Arctic Fire

by Erica Stevens

  The vampire’s head shot toward him when Julian bellowed again. The man backpedaled in the sand. Quinn lunged at him, swinging the stake in an arch that sliced across the vamp’s chest. The blow tore his skin open and blood spilled free to stain his shirt. Quinn lunged at him again, but the vamp managed to dart to the side.

  Pulling his arm back, he swung it at Quinn as her forward momentum caused her to run past him. The blow hit her so forcefully that it caused her head to snap around with a loud crack. Red burst across Julian’s vision when Quinn landed face down in the sand. The vampire looked from her to him before he turned and fled across the desert.

  Bloodlust pulsed through Julian. He’d make the vamp pay in the most excruciating and innovative ways for striking Quinn. His fangs pulsed with his hunger for blood, but he pulled to an abrupt halt next to Quinn, as she lay unmoving in the sand. No matter how badly he wanted to catch and destroy the vampire fleeing across the desert, he couldn’t leave her.

  Kneeling at her side, his hands shook as he turned her over. “Quinn?”

  Her arms fell across the sand. The spill of her dark hair sprawled around her, her eyes remaining closed. His fingers trembled as he brushed aside the sand and hair sticking to her cheeks and forehead.

  “Come on, Dewdrop, wake up,” he urged.

  He ran his hands over her still body as he searched for an injury other than the dusky bruise high on her left temple. His fangs pressed against his inner lip as he stared at her. He took a minute to steady himself against the rage simmering within him before sliding his hands under her. Lifting her into his arms, he cradled her limp form protectively against his chest. He didn’t look at her as he ran. He was halfway back to town when he encountered Melissa, Chris, and Zach running after them.

  “What happened?” Melissa demanded.

  “She chased a vampire into the desert,” Julian grated through his teeth and pulled Quinn closer against him. The sweet scent of her filled his nostrils. What had she been thinking? He trembled as the image of her falling in the sand slithered through his mind. “I’m taking her to her place. Tell Clint she got sick or something and meet me there.”

  Melissa turned and ran back toward the bar while Chris and Zach followed him toward her apartment building.

  CHAPTER 6

  Who was beating on her head like it was a freaking snare drum?

  “Ugh,” she groaned, when attempting to move her head turned it into a full-blown death metal beat in her head.

  “Quinn.” Cool fingers brushed over her cheeks and temple. She recognized Julian’s voice, but she couldn’t bring herself to open her eyes yet.

  “My head,” she muttered.

  A cool cloth was draped over her forehead, and a sigh escaped her when some of the pounding eased. His fingers were back on her face. The feel of them so light against her skin did more to ease her pain than the cold cloth on her brow had. Finally feeling brave enough to open her eyes, she lifted her lids to peer at him.

  He leaned over her, his striking eyes searching hers as he caressed her face. His lips were pinched, and lines etched the corners of his mouth and eyes. “Quinn,” he breathed.

  She forced herself to smile in an attempt to ease some of his torment. “What happened?”

  “You took off after a vampire,” he bit out.

  Memories of what had occurred assaulted her. On her feet in an instant, she swayed as the movement caused her to feel as if someone had fired off an M-80 inside her head. Taking a step to the side, she braced herself as the world lurched beneath her feet. Julian grabbed hold of her arms, but she shook him off.

  “Where is the vampire?” she demanded.

  “He got away.”

  “We have to find him.”

  “Quinn—”

  She spun toward him. “Now, we have to find him now!”

  “We will, but the sun is coming up soon, and there’s nothing we can do during the day,” he said in a calming tone that only made her more agitated.

  “You don’t understand. It was him! That was the bastard who murdered me and helped to kill my family.”

  His hands clamped on her arms as the color drained from his face. The silence was so complete in the room that she could hear the beat of someone’s music floating across the night. “He’ll know then,” Julian said.

  “Know what?”

  “That you weren’t born of vampire blood. If he knows about the prophecy, he’ll put two and two together. We have to leave this town.”

  “No! This is the closest I’ve been to him in six years. I’m not leaving here without killing him. I don’t care what you say, or what he may or may not know about me. I’m going to destroy him.”

  Julian’s eyes turned crimson. He lifted her arms and pulled her closer so her palms pressed against his chest. “I will do whatever it takes to keep you alive, including dragging you out of this town kicking and screaming.”

  Her chin rose as her eyes narrowed on him. “He destroyed my life. I will not walk away from him, and I will not leave my friends unprotected if he decides to come back with a pack of vampires. If you take me from here, I will try to escape from you every chance I get. When I finally succeed, and I will, I’ll make it so you never find me again. He has no idea how I turned,” she continued as the red blazed hotter in his eyes. “For all he knows, one of his cohorts could have given me their blood when he wasn’t looking.”

  Julian shook his head. “He won’t think that.”

  “You have no idea what he thinks. He now knows I work at Clint’s. He’ll most likely assume I’ve established some kind of a life in this town. I’ve spent my entire life hiding. I refuse to do it anymore.”

  He released her so suddenly, she took a startled step away from him. Pacing toward the kitchen, he ran his hand through his hair as he stalked. She hadn’t realized all the others were in her small apartment until he moved out of her way to reveal them gathered by the door.

  Luther’s pale-gray eyes were intent on her behind the lenses of his Lennon style glasses. His salt and pepper hair was slightly disheveled and damp. She knew he’d tried to follow her when she’d left the bar, but she’d been too focused on hunting her killer to acknowledge him. He lifted his glasses and rubbed his nose as he bowed his head.

  Lou stood beside him, his tawny-brown eyes flitting between her and Julian. He had his hands folded before him and his thin shoulders hunched forward. The ends of his brown hair curled against the collar of his alligator shirt. He looked younger than his eighteen years, yet he had an air of wisdom about him that made him appear far older.

  “I should have killed him,” Julian muttered.

  Turning to face him, Quinn folded her arms over her chest. “He’s mine.”

  Chris and Melissa both sighed; Zach took a step closer to the door when Julian spun to glower at her. “He’s far older than you! Look at what he did to you!” he shouted.

  She didn’t want to think about it; it made her head pound all over again. She’d gone against all of her training. Wrath had fueled her attack, not reason, and it had nearly gotten her killed. She wouldn’t make the same mistake again.

  “I wasn’t prepared for the shock of seeing him or the anger and memories his arrival brought with it. I’ll be better prepared for him next time.”

  Julian stopped before her. She tilted her chin up to meet his fiery eyes, determined not to back down. She simply couldn’t; there was too much on the line right now.

  “Not prepared?” he said and rested his hand against the holster on her hip. “You have more weapons strapped to you than anyone I know.”

  “I didn’t expect to come face to face with the man who tortured me and left me for dead while I was at work tonight. Excuse me if it threw me off my game a little.”

  “And it will be easier the next time you see him?”

  “I don’t care if it’s ten times harder! I’m going to drain every ounce of life from that man before I tear his throat out.”

  Julian lifted an e
yebrow at her vehemence, his mouth actually quirking in a smile. She fought the urge to scream and kick him in the shin. She had no idea why he was looking at her like that when seconds before he’d appeared to want to choke her.

  “Leash the fangs, Dewdrop.”

  Her nails dug into her palms as she glowered at him. “I’m not leaving.”

  “I don’t think she should leave,” Luther interjected.

  Julian’s smile vanished as he turned toward the Guardian. “And why is that?” he demanded.

  “For one, our departure from this town will leave it vulnerable. Also, if this vampire has heard the prophecy, he may not know it involves Quinn. Running from here could confirm it to him. He knows what she looks like. He will spread the word. We can make a stand in this town. If we run, we’ll never know when they might catch up with us. If we stay here, he may not believe Quinn is the vampire of the prophecy. She won’t be able to reveal what she can do until we know he’s going to die. Unless you revealed it tonight?”

  “I never got a chance to use my ability on him,” Quinn replied to Luther’s questioning look.

  “And if he comes back here with a group of vamps?” Julian demanded.

  “Yet another reason not to leave this town unprotected. Did you recognize him?” Luther inquired of Julian.

  “No.”

  “Then he probably doesn’t know who you are either, or that you’re an Elder. He certainly doesn’t know there’s also three Hunters in this town. I bet his interest in Quinn just became a lot more intense now that he knows she’s a vampire. He’s going to try to satisfy his curiosity about her, and we’ll be able to get him when he does.”

  “Clint and Hawtie are the only friends I’ve had for years. I can’t turn my back on them,” she said.

  Julian bit out an explosive curse before swinging away from her and pacing over to the kitchen once more. She could feel his hunger and need to destroy radiating from him. “Julian—” she started.

  He held his hand up before glancing at the window. “I have to feed.”

  “The sun will be up soon,” she protested.

  “I’ll be back before then. Stay with her,” he commanded the others. “Don’t forget that vampire was able to get into Quinn’s house and at her family because he has the ability to control minds. Don’t go outside until it’s daytime, and no one goes anywhere by themselves anymore.”

  Lou scrambled to get out of Julian’s way as he strode toward the door. He didn’t look back before slipping outside. They stared at the closed door before the others all turned to look at her. “He’ll be okay,” she said. “He has to calm down a little bit.”

  “Yeah,” Melissa agreed.

  Quinn ran a hand over her face. “Clint must think I lost my mind or something tonight.”

  “I told him you got sick and had to go home,” Melissa replied.

  “Or he’s going to think I’m pregnant,” she said with a half-hearted laugh. She slumped tiredly onto the couch and dropped her still-throbbing head into her hands.

  ***

  Julian prowled through the desert, going from one animal to the next as he tried to ease his need to murder with a glut of blood. What he really wanted was to sink his fangs into someone’s neck and tear out their throat. In the two years since he’d stopped killing, the urge to murder and destroy had never been as strong as it was now.

  None of the animal blood was going to be good enough tonight. It would never satisfy his need for death the way actually killing someone would. The wind howled across the open land as he stood amongst the shifting sand, staring at the homes across the way. Curtains and blinds shaded the windows; some had sparkly decorations hanging from the windows that reflected the night-lights within the rooms. There were so many unsuspecting people within those homes, sleeping soundly, unaware of the predator lurking in their backyard.

  He could so easily walk up to one of those homes, manipulate an invite from someone within, and destroy them before they realized what they’d invited into their home. The prospect was entirely too tempting for his liking.

  You’re a better man now, he reminded himself, but the reminder was doing little good right then.

  Killing someone was not the answer to his problems. It wouldn’t make Quinn any more willing to leave this town. It wouldn’t destroy the vampire who had tortured and unknowingly turned her, but damn if it didn’t sound like one of the most pleasing ideas he’d had in a while.

  His fangs tingled. He ground his teeth together as he stared at the shadowed windows. Just slip inside and feel a little better. Unleash the monster within that’s been begging to be free since it was caged. Lose yourself in murder and death by indulging in the blood of the innocents.

  It had been two years since he’d fed from a human, but he could clearly recall the taste of human blood; could still feel the warmth of it as it flooded his mouth and slid down his throat. The thrill of power and excitement it had given him as his victims struggled and screamed in his arms was something he could never forget. Those screams…

  A smile curved his mouth at the memories. Those screams had filled many of his nights and had made him feel alive in a way he hadn’t felt in centuries. Then he’d met Cassie and his love for her had made him feel alive in a different way. It had made him realize he could be, and wanted to be, a better man. He’d always known Cassie was Devon’s and could never be his, but he’d still wanted to be better for her, and he was.

  Now he had Quinn. He wanted to be a good man for her, like she deserved, but he would do whatever it took, no matter how merciless and horrific, to keep her safe. She made him feel more alive than he’d ever felt and made him love in a way he hadn’t imagined possible. Even when he’d been human, he’d never felt as alive as he did when he was holding her, touching her.

  And he could lose her. So many things out there were trying to tear them apart. He never knew where the next threat might come from.

  I could walk into one of those homes, shut out the world for a few hours, and lose everything I’ve worked to achieve.

  A light came on in one of the homes. He remained where he was as the sky turned pink in the distance. He should take shelter soon, but he couldn’t tear himself away as the thrill of the hunt and the kill pulsed within his body.

  He couldn’t return to Quinn like this, not when he was so close to losing complete control of himself. She could soothe the beast within him, but he wasn’t in the mood to be calmed.

  Instead of taking shelter or returning to Quinn, he flexed his fingers again as he walked toward the house.

  CHAPTER 7

  Quinn lifted her head when she heard the lock sliding free and watched as Julian stepped into her apartment. Placing her can of Mountain Dew down, she launched to her feet as he stepped inside and closed the door. His skin was puckered and red; parts of his shirt were actually charred. While she wanted to shake some sense into him for taking off like that, the wildness of his crimson eyes and the harshness of his chiseled features made her heart ache.

  “Where have you been?” she demanded.

  His gaze flashed around the room. “Where is everyone?”

  “I told them to go after the sun rose. He couldn’t come at me now that it’s daylight, and I preferred to be alone.”

  His eyes focused on her briefly before sliding away again. “You never should have been left alone.”

  “Nothing could possibly happen during the daytime,” she replied impatiently.

  “He can control minds. That means he can use a human to do his bidding, and they can walk about in the day.”

  She hadn’t considered that. She’d been desperate to be alone, desperate for him to return to her. “Oh,” she said dully.

  He finally focused on her. “Yeah, oh.”

  She planted her hands on her hips. “You left too, you know.”

  “I shouldn’t have.”

  “Where have you been? The sun came up two hours ago.”

  His powerful body moved with the
grace of a predator as he came toward her. “Out.”

  “Out?” she parroted, but she had no idea how to respond to his flippant reply. “You fed.”

  “I did.”

  Despite the burns on him, his skin shone with vitality and power. He radiated an aura of barely leashed violence that caused her fight or flight instinct to rear to life, even though she knew she had nothing to fear with him.

  Most would have been afraid of what he could do; it only made her love him more. He would never hurt her, but there was something different about him right then. Something within him was extremely volatile, and all his attention was focused on her.

  “You were caught out in the sun. Why didn’t you come back sooner?” she asked when he stopped before her.

  “I had some things to take care of.”

  Despite her misgivings about his current state of mind, she instinctively leaned closer. Yearning slipped through her body, making her stomach clench. Unable to stop herself, she wrapped her hands around his forearms to steady herself.

  Beneath her touch, his powerful muscles rippled. Her hands slid over his skin and the bristly blond hairs covering his arms. She barely managed to suppress a moan from the shivers of delight the contact elicited in her.

  “I wish you’d come back sooner,” she breathed.

  “So do I.” Her head tilted back to take him in. His face was unreadable as he watched her, his full mouth compressed into a thin line. “You somehow make everything better, Quinn. You make me feel like a man and not a monster.”

  “You’re not a monster.” She raised her hand and pressed her fingers against his cheek. He flinched as if her words and touch distressed him. Confusion swirled through her. She had no idea what had happened tonight, but he felt distant from her.