A Blood Seduction (Vamp City #1)(87)

Quinn turned to go, but Ernesta stopped her. "Wait. You need a dress." She grabbed one from a hanger in a small alcove off the kitchen, then opened the skirt as if she intended to dress Quinn right there.

Quinn looked at her doubtfully. "Shouldn't I take off my clothes first?"

"No. There is no time." With that, she lifted the dress over Quinn's head.

Okay.

"Now return to the master."

Quinn buttoned the front of the dress as she retraced her steps down the hallway. The men were still talking when she returned.

"I would prefer to take the Jeep" - Arturo glanced at her, his eyes lighting with surprise and satisfaction, before he continued - "but someone will hear the engine. We'll take the horses."

"And if we're stopped?"

"Cristoff most likely believes she's either run to find another sunbeam or been snatched by a rival kovena. It shouldn't be a problem. And if it is . . ." Arturo shrugged. "I'll think of something." He turned back to her. "Get your brother, cara. We're leaving. You cannot be caught here."

She'd figured that much. It was way too dangerous for Arturo though she wondered where he'd take them. The only part of his and Kassius's conversation she'd understood was the part about her having to ride another damned horse.

Lifting the awkward skirt, she hurried up the stairs to the room where she'd first found herself tied to the bed . . . was it just a week and a half ago? The room where Zack now rested.

She rapped lightly on the door, then opened it and went in when he didn't respond. He remained as she'd left him, his bare, scarred back to the door. "Zack, get up. We have to leave."

When he didn't respond, she bit down her frustration and circled the bed to find him staring morosely at the wall.

"Zack, I know you've been through hell. I get it. But a really nasty vampire is hunting us, and we have to go."

"Leave me here."

"You don't mean that."

Her easygoing brother speared her with hard, angry eyes. "You don't get it. I don't f**king care."

She stared at him, feeling bruised and hurt. But dammit . . . "Zack, get your sorry ass off that bed. We're going. Now."

But her brother still didn't move.

"Is there a problem?" Arturo stood in the doorway.

"Could you take his memories of what happened?"

Zack reared up. "No."

"Zack, think about it. He can make you forget."

"I don't want to forget."

"Are you sure?"

"I said no!" He glared at her. "Will you move so I can piss in the pot?"

Quinn jumped off the bed, getting out of his way, storming out of the room. Where in the hell had her Zack gone? Because this angry, depressed man was not he.

In the hallway, Arturo touched her arm. "He is not the child he was when he arrived here. Do not expect him to be. But if he can accept what has happened, he'll be better off than he would be if he knew there were large chunks of his memory gone. Sometimes, wondering about the things you have forgotten is worse than knowing." His fingers slid into her hair, his eyes gentle and sympathetic. "He will be okay, cara. Give him time. It will be good for you to get him home."

She blinked. "Home?"

"I am sending both of you through the Boundary Circle. Back to the sunshine."

"But . . ." She gaped at him, then narrowed her eyes. "Why? You said yourself that if the magic isn't renewed, you'll die. Which means you've got something else up your sleeve."

He shrugged. "Grant is more powerful than he lets on. He is more powerful than you, cara. You will never be what Cristoff wishes, and he will punish you severely for it." He cupped her cheek, unhappiness darkening his eyes. "I never want to see you in pain like that again."

She saw truth in those eyes, heard it in his voice. Was he really saving her simply because he wanted to?

Dear God, is he really letting us go?

But they'd be leaving without Lily. If the girl was even in V.C. If she was even still alive.

Count your wins. Getting Zack home, getting them both out of Vamp City alive, was huge.

Ten minutes later, Arturo, Kassius, Quinn, and Zack were riding through the swampy White House grounds, due west. Zack rode like he knew what he was doing, though with nothing approaching the grace or strength of the two vampires. Though she'd coaxed him out of the house and into a shirt, he'd said nothing since they left the house. He sat now, riding to her right, silent and morose.

Quinn glanced left, at Arturo. This time he'd trusted her to steer the horse herself though he was riding so close that it was amazing the horses didn't run into one another. Hers and the vampire's knees kept brushing, though she couldn't say she really minded.

"Where is the Boundary Circle?" Quinn asked.

"Most of the southwest curvature falls within the Potomac and is useless unless you want to row out to it by boat. Only a small corner between Water Street and Georgetown crosses land. A point very close to the Kennedy Center."

She frowned, seeing a map of D.C. in her head. "There's a ton of land between Water Street and Georgetown."

"Not the curve I'm talking about. Not in 1870. The Tidal Basin did not exist, nor did the Mall west of the Washington Monument. It was all water, the Potomac Shallows. The shallows were eventually filled to make the land you know as the Mall west of the Washington Monument. That work was never done here. In Vamp City, it is still all water."