Quinn's Undying Rose

Quinn exchanged a quick smirk with Amaury, before turning to him. “You’ll have rules coming out of your ears by the time we’re done here. But, first things first. This is Amaury LeSang. You’ve lucked out. He’s our best trainer.”

Eagerly, Blake shook his hand. “Bond. Blake Bond.”

Noticing how Amaury’s lips twisted, Quinn instantly shot him a warning look to compel him to remain serious. Encouraging Blake’s 007 routine would only make matters worse. It was best to ignore it. His ego was big enough; now it was time to take him down a notch and make him realize that he had a lot to learn. Why that idea pleased him, Quinn didn’t really want to examine. Maybe in some small way, Blake reminded him of himself as a young man when he’d thought he could conquer the world, when he’d thought even going to war would not change him. He’d thought he’d be prepared for everything that was thrown at him. Well, he hadn’t been prepared for death.

Pushing back the rising memories, he motioned to the sitting area.

“We have a lot to discuss. There are ground rules every trainee has to comply with. Break one, and you’re out. Orders will be followed. Think of this as boot camp. Once you pass this, you’re ready to join the general trainees.”

“Huh?” Blake asked as he dropped onto the sofa. “This is not the real training yet?”

“It is,” Amaury cut in. “It’s where you get taught the basics, you and one other trainee. Only once you have those down is it safe to let you join the other trainees.”

Blake’s eyes lit up. “So, you’re saying this is dangerous?” The thought seemed to excite him.

“Absolutely.”

Quinn shot Amaury a scolding look. Great, now he would have to come up with some seemingly dangerous element of training just to keep the kid interested.

“Like what?”

“We’ll go into that later,” Quinn deflected. “Rule one: you won’t leave this house unless it’s in the company of one of the trainers or another trainee. You have to understand that there are other outfits out there that love poaching our recruits, and they will go as far as practically kidnapping a trainee just to throw a wrench into our operations.”

A deep frown built on Blake’s forehead. “Kidnap? You’ve gotta be joking. Why would somebody do that?”

“Because we’re too valuable,” Wesley’s voice came from the door.

He entered with long strides, an air of confidence around him. It appeared that the dressing down he’d received only minutes earlier had pearled off him like he was made of Teflon.

“I’m Wesley.” He stretched his hand out, and Blake jumped up to shake it.

Quinn nodded at him. “Wesley is the other trainee.”

“Hey,” Blake greeted him.

“Take a seat. To address your question, Blake, I’m afraid Wesley is right. You are too valuable. We’re making a large investment in you, and we’re prepared to protect this investment. In order to help us with our task, we require our recruits to be in top physical condition . . .”

After leaving Blake to a rigorous physical exercise program in the gym in the basement, under the supervision of Oliver, Quinn nodded to Amaury.

“I’m going on a perimeter check.”

Quinn welcomed the cool night air as he stepped outside into the dark. He wasn’t wearing a jacket, but the cold didn’t bother him.

Unsuccessfully, he tried to shake off the unease that kept creeping up on him. While he knew bringing Blake in was the best way to protect him in the short term, he also realized that in the long run, the only way to keep him safe was to eliminate the threat. If only he knew what Keegan really wanted.

His schooled eyes surveyed his surroundings as he walked along the sidewalk. The light of the streetlamps lining the quiet residential street threw dark shadows of his form onto the pavement.

He missed nothing: not the young man who stood hovering over his dog as the animal did its business, nor the car that tried to squeeze into a parking spot that was entirely too short for it.

With a sigh, he turned left at the end of the block. In the distance, several cars could be heard passing. There was light in the neighboring houses, but nobody was outside. His gaze drifted up to the windows and the roofs. No movement. Then his eyes roamed the gardens, his vampire night vision easily penetrating the dark shadows the bushes and trees created.

This was routine for him, and he or Amaury would perform this check several times a night. His actions were so automatic, so familiar to him, that his mind drifted back to Rose.