Scorched Ice (Fire and Ice #3)(18)
Julian resisted the urge to yank her against him when he stopped behind her. However, he didn’t want anyone here to think he didn’t believe she was strong enough to handle this. His eyes slid ominously over the crowd before he concentrated on the vampire before her. Julian had never seen the man before, but judging by the power coming from him, he was at least a hundred years old. Julian snarled and bared his fangs when the vampire stepped closer to Quinn.
Quinn glanced over her shoulder at him before focusing on the vamp again. “If you would like to test me, then hold out your hand. Otherwise, stop being an *.”
The vamp folded his arms over his broad chest as he studied her from his easily seven-foot height. The corner of his mouth quirked in a smile before he bobbed his head. “Fair enough, little one.”
The guy could have called him little, and it would have fit next to this vampire’s towering height. Quinn looked like Jack against the giant compared to this vamp. She turned to face the rest of the vampires. Their faces were guarded as they watched her, but Julian didn’t get an overwhelming sense of hostility from them.
Julian slid his arm around her waist, pulling her against him as he led her back through the crowd. “Don’t do that again,” he said through his teeth to her.
“They would have kept questioning us and pushing if I hadn’t,” she replied. “We would have gotten nowhere until I was forced to draw blood, breaking the safe passage pact, and ensuring all of this fell apart. I think that’s what some of them were angling for.”
“I know, but give me some notice next time before you plunge into a sea of vampires.”
“I will.”
He kissed the top of her head as he held her closer. It didn’t matter if the other vampires knew she was his mate. They would realize that, if they ever tried anything with her, they’d be facing the full wrath of his fury, and he’d unleash Hell upon them.
As they rejoined the others, Devon gave him a sympathetic look over Quinn’s actions, but he was biting his lip to keep from laughing. Julian resisted giving him the finger before turning to face the crowd again.
The mass was parting to allow the giant of a vampire through as he came toward them. He didn’t look doubtful anymore, but more curious as he kept his gaze on Quinn.
“How do we know the Guardians and Hunters won’t turn against you, and then us?” another vampire asked.
Quinn glanced questioningly at Julian. Before coming here, they’d discussed whether or not to reveal that she and Cassie were Hunters turned vampires. In the end, they’d decided to see how everything went tonight and play it by ear.
“They’re responding to you,” he told her. “If they believe in the prophecy, they’ll look to you for guidance. This is your call.”
“You’re right,” she said to him. She faced the crowd again as she spoke. “I was born a Hunter. I was also born part vampire.”
Murmurs of disbelief traveled through the crowd. “Vampires cannot be born!” someone yelled.
Quinn lifted a hand for silence. Julian’s eyebrow rose when the crowd quieted at once. The vampires were doubtful of her and everything they were being offered tonight, but Quinn still had them eating out of the palm of her hand.
“Let me explain,” she said.
No one moved; he wasn’t sure if any of them even blinked as Quinn recounted the details of how her Hunter mother had been turned into a vampire when she was four months pregnant with Quinn. When her mother was six months along, Quinn had been born healthy and mortal, but she’d required a few drops of blood on a regular basis to survive.
She told them how she’d always been stronger than a normal Hunter, had grown faster and been healthier than any other human, and how the sun had affected her before she’d been turned into a vampire. Then she revealed how, between her Hunter heritage and her half-vampire birth, she’d required no blood from a vampire in order to make the transformation from mortal into immortal when Earl killed her.
The snapping of a coyote’s jaws on its prey could be heard from well over a mile away when she stopped speaking.
“A vampire not born of vampire blood,” the tall vampire said after more than a minute of silence ticked by. Mutters raced through the crowd when he put this piece of the prophecy into place for the rest of them.
“Yes,” Quinn replied. “A vampire, but also a Hunter. I trust them. They are my people too. When my mother killed herself, my aunt and uncle raised me with Hunter training, but they also kept me hidden away for fear of what someone would do if they uncovered the truth about me.”
“I was also a Hunter,” Cassie said in a clear, strong voice. “This man was my Guardian.” She indicated Luther with a wave of her hand. “He has stood by me through everything, including my change into a vampire. These Hunters gathered here are closer to me than family, and Lou is a young Guardian we rescued from the clutches of The Commission.”
“What power do you have?” a vampire demanded of Cassie.
Devon shifted as he surveyed the crowd. The tension radiating from him caused a few of the vampires closest to them to step back. Julian kept one eye on Cassie and the other on the crowd as he waited to hear what she would say.
“I can wield fire.” Not the whole truth, but not a lie either. “Extremely well, as you can see,” Cassie added and pointed to the rubble behind them.