Scorched Ice (Fire and Ice #3)(59)
Dani rested her fingers against the gate. “It’s safe,” she confirmed and stepped away from it.
Julian glanced at the building before walking across the drive to the other side of the gateway. Quinn followed behind and watched as he wrapped his fingers around the edge of the large pole on the end of the gate and gave it a hard jerk. The lock gave way with a snap. The Commission already knew they were here, but the noise grated like sandpaper on Quinn’s already frazzled nerves.
The gate rattled and clanked on its sliding track when Julian flung it open. He caught hold of it and held it open when it hit the end of its track and slid toward him once more.
“I hate this place,” Chris muttered from beside her.
“Me too,” she admitted.
Julian stared down the roadway toward where they’d left the vehicles before looking at the building again. Quinn braced herself before focusing on it once more too. It was a simple structure made of concrete and metal, yet she couldn’t help but feel as if it were a living, breathing entity waiting patiently for its moment to pounce on them.
Don’t get carried away. She couldn’t help it though, not when it continued to feel as if eyes were boring into her neck.
A low rumbling drew her attention back to the road as the van materialized over the top of a small hill with the Jeep right behind it. Bits of dust kicked up beneath the tires of the vehicles, marking the trail of their passing as they approached the gate.
“How are we going to do this?” Luther asked.
“We’ll have the vehicles stay next to each other and lead the way. We’ll stay by them, using them for whatever cover they provide. We’re going to have to go in low and fast, it will present less of a target if we do,” Julian replied. “You and Lou can ride with Hadie if you’d prefer.”
“On this, I would prefer to be free to move around,” Luther said.
The two Guardians may not be able to move as fast as the rest of them, but Quinn understood why they wouldn’t want to be in the van. She’d rather be slower and free instead of trapped in the vehicle if something did happen.
“I agree with you on that.” Julian turned away from him. He rested his hand on the open window of the driver’s side door when Hadie pulled the van up beside him. “Are you up for doing this?” he asked her.
Hadie’s hands tightened their death grip on the wheel before she replied, “Yes.”
Julian slapped his hand on the door before walking around the front of the van and over to the Jeep. Quinn kept one eye on Julian as he spoke with the woman driving the Jeep and the other on the building. The woman remained behind the wheel when Julian stepped away and walked over to stand beside her again.
Quinn’s nails dug into her palms as she tried to steady the riot of emotions tumbling through her. She’d give anything to have this over and done with. She didn’t enjoy killing, but she couldn’t deny the thrill of excitement creeping up her spine at the possibility of ending those who had tormented Julian and countless others so brutally over the years.
“We have no idea what’s in between here and that building,” Vern said.
“No, we don’t,” Julian agreed. “Let’s hope the roadway is mostly clear of anything. They might not have taken the chances of accidentally killing themselves by trapping the drive. It’s unlikely, but one never knows with The Commission.”
“What do you think we could run into?” Quinn asked.
Julian’s extended fangs glistened in the moonlight when he spoke. “Anything.”
“Wonderful.”
Julian took hold of her hand. “Stay by my side.”
“I will,” she promised.
“We’ll get in between and behind the vehicles,” he said to the other vamps. “Use them as cover the best we can.”
Quinn moved beside him until they were situated next to the passenger’s side of the van and the driver’s side of the Jeep. She gazed back and forth between the vehicles and the pale vamps sitting behind the steering wheels.
Julian slapped his hand on the side of the van, and Hadie hit the gas. On the other side, he knocked on the door of the Jeep. They remained in between the two vehicles when they started down the road, steadily increasing in speed. Quinn crouched over and ran as fast as she could in the hunched-over position.
“Wait, Melissa!” Chris cried from behind Julian when they’d only traveled a hundred feet.
Unprepared for Julian’s spinning movement, Quinn’s hand was torn from his. The rapid speed of her forward momentum, and that of some of the vampires around her, had all of them nearly ten feet away from Julian before she was able to slow. One of the vamps behind her jostled her further forward as they tried to remain protected by the vehicles.
Craning her head, Quinn looked back at what had captured Julian and Chris’s attention. Melissa remained near the fence, her body completely still as something held her within its grip. Luther and Lou stood near her, their eyes troubled as they watched her. Quinn’s step faltered when she realized Melissa was having a vision.
She stretched her hands out to smack them against the still moving vehicles, but the vehicles had traveled beyond her reach. The color drained from Melissa’s face, and she lifted her head to look at them.
“Wait!” Melissa screamed.
Hadie, realizing almost everyone else had stopped, hit the brakes. The Jeep kept going with a few vampires still beside it. They were nearly three-quarters of the way to the building now. Quinn lunged forward and hit the back quarter panel of the Jeep. The woman at the wheel brought it to a halt with a small squeal of the brakes that turned Julian’s head in her direction.