Sea of Sighs (Empath Book 2) by Dawn Peers Page A

Shocked and surprised,
the man dropped his sword. This was all the edge Ross needed, and
with a triumphant yell, he thrust his sword up into the man’s
neck.
    The blade bit deep, and the man’s eyes went
wide as he fell back clawing at his throat. Blood gushing through
his fingers and down his arms. Undeterred, their final attacker
went for a killing thrust into Ross's side as he was distracted.
This didn’t work, and Ross brought down his borrowed blade to parry
easily. Bringing around his now bloodied sword in an upward swing,
he slashed across the man’s exposed throat. Quinn, distracted by
her help with the attack, let her guard down. The pain of the men
slammed into her, and she collapsed to the floor clawing at her own
neck. Her vision swam, and she didn’t see the two men thrashing
around in death, nor did she see Ross finish them off with a humane
kill. All Quinn cared about was the pain.

12
     
    Maertn dashed to Quinn’s
side, and she felt the pain subside as his panicked but soothing
voice washed over her. Ross loomed nearby, and she opened herself
up to both of them, letting their concern for her lift and wash
away the pain she had felt.
    “Quinn, you are alright? Did they get you?
Maertn, is she hurt?”
    “No. This isn’t from the swords, it’s in her
head.”
    “You mean she’s imagining it?”
    “ No, we ’ve seen it
before. This has happened a few times, when the emotions overwhelm
her. A couple of times it’s brought her near to death. She’s awake,
so I think she’ll be fine.”
    “How do you know she was near death
before?”
    Maertn gulped, not wanting to meet Ross’s
gaze, but forcing himself to anyway. “Because I went and got her
back from the Beach of Bones.”
    Ross stilled, contemplating those words.
    “Quinn, can you talk to us?” Ross tried to
keep his voice calm and low.
    Quinn opened her mouth to respond, and a
pained croak was all that came out.
    “Here, here, keep still. I’ll get you some
water.” Maertn squeezed Quinn’s shoulder gently before shuffling
off to stoke the fire and set up pot of water to boil. He had only
brought a basic set of herbs along, but he had more than enough to
settle Quinn back down.
     
    * * *
     
    “Hey, Quinn?” Ross waited until her eyes
swung to him, before he went on, “I’m going to lift you and take
you to the fire. Is that okay? Does anywhere hurt?”
    Quinn shook her head, and Ross could see the
tears forming in her eyes. The girl was ashamed, though she needn’t
be. Her first scream had saved all their lives. That payback had
been enough to negate anything that was happening now. Ross knew
that no matter how good he was with a sword, he would never be able
to cope with the demons that rampaged inside of Quinn’s head.
    As gently as he could, Ross put one arm
underneath Quinn’s shoulders, and the other underneath her knees.
He picked her up like she was nothing. The girl was too thin, and
her body too fragile. Sammah had neglected these children, and Ross
knew that life in Sha’sek would either be the breaking or the
making of them both.
    Ross wanted to protect them, and that’s the
only reason he’d let Eden convince him to come here. Ross was glad
to see that Maertn had resurrected the fire with ease. The flames
were still low as he fed small kindling sticks into the soft, red
coals. As Maertn coaxed the flames higher, Ross gathered together
all the bedrolls and made sure Quinn was fully swathed. Only when
Ross was sure that Quinn was safe, and Maertn had the healing in
hand, did he go and survey the dead.
    He looked over the bodies of the two fallen
mercenaries with disdain, and did not relish the idea of having to
dispose of their bodies. He was tempted to leave them out on the
plains as carrion, but that wouldn’t be fair to other peaceful
travellers. He would bury the men when he knew Maertn and Quinn
were asleep.
    Their other problem was the final mercenary.
Ross had only knocked the man unconscious, so they might