Arctic Fire

by Erica Stevens

  A groan escaped him when her teeth pierced his skin and she drank from him in greedy pulls. Her joy over being able to touch and hold him again filled him. He felt her terror and anguish over losing him, felt the shattering of her soul that had preceded the moment she’d lost control and grabbed hold of Zach.

  All of her feelings washed over him as her tears wet the collar of his shirt. He held her closer against his chest while he felt the subtle pull of her power taking back from him some of the life force she’d given.

  “I understand and I love you,” he murmured. “Nothing will turn me away from you.”

  CHAPTER 13

  Quinn lifted her head from his shoulder and stared around her bedroom before looking at him.

  “Did you see anything?” she inquired. “You know, when you died? Was there a light or anything?”

  He frowned as he pondered her question. “No, I saw nothing. There was only blackness, like the last time I died.”

  “I only saw blackness too before the change into vampire started to take hold,” she murmured.

  He brushed back a lock of her hair, drawing her attention back to him. “Why do you ask?”

  “I may be immortal, but death isn’t out of the question. I’d like to know there is something after.”

  “I think we all would. I wasn’t dead for long, either time, so perhaps there is something after and I haven’t found it yet.”

  “Maybe,” she agreed.

  “If it does find me, I have a feeling there will be a lot of fire involved.”

  “You don’t know that. You’re doing a lot of good now.”

  “I have centuries behind me of being about as far from good as one can get.”

  She rested her hand against his cheek. She’d almost lost him. The sorrow of that reminder was like a stake to her heart. “Then we’ll have to make sure you get a millennia of being who you are now,” she told him.

  He smiled as he pressed a kiss against her forehead. “I like the way you think.”

  “Besides, I may be joining you in the fire.”

  “No, never you.”

  She hadn’t been so sure before today, and she was less sure now, but she wasn’t going to argue with him. “We should rejoin the others.” His hands tightened on her, the corded muscles of his neck and arms stood out. “Julian—”

  “Yes,” he agreed.

  He didn’t release her, but kept her pressed against him as he rose to his feet. Ever so slowly, he allowed her to slide down the front of his body. A delicious shiver went through her at the friction the motion caused. She bit her bottom lip as she tried to suppress the arousal the movement awoke in her. She knew she’d failed when his mouth quirked in that cocky half grin of his.

  “I have to wash my face first.” She pulled away from him and walked into the bathroom.

  Flicking on the light, she blinked at the vision of the woman staring back at her within the mirror. Her cheeks were sunken, the blue veins in her flesh clearly visible. The shadows under her eyes made them shine nearly as bright as the sun. Her fingers pressed against her cheeks, and she gawked at her bony hands. She’d never considered herself beautiful, but now she looked like a walking corpse.

  She shuddered at the reminder of a corpse. There was one in her kitchen right now after all, and she had put it there. And I’d do it again to save Julian. She didn’t bother to deny it, and Zach hadn’t been innocent.

  But wasn’t he? He’d had no control over what he’d done. If he was still alive, Julian would be dead, you’d be a monster, and Zach would be useless to us. Untrustworthy and corrupted. He would have had to be locked away or destroyed anyway, and so would you, eventually.

  No matter what, if Julian had died, she knew she would have been able to keep herself together until she’d managed to destroy the monster stalking her town, turning who knew how many countless others against them. She would have taken her revenge on him before destroying herself.

  Now, there could be other friends turned enemies out there, waiting for their chance to attack. And there was no way to know who they were, until they made their move. Julian was the only one she could trust completely. If he’d been under the control of the vampire who wanted her, she would no longer be standing here. She was strong, but she’d never be able to fight Julian off if he was ever compelled to hand her over to their enemy.

  “You look better.” She glanced at Julian as he appeared in the doorway of the bathroom.

  “I looked worse than this?” she croaked with a wave of her hand at the mirror. “I look like the corpse bride.”

  He smiled as he came forward to stand behind her. Their eyes met in the mirror. Resting his hands on her waist, he leaned over her until his chin rested on her shoulder and his lips were against her ear. “But you’re my corpse bride,” he whispered, “and I still think you’re stunning.”

  “If you weren’t a vampire, I’d swear you needed glasses.”

  Her hands trembled when she turned on the water. Dipping her hands into it, she bent to splash it over her face. What she wouldn’t give for the longest, hottest bath of her life, but with a corpse in her kitchen, there were more pressing issues than her achy, bony body.

  Julian handed her a face towel, and she quickly dried herself. Her eyes met his in the mirror again before she turned to face him. “Some more blood will help,” he said and brushed her hair over her shoulder. “We’ll get you some now.”

  “I think there are more important things to deal with first. And what about Melissa’s vision? It’s Tuesday, I don’t think there are any bonfires tonight, but what if the fire in her vision isn’t the same bonfire we went to before? It’s not like people don’t have fires in their backyards all the time around here.”

  Julian tugged the towel from her hands and draped it on the sink. “We’ll deal with that later.”

  “I couldn’t stand it if more innocent people die because of this d-bag,” she muttered.

  “I know, but you’re not exactly up for a fight right now.”

  She tilted her chin and thrust back her shoulders. “I can still drain him dry if necessary.”

  “That’s my girl.” He kissed her so tenderly, her heart melted before he pulled away from her. “Come on.”

  He slid his hand into hers and led her from the bathroom. She followed him into her crowded living room, though it was less crowded now than it had been before, she realized guiltily.

  “I’m sorry about what happened.” She couldn’t bring herself to apologize for saving Julian’s life by taking Zach’s, but she was sorry it happened, and she needed them to know that. Julian’s hand squeezed hers as he surveyed the people gathered within. “I wish you all hadn’t seen it.” That was very true; she could only imagine how appalling and frightening it had been for them to witness what had unfolded here earlier.

  Melissa released Chris’s hand and rose from the couch. Quinn braced herself for whatever the young woman had to say. They may not have dated seriously, but there had been something between Melissa and Zach at one time. She’d come to consider Melissa a friend and believed Melissa saw her the same way, or at least she had before Quinn had killed Zach. Now, she deserved Melissa’s condemnation and resentment, and she would take them both without complaint.

  “We understand why you did it,” Melissa said.

  Quinn opened her mouth to sputter some kind of response, but she had none. Chris rose to his feet and walked around the milk crate coffee table toward her. Quinn took a step away from him, but he rested his hand against her arm.

  “You shouldn’t touch me,” she protested as her power hungrily slid toward him.

  She was drained and her ability was seeking out a source to replace the life it had lost. Clamping down on it, she kept it from latching onto Chris. She could keep herself from hurting him, but she didn’t believe she deserved their sympathy and understanding right now. She’d killed a man; she’d killed a Hunter. One of their own, one of her own too.

  She tried to m
ove further away from Chris, but Julian’s hand on hers would only allow her to go so far. Attempting to tug her hand free of Julian, she gave up when he refused to release her. She didn’t have it in her right now to give him the zap he deserved for keeping her restrained.

  Chris kept his hand wrapped around her arm. She’d lost so much weight that his fingers met on the underside of her arm. Her shoulders heaved with the helplessness filling her. “It wasn’t Zach’s fault, and it wasn’t yours either,” Chris said. “He did what he’d been compelled to do. You reacted on instinct and your need to keep your mate alive. We trust you.”

  “Why? You shouldn’t.”

  “Because you are also one of us, a Hunter.”

  “I was also part vampire before I became a full vamp.”

  “In truth, all Hunters are also part vamp. You were just a little bit more than the rest of us. If you were truly a danger to us, you would be taking some of my life from me right now. Judging by the look of you, no offense, you could definitely use it, but you’re not taking anything from me.”

  Quinn released a small snort of laughter. “No offense taken; I have a mirror.” He smiled at her, squeezed her arm again, and released her. “Why are you so understanding?” she blurted when he turned to walk back toward the couch.

  “Because I can feel evil. I can sense when something is wrong in someone and they’re a threat, unless they’re under the influence of mind control, apparently. You’re none of those things. Not unless someone’s life is on the line. Every single one of us can become someone you don’t want to mess with when our loved ones are threatened.”

  “What if it had been Melissa or Luther, instead of Zach I had done this to?”

  Chris winced, bowing his head and hunching his shoulders forward. Finally, he lifted his head to meet her gaze again. “But it wasn’t, and for that I am eternally grateful. What does it say about me that I would have traded Zach’s life for Julian’s, or anyone else’s in this room?”

  Quinn didn’t know how to answer him. There was no answer to it. Judging by the expressions on the faces surrounding her, they all felt the same way. But then, she believed they’d trade her life for the others too. They liked her, but they had all been together for years, especially Chris, Melissa, and Luther. She had no doubt they would do anything to protect each other’s lives.

  And she understood that.

  Finally, tugging her hand free from Julian’s, she wrapped it around his arm and stepped closer to him. “The bonfire you saw in your vision, was it the same one we went to before?” she asked Melissa.

  Melissa tilted her head to the side as she mulled it over. “With everything else that’s happened, I’d almost forgotten about the vision,” she said with a small snort. “You know, I’m not sure. It was in the desert, but everything around here is. The flames weren’t overly large, so it could have been starting or ending.”

  “If there’s going to be a big bonfire, it won’t be until Friday, but anyone could have a fire in their yard over the coming nights,” Quinn replied.

  “There were at least ten bodies there,” Melissa said. Chris rested his hand on her shoulder when she began to pull anxiously at the sleeves of her shirt. Her fingers stilled.

  “The best place to start will be the big bonfire,” Julian said. “And we’ll stay alert for any other fires in the area. We have to destroy this vamp as soon as possible. Until he’s dead, anyone could be an enemy.”

  Quinn’s gaze slid over the others. She didn’t like to believe any one of them could be a danger, but there was no denying they could.

  “We have to get the body out of here,” Chris said.

  “We’ll do that now,” Julian said. “I’m going to need all of you in the hallways and outside to keep an eye out. I can get him out of here and into the desert before anyone sees me, but I can’t take the chance of walking into a human.”

  “Dusty probably wouldn’t flash you another peace sign after he saw you with a dead body,” Quinn said.

  “That might be worth it,” he replied before turning to the others again. “You’re all to stay near this building until I get back from disposing of his body.”

  “No,” Quinn said. “We’re going with you, and he’s going to be buried. Maybe no one else will ever know he’s there, but we will, and he deserves more than being dumped out for the animals to find him.”

  Julian opened his mouth to argue with her, but Melissa spoke before he could. “She’s right. We will give him a proper burial.”

  He glanced at Quinn before looking over at Melissa. “Fine,” he relented. “We’ll need shovels.”

  “The hardware store is probably closed by now,” Quinn said.

  “He’s not staying in here until tomorrow,” Lou said.

  “No, he’s not,” Quinn hastily replied. Turning to Julian, she smiled at him. “But you can get them.”

  “You expect me to break into the hardware store?” he asked.

  “Aren’t you the one who’s always telling me to embrace my vampire nature and that we never have to want for anything?”

  “This is not what I meant.”

  “Of course it is. We need, and we don’t have to.”

  He scowled at her, but didn’t protest as he turned away. “You’re coming with me,” he said to Chris who nodded his head in agreement.

  ***

  “Freaking women have us breaking into a hardware store in the middle of night to steal shovels for the man who stabbed me in the back,” Julian muttered as he slunk through the shadows of the store toward the shovels hanging on the back wall.

  Chris’s eyes darted around constantly; he jumped at every shadow he saw. “Still can’t believe that happened. Shock is the understatement of the century for that whole traumatic event,” Chris said.

  “You didn’t get the stake through the heart, that was trauma,” Julian retorted.

  “No, but you didn’t have to witness one of your best friends dying, again. I’d hoped to never see that again after Cassie.”

  Julian glanced back at him. Chris was crouched low as he walked, looking like every ridiculous burglar in a bad comedy movie. Best friend? They’d grown closer over the past couple of years, but he’d always believed a part of Chris would never forgive him for what he’d done to them when they’d first met. Chris had never acted that way, but Julian certainly wouldn’t have been so understanding if the roles had been reversed. Apparently, Chris had a bigger capability for forgiveness than he ever would, but then, he already knew that.

  Watching him, Julian had to admit he didn’t know what he’d do without the kid. Chris could be a pain in his ass, but he also kept him in line and called him on his crap. Chris stopped walking when he realized Julian had halted before him. His sapphire eyes glinted in the dim light as he searched for a threat.

  “What is it?” he demanded.

  “Nothing,” Julian said with a shake of his head and turned away from him.

  “By the way,” Chris continued, “I’m getting really sick and tired of seeing my friends die, so could we stop that now?”

  Julian snorted with laughter. “It wasn’t in my plans for the day; I can assure you of that.”

  “I think you’re getting soft in your old age.”

  Julian shot him a ferocious scowl. “I was, but it most certainly won’t happen again. Quinn depends on me now, and I messed up, big time.”

  “No one saw that coming, ever. This vamp after her, he’s a conniving prick.”

  “He’s going to die the most agonizing of deaths, if I have anything to say about it.”

  Chris jumped when a car went by on the street and the spill of its headlights briefly illuminated the store. “I can’t go to jail.”

  “You’re not going to jail,” Julian replied impatiently. Arriving at the back wall, he tugged down two shovels and handed one to Chris before making his way toward the front of the store. He pulled some money out of his pocket as he walked.

  “What are you doing?” Chri
s hissed.

  He may have let Chris behind him, but Julian kept his senses and his ears acutely attuned to every sound and move he made. Under normal conditions, he’d never hesitate to trust Chris with his life. These weren’t normal conditions. He’d have him by the throat, on the ground, and hog-tied with the nearest piece of rope if Chris made one wrong step toward him.

  “Quinn told me to leave money behind for the tools. She said the couple who own this place work hard to keep their store going,” he answered.

  Chris released a snort of laughter. “She has you wrapped around her little finger.”

  “She does.” He wasn’t at all ashamed to admit it either.

  “But then, I think she’s pretty far gone for you too.” Chris stopped at the counter beside Julian. He reached out to flip through the brochures and coupons stacked near the register before snatching his hand back. “No jail,” he scolded himself.

  “I think she is too,” Julian replied. Tossing a couple of twenties on the counter, he lifted his head to stare around the shadowed interior of the store. He couldn’t shake the feeling he was being watched.

  “It’s a good thing too. If she wasn’t, you’d be ash in the morning.”

  Julian shot him a look over his shoulder, but Chris assumed a completely innocent expression that set his teeth on edge. Had he really just been thinking that he didn’t know what he’d do without him?

  Turning away from Chris, he scanned the store again. Chris released a loud grunt of displeasure when Julian moved toward the plate glass windows making up the front of the building.

  His eyes scanned the horizon, but he saw nothing moving amongst the shadows. Turning, he focused on Quinn’s apartment. He spotted her sitting in her garden window with her back to the street. He believed it highly unlikely the vamp had managed to get to Luther, Melissa, and Lou too, but relief still filled him at the sight of her sitting where he’d asked her to. If he’d thought she was up for it, he would have brought her with him, but until she got some more nourishment, he didn’t want her to exert herself.