Scorched Ice (Fire and Ice #3)(58)

A sizzling bang resonated across the clearing. The hair on Quinn’s arms rose as the air around her became electrified. Golden bursts of electricity shot from the fence before exploding across the top of it in a ring of arcing sparks that erupted around the entire structure. Dani lifted her hands from the ground and swayed on her feet. Julian grasped her shoulder, steadying her before she could fall over.

“Thank you,” she murmured.

“Any time,” Julian replied.

Dani smiled at him before hesitatingly brushing her fingers over his. Tears shimmered in her eyes before she blinked them back. “It should be safe now, but I’ll go first to make sure,” Dani said.

“I’m coming with you,” Julian replied.

Quinn rose to her feet once more and followed them out of the woods toward the fence. Her gaze constantly swung over everything as Dani paused near the fence. The feeling of eyes watching her every move hadn’t eased with the cameras being taken down. Her gaze swung back to the windows of the building, and she knew the watchful eyes were beyond those barred panes.

Dani wiped her hands on her jeans before clutching two of the chain links. Quinn half expected sparks to start shooting out around Dani and her body to start jerking as she was electrocuted, but everything remained the same.

“The electricity is down,” Dani said when she stepped back.

Julian grabbed two of the links in the fence. His corded muscles bulged and flexed, causing his shirt to pull taut across his back as he wrenched a section of the fence open. He peeled the metal back until a three-foot-wide section had been torn into the fence. Stepping back, he surveyed the fence before looking toward the building.

“It’s almost too easy,” Dani said.

“That’s because it is,” Julian confirmed.

Quinn moved closer to peer through the hole at the building. “Did you get any impressions from touching the fence?” she asked him.

“Only glimpses into the lives of those who put it up. Most of them were Hunters, a few were Guardians in training. They’re most likely here too.”

“Fun,” Chris muttered. “Let’s get this over with.”

Julian went through the fence first and rose to his full height. Quinn almost yanked him back when he brazenly turned to face the building. His chest and heart were completely exposed as he stood before the hole, offering protection to all those who followed him. Quinn scrambled inside the fence and rose to stand beside him. She held her ground when he gripped her arm and tried to tug her back.

“No!” she hissed. “I’m not going to hide behind you.”

Those vibrant red eyes met and held hers. He gave up on trying to maneuver her behind him, but he drew her closer as they waited for all of the others to come through the fence. They spread out across the fence as they came through, most of them staying low to the ground while they surveyed their surroundings.

“That’s a pretty wide-open space between here and the building,” Melissa said as she stepped forward to stand beside Quinn. Chris moved to Melissa’s other side. Vern, Hadie, and Prue appeared on the other side of Chris while Luther and Lou stood on the other side of Julian. The vampire she recognized as Carla, the one who Julian believed needed this in her life, flanked Luther.

“It is,” Quinn agreed.

At least two hundred yards separated them from the building, and none of the land offered cover for them. She still saw no movement in the windows, but The Commission was most likely waiting until they were all closer before making their move. Knowing that he was outnumbered, Herb never would have attacked them until Julian had discovered his hiding place, but The Commission would.

“Maybe we can get the vehicles and drive them across,” Chris suggested. “They’ll at least offer some protection for all of us.”

Quinn turned to look at the gate a hundred feet away from them. The dirt lane they’d traveled on to get here approached the gate from the other side. Beyond the gate, the dirt drive continued to the front door of the building.

“If something happens to the vehicles, we have nowhere to retreat to if this isn’t over before the sun comes up,” Hadie said.

Julian gazed between them and the roadway before turning to face the group again. “It doesn’t have to be all of the vehicles. We can use the van and one of the other larger vehicles as cover. Not the RV, we’ll need it if the other two vehicles get destroyed. What is everyone else driving?”

A small woman stepped forward and lifted a set of keys into the air. “Jeep Cherokee.”

“That will do. Hadie, go back with her and get the van.”

“You got it,” Hadie replied.

“We’ll have the gate open for when you get back,” Julian told them.

Quinn watched as the two women walked away and blended seamlessly in with the woods. Julian took hold of her hand again and gave it a subtle tug. Quinn turned away from the forest to follow him across the inside of the fence toward the gate. This time, at least he didn’t walk as brazenly as if he owned the place but moved in a crouched-over position that she duplicated. They were open targets no matter what out here, but that didn’t mean she wanted to offer them a bigger target.

The others all moved noiselessly behind them, in the same crouched-over position until they’d reached the gateway. On both sides of the gate was a keypad with numbers on it. More barbwire ran along the top while electrical wire entwined with the chain links.