Scorched Ice (Fire and Ice #3)(21)
“It’s one of the biggest regrets of mine that I did the same,” she admitted. Honesty was the only way to keep Vern with them, and she sensed he could be a loyal ally. Wisdom and calm radiated from him, and those were two things not often found in a vampire.
He released her hand and stepped back. Quinn swallowed before turning to face the crowd again.
“If you are willing to refrain from killing and work with us, then stay!” Julian announced loudly. “However, if any vampire should happen to discover a member of The Commission, they can be killed on sight. If you don’t wish to be the one who kills them, then let me know where they are and someone else will gladly do so. We will never know true peace until they are all eradicated.”
Enthusiastic nods followed Julian’s statement.
“What if we don’t want to stay?” another vampire asked.
“If this isn’t something you agree with, it is time for you to leave,” Julian replied.
“And you’ll allow us to go?” someone shouted from the far back.
“We will not force anyone to join us. Everyone who stays behind will be expected to help forge a future of relative peace. Forcing someone into that is not the way to establish goodwill. However, if you leave and if you kill, you will be hunted down, ruthlessly. All of those who remain will agree to work as a unit, to report any vampire or Hunter who kills indiscriminately. Murdering a vampire who is killing for sport is something that will be accepted by all parties involved.”
“What about those of us who only want to live in peace with no one bothering us?” the woman from the couple asked.
“You will be allowed to do so,” Julian replied. “Stay here. We will take your name and your picture if you wish, and you can slip away to never be seen or heard from again as long as you don’t kill. I plan to touch all of those who remain to learn what their true intent is. If you have killed in the past, but are willing to agree to refrain from killing now, and Chris and I believe you mean it, you will be accepted. If you think to try to lie to us about it and pretend you will only stop killing, believe me, we will know.”
At least fifty of the vampires slipped away into the night. Quinn realized the ones who remained were the first of their followers.
CHAPTER 9
Quinn stretched her hand across sheets that were still indented from where Julian had been lying beside her. Sitting up in bed, she didn’t have to look far to find him standing before the window. The heavy drapes had been pulled back to allow the sun to filter over him. He kept the drapes angled so none of the rays could reach her as he stood within the sunlight.
Drawing the blankets up, she hugged her knees to her chest. As she watched, red patches spread across Julian’s skin and blisters formed over his chest. “Julian,” she whispered. “Julian, please stop.”
“A minute more,” he muttered, not moving as the first flame flickered to life on his chest. The flame crackled as it licked toward his jaw.
Quinn tossed aside the blanket and scrambled from the bed. “Julian, stop!” she cried as she grabbed for him.
She hissed when her skin came into contact with the sun and her hand sizzled. She almost jerked her hand back as pain surged up her arm, but she couldn’t let him stand there any longer. He turned and caught her arm, jerking her back as fire spread over her fingertips.
Pulling her into the shadows, he smothered the flames on her with his hands. When the fire had been extinguished, he clasped the wrist of her burnt arm tenderly before them. He was careful not to touch her skin as he examined the burns. “Why would you do that, Dewdrop?” he demanded.
“There were flames on you!” she gasped, shaking as her blistered hand and forearm screamed in agony. The pain would fade away soon enough, but right now her entire body quaked from the aftereffects of the burn as a chill crept over her skin.
Releasing her wrist, he slid his hand through her hair to cradle the back of her head. “Draw some of my life from me; you’ll heal faster.”
“You’re burnt too,” she protested.
“Not as badly as you. Take what you need.”
“No.”
She stepped closer to him. Her head bowed as she tried to ignore the throbbing burns. The tentacles of her ability itched to slide forward and latch onto the power pulsing off him. He would ease the sting of the burns from her almost instantly. She would only need a little from him…
Quinn shook her head to clear it of the urge. If she started taking life in order to make herself stronger or heal herself, she could well be starting down the pathway to the power-hungry madness Vern had questioned her about. No, she had to heal on her own.
“You have to stop doing this,” she whispered as she stared at the red and puckered skin of his chest. The burns on him were already sliding toward a pinkish hue. She had no idea how long he’d been standing in front of the window, but though there had been flames on him and he’d kept his entire body exposed to the sun’s rays, his burns already looked better than hers did.
His lips caressed her forehead as he spoke. “I will rid myself of this weakness to the sun. Nothing will ever keep me from getting to you again if you need me.”
Ever since her capture, he’d relentlessly pushed himself to lose his intolerance to the sun. An intolerance that nearly every vampire experienced. He’d been working on exposing himself more and more to the sun before her capture, but he’d amped it up to a whole new level over the past month.