Scorched Ice (Fire and Ice #3)(50)
Quinn took hold of his hand. She strengthened him as she slipped some of her life into him in gentle waves that helped him to suppress the numerous images fluttering through his mind. Many of the things he’d seen tonight he would eventually forget, as they’d been beyond tedious, but some of them would haunt him forever.
That woman standing at the front of the crowd, Carla, had been brutalized when she’d been turned into a vampire. Carla’s bloodlust upon turning had driven her into a killing frenzy that took three days to sate. Afterward, she’d somehow managed to keep herself restrained from killing again, but she fought every day against the impulse to walk into the sun and never look back.
The only reason she hadn’t killed herself yet was because her human child still lived. At thirty, her son believed his mother had abandoned him as a child, but she still watched over him and kept him protected. When he was gone, she would watch over her grandchildren too.
Julian had already asked her, and some of the others, about joining the regulators. Perhaps the work would give Carla more of a purpose in her life. The rest of the newest regulators, he’d chosen because of their strength and abilities as well as what he’d seen from them and Chris’s approval.
“Now,” he said to the crowd, “you’re all free to leave here, to continue on and live as you did before coming here. We may never have to see each other again. However, you should all know that when we leave here tonight, we will be going to take out the rest of The Commission.”
All around the sea of faces, jaws dropped, and a few took a couple of steps away from him.
“You can’t be serious!” someone shouted.
“I can and I am,” he replied.
Before they could start to panic, he informed them of what happened in New Mexico and what they’d discovered at Herb’s cabin. He let them know they had succeeded in taking out a member of The Commission and a Hunter working with him. Their eyes all swung to Chris when he told them the Hunter had fired the killing blow against Herb.
“A Hunter killed one of his creators?” a vampire asked in disbelief.
Chris glared at the vampire as he responded, “Our parents created us.”
“The Commission must be stopped,” Julian said. “They have a secured place in Pennsylvania where most of them have been hiding.”
Herb had made the fatal mistake of returning to his home for the few possessions he cherished, instead of heading straight to The Commission’s hideout, but Julian still would have found him if he’d gone back into hiding. The way to their hideaway had been revealed to him through one of Herb’s pens. It would be difficult and time-consuming to find the place, but he would do it.
“We may be able to take out the rest of The Commission if they’re all gathered there, and there is a good possibility they are,” Julian continued. “The rodents don’t like to separate. If you don’t wish to come with us, you can leave now without any repercussions, but this is the closest we’ve been to them in years, and we have a chance to end them now.”
At least half the vampires slid away into the darkness. The rest remained standing where they were, staring at him.
“What do we have to do?” Carla inquired.
Julian grinned at her. “We have to be prepared to kill.”
Around him, the vampires all looked at each other before many of them broke into broad grins and eagerly nodded their agreement.
CHAPTER 19
“We have to go back,” Cassie said as she settled across from him and Quinn at the small dining table inside the RV. “We’ve been away from the children for too long. We’re still a couple hours away from home, but there are too many vampires too close to them for my liking.”
“The kids are probably driving Annabelle and Liam crazy by now too,” Devon said as he rested his hand on Cassie’s shoulder. “And we can’t have any of these vampires finding out what Cassie is truly capable of. If things go wrong, there may be no hiding it from them.”
Cassie’s violet-blue eyes were haunted when they met Julian’s. “If what you intend with The Commission fails—”
“Then we’ll need for you to be somewhere else and safe in case we don’t make it,” Julian interrupted. “I understand. The children have to be protected too, no matter what. I didn’t expect you to stay with us for this long, and I had no intention of you going up against The Commission again.”
Red bled through the whites of Cassie’s eyes. “I would like nothing more than to see every one of those bastards dead.”
“They will be. It’s the only way any of us will ever know any true peace. I’ll make sure they’re eradicated.”
“If this fails,” Devon said, “the vampires may scatter again.”
“They might,” Julian agreed, “but if it succeeds, they’ll trust us and believe in us more. Besides, there is no other choice. The Commission cannot be allowed to continue.”
“No, they can’t,” Devon agreed.
Julian knew Devon would have happily torn out the throat of every single remaining member of The Commission, but the more time Cassie spent around these vamps, the more likely she was to use one of her other powers in front of them. Her ability to wield multiple powers was a secret none of them wanted revealed.