A Kiss of Blood (Vamp City #2)(4)

As Mike launched into the details of his latest thriller novel, Quinn took a sip of wine, sinking back into her chair, enjoying the calm, mellow tones of Mike’s voice. And wishing, despite herself, that she were with another—one arrogant, controlling, and manipulative vampire within whom she’d found shades of both the hero and the villain. A male she’d trusted with her life. And a vampire whose word she’d never been able to trust at all.

Mike paused to take another bite of pie as he eyed her with what she’d come to think of as his writerly scrutiny, as if she were one of his characters, and he was trying to figure her out. He’d never succeed, of course. Humans didn’t believe in sorceresses, or vampires, or immortal otherworlds. And she wasn’t about to clue this one in.

“How are you really, Quinn?” His tone was compassionate, as if he could see her falling apart at the seams. Every night he asked the same question, in the same way, then never pressed when she gave him her stock, trite answer, for which she was grateful. It wasn’t like she could ever tell him the truth.

“I’m fine. Tired and worried about Zack, but things will be better once we get home.”

She’d told him that Zack’s best friend was one of the many missing persons in D.C. and that Zack was suffering from depression as a result. That they were moving back to Pennsylvania to get him away from the memories. She wasn’t sure Mike believed her. If only she could tell him the truth. If only she had someone to confide in other than Zack, who was still too traumatized by all that had happened.

Mike rose, smiling at her with understanding. He really was a nice man. Watching her with that studious look, he opened his mouth, then closed it slowly as if he’d decided against saying whatever was on his mind.

“Get some sleep, Quinn. Everything looks brighter in daylight.”

Quinn snorted and smiled. “Profound.”

Mike grinned at her. “That’s the smile I like to see.”

She said good-bye and let him out, locking up behind him, then went to check on Zack, to see if she could coax him into eating a little pie.

As she eased open Zack’s door, the light from a streetlamp lit his face, a face that had aged during his brief captivity in Vamp City, making him look older than his twenty-two years. His was still an engaging face, if harder than before, framed by overlong curly red hair. If her own hair had looked like his, instead of being blond and straight, they’d have looked rather startlingly similar, despite being only half siblings. They’d both inherited their dad’s lanky height, green eyes, wide mouth, and straight nose.

“Zack?” she asked, flipping on the light. “How about a slice of banana cream pie?”

His eyes opened slowly. The circles beneath were dark as bruises, the whites an unnatural shimmery gray.

She swallowed, aching at the sight of him.

“No thanks,” he murmured, then rolled away from her.

Quinn turned off the light and closed the door behind her, then sank back against the wall. He’d be fine after the equinox, after the magic was renewed. She had to believe that. But the equinox was still four days away.

And deep inside, she was terrified that Zack might not live that long.

The sun was low in the sky the next afternoon as Quinn strode down Twenty-first Street, her gun wedged snugly at the small of her back beneath the leather jacket that was a little too warm for the September day, two wooden stakes in her inside breast pocket, and a switchblade in the front pocket of her jeans. A breeze played with her hair as she kept a sharp eye out for anyone . . . or any thing . . . suspicious.

She’d spent a couple of hours at the firing range, as she did every day, now. A week wasn’t a long time to become proficient, but she could handle a gun, and her aim wasn’t half-bad. A month ago, her self-defense capability had extended no further than the Tae Kwon Do moves she’d learned as a kid. She was still no warrior, but she was armed, now. And wary. And prepared to do whatever it took to keep her brother and herself alive.

As she neared the street where she lived, she passed a couple of college kids walking down the sidewalk, their backpacks slung over one shoulder, lattes in one hand and cell phones in the other. Just a month ago, Zack had been one of them, making plans with Lily to move to California next summer. when they both graduated. Last week, before she’d taken a temporary leave of absence from her job as a lab tech at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Quinn had run some surreptitious blood tests on her brother, hoping to find something physically wrong that human medicine might be able to cure. Some reason for his failing health and his shimmery gray eyes. Something other than magic. She’d found nothing.

God help them both if the equinox came and went, and he got no better.

Her thoughts in turmoil, she turned onto her street, stepping off the curb to pass a small pack of chattering coeds. But as she stepped back onto the sidewalk, she caught sight of a pair of males not ten yards ahead with ears a little too large on heads slightly too big for their bodies.

Traders.

Her heart stopped, then took off like a flock of doves as her feet suddenly rooted to the sidewalk. The girls she’d just passed grunted and complained, now forced to walk around her. Ahead, one of the Traders turned to his companion, revealing his profile, making her breath catch in her throat. Because she recognized him. These weren’t just any Traders but the same two who’d caught her the second time she entered Vamp City, the pair who’d sold her to the slave auction. If they saw her, they’d recognize her in return, no doubt about it.