Scorched Ice (Fire and Ice #3)(41)
“It would be nice if we could take out The Commission,” Chris said. “Go a long way toward gaining more of the vampires’ trust.”
“It would,” Julian replied. “And it would be better if we could shut them down before they recruit more members to join them and gain more Hunters to aid them. We have to stop them from finding some other way to attract attention to the three of you, or even the rest of us too.”
Chris scowled. “I’m almost twenty years old, and they had me listed as a freaking runaway. Assholes.”
“Good thing Lou is a computer genius,” Julian said as his gaze slid to where the young Guardian sat with the others. Lou laughed at something Dani was saying.
Lou had located the website The Commission had created. He’d managed to make it so that while any member of The Commission who checked on it would still think it was running smoothly, it was actually no longer visible to anyone else. Julian would have preferred it taken down completely, but they didn’t want anyone to know they were onto what The Commission had done and come up with something new.
“You’re not kidding,” Chris said. “We also need to stop The Commission before they can create more Hunters.”
“That too,” Julian said. “All of you may hesitate to kill a Hunter, just as Quinn did.”
Chris’s mouth pursed, and his sapphire eyes took on a remorseless gleam Julian rarely saw from his friend. “I won’t hesitate.”
No, he won’t, Julian realized. Chris had seen and experienced too much with The Commission to hesitate. He would kill them the first opportunity he had to do so.
“Some of the others might,” Julian pointed out.
Chris turned to look as Melissa and Quinn emerged from the bathroom. The two of them walked down the aisle to stand at the table beside the others. When Quinn smiled at something Lou said, Julian’s lips twisted into a smile too.
“Yes,” Chris agreed. “They might hesitate.”
Julian’s smile faded away, and his fangs pricked when he recalled what Quinn had looked like in that arcade room. She’d been covered in her own blood with electrical burns marring her silken flesh, yet he knew she would have continued to avoid having to kill the Hunter attacking her. If their roles had been reversed and the Hunter had come after him, she wouldn’t have hesitated to end the man’s life.
“We could leave them behind and take care of it ourselves,” Chris suggested, drawing Julian’s attention back to him. “To keep them safe. It might be for the best.”
“They would never agree to stay behind. Plus, leaving them behind may prove more disastrous. Look at what happened with Earl when we split up. I thought Quinn would be safe between her ability and Dani’s. Splitting up isn’t a good idea. Besides, if we tried it, Quinn would never forgive me and Cassie may torch all our asses.”
Chris chuckled and leaned back in his seat. “Yeah, she would.”
Julian caught a hint of movement from the corner of his eye a second before the door opened. The bell above the door released a tinkling ring that caused everyone in the diner to turn toward it. When they had first entered, all of the patrons within had done the same thing. Whereas everyone within had returned to their food and business shortly afterward, this time the giant ducking under the doorframe kept their gazes riveted on him.
Julian slipped from the booth and shot to his feet all in one fluid motion. He stalked with lethal speed toward Quinn and stood beside her before Vern took more than two steps into the diner.
“Vern,” he greeted.
The men at the counter continued to gawk at Vern while one of the waitresses poured them fresh coffee. “Boss,” Vern replied. “Just letting you know we’re here. We’ll be waiting outside by the gas station.”
“We’ll be out in a few minutes.”
Vern nodded and turned away from him. The bell rang as he exited the diner, and the men at the counter finally returned to their meals and gossip, but the old men’s shoulders remained more rigid than they’d been before Vern entered.
This was a small town, and the employees in this diner probably knew almost everyone who came into it. At first, they’d been written off as normal people simply passing through. His reaction to Vern’s entrance and Vern’s size had brought unwanted attention to them.
Julian focused on Vern again as he made his way across the parking lot toward the gas station next door. Vern opened the driver’s door of a van and climbed inside.
“We should go,” Devon said. He tossed some cash on the table before sliding out of the booth behind Cassie and taking hold of her hand.
Julian took hold of Quinn’s hand before walking over to throw a hundred-dollar bill on the table. The old men watched them the entire time, their gazes curious and more than a little wary. They all turned away when Julian focused on them. Talk of what they were going to plant in their gardens this year resumed.
A tendril of unease slid up his spine. When it came to The Commission, nothing was ever as it seemed. He’d already been in one town where their evil had been embedded in everything there. He didn’t think that was the case here, but he wasn’t taking any chances either.
With Quinn against his side, he brushed his hand against the arm of one of the men. The man jumped and leaned away from him, but not before Julian saw that all he really did have on his mind were tomatoes and lettuce.