Scorched Ice (Fire and Ice #3)(36)
“It is,” Julian agreed. “They’ve been looking for us through California and Arizona. They were on their way home when they stopped here. They’d decided the trail was either cold and we’d moved on, or the sighting had been a false one. It was a very unhappy coincidence for this Hunter that they stumbled on us here.”
“If they’d found us somewhere else, what did they think one Hunter and Guardian could do against all of us?” Lou demanded.
“They weren’t to engage, only to find and trail until more could be gathered to come after us,” Julian replied. “I’d be willing to bet they decided to play hero when they found us here. We’ll read through his journal more carefully later, but for now, let’s get our things and get out of here.”
That sounded like a freaking fantastic plan to her. She wanted out of this hotel and as far from it as possible. Julian kept her close against his side as they left the Hunter’s room and walked out to the hall once more.
Devon, Dani, and Luther split off to go one way down the hall, while they walked with Lou toward their rooms nearby. They were passing the party room when the door opened and a drunken couple staggered out. Despite the fact the young man had his arm draped around the girl’s shoulders, his gaze ran leeringly over Quinn before he grinned.
“Hey, baby, wanna join us,” he slurred drunkenly.
Quinn never saw Julian move before he had the guy pinned against the wall. Julian’s hand was around his throat, his face mere inches from the young man’s. “Does she look like she’s available?” Julian snapped.
The young man went deathly pale, but a hint of green crept across his features. If the guy threw up on Julian, she had a feeling it would be the last thing he ever did. The girl squeaked and staggered back, her hand on her throat.
“Let him go.” Quinn wrapped her hand around the bulging muscles of his forearm. “He didn’t mean anything by it.”
“Oh, believe me, he did,” Julian growled. Quinn realized he’d kept his ability on and it was picking up on the young man’s intentions. “I should tear your eyes from your head.”
A sheen of sweat beaded over the man’s forehead and face. They would know everything he’d eaten and drank today in another minute or two. Lou stood beyond Julian, looking nearly as shocked as the woman beside him.
The woman burst into tears when Julian suddenly released the man. The man staggered to the side, careful to stay far away from Julian as he gasped for air. His hand flew to the bruises already forming around his throat. Stepping away from him, Julian reclaimed her elbow and pulled her against his side.
“You’d be better off finding someone else tonight,” Julian said to the woman as they walked by her. “That’s a one-night stand you’ll regret.”
The woman fled down the hall past the man who was still gasping for air.
“Are you okay?” she whispered to Julian.
“Yes.”
“That wasn’t like you.”
The sound of retching followed them around the corner. Lou looked like he was about to lose his dinner too as he gazed at her and Julian with wide eyes.
“Yes, Dewdrop, it was.”
Quinn refrained from arguing with him further. He was right, it was like him, only the more lethal part of him. A part of him that she had a feeling would be much closer to the surface from now on.
CHAPTER 14
Julian kept Quinn tucked against his chest as the RV rumbled down the highway. The sound of the tires on the pavement did nothing to lull him to sleep. His mind was far too geared up for that right now. He’d carried Quinn into the bedroom and closed the sliding door to separate them from the others as soon as they’d returned to the RV. She needed her rest, and he needed a break from the tumult of images cascading over him.
It was difficult enough to deal with his ability around a normal number of people and vampires when he kept it turned on. The hotel had been a hive of activity that he’d been unable to avoid. Impressions had endlessly bombarded him with everything he touched. Normally he would have shut it down in order to have some peace, but he hadn’t dared to turn it off when it might be able to lead him to The Commission and help him protect Quinn.
So he’d kept it on and learned things he’d never wanted to learn about anyone. Some of it had been mundane, some of it awful. But he’d at least acquired a few things that would help them out.
A dull throb pounded against his temples from the remnants of the impressions he’d received. His teeth ground together as he recalled what he’d seen when he’d touched that boy in the hall. The things he’d planned to do to the woman with him, the things he’d wanted to do to Quinn, were things no one should have done to them.
The boy had been young, but he’d already left misery in his wake. Even at his worst, Julian had never condoned rape or the torture of those who didn’t deserve it. He’d killed innocents, but those deaths had been swift. Maybe it didn’t make him any better than the boy, but he believed it did, in a small way.
Julian should have killed the boy in order to save future people from his cruelty. However, it was not his place to be the judge, jury, and executioner. In the end, he could only hope the boy got what he so rightfully deserved, an excruciating death.
He hated not keeping his ability turned off, but from now on, whenever he was anywhere he might have to use it, he would have it on. Even if it meant he would suffer headaches and the influx of images better left unseen or unknown.