Scorched Ice (Fire and Ice #3)(65)

Quinn didn’t speak as she watched the vampires around them. Most of whom were watching her even more.

“What’s the matter, Dewdrop?” he asked.

“Some of them keep looking at me as if I’m the messiah.”

“Some of them may see you as such.”

She shivered and ran her hands over her arms before turning away from him. Gripping her elbow, he pulled her back to him and wrapped his arms around her. Her head fell to his shoulder; she kissed the hollow of his neck. A sense of peace descended over him as all around them explosions and smoke filled the air.

“Almost lost you,” he murmured as he stroked her nape.

“I want these bastards dead, and then I just want to sit somewhere for a while and not think about anything.”

He smiled as he smoothed back her chocolate-colored hair and tucked it behind her ears. Her eyes glistened with love when she lifted her head to look at him. “A beach somewhere,” he suggested.

“Yes, a beach sounds great, but I’m thinking maybe Canada. There are some kids I’d like to meet.”

Bending, he cupped her face tenderly within his grasp and claimed her lips in a slow kiss. Her mouth opened to his, the heady feel of her tongue dancing with his filled his senses as he tasted her. Breaking the kiss, he pulled her flush against his chest.

“Then meet them you shall,” he promised her. “Your ability is growing. I could feel you still connected to me when I was on the roof.”

“Maybe it’s not growing, maybe it’s only you that I stay connected to.”

“Maybe,” he agreed.

“Or maybe it’s because I killed two men and their life is fueling me more than normal.”

“They deserved it.”

“I wouldn’t change it. When I thought he was going to drive that stake through my heart, I was so afraid… for you.” Her ragged admission tore at his heart.

“I felt the same way about you when Zach staked me.”

“Julian,” Chris said as he appeared beside them. “It’s time.”

Chris’s features were haggard and his shaggy blond hair hung in tangled disarray as he looked between the two of them. Julian reluctantly stepped away from Quinn, but he kept one of his arms locked around her waist.

“Are you sure we’re going to be able to get in there?” Chris asked him as they made their way toward the door.

“I think so,” Julian replied.

“How?” Quinn asked.

“You’re going to fuel me,” he said.

“What?” she and Chris demanded at the same time.

“We can all beat and tear at this door all night, but we wouldn’t get in. They’ve planned and fortified against vampires. Besides, we’d only be able to have three or four of us pushing against the door at once. Due to the fact they’ve surrounded themselves with mines, I’m sure they’re fortified against explosives too, so trying to blow the door open would probably be a waste.”

“True,” Quinn said slowly, her eyes distrustful as she watched him.

“But they never planned for one vamp and an Elder to be stronger than they ever anticipated,” he said. “We’ll take volunteers. You’ll pull from them and flood their life into me, fueling my strength.”

The color drained from her face as she stopped walking. “I’ve never done anything like that before. I’m not sure I can control it.”

“You can.”

“I’ve been injured—”

“That’s an understatement,” Chris muttered, earning scathing looks from Quinn and him. Chris shrugged and ran a hand through his hair. “Well, it is. You were nearly a dead vamp. For a second there, I actually believed you were dead when I saw the stake go in. Then those guys just became dust in the wind.”

“I scare you now,” Quinn said, and the crestfallen look on her face had Julian fighting the impulse to punch Chris in the face.

“No,” Chris said, resting his hand on her shoulder. “Okay, maybe a little, but it’s not that I believe you’ll hurt me, or any of us. I wouldn’t be touching you if I thought that. It’s more that there is a lot of power in you, and I’m not sure we know all you’re capable of. We may never know, which is fine, but it’s still pretty freaking weird.”

Quinn’s shoulders relaxed beneath his touch. “Yeah.”

“So, if she’s going to fuel you to get in there, what about Luther and the others?” Chris asked Julian. “They probably won’t be able to get in.”

“They don’t have to get in,” Julian replied. “As long as they’re causing chaos on the other side, then that should be enough to keep The Commission distracted at least a little.”

“I’m really not sure about this,” Quinn said. “I’m still not completely healed from my injuries and my ability is harder to control when I’m hurt. I could kill someone. I could kill you.”

“That will never happen,” he replied.

She planted her hands on her hips. “You’re not invincible, and you’re not Superman.”

“Superman has nothing on me.” He ran a finger over the tip of her nose in the hopes of coaxing a smile from her; her scowl only deepened.