Taking hold of her hand, he ran his thumb over the delicate bones in the back of it before tracing the puckered line of the scar there. “Come.”
“Stay here,” Devon said to Cassie.
Cassie hesitated before stepping back to stand with Melissa, Dani, and Lou. Chris, Luther, and Clint followed them out of the bar and to the garage. Chris walked at his side, his sapphire eyes shifting nervously between Julian and Quinn.
“How bad is it in there?” Chris asked.
“You’re not going to like what you see,” Julian assured him.
Chris’s shaggy, sandy blond hair fell into his eyes when he gave a brisk nod. He ran his hand through his hair, shoving it away from his face. As a Hunter, Chris had seen a lot and killed his fair share of vampires over the years, but Julian still would have preferred to keep this from him. When they’d first met, Julian would have happily killed the kid, he’d definitely tried to, but now he considered Chris a close friend. That friendship would make Chris refuse to return to the bar to wait with the others.
Julian opened the garage door for the others before making his way over to the hidden entrance to the room below. Bending, Julian pulled the panel covering the hidden room up and set it aside. Quinn’s eyes flickered when the coppery tang of blood wafted up from below. Julian rose to stand before her. He ran his fingers over the scar on her temple before stroking the one on her chin. She didn’t shrink away from him or slap his hand away like she used to when he tried to touch her scars.
“Everything he’s ever done to you will be done to him, plus some,” he told her as he reclaimed her hand. “Prepare yourself.”
Realization caused more color to drain from her face, but she resolutely followed him down the stairs. Her hand jerked in his when she spotted Earl lying spread-eagle on the floor. It was the only reaction she gave to the grisly display. The couple both cried out and took a staggering step back toward the stairs. Devon, Clint, and Chris blocked their exit before they could flee. Luther strode over to stand on the other side of Earl, his forehead furrowed as he stared at the vamp.
Over the years, Julian had learned that Luther could be as ruthless as him and Devon, especially when Melissa, Chris, and Cassie were at risk. As a Guardian, Luther was responsible for training Hunters to kill vampires. Luther had raised Melissa since she was a baby, after her parents were killed. He’d taught her what she was and trained her as a Hunter. He hadn’t discovered Cassie and Chris until later in their lives, but he’d also taught them what they were and what they were capable of. To Luther, they were his children, and he would defend them with his life. Despite that, Julian didn’t know how Luther would react to what he’d done to Earl.
Luther’s Lennon-style glasses slid down to perch at the end of his hawkish nose. Pushing his glasses back up, he ran a hand through his salt and pepper hair before lifting his gaze to Julian. Luther didn’t say a word to him, and Julian didn’t see any disapproval in Luther’s steady gaze, only a concern Julian knew was for him and not Earl.
Quinn’s eyes remained riveted on Earl while Julian walked her around to stand on the other side of the vamp. Earl’s eyes filled with a loathing Julian would make him pay for as the vamp watched Quinn’s every move.
“This is only the beginning for him,” Julian said to the couple, drawing their attention from Earl to him. “If more try to come for her, they will meet this same fate and worse. If you’re not what I need you to be, you will not be walking away from here tonight.”
“We’ll be anything you need!” the man blurted as the woman flattened herself against the wall.
“Chris and I will be the judges of that,” Julian replied, and the couple shared a confused look.
Earl gurgled and jerked against his chains as he made a lurching motion toward Quinn. She didn’t step away from him, but Julian pulled her back before placing his foot on the knife in Earl’s throat and pushing it deeper into his flesh. The woman cried out and buried her face in the man’s chest as Earl jerked awkwardly on the ground.
“Out!” Julian commanded the couple.
CHAPTER 4
Devon, Clint, and Chris kept the couple boxed in as they herded them back up the stairs. Quinn remained at Julian’s side as he led her from the room and settled the board back into place over the hole. He reclaimed her hand afterward and drew her closer. He saw no revulsion in her eyes when they met his, but they were full of dread.
“Earl will never hurt you again,” he promised her.
“It’s not him I’m worried about.”
“Don’t worry about me. I can handle this.”
She opened her mouth to say more before glancing at the couple and closing it again. He kept hold of her hand while they walked back to the bar. When they reentered the barroom, the others all lifted their heads. Cassie stared at the crying woman and shaking man before looking questioningly toward Devon, who kept his face impassive.
Melissa and Dani had moved to sit at the bar. Dani stood and walked over to join Cassie. Melissa remained sitting for a minute before placing her hands on the bar and rising with lethal grace to stand with the others. Her short black hair had been tucked behind her ears. Her onyx eyes somberly watched them all spread out around the bar again with the couple enclosed in a circle.
Lou stood at her side, his hands in his pockets, and his tawny brown eyes unreadable. His brown hair curled at the collar of his shirt. At six foot, the young Guardian had always been lanky, but once he’d turned eighteen, he’d begun to fill out and become bulkier in build.
Julian turned to Chris before speaking. “I need to know if you think they’re trustworthy.”
Chris’s ability to read others and judge who and what they were was a good way to learn what they were dealing with when it came to this couple. Afterward, Julian would dive into their secrets. He could do this without Chris, or Devon could make them tell the truth about themselves, but seeing into a person’s life was often a lot more revealing and helped him better grasp what someone was truly like.
If he felt they were good to use for this, he would have Devon make them follow through on their mission, but he wanted to know if they were naturally trustworthy too. If they weren’t, he would find other vampires for this purpose.
“Who first?” Chris inquired as he took a step toward the couple.
The woman moved away from him, and the man glanced nervously toward the door. “You won’t make it if you try to run,” Julian promised him. “And once Chris is done, I’ll also be taking a turn at reading you.”
The man’s eyes filled with red, but he thrust his hand out to Chris. Devon and Julian moved closer, putting themselves in a position to jump on either of the vamps and take them down if they made a move to hurt Chris.
“What are you going to do?” the male vamp demanded.
“It won’t hurt,” Chris assured him.
Chris grabbed hold of the vamp’s hand. His eyes closed for a minute before Chris released the man and turned to the woman. She eyed Chris warily before sticking out her hand.
Julian glanced at Quinn when she moved to stand beside him. “If they’re good, we’re being unreasonably mean to them,” she whispered.
He turned his mouth so his lips brushed against her ear when he spoke. “They may not be killers, or they could be, but either way, they were in that hotel tonight, and they stood by as you were abused.”
“They could have been afraid to go against all those other vamps. There were a lot of vampires in that ballroom who were only there because of the prophecy and what Earl was promising them.”
“Fear is not an excuse for cowardice or cruelty, and they were both when they made no move to try to stop what Earl did to you.”
“Two wrongs don’t make a right,” she murmured.
“Payback’s a bitch. This is what must be done to accomplish what will be a greater good for humans, Hunters, and vampires. Countless lives depend on us succeeding in this. I will do whatever it takes to see that it is done.”
Julian ran his knuckles over her cheek when her lashes fell to shadow her golden eyes. He could feel her turmoil, but she bowed her head and stepped away as Chris released the woman.
“Well?” Julian inquired of Chris.
“They’re not killers, and they’re not brutal. They’re just… here,” Chris replied.
“What does that mean?” Dani asked.
Julian turned to Dani, but whereas before the sight of her had always brought forth the reminder of her betrayal to Cassie, he found the anger didn’t come as it once had. The girl had screwed up royally in the past, but then his past was far more tainted than hers, and Dani had fought for Quinn when Earl had come. A chunk of Dani’s top right ear had been torn away from a bullet that had streaked across her right cheek during that fight.
Her hazel eyes with their gold flecks watched the couple as Chris stepped further away from them. She’d recently bleached her short hair blonde and added rainbow streaks around face. Her eyebrow and lip rings gleamed in the dim lights of the bar.
“It means,” Chris said, “they simply exist. They’ve never stood for anything or against it. I don’t know why they were in that hotel.”
“We have each other,” the woman whispered, and the man clasped her hand. “That’s all we need.”
Mated, Julian realized and exchanged a look with Devon. That would help with his plan. Neither of them would be willing to do anything to risk the life of the other.
“Why were you in the hotel then?” Julian demanded.
“Everyone has heard the prophecy,” the man replied. “Curiosity drew us in, as did the promise of a possible security that none of us have ever had, not even when the ruling Elders were still alive.”
Julian took a step to the right, blocking Quinn from the man’s gaze when he looked to her. The growl rumbling up his chest caused the man’s eyes to dart away.
The woman settled her hand on the man’s arm before speaking. “We didn’t know it was going to be like that in there.”
“I’ll be the judge of that,” Julian said and stepped forward. He gave no warning before he seized the man’s arm.
Images of the woman flooded his mind. The man’s love for her beat against him. They were young, neither of them older than a hundred, but the man had been turned before her and fallen in love with her ten years later. She’d agreed to become a vampire for him. No death or violence filled his mind. He received no images of cruelty, only those of a simple life, one where they existed together.
He couldn’t stop the sting of jealousy he experienced over the peace they had in their lives. He’d give anything to be able to take Quinn around the world, or sit in a lounge chair on a beach with her while drinking some umbrella drinks and watching the stars come out. Anything she looked at twice, he would buy her. All he wanted for her was peace and happiness.
Unfortunately, it couldn’t be—not while a chance remained that the vampires would seek her out because of the prophecy.
Julian released the man’s arm and turned toward the woman. He saw many of the same images from her. The man’s ability to speak with ghosts hadn’t been a concern to Julian. The woman’s ability to disorient her prey was a little bit more of one, but not much. He’d have her heart in his hand before she could attempt to wield it against anyone in this room.
Releasing her, he took a step back.
“What did you see?” Devon inquired.
“Chris is right,” he said. “They simply exist for each other. There is nothing evil within them. He can communicate with ghosts and she’s a Spinner.”
Both of them shifted, uncomfortable their special abilities had been uncovered and revealed. “Will you tell us what you wanted with us now?” the man inquired.
“I will,” Julian replied with a tight smile. “You’re going to go out, find as many vampires as you can, and you’re going to tell every one of them the story of what happened at that hotel. “The story of what we did to a group that far outnumbered us. You’re also going to tell them that if anyone tries to come after the vampire of this fucking prophecy again, they’ll meet the same fate as every vampire who perished in that hotel. And I will make sure their deaths are nowhere near as easy as being burned alive. You saw what I started with Earl. That will be nothing compared to what I will do to anyone else who comes after her. Do you understand me?”
“Yes,” the couple replied at the same time.
“You’re also going to go out among the vampires and spread another message,” Julian said.
“Wh… what would you like us to tell them?” the woman stammered out.
“Exactly one month from now, there will be a meeting concerning the future of the vampire race. A new leadership will be formed, and as you witnessed last night, it will be a leadership that will be able to protect and guide them far better than the Elders ever did. Everyone who arrives at the meeting is promised safe passage to and from it, no matter what they decide.”
“Where will it be?” the man asked.
“Where the hotel stood,” Julian answered. “The two of you will be there.”
“We will,” the man vowed.
The woman’s eyes filled with tears as she gazed at them. “Will you kill us then?” she inquired.
“Not if you do as I’ve instructed,” Julian replied. “Which Devon will make sure you do.”
“They will.” Devon smiled at the couple as he strode forward to stand before them. “Now, when you regained consciousness after the fire, you were no longer at the hotel in the desert, but in San Francisco with no memory of how you got there.”
Their faces took on blank expressions as he continued to speak with them while his power intertwined with their minds. “You believe all of us to be located somewhere in California, but you have no idea where. You do remember how to get back to where the hotel stood, and you will recall everything that occurred there. Except”—he pointed to Cassie—”you’ll have no recollection of her—”
“No,” Cassie interrupted.
Devon whirled to face her. “What do you mean ‘no’?”
Cassie held Devon’s gaze as she spoke. “I mean no. If there is going to be a new leadership for the vampires, if we’re going to give them something to grasp onto and try to make them less lethal, then I think it’s best they know something about me.”
Red flared through Devon’s eyes; Chris and Melissa edged away from him.
“That is a horrible idea,” Devon said.
“I think what Julian wants to do with the vampires will work, but we need to present as big of a united front to them as we can,” Cassie said.
“There will be those who will continue to come for me no matter what we do,” Quinn said.
“Yes, but if there are a lot more of us to fear, they’ll think twice about it,” Cassie replied. “If most of the vampires believe you’re their ally, and that all of us are on your side too, they’ll be more likely to defend you against the vamps who are foolish enough to try to come after you again.”
“The vampires may not like some of the rules I plan to set forth, but they’ll obey if they think it will help keep them alive. The ones who don’t fall in line will be open season for Hunters, Guardians, and vampires alike. That’s one hell of a force protecting you against another attack.” Julian slid his arm around Quinn’s waist, drawing her eyes to him when he pulled her close to his side. “Believe me, most of them will prefer not being able to kill humans to having those numbers breathing down their necks.”
“And if we merge the Hunters, Guardians, and vamps into one faction, it will be a nearly unstoppable force that will benefit all of us,” Luther said, “especially with two Elders involved.”
“And two Hunters turned vampires who will stand beside those Elders when they see us next,” Cassie said. “Plus three Hunters and three Guardians who will also be present. It’s a united front many of the vampires will be unable to resist. A force that may be more powerful than the Elders we destroyed.”
“It co
uld well be,” Clint agreed as he rubbed at his beard.
A muscle twitched in Devon’s cheek as he stared at Cassie. “What about training and the children?” he demanded of her.
“We can do this without you, Solar,” Julian said, earning him a scowl from Cassie. “The children need the two of you.”
“And they’ll still have us. Just because the next time the vampires see us we’re presenting a united front, it doesn’t mean we have to be together all the time,” Cassie replied. “This thing with the vampires will mainly be yours to run. The training and protection of the children will be ours, but Devon and I can’t remain hidden while you try to do this. All of us together is how we have to be, at least in the beginning. Liam and Annabelle will stay with the children and remain out of it completely. In case something goes wrong, they’ll still be there to look after them.”
Cassie took hold of Devon’s hand as she spoke with him. “Take from this couple the memory of everything I can do, but leave me in there.”
Julian agreed with leaving Annabelle and Liam out of this. Right now, the two vampires were safely hidden away in Canada with the Hunter and Guardian children they’d all rescued two years ago.
“I don’t like this,” Devon said.
“Neither do I,” Julian muttered.
The idea of putting Cassie, probably the most powerful vampire in existence, anywhere near the vamps hunting for Quinn unsettled him. However, he couldn’t deny it made sense to show the vampires how much power they had on their side.
Beside him, Clint unwrapped a piece of gum and popped it in his mouth. Somewhere during everything that had happened, Clint had lost his customary baseball cap. His bushy gray hair stuck out in a million different directions, making it look like Einstein’s hair. He adjusted his pants, pulling them up so his belly didn’t hang over his belt quite as badly. Clint’s brown eyes warmed when he focused on Quinn.
“I’m ‘fraid I’m going to have to sit most of this out,” Clint said to her. “I’ve been considering that RV thing after everything that’s happened. I think Hawtie and I would enjoy traveling the country together. I think it’s time we enjoy our lives for a change. If not for you, my Hawtie would be dead right now. We missed out on having kids, but I’m not going to miss out on anything more with her. Life is too damn short for us mortals.”