“There’s not much more you can do to her.”
“I will be the judge of that. Now move aside.”
Janus growled and shifted forms again, fighting the sensory overload of the room’s scents. “You won’t touch her again.”
Quillen simply smirked and withdrew his sword from its sheath. “Your brother almost killed me, you know. With this very sword.”
“And just what does that have to do with anything?” Janus growled, carefully laying her down, then standing.
“Just a distraction,” he returned, lunging at Janus.
The Lupino dodged the strike, but was caught in the back of the neck by the edge of Quillen’s hand and sent across the room. He spun around, the blow having disoriented him for a moment. Quillen was amazingly strong. He was also dangerously close to Snowhawk. She was still too weakened to fight back and could only cry out in pain as he roughly flipped her onto her stomach. “An audience wasn’t part of the plan,” he darkly began, laying the blade of his sword across her legs, halfway between her rear and her knees, “but I think I can cope.”
“Let her be! She’s hurting enough as it is!” Janus warned advancing a couple steps forward, realizing just how far he’d been hit across the room.
“Don’t take another step, wolf.”
“Or what?” he defiantly asked, stepping forward.
“This,” Quillen responded and drew the razor-sharp sword across her legs.
Janus froze as she cried out in pain. “What the hell are you doing!?” he demanded.
“I’m making a point.” He sat down on the bed next to her and pulled a small dagger from his boot. He ran the blade along her arm, the razor edge easily cutting through her skin. “It wouldn’t take much to kill her, you know.” Quillen paused for a moment. “But death is far too easy. She’d be escaping me again and I simply cannot allow that.”
“And by doing this the only point you prove is that you’re many times worse than I ever was to her.”
“Maybe,” he nonchalantly replied, cutting diagonally across her back, enjoying the look of helplessness on Janus’ face. Her cries her grew weaker, though Quillen didn’t seem to notice. “But it also proves that I know her better than you ever attempted to.”
“So you would destroy everything about her. Crush her spirit.”
Quillen narrowed his eyes and stated, “Fine, you may have her for now. But always remember I will return for her one day.” He stood and glared at the Lupino for another moment, then seemed to vanish into the shadows.
“Nice trick,” he growled, then rushed to Snowhawk. She had lost a great deal of blood. Her body was cool to the touch and her heart rate had fallen drastically. She wouldn’t survive without care from a doctor, and she needed it soon. However, he couldn’t carry her out with out further injuring her. He fumbled around and found his phone then called Nyx. “Nyx, I need you at the old apartment. Now. Snowhawk is badly injured and I don’t think she’ll last long.”