Scorched Ice (Fire and Ice #3)(46)

“Picture his head mounted on the wall,” Julian suggested.

“Done that already,” Melissa replied. “All of his things give me the creeps.”

Julian rested his hand on her shoulder, drawing her attention away from where Chris waited for them near the porch. “You don’t have to go back in,” Julian told her.

“Yes, I do. We all do.” Melissa turned and walked over to join Chris.

“It will go quickly,” Dani said.

Quinn climbed the steps to the porch. She felt as if a stone had been tied around her neck; it weighed her down as she watched the three of them enter the cabin again.

“What do you want us to bring you first?” Melissa asked Julian.

“Clothes, pillows, photos, ledgers or journals he’s written in. Pens are always good,” Julian replied.

Quinn gazed out at the wood line as he spoke. The vamps who had come here with them crept forward to stand at the edge of the trees, making themselves visible now. Cassie, Devon, Luther, and Lou stood at the front of the group. Quinn tore her attention away from them when the Hunters began to bring Julian items from the house.

Leaning against the cabin wall, she folded her arms over her chest as the night crept steadily onward. Julian held each of the things handed to him for a minute or so. No one looking at him would realize how much this task wore on him, as he kept his shoulders back and his jaw set, but she felt his exhaustion deep within her. She resisted touching him, knowing that it would only break his concentration if she did.

Relief, instead of her normal dread of the sun, filled her when the sky began to lighten on the distant horizon. “It’s time to go,” she said as Chris handed Julian a glass paperweight and disappeared back into the house.

Julian glanced at her before lifting his eyes to the sky. “Yes. We have to go!” he called into the house.

His hands ran over the glass paperweight as the Hunters emerged moments later from around the corner of the hall. With the shadows under their eyes and the lines forming around their mouths, they looked as exhausted as she knew Julian felt. All she wanted was to get him back to the RV so he could shut his ability down and rest.

Quinn stepped to the side just as Julian’s entire body became as stiff as a rod. His jaw clenched, and his hands tightened on the paperweight to the point that the glass shattered in his grasp. Quinn gasped and stretched her hand toward him. He seized her before she could touch him.

“Get off the porch,” he snarled.

“Julian?”

“Everyone, get off the porch, now!” he barked.

Before she could reply, he wrapped his arm around her waist, lifted her up and raced with her across the porch. Quinn’s legs encircled his waist as he ran toward the railing and cleared it in a single leap. His muscles bunched and flowed beneath her hands when he hit the ground and threw himself forward so that she was pinned on her back beneath him.

Her back crashing into the ground caused her to lose her grip on his shoulders, but she realized he presented a far larger target than she did as he remained on top of her. One of his arms encircled her head while the other remained around her waist.

He rolled rapidly to the side just as a clicking noise registered and a wave of crossbow bolts fired. The sound of splintering wood filled the air. One of the bolts scraped down her arm, slicing her from shoulder to wrist. She gritted her teeth against the pain as a startled yelp came from the other side of the house.

Peeking beneath Julian’s arm, she saw some of the vampires across the way poking their heads out from around the trees they’d hidden behind.

“Bastard!” Julian spat.

Quinn tried to lift her head to see what exactly had happened, but he rolled her further out of the way as another wave of bolts fired. Rising to his feet, he lifted her and pressed her against the cabin wall.

“Are you okay?” he demanded, his ruby eyes filling her vision as he gently clasped the hand of her wounded arm.

“I’m fi-fine,” she stammered out. “The others?”

Julian stuck his head out far enough to see around the corner of the house. He pulled back almost instantly. “Chris, Melissa, and Dani are trapped inside. Vern’s on the other side of the cabin.”

“What just happened?”

“The bastard’s hiding beneath the porch.”

“The whole time!” she gasped.

“Yes. I should have seen it sooner.” He shook his head and slammed his hands against the side of the cabin. Wood splintered and pieces of it fell around them from the impact of his fists.

“You couldn’t have known.”

“I’m the only one who could have known,” he growled. “Objects are just so precarious sometimes. They don’t hold the memories like a person does. Still I should have seen something.”

“Stop. Don’t beat yourself up, not over this. Why didn’t he attack us sooner?”

“Either he knew he was outnumbered and didn’t want to risk giving away his hiding place unless it became necessary, or he was waiting for the sun to rise when he knew he’d have a better chance at taking us out. He might not have enough weapons to defend himself with against all of us either.”

“Can he get under the house too?”

“I don’t know.”

Quinn shuddered at his words as he knelt beside her. She examined his body for any sign of injury, but though he had a jagged tear on the side of his jeans, she saw no blood.