A Kiss of Blood (Vamp City #2)(9)

Her magic wasn’t much, but it had saved him once. And maybe he really did need her to renew Vamp City for him to be okay. Assuming she could figure out how.

The sirens were growing louder. Glancing down at the sidewalk, she saw people hurrying away from the building as if they’d heard a fire alarm.

Or gunshots. Crap.

She whirled back. “The police are coming.”

Arturo nodded toward the door. “Come, cara. We cannot leave the building in daylight, but you’ll be safe in Micah’s apartment.”

She just stared at him. “From the cops, maybe.” The wail of the sirens tore at her eardrums, and her nerves. Dammit, dammit, dammit. “Can you use your mind control to make them believe nothing happened?”

“Slowly, yes. But not if they grab you. Then I may have no choice but to fight them off.”

And then cops could get hurt. Or worse.

“Come, cara. Quickly.”

The moment she got within his reach, she’d be going back to Vamp City. But maybe Zack wouldn’t have to. And the alternative was an almost certain trip to the local police station. And maybe jail.

She huffed with resignation. “All right. Let’s move this discussion to Micah’s.” Fortunately, his apartment was just across the hall.

Quinn strode back to her bedroom, grabbed the small duffels she’d packed days ago in case they had to run at a moment’s notice, then returned to the foyer. Arturo watched her as she approached him, his eyes dark and enigmatic.

Her heart began to beat crazily as she closed the distance between them. She told herself it was from the adrenaline and the sirens. It had nothing to do with the chemistry that had flared between them from the start, or the whiff of his scent, familiar and heady, that triggered memories of pleasure, of friendship, of betrayal.

“The coast is clear,” Micah said, peering out the door. They crossed the hallway into an apartment lit only by lamplight. Room-darkening curtains had been nailed across the windows, canceling out every hint of daylight.

Micah closed and locked the door, then turned to her, his eyes serious, yet gentle with the concern she’d seen in them so often. “You’re safe here, Quinn. Please believe that if you believe nothing else.”

For a moment, he was her writer friend again, and she found herself asking him the question she most needed an answer to.

“Will Zack get better if I renew the magic?”

Micah hesitated, as if weighing his words. “I don’t know. It’s likely. It’s also possible that he’ll get better just by returning to V.C. Regardless, there are people there who might be able to figure out what’s wrong with him.” His mouth tightened with regret. “I’m sorry, Quinn, but he needs to go back.”

Her instincts told her he spoke the truth, yet all he’d really told her was that Zack might die either way.

She turned to her brother, who’d sunk down onto the sofa. “Stay here. Stay in D.C.”

“No.”

“I’ll call Dad and ask him to drive down, then I’ll renew the magic, find Lily, and come back to you.”

“No, Quinn.” Her brother straightened, staring at her with the pride of a grown man. “I’ll find her.”

“You’re too sick.”

“I’ll be better once I return to V.C.”

“You don’t know that.”

Zack’s gaze unfocused as if turning inward. A moment later, he nodded. “Yes, I do. I’m going back.” In his eyes, she saw a strength that hadn’t been there a month ago. A conviction. And she realized she wasn’t going to talk him out of this.

She wasn’t sure she should.

Quinn turned away, digging her hands into her hair, hands that were beginning to shake. Because all of her carefully erected plans were shattering at once. She had no choice but to go back, now—she knew that—to renew the magic and to try to see Zack and Lily safely out of there again, even if it was the last thing she accomplished of her own free will. Zack had always been the most important person in her life, and she wasn’t about to turn her back on him now, when his life was at stake.

Outside, the sirens died, car doors slamming shut as the cops swarmed the building.

“It will be dark enough to leave within the hour,” Arturo said quietly. “Will you come willingly, cara?”

She was surprised that he bothered to ask, now that she was back in his clutches. Then again, she was armed. And even without wooden bullets, an unwilling sorceress could be a dangerous companion, as she’d proved on more than one occasion even if she hadn’t been in full control.

He needed her.

The balance of power between them had shifted subtly but profoundly.

“I have promised to find Lily and to keep all of you safe, Quinn. All I ask is that you save my friends and my world in return.”

She met his gaze. “I’m not sure Vamp City needs saving.”

Dark eyes studied her. “Even if it’s the only way to keep your brother alive?”

And that was the real heart of the matter because there was nothing she wouldn’t do to save Zack. And Arturo knew it. She’d made it abundantly clear on her previous visits. Zack was her Achilles’ heel.

But Arturo had his own problems now. He’d almost certainly screwed the pooch when he’d taken her from Cristoff, which meant his own survival likely depended on his protecting her. She might not be as powerful as the vampires, but she had leverage this time that she’d lacked before, and she understood far better the game they played. Not only would she never again automatically trust a word they said, but she was the only one with a snowflake’s chance in Hell of saving their friends and their world. They needed her alive, and they needed her cooperation.