A Blood Seduction (Vamp City #1)(59)

"Who lives out here?" Quinn asked quietly.

Arturo heard her and brought her horse up closer to his so they could talk more easily. "We're traveling the wolf lands at present, though Rippers are known to haunt the Crux as well."

"Rippers?"

"Another race of vampire. They feed only on blood, not emotion. But unlike the Emoras, they lose all conscience when they are turned, all trace of humanity. They live to feed, and they do so without mercy."

Vampires that were even more dangerous than the ones she'd met. This place just kept getting better and better.

"How big is Vamp City, anyway?"

"Approximately six miles in diameter. The vampires wanted a large dark city, far larger than Washington City, so Phineas Blackstone rode to nearly the center of the ten-mile square that was originally D.C. to perform his magic. The city he created extends out approximately three miles in every direction from that spot. The Boundary Circle is where the vamps enter and exit the dark city . . . or did when the magic was intact. Most of the kovenas have strongholds near the Boundary. The unclaimed land around the kovenas we call the Nod. The large, unclaimed center, the Crux. It's a dangerous place, home to the wolves and Rippers and anyone else who longs to stay away from the kovenas and has the fortitude to survive."

"How are there wolves in V.C.? There haven't been wolves in the D.C. area in centuries."

"Werewolves, cara."

"Oh." Shit. "Don't the wolves and Rippers kill one another?"

"All the time."

"And are we in danger of being attacked?"

"Yes, of course." He eyed her expectantly.

Quinn glared at him. "You're waiting for my fear."

He smiled that devilish smile of his. "A small morsel, perhaps."

"I thought you didn't like my fear."

"I do not. Particularly when that fear is of me."

But he'd happily make her afraid of something else. Or he was just being contrary. She rolled her eyes. "So we're not really in much danger?"

The vampire shrugged. "It is unlikely they'll attack so many of us. Especially since we follow a straight path to the Focus, the very heart of the circle, where the magic still throbs with power. All know that Cristoff alone possesses Blackstone's sons. And most wish for V.C.'s magic to be renewed. Most wolves, at least. The Rippers rarely give much thought to consequences. They seek only the kill." He nodded front. "Look ahead. You can see the Focus."

She saw only the backs of the Blackstone brothers, riding directly ahead, at first. As they crested a small hill with dead trees on either side, she glimpsed a flash of colored light ahead. And suddenly she had a clear view of what appeared to be a small aurora borealis grounded and writhing in one fixed and open spot, its colors a brilliant blend of fuchsia, orange, and blue.

"It's beautiful," she breathed.

"None but a sorcerer can walk through it."

She looked at him in surprise. "What happens?"

"If I try to breach the Focus, it will throw me back like any good science-fiction force field."

"Except this one's real."

He nodded. "This one is real."

As they neared, Quinn watched, fascinated by the pulsing, gyrating colors that appeared to form a small dome over the ground, perhaps the size of a one-car garage. Finally, they were upon it, and Cristoff's guard rode to encircle the Focus, facing out to fight off any enemy.

Arturo dismounted, then grasped her waist and pulled her down before she could even attempt it on her own. Quinn gripped his shoulders as he set her on the ground, which was, thankfully, solid.

"You're nervous," he murmured.

Always the fear-feeder. "I'm fine." But he knew the truth. He knew exactly her level of anxiety, and she was nervous. Despite having tried to push the chamber pot, she wasn't at all sure she was ready to come face-to-face with her magic again. But it was Cristoff who scared her most.

Together, she and Arturo walked to where the vamp master waited with the two Blackstone brothers, her heart rate escalating with every step. Quinn avoided Cristoff's gaze as they joined the threesome, nodding instead to Grant.

Grant returned her nod in kind, then turned and headed toward the shimmering lights. "Come."

Quinn started after him without hesitation, anxious for any excuse to escape Cristoff's company. As Sheridan fell into step beside her, she turned to him. "I'm Quinn."

"I know who you are."

"And you're clearly not happy to meet me." How could a hundred-fifty-year-old man act so much like an ill-tempered teen?

He looked at her sharply, then away. "Were you expecting a brotherly hug?"

Her eyes narrowed. "And why would I expect that? Are we related?"

"How should I know?"

Fine, wonderful. Apparently all vampires were a pain in the ass, one way or another. They followed Grant the rest of the short distance in silence. Without pausing, Grant stepped right into the swirling mass of color. Quinn's eyes widened, and she followed, with a quick, mental, here goes nothing.

It was far from nothing. Like the sunbeams where the worlds bled through, she felt that strange tingling on her arms, the hair rising. But the magic here was far more dense. It was thick, like a heavy fog that clung to her skin, soaking in. No, digging in. It felt . . . strange. Uncomfortable, like fingers poking beneath her flesh.