Paragon - Chapter 29: Chapter 29

Once Quinn and her many new purchases were stowed on the plane, my pilot conducted final checks and brought us into a move. If his estimations were still correct the next refuel would be in six and a half hours. Then only a few more to the final stop. I drummed my fingers impatiently as we rolled along the tarmac waiting for clearance. Then listened to the steadily climbing pulse of the mortal in the seat across the aisle.
I tipped my head in her direction and saw she focused intently on the seams of her new dark, high sleeved shirt.
"Quinn."
Her gaze snapped to mine as if ripped away from deeper thoughts.
"Need a drink?"
She dropped me a small nod and released a shallow breath. I flagged down an attendant with a hand raise and ordered her usual. When the well dressed blonde returned she gave a warm smile of assurance and gave it back directly to Quinn.
"Thank you." She murmured, meeting the woman's eyes like it was a life raft and not hard liquor and tonic. I fought a smirk and lost.
"Nolo contendere." I stated ahead of me.
The ice clinked in her glass as she watched the airport move outside her window, "No contest. It has the same effect as the plea of guilty." She answered with a small smile around her drink.
"I think we can both decide that we know our terms." I drawled, watching the side of her tan face. She took a deeper sip as we approached the final runway.
"Congratulations, you still wouldn't be employed as a lawyer." She deadpanned.
I raised an eyebrow with amusement. "And why is that, Adams?"
She finally met my eyes with those bright green and no hesitation. "No law firm would take on a person with detective on their CV."
This made me chuckle. "I have no CV."
"Then how do you..." She trailed off shaking her head. "Never mind, I don't need to know."
"The same people that get me across the world without a trace." I answered her anyway.
She seemed ready to speak but the engines kicked in that moment and the force pushed her against the seat and gripping the armrest with her free hand. I continued watching her closely ready to move if necessary but she seemed adamant to ride this one out herself.
"Small breath in, slow breath out." I told her calmly.
We raced faster and I felt the moment the jet pulled off the earth below. She shut her eyes tightly and all but forgot about the drink in her hand. I slipped out of my seat unwillingly to watch her fear any longer. I took the glass from her hand smoothly and replaced it with my hand. Her body tensed briefly but she opened her eyes to meet mine intently.
The wind shuddered against the wings briefly and she clenched harder against the unbreakable skin of my hand. A few more minutes of the rise progressed until we levelled out and the winds calmed. She released a long breath before leaning back into the chair heavily. I released her, suddenly aware of that gloriously sweet blood a little too much.
"Ms Fletcher?"
I tore my focus from her and rose to the aisle. The smartly dressed mortal paced towards me holding a satellite phone in her hand. I frowned deeply, hearing her pulse increase under my glare. "A call for you." She said simply. She need not say more. There was only one group of beings that knew how to contact me when I was on the move now.
I took the phone briskly and the steward quickly retreated with a parting nervous smile.
Quinn watched me curiously and picked up the remains of her drink. I placed it to my ear and took my seat slowly.
"Yes?"
"We need you. Mumbai."
I froze in my seat as the cool male told me something so simple and with absolutely no room for dispute whatsoever. Just as it had always been for over a hundred years of my time under them. Paragon.
I swallowed and kept my gaze calmly ahead giving nothing away to the mortal beside me.
"When?" I asked cooly.
"Five hours. We understand you just left Dubai International. A member is already waiting for you in the city and will debrief you further."
Just like that the line terminated.
Ten years without contact other than clean up teams. Now this.
I set the phone down on the table and nodded to myself. Of course now would be the time they drew on me when I happened to be in transit across the continents. It was only logical since I was within hours of the city by jet. Yet they either did not know of the mortal passenger I had or assumed she was dinner–either way this changed things.
"Tara?" Quinn seemed to repeat.
I snapped out of it and met her inquisitive look. I drew in a breath and faced her fully.
"We have a slight deviation."
She flickered between my eyes. "This seems like more than you're letting on."
It is.
"It's not." I rolled my shoulders and tried to loosen my body that had become coiled. Ready to become an immortal assassin in five hours. "I have an errand in Mumbai. I may need a day to complete my work before we continue." I admitted, watching her reaction closely.
She weighed my words before shrugging without the consideration a mortal should take.
"Leave me some cash and I'm sure I'll find something to do." She smirked slyly.
I relaxed instantly but let out a puff of air. "Quinn, you need to be careful. This continent can be dangerous–"
"Mumbai, Fletcher. Give them some credit." She scoffed.
I flexed my fingers and thought of the last time I had been in the city going through scores of mortals who were hell bent on sending the country back to the dark ages. Their bodies falling from distance as I removed them with lethal precision behind a scope. The rest didn't receive such a merciful end–
"Stop looking like that." She cut through my thoughts. She now bobbed a leg on the arm of the chair as if we discussed which restaurant we were attending tonight and not my separation to serve an immortal order in a foreign country. "I'll be fine without you for a day. I managed it long enough before."
"Do you know how to use a firearm?" I asked flatly.
Her eyes widened before she realised I was serious and sat up in her chair quickly. "Jesus, Fletcher. I'm not going to kill anyone!" She hissed, before regarding me more closely. "What exactly will you be doing?" She demanded.
I schooled my features into innocence and waved a hand. "There's another immortal passing through that needs to discuss what happened in London." It was half the truth. Though Paragon could not care less about a minor explosion in the East end.
She frowned and fidgeted with the glass on the table watching me.
"Will you be alright?" She asked despite it all.
A slow smile overtook my face and turned into a grin. She rolled her eyes and dropped back into the chair staring out the window. "I don't know why I bother." She muttered.
"Everything will be fine, Miss Adams. I will call you as soon as I am ready and we'll fly direct to our last destination."
At this she smiled and nodded. My eyes briefly grazed the exposed skin of her calfs under the long skirt and I ripped them away thinking of the weapons in the bag instead. Two suppressed, semi-automatic handguns–not the delicious and enticing smell of Quinn–GPS trackers and thermal sights for night ops–not the way she watched me with those bright eyes that darkened so quickly–
"–and I thought I needed to relax," She murmured, glancing at my clenched fist before smirking and calling the attendant over for. I smiled briefly watching her request some small lunch politely. The attendant said something back and they chatted easily as if friends reconvening. Such was her easy nature. Such was not my demeanour.
A warmth against my cold. Quinn was the sun. Heat and hope. I was probably closer to the moon. Cold, lurking and most prominent in the night. I hoped she would absorb the sights and delicacies the country had in abundance. Safe in the clutches of the central city not in the shadows where the monsters lurked. I would spare time for them.
* * * * *
When we touched down again the call was almost instantaneous. Paragon were tracking the jet after all.
"William Kavgar. I will be debriefing you." The calm immortal informed me in business-like efficiency.
"Meet point?" I cut straight to it without my immortal name.
He gave coordinates instead of an address and I was already typing onto the touchscreen in my hand. The blue signal pulsed and confirmed his location. I slid it into my jacket and nodded to myself.
"Anything else?"
"Are you equipped?"
Did I have weapons. I almost snorted.
"Enough."
"We will see." He quipped before ending the call. I bit back a growl that implied incompetence on my end. Let us see what this immortal could do on the field then. I slipped the sat phone into my jacket as well and rose.
Quinn was still staring out the window at the new landscape but turned when she heard me move. I walked down the aisle and secured my duffle bag from overhead. I heard her come up behind me and did not bother to hide what I was doing. The aircraft continued to taxi into the landing space beyond. I nudged the bedroom door open with my foot before pulling my jacket off and throwing it on the bed.
"I don't think we have time for that." She drawled, leaning against the door frame.
I threw her a dark smirk over my shoulder as I pulled out holsters and guns. It was then that the amusement slipped and her pulse raced. There was no point in suggesting work was anything more than what it was...
"Do I need to be worried?"
"For the ones on the wrong side of me. Probably." I stated, strapping clips to my chest and around the shoulders of my dark shirt. Quinn took a seat on the bed on the other side and stared at the pistols splayed out like accessories.
"I never thought you'd need weapons considering you are one." She finally admitted.
I pulled one of them up smoothly and slotted the hammer back checking it through briefly. I snapped a magazine into it before answering her.
"A shot to the head is cleaner than getting close." I stated, scanning the dark metal before screwing a suppressor into place. I caught her shock between the circular metal.
"Ask me."
She swallowed. "Probably best I don't."
I smirked and slipped the gun into place by my ribs. Then moved for the other and conducted the same brisk procedure. "All you need to know is that some immortal rules cannot be ignored. When I am asked I must answer."
"And they are asking you to do this?" She confirmed.
I nod and slotted the other gun to my hip. I clipped spare magazines into my hips at the back before grabbing my jacket. "Come. There's a car waiting. We won't be security checked for this."
She came out of her trance of shock at the armed immortal before her and nodded, standing from the bed and following me out the room that smelled like her. Everything did.
We descended the plane stairs and were met by the hot, humid winds of Mumbai airport. A black car with tinted windows waited with a driver in a pressed suit. I passed on my thanks to the crew before telling the pilot I'd be in contact soon. On that note we slipped away into a car with a false plate and a well paid driver.
I could see the questions in Quinn's eyes as the last of our things were packed into the boot and we finally pulled away from the runway. But she didn't ask them yet. Her gaze kept flicking to the inside of my jacket where she knew the weapons were. But it wasn't fear I sensed in her. It was a strange mix of anticipation and anxiety.
"Say the word and I can have you back in London by tomorrow." I spoke calmly but my words made me feel anything but.
Her gaze remained on the buildings and fences passing us as we slipped through gates and security checks without any documents. "That's not what I want." She said simply.
I continued to watch her. Her pulse was calm.
"Then why do you–"
"I knew you were dangerous long before asking to come with you, Fletcher." She stated, tilting her head back in my direction and meeting my eyes. It made my body flash cooler again. "It doesn't mean you don't stop surprising me."
"I'm not sure it's a good thing." I murmured.
A small smile drew the corner of her lip. "Yet here we are. I just have one question." Her smile disappeared and her gaze became serious. I stilled and waited on her word. "The work you're doing. Is there a good and bad to it?"
Were the people I kill good or bad. Simple enough. I could see why she would want to know as much. For all she knew it was a regular affair. Was the red on my hands justified. So I leant forward on my knees and scanned her face intently, listening to each beat, every detail.
"The truth." I tell her, "Is that a kill is never truly justifiable. Everyone has a side. The side I lie on takes lives to prevent events around the world that will trigger more destruction. So I will let you make your conclusions. I cannot tell you if I am good or bad, Quinn. I am what I am." I finish, leaning back and letting my words take a hold of her.
And she was no fool. Quinn had her own strong beliefs and could make conclusions on her own. I would display as many facts as I could that wouldn't get her killed. Then it was up to her.
I pulled out the tracker and the screen blinked back at me, telling me how much closer I was to becoming a weapon again.