Seattle WA, May 14, 2003
Shelby Sloan hung up the phone with a deep sigh. 'I hate lying to him like that...it breaks my heart...but I don't have a choice now, anymore than I had when I left. Someday, I just hope he understands why I've done this and can forgive me...'
Shelby thought back to the past year of her life, which was possibly the happiest year she'd ever spent. It was here in Seattle that she'd discovered a young man, several years older than herself, being held captive, violently and brutally beaten and raped everyday by his father, older brother and their friends. All five of the older men seemed to get a perverse pleasure in abusing the dark haired younger man, and Shelby, who watched through the window of the building they had him in for days before listening to her heart and speaking to the stranger.
Over the course of a week, she and the stranger, whose name was Questa Devereaux, learned more about each other than either had ever thought they'd ever share with anyone. They talked through the window, unable to clearly see each other. Shelby was a former victim of abuse herself, having been sexually abused by her alcoholic father for much of her childhood, until she ran away when she was sixteen. She understood Questa's plight and her heart went out to him when she learned that the abuse she'd seen him undergo had been taking place for most of his life. It was Shelby's encouragement that gave Questa the strength and courage he needed to stand up to his abusers and escape. Together, Questa and Shelby traveled across the country and ultimately, away from Seattle.
Shelby had wanted to go to New York, but when they stopped in Chicago, Questa surprised her by asking her to go to New Orleans with him. She knew what he was and who he was, and accepted it. She cared about Questa the person, and it didn't phase her one bit that he was a professional assassin with serious problems stemming from his abusive past. She knew it would be a very long time before anything intimate could happen between them, but even though Shelby longed for an intimate romantic relationship, she found herself saying yes and accompanying him to his home with the Unified Guild of Thieves and Assassins in New Orleans.
Shelby was almost immediately accepted by the Guild members, probably because she was Questa's savior, and it was obvious to them that she and Questa cared about each other a great deal more than either would or could let on. However, Shelby realized over the months that followed that Questa would never get over his fear that his abusers would come back and get him again. Even though he had been freed from them at age eighteen, that had never stopped them from showing up every once in so long and having a little fun with him.
Two months ago, Shelby told Questa she couldn' deal wit' it anymore. She said she was tired of waiting for him to put his fears and his past behind him and wanted out. She remembered that night...filled with long silences, heated words, tears and packing. But she had to hurt him. Had to lie to him. She just hoped he'd forgive her for it when she returned.
'I just couldn't handle seeing that look in his eyes all the time. Constantly. Haunted by the past, scared to look to the future. He was tormented day and night by the very idea that those creeps could show up at any time and hurt him again. He stood up to them once, because I helped him, but he's never been strong enough to do it on his own. I had to leave, had to put an end to this once and for all.'
The night Shelby left the Garden District safehouse that had been her home for a year, she left as a woman on a mission. She knew that Questa's god-father, a large black voodoo master named Gris-Gris, and one of the other assassins, Fifolet, had tried on more than one occasion to kill the five men who had tortured Questa for his entire life, but for reasons none of them understood, each attempt failed. Shelby had decided when she left that she would not return until she had succeeded where they had not.
Her search had taken her across the country, but Shelby refused to give up. She landed in Seattle on May 12, two days before Questa's thirty-fifth birthday. And it was in Seattle that she had found the five former assassins. It would take timing and planning, but she knew she'd be able to return to New Orleans soon. She tried to be as light-hearted as possible when she called Questa to wish him a happy birthday and tell him she was okay, but it wasn't easy. She hated lying to him. She could hear the heartache and pain in his voice; it nearly broke her heart. But calling him was a good idea. He told her that Stephen was looking for her.
'Stephen. My brother. Took you long enough to trace me to New Orleans, Steve-o. But I'm not there for the moment. What did Questa tell you...did he mention that Dad kidnapped me from the safehouse, took me to Arizona and tried to kill me? Did he say how he and the other assassins barged in and saved me like unsung heroes? Did you get some kind of an idea of how much I love him and he loves me?'
Shelby knew it would be over soon and she would be able to go back to Questa and the rest of the Guild. She wanted to go back. She missed them. Especially Questa. In her weeks away from him, her love for him only grew stronger and deeper. She needed to do this for him, to finally free him from the threat. The idea of killing five people didn't bother her in the least, although she thought perhaps it should. But after all, she was in love with a professional assassin. If the thought of killing someone made her queasy, her love-life was in big trouble.