Julian held Quinn against him as he settled into Devon’s car and closed the passenger side door. Quinn cuddled closer to him when he shifted her in his arms. After the events of this night, she didn’t think she’d ever let him go again.
“Where’s Earl?” Julian inquired of Devon.
Quinn’s fingers dug into the flesh of his bare chest. She shuddered when Julian spoke the name of the man who had unknowingly turned her into a vampire—the man who had just captured her, used his mind control to bend her to his will and caused the deaths of her family and friends. Six years ago, Earl had tortured and killed her family because he was a vampire who thrived on death. He’d captured and tortured her this time because he’d figured out she was the vampire of some ridiculous prophecy spreading through the vampire community.
The chilling words of the prophecy ran through her mind again. A vampire, not born of vampire blood, will burn like the sun the life from anyone she touches. If used correctly, she will become our greatest ally, our savior.
She couldn’t deny the prophecy was about her, it fit her to a damn T after all, but after the events of this night, all she wanted was to get as far from vampires as possible. She would give anything to be able to lose herself in Julian’s arms right now. After what some vampires had put her through, the last thing she felt like being was the savior of the vampire race. At this point, she was ready to drain the life from any vampire she didn’t know and call it a day.
Seeming to sense her distress, Julian cradled her closer. His hands rubbed over her back, smoothing her hair as his fingers caressed her. “Easy, Dewdrop,” he murmured, his lips brushing against her ear while he spoke.
She relaxed as she nestled closer to him.
“Earl?” Julian asked again of Devon.
Devon’s emerald eyes assessed Julian as he glanced at him out of the corner of his eye. A strand of black hair fell over his forehead. “He’s in the RV with the others. So are the other two vampires you asked me to take out of that hotel with us. I thought it would be better if you were kept away from Earl for now,” Devon replied.
“Are the others going to be safe around those three?” Quinn asked.
“I still have control of all of their minds,” Devon assured her. “They won’t be able to hurt anyone as long as I do.”
Quinn couldn’t stop herself from shuddering again at the reminder of Devon’s ability to control the mind of another. The same ability had allowed Earl to get an invitation into her house in order to kill her family. More recently, Earl had used his ability to keep her a prisoner in her own body. The ability was terrifying in the hands of someone looking to torture another with it.
Lifting her head from Julian’s shoulder, Quinn turned to look at Cassie. They’d never formally met, but Quinn had heard enough about Cassie and Devon to know who they were. Cassie sat forward, a smile curving her full mouth. Cassie was Devon’s mate, but Quinn knew that at one time Julian had believed himself in love with her. Looking at her, Quinn could see why. Not only was she beautiful on the outside, but she also radiated a warmth many didn’t possess.
Quinn had no doubt that Julian loved her in a way he’d loved no other. She’d experienced that outpouring of love from him since the first time they’d sealed their bond as mates, but she still couldn’t help feeling a little overwhelmed by the stunning, extremely powerful vampire staring at her from the backseat. Like herself, Cassie had once been a Hunter too, and being turned into a vampire had amplified her power.
“I’m Cassie,” she said with a smile and brushed back the golden blonde hair spilling over her shoulders. Her violet-blue eyes twinkled as she looked between Quinn and Julian. “I’d shake your hand, but I’ve got enough crazy stuff kicking around in me without adding your ability to it.”
“Understandable. Believe me, I know what it’s like to have things kicking around inside of you that you can’t control. I’m Quinn. I’ve heard a lot about you.” Her gaze slid to Devon. She knew Devon and Julian had been best friends before Devon had stopped killing humans for pleasure and they’d had a falling out. They’d come back together a couple of years ago. “About both of you.”
“It’s all lies,” Devon said as he shifted the car into first and popped the clutch.
“Probably not all of it,” Cassie said with a laugh.
“None of it was,” Julian insisted.
Cassie rested her hand briefly on his shoulder and squeezed it.
“Thank you for coming, for helping me,” Quinn said to them.
Cassie’s smile slid away. “There was no way we weren’t coming here once I had that vision. We know what it’s like to be hunted, held captive, and abused.”
The same angry gleam Quinn saw in Julian’s eyes whenever he thought of or mentioned the time he’d been held captive by The Commission came into Cassie’s eyes. Quinn knew The Commission was the twisted group who had originally created the Hunter line. A couple years ago The Commission had tortured Cassie and Julian in a sick attempt to further the Hunter line.
Red not only filled Cassie’s irises when she was angry, but it also bled into the whites of her eyes. Quinn’s fingers rose to touch the corner of her eye as she thought about how her own eyes did that too when she was losing control. It was the sign of a turned Hunter, she realized.
The red faded from Cassie’s eyes when she rested her hand on Devon’s shoulder and moved closer to him. “And we know what it’s like to be forcefully separated,” Cassie continued. “No one else should have to go through that, especially not Julian.”
“Thanks, Solar,” Julian said.
She scowled at him, and Quinn’s mouth quirked in a small smile when she realized Cassie didn’t appreciate the nickname. She had to admit, she liked that he called her Dewdrop now, but when he’d first given her the nickname, she’d wanted to choke him, or slide into his arms. But then, he had that way of being able to drive her crazy while making her yearn to kiss him.
“You might make me change my mind,” Cassie grumbled. Julian grinned at her. Ignoring him, Cassie focused on her again. “But I can’t let a fellow Hunter go through it.”
“Thank you,” Quinn replied. The words were completely inadequate, but it was all she had to give.
“No need to thank us,” Devon said.
Quinn lowered her head to Julian’s shoulder as the car raced over the asphalt. The lulling sound of the tires on the road lured her battered body toward sleep, but there was still far too much for them to deal with before that could happen. The glow of the headlights from the RV following them drew her attention to the passenger side mirror when they bounced in the glass surface.
Behind the RV, the growing flames from the hotel Cassie set on fire rolled higher into the night sky. She felt no sympathy for the vampires who had died in that fire tonight. They may not have known what Earl fully meant to do with her, but when he’d announced his plans none of them had tried to stop him either.
Julian’s hand enfolded hers. “It’s okay.”
It was then that she realized she’d become angry enough to have golden sparks playing over her fingers. Her hand clenched around his. He calmed her and helped to keep her power grounded. The amount of destruction she’d unleashed in there tonight, the brutality of what she’d done with her power still rattled her. Being born a Hunter and a half-vampire had always made her stronger than humans. She’d also been more powerful than her Hunter aunt and uncle and her two cousins.
Six years ago, when Earl first attacked her, she’d still been mortal. Earl had been sure he’d left her for dead, but she’d had enough vampire blood in her from her Hunter heritage and her half-vampire birth to turn her into a vampire.
Even with always being more powerful, she’d never known she could do what she’d done in that hotel to Earl and Helena. As a Soul Master, her ability to draw life from things had saved Julian’s life, and sometimes caused his heart to beat again. It was a power that could do a lot of good, but she’d also used her ability to kill another Hunter in order to save Julian. Tonight, she’d sucked the life from Helena as if she were no more than a newly turned vamp instead of the powerful, almost Elder vampire she’d been.
Tilting her head back, Quinn gazed up at Julian’s much-loved face. She’d been livid when he’d first walked into her life and thrown it into a tailspin. Now, he’d become her rock. He understood her in a way no other ever could. As long as he was here to help keep her grounded, she knew she could control the increasing strength of her sometimes frightening ability.
The white bands with their turquoise flecks that circled Julian’s pupils darkened when he lowered his head to gaze at her. His ice-blue eyes warmed to an almost sky blue. He lifted her hand and pressed his full lips against the back of it. While Earl had been holding her captive, some incident in the sun had left his platinum hair nothing more than stubble, and in some places, he still had charred black patches on his scalp. She’d eventually get out of him what had happened to cause it, but for now, she was content to let it be.
Lifting her fingers, she ran them over his broad cheekbones, tracing the curve of his beloved face. Her hands trailed over his square jaw and then his lips. He was the most striking man she’d ever encountered, and he was hers. His eyes softened further as his fingers threaded through her hair.
Resting her head on his chest, she slid her fingers over his carved abdomen before running them up his arm. On his right bicep, she followed the lines of the weeping angel tattooed there. The tattoo was appropriate for him. He was stunning enough and vicious enough to make the angels cry.
She’d spent eighteen years of her life hating vampires and training to learn how to kill them, and then she’d become one. She’d never believed she could fall in love with one, never thought she’d ever trust one enough to even like them, but she trusted and loved him more than she’d ever considered possible. At one time in his life, Julian had been a brutal murderer, the epitome of everything she hated about vampires. She knew he still had it in him to be ruthless, but then, so did she.