A Blood Seduction (Vamp City #1)(90)

And suddenly she understood. God help her, she was the one who'd been fighting her power. Because she'd never wanted Zack to see it. She'd never wanted him to know.

Well, f**k it. He was going to die!

With a cry of surrender, she closed her eyes. Trembling, she released her hold on that door, on the heat that swirled inside her, lifted her hands, and poured her will into stopping the vampire who would kill her brother.

Power blasted from her fingers, sending the vampire flying a dozen feet to land hard on his back. She stared at him, stunned. Euphoric. I did it. But a second later, the vamp leaped to his feet.

Like hell. She knocked him down a second time. And a third. Every time he moved, she blasted him until he was pinned to the ground, struggling, shouting with fury.

She hazarded a glance at her brother and found him sitting still on his horse, staring at her as if he'd never seen her before. As if she terrified him.

Ice formed in her veins, crawling through the heat as she instinctively fought to shut that door again. To hide again. But the power was loose and wild. Out of her control. It turned on her, stinging as it had in the Focus with Grant and Sheridan when they'd tried to pull the magic. The pain ran up her arms, burning, devouring.

But her vampire victim remained as trapped by her power as she did herself.

Behind her, a man cried out in pain, then another, and the sounds of battle went silent.

A moment later, Arturo was at her side. "Quinn."

"I don't know how to stop it!"

"Easy, cara, easy. Can you lower your hands?"

"No. It's fighting me. It's attacking me!"

She felt Arturo's strong arm go around her, his body tensing as if he shared her pain. His cheek brushed her temple. "I'll try to help you. Do not fight me."

"I won't," she gasped. "Not if I can help it." But she had no control over any of it. None. Her vision was beginning to spin, turning bright with light that wasn't there.

She felt Arturo's cool fingers close around her forearm, felt that arm drop, the connection breaking in both. But the power, once directed at the vampire, recoiled, attacking her fully instead. Quinn cried out, pain lancing her, her vision blazing white.

"Quinn, listen to me." Cool fingers gripped her face as Arturo's voice came at her from the front now. "Listen to me! You must turn it off inside, or it will kill you."

"Don't . . . know how."

"Look at me."

"I can't!" All she could see was white.

"Yes, you can," he insisted, his voice turning low, soothing, with that hypnotic tone she'd heard him use on others. "Come, cara, focus on me, on my voice, on my face." He released her, gripping her hands, pressing them against his cheeks as if she were a blind woman trying to see. And she was exactly that.

She pressed her hands to his face, tracing the contours of his cheekbones, his brow, his nose. As her fingers dropped to his mouth, her hands began to shake violently. Her whole body began to quake, as if preparing to implode.

But Arturo only gripped her hands with his, taking them to his mouth. "What do you see, Quinn?"

"White, just white."

"Push pass it, piccola. Through it. I am here, on the other side."

Trembling, Quinn fought the blindness, fought to see Arturo. At last, a shadow moved within the white. Slowly, the whiteness turned to mist, dissipating, leaving her half-blind but staring into Arturo's face.

"I did it," she gasped.

He smiled with approval. "You did. Now look deeply into my eyes, cara, and I will help you douse the fire."

She followed his words, staring deep into those dark eyes, feeling as if he were climbing into her through her own. Instinct had her tensing, desperation battled that instinct as she forced herself to relax, to welcome his help.

"That's a good girl. Find the source of the fire, cara. Can you tell me what it looks like?"

"It's . . . a door. A door I opened and can't shut."

"Then we will shut it together. Focus on the door, Quinn, on the handle. Grip that handle tight in your hand. I am behind you, with you. Together we will close it. Are you ready?"

Shaking with pain, with fear, Quinn nodded. "Yes."

"On the count of three then. One, two . . . three!"

Quinn poured her will into closing that door, just as she'd poured her will into opening it. But it wouldn't . . . there! It was starting to move. She could feel strength pumping into her own, Arturo's strength. She could do this!

Perspiration broke out all over her body as she concentrated, as she struggled to close that door, to shut the bright glow of power behind it once more.

"That a girl," Arturo encouraged. "You're doing it. A little more. A little more."

Slowly, together, they pushed until the door finally clicked shut, containing the power. As suddenly as it began, the vibrations fled, and the pain drained away.

With a last quaking shudder, Quinn sank against Arturo.

He gathered her close, his lips brushing her temple. "Are you all right?"

"I think so." She was still out of breath, damp with perspiration, shaken. Stunned. As Arturo stroked her hair, she pulled back to look at him. "What happened to the vampire?"

His gaze was warm and concerned as he studied her as if seeking signs of damage. "The moment you released him, Kassius killed him."