Scorched Ice (Fire and Ice #3)(51)

Cassie’s hand rested on the top of his as she leaned across the table. “If you need us for anything—”

“I have your number and I know where to find you. Go, Solar, we’ll be coming for a visit as soon as the earth defrosts in the Great White North, so probably August.”

She gave his hand a small, electrical shock. He grinned back at her but was wise enough to remove his hand from hers. “I hate it when you call me that, and it’s not that cold up there.”

“You are a wimp,” Quinn said to him.

“Stop absorbing powers like a solar panel absorbs light, and I’ll stop calling you Solar,” Julian said to Cassie before turning to Quinn. “And guilty as charged. This body was built solely for heat, Dewdrop.”

“Asshole,” Devon muttered.

Pink crept into Quinn’s cheeks. He took hold of her hand and enclosed it in both of his. “We’ll be fine without you. Don’t worry about us,” Julian said to Devon and Cassie. “And I’d much prefer knowing we have backup if we need it. If the vampires don’t all flee if something goes wrong, Devon will be able to take control. We have to do everything we can to make sure they don’t become disorganized again. That will only lead to someone taking advantage of their fear and turning them onto a much darker path than most of them are walking now.

“None of them are perfect, but more of them than I ever realized, or ever would have believed, don’t wish to harm another. Yes, many of them killed upon turning, it seems inevitable for most of us, but that is something we can also work on. If there is a ready blood supply available for newly turned vamps, they will go to that instead of tearing into the first vein they find. Most of us have been turned in the same, fend-for-yourself scenario. It doesn’t work.”

Quinn’s hand tightened on his until his bones ground together as he spoke, but he didn’t try to free his hand from her grip. He knew she was thinking of her own brutal transformation and didn’t realize what she was doing.

“Going by what I know of those who changed us, and how sadistic they were, I think a jarring transformation was part of their plan. I know Victoria enjoyed the show when I woke as a vampire,” Julian said of the woman who had changed him. “She turned me loose, and I delivered the deaths she wanted.”

“I’m sure Elizabeth did too when she changed me,” Devon said.

“And as some vampires grow older, the thrill of the kill is the only joy they find anymore. Immortality can become tiresome, and many seek some excitement to break up their tedious days. Until someone comes along to make eternity far less boring.” Julian lifted Quinn’s hand and kissed the back of it.

Her grip eased on his hand as she smiled at him. “Or they come along to drive you nuts,” she teased.

“I do my best,” he assured her before turning to Devon and Cassie again. “Do the others know you’re leaving?”

Everyone else was inside a restaurant right now, ordering whatever meal they could before they drove back to Pennsylvania. They had fifty more vamps making this journey with them than they’d had before. Some of them had gone ahead to a meeting place Julian had given them. Vern and most of the other vamps were spending the night in the motel next to the restaurant. Some of them had already made their way over to the bar across the street.

“Not yet,” Cassie replied. “We hadn’t officially decided until a little bit ago, but if we leave from here, it’s a shorter drive for us.”

“True,” Julian agreed.

“What you’re doing here, gathering these vampires and organizing them, it’s going to work,” Devon said. “Once they truly accept that we’ll all be working together, they’ll really fall into line with this plan. After what happened at Herb’s house, I think the ones who were there already trust us more, and they’re spreading the word. Watching a Hunter take down a member of The Commission is something they’ll never forget.”

“No, it’s not,” Julian said.

“Chris did what he had to do,” Cassie said.

“He did,” Julian replied, “and it’s gained the Hunters more trust and support with the vamps. Vern certainly believes in what we’re trying to do, and Prue is coming around. Hadie is still in a more wait and see position, but her caution is understandable. After what I saw tonight, Carla needs this in her life.”

Devon frowned at him. “I’m not used to you having your ability on so often.”

“Neither am I.”

“It’s wearing on you.”

“It’s necessary, for now.”

“It is,” Devon agreed.

Devon released Cassie’s shoulder as Chris stomped through the door of the RV with two paper bags of food. Grease stained the bottoms of the white bags when he set them on the table in front of Julian. Julian used his index finger to push the bags away from him.

“Oh sure, you’ll feast on blood, but a little dead chicken and cow are distasteful to you,” Chris said. “You vamps are so screwy.”

“Pretty sure some of that cow is still alive,” Cassie said as she poked at the red stain spreading across the bottom of one of the bags.

“Just the way I like them,” Chris replied. “And I like lots of them.”

“Hungry?” Devon asked.