Prologue

Frozen In Time

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Age of Bones: Unknown Year

The world was a dark place; it had always been for as long as Quinn could remember.

His mother couldn’t ever remember his name. The one person who cared for him as a child was killed. He was sold into slavery. His best friend was murdered. He was shackled to a genie lamp for hundreds of years after his failed rebellion. Yet, there was some light.

Gaining his freedom brought him great happiness - he was happy; he was powerful; he was free.

It was all an illusion.

“Quinn!”

It was an echo of something familiar off the walls of his darkness. Her bright eyes. Her beautiful voice. She was calling for him and she sounded so far away. He had to come back to her. He needed to answer her call.
“Quinn!” Her voice was clearer now as she called to him sweetly, laughter rolling off her tongue this time. “Psst! Come’on sleepy-head.” She giggled again and he wanted to smile too. He tried to find his voice to answer her, yet he felt so heavy.

Where was she at? He had to go to her. He needed to stay with her.

He needed her.

“Quinn!” She laughed. “Wake up!”

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Quinn’s eyes came open wide at her command, yet he couldn’t see anything.

He blinked several times and with each blink the world slowly came into focus. He could hear his heart pounding in his ears that ached. The sound was strange and foreign. Was something wrong with his hearing? He didn’t have time to contemplate it.

“I’m not getting up, woman.” That was his voice, but it wasn’t him speaking. What was going on? He squinted at the bright ceiling and tried to clear his head.  

“Come’on, Quinn! You’re wasting the day away!”

“No, just… two more hours.” His voice grumbled back. This conversation he was hearing felt familiar, like he had heard it before. Quinn made out a different set of lights flickering across the ceiling and he couldn’t quite grasp what was going on. Where was she? She had called to him. His throat was dry and everything ached. The pain throbbed throughout his entire body. Had he been hit by a truck?

“Come’on! You promised! Qui-” Her beautiful voice stopped unnaturally.

He grimaced as he picked his head up and slowly lowered his gaze from the bright ceiling to the even brighter television. Two figures stood on either side of the box that held a piece of his happiness across the screen. The camera had been tossed aside as she sat on top of him in a moment frozen in time.

Why couldn’t he be in that moment?

Pieces of his memories began to reform and he clenched his fists tightly as waves of emotions began to hit him.

“See, I told you that would wake him up.” Her voice was grating compared to the perfect voice that had woken him. He didn’t want to see Mania Keeper. He didn’t want to see her looking cross with him. He wanted to stare at the beautiful woman frozen in a piece of his happiness. He wanted to be with her instead.

Leaning with his head facing away stood another figure that was eerily silent as Quinn had rarely known him to be. Majnun Keeper had a calm look on his face as he slowly nodded. “You were right.” He responded simply.

His nails cut into his palm as Quinn glared at them with hatred in his eyes. “Why am I here?” His voice was gravelly and his throat ached. He didn’t belong here. He needed to be with her. His Nightingale needed him and he needed her.

Mania spoke first, placing a defiant hand on her hip. “You needed to rest, idiot.” She spat. “Do you know how much damage you did to yourself?” She shook her head in frustration. “You burst your own fucking eardrums! Essence, you fool! What were you thinking? You were fucking half-dead when we found you!”

That was the point; Quinn glared at her as he gritted his teeth. “I didn’t need them anymore.” He couldn’t hear her sing anymore. Why did it matter if he had his hearing or not?

“Didn’t need them anymore?! You-” Mania clenched her fists then and took a step forward but Majnun snapped his fingers to draw her attention.

The Nymph snapped her attention to him before realizing he was pointing for the doorway. She scowled and bit her cheek indignantly before she sighed. In a swift movement she marched to the doorway and swung it open before slamming it shut behind her.

Majnun stood stiff like a statue, staring away before his hand came down and tapped the side of the television. The magic in that tap caused the movie to play again, jumping ahead in the tape.

“Quinn!” Her laughter. Her beautiful, musical laughter. It made him ache inside. “Get that out of my face, you jerk!”

“Payback!” His voice echoed back to her.

Was there ever a time he was that happy?

Of course there was. She was there.

The movie stopped playing then as Majnun tapped the side of the screen once again. Everything was silent, frozen on her bright face. Her smile. The play irritation in her eyes. He had been such a fool.

Esmerelda.

He took her for granted at every turn - even in that moment of pure happiness. That moment that he would never get back. She was painted across his mind. He could never get her out, even if he wanted her gone.

Those bright blue eyes.

Every song she ever hummed under her breath.

The grace of her footsteps as she played her violin.

Her concentration when she would sketch.

The way she knew everyone’s name.

Her hatred of powdered donuts.

Her unbreakable spirit.

Quinn clutched his arms around his stomach as his stomach lurched. He gritted his teeth and his eyes blurred over. His breathing grew ragged as he stared at the perfect woman frozen in time on the television. The one that was etched into his mind. His Nightingale.  

Quinn stared at the woman who changed everything when he finally snapped. He choked on the air as burning tears left his eyes. He clutched his knees. Everything ached but he didn’t care. He hardly noticed.

Nothing hurt worse than the hollow ache in his chest from where his heart had been torn out.

He used to joke that he had no heart, and it was true.

The one time he grew a heart he gave it away, and now he could never get it back.

Esmerelda.

She was dead.

He shouldn’t be here. He needed to be with her. His Nightingale was dead, and Quinn had been the one to kill her.

He would do anything to hear her voice one more time.

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