“You far outnumber us,” Julian replied. “We are showing trust in you right now.”
“You’ve proven numbers don’t stop you,” a woman near the front said and waved at the hotel.
“They don’t, so know that you’d all be dead right now if that was what we truly intended for you. We have kept our word; you are standing here unharmed,” Julian said. “We could have killed you all already and been home watching TV by now.”
“What that woman claims she saw is impossible!” another vampire cried from the back. “Vampires and Hunters can’t share their abilities with others! Julian can’t use her power!”
“Grab my hand,” Julian said to Quinn. When she slid her hand into his, he stepped forward to glower at the vampires. Many of them shied away from him.
“Julian, we promised them safe passage,” Quinn said.
He didn’t miss the appreciative gazes her words earned her from the vampires standing closest to them.
“And they will have it,” he replied. “Chris, are you willing to show them what I can do?”
The expression on Chris’s face made it clear that he’d rather eat shit. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“No,” Julian replied. “Give me your hand.”
With measured steps, Chris came toward him. “You owe me, big, for this.”
“I do.”
Chris held his hand out with a sigh. “Do your best to make me ugly, but remember, it may be impossible.”
He’s been hanging out with me too much, Julian thought as he seized Chris’s hand.
CHAPTER 7
The tentacles of Quinn’s power swelled and grew within him before moving into Chris. Julian felt the moment it latched onto his friend. Chris’s eyes widened, but he didn’t try to jerk away. Julian knew Chris wouldn’t be able to break free even if he did attempt it. Once Quinn’s power seized someone, there was no stopping it.
The flow of Chris’s life seeped into him, spreading out to his cells and filling his body before moving onto Quinn. He’d experienced this same rush of vitality when Quinn had used him to feed from another before. The fact she managed to keep herself restrained from absorbing the life and power from everyone she encountered only made him love and respect her more. There were many who wouldn’t have been so controlled if they possessed her ability.
With her extraordinary birth, Quinn was far more powerful than any who had ever wielded her ability before. It would have been so easy for her to lose control and cross a threshold he knew was difficult to come back from. She’d killed with her power before. She knew how incredible and enticing that influx of life felt, but she still kept it reined in.
Melissa bit her lower lip as Chris shriveled before their eyes. Chris’s heartbeat stuttered, and his eyes rolled up into his head. An influx of life flowed into Julian again as Quinn pushed everything back through him and into Chris. The grayish hue of Chris’s skin became a healthy pink once more, his sapphire eyes were bright when they warily met Julian’s gaze. The tentacles of Quinn’s power retreated, recoiling swiftly through Julian until he no longer felt them within his body.
Chris gasped, and his hand went to his throat as he took a staggering step away from them. “Never again,” he muttered. “Never, ever again.”
Tears shimmered in Melissa’s eyes when Chris returned to stand beside her. “Are you okay?” she asked.
“I swear my life flashed before my eyes,” Chris said. “Crazy vampires.”
“I still don’t see ash!” a man who towered over the crowd shouted from the back.
Julian gritted his teeth. He’d known the vamps were going to be difficult to convince, but now they were just looking for blood.
Patience, he schooled himself. If this was going to work, he had to keep control of his temper. He had to be willing to do the dirty work that would need to be done, but he’d also have to be calm and fair.
Quinn released his hand, and before he knew what she intended, she hurried away from him. The vampires stepped out of her way as she moved through them with her hands raised in the air. Julian’s non-beating heart leaped into his throat before he rushed after her. He pushed his way through the crowd already closing in around her.
“Will any of you volunteer to come forward?” she asked as she walked. The vampires she focused on looked hastily away from her.
Julian glared at every vampire he passed. Some of them moved back from him; others were too focused on Quinn to notice he was there and he had to shove his way through them. He wanted to throttle her for putting herself into this position, but the vamps continued to step away from her, their eyes fearful as they watched her.
She stopped before the tall vampire in the back and tilted her head back to stare defiantly up at him. “If you’re not going to volunteer to see if I can turn you to ash, then I’m going to take that to mean you do believe what we’re saying and you’re just being difficult.”
Julian resisted the urge to yank her against him when he stopped behind her. However, he didn’t want anyone here to think he didn’t believe she was strong enough to handle this. His eyes slid ominously over the crowd before he concentrated on the vampire before her. Julian had never seen the man before, but judging by the power coming from him, he was at least a hundred years old. Julian snarled and bared his fangs when the vampire stepped closer to Quinn.
Quinn glanced over her shoulder at him before focusing on the vamp again. “If you would like to test me, then hold out your hand. Otherwise, stop being an asshole.”
The vamp folded his arms over his broad chest as he studied her from his easily seven-foot height. The corner of his mouth quirked in a smile before he bobbed his head. “Fair enough, little one.”
The guy could have called him little, and it would have fit next to this vampire’s towering height. Quinn looked like Jack against the giant compared to this vamp. She turned to face the rest of the vampires. Their faces were guarded as they watched her, but Julian didn’t get an overwhelming sense of hostility from them.
Julian slid his arm around her waist, pulling her against him as he led her back through the crowd. “Don’t do that again,” he said through his teeth to her.
“They would have kept questioning us and pushing if I hadn’t,” she replied. “We would have gotten nowhere until I was forced to draw blood, breaking the safe passage pact, and ensuring all of this fell apart. I think that’s what some of them were angling for.”
“I know, but give me some notice next time before you plunge into a sea of vampires.”
“I will.”
He kissed the top of her head as he held her closer. It didn’t matter if the other vampires knew she was his mate. They would realize that, if they ever tried anything with her, they’d be facing the full wrath of his fury, and he’d unleash Hell upon them.
As they rejoined the others, Devon gave him a sympathetic look over Quinn’s actions, but he was biting his lip to keep from laughing. Julian resisted giving him the finger before turning to face the crowd again.
The mass was parting to allow the giant of a vampire through as he came toward them. He didn’t look doubtful anymore, but more curious as he kept his gaze on Quinn.
“How do we know the Guardians and Hunters won’t turn against you, and then us?” another vampire asked.
Quinn glanced questioningly at Julian. Before coming here, they’d discussed whether or not to reveal that she and Cassie were Hunters turned vampires. In the end, they’d decided to see how everything went tonight and play it by ear.
“They’re responding to you,” he told her. “If they believe in the prophecy, they’ll look to you for guidance. This is your call.”
“You’re right,” she said to him. She faced the crowd again as she spoke. “I was born a Hunter. I was also born part vampire.”
Murmurs of disbelief traveled through the crowd. “Vampires cannot be born!” someone yelled.
Quinn lifted a hand for silence. Julian’s eyebrow rose when the crowd quie
ted at once. The vampires were doubtful of her and everything they were being offered tonight, but Quinn still had them eating out of the palm of her hand.
“Let me explain,” she said.
No one moved; he wasn’t sure if any of them even blinked as Quinn recounted the details of how her Hunter mother had been turned into a vampire when she was four months pregnant with Quinn. When her mother was six months along, Quinn had been born healthy and mortal, but she’d required a few drops of blood on a regular basis to survive.
She told them how she’d always been stronger than a normal Hunter, had grown faster and been healthier than any other human, and how the sun had affected her before she’d been turned into a vampire. Then she revealed how, between her Hunter heritage and her half-vampire birth, she’d required no blood from a vampire in order to make the transformation from mortal into immortal when Earl killed her.
The snapping of a coyote’s jaws on its prey could be heard from well over a mile away when she stopped speaking.
“A vampire not born of vampire blood,” the tall vampire said after more than a minute of silence ticked by. Mutters raced through the crowd when he put this piece of the prophecy into place for the rest of them.
“Yes,” Quinn replied. “A vampire, but also a Hunter. I trust them. They are my people too. When my mother killed herself, my aunt and uncle raised me with Hunter training, but they also kept me hidden away for fear of what someone would do if they uncovered the truth about me.”
“I was also a Hunter,” Cassie said in a clear, strong voice. “This man was my Guardian.” She indicated Luther with a wave of her hand. “He has stood by me through everything, including my change into a vampire. These Hunters gathered here are closer to me than family, and Lou is a young Guardian we rescued from the clutches of The Commission.”
“What power do you have?” a vampire demanded of Cassie.
Devon shifted as he surveyed the crowd. The tension radiating from him caused a few of the vampires closest to them to step back. Julian kept one eye on Cassie and the other on the crowd as he waited to hear what she would say.
“I can wield fire.” Not the whole truth, but not a lie either. “Extremely well, as you can see,” Cassie added and pointed to the rubble behind them.
“By joining with us, you will have more safety, security, and power protecting you than you ever had when The Elders were still alive. They didn’t care if you lived or died,” Julian said.
“And you do?” the tall vamp snorted in disbelief.
Julian looked him dead in the eye while he responded. “No, I don’t,” he knew honesty was the only thing any of these vampires would respond to, “but I care about her life.” He rested his hand on Quinn’s shoulder, drawing her closer. “I am willing to defend any who remain behind and agree to follow us. I will offer you protection if you get into trouble; we all will.”
The tall vamp tilted his head to the side. “What do you expect from us in return?”
“Any who agree to join with us will also agree not to kill humans or any other innocents from here on out. This goes for Hunters and Guardians as well as vampires. Murder, unless it is done for self-protection or to defend another, will not be tolerated. Anyone who breaks this rule will be hunted down and destroyed.”
CHAPTER 8
Quinn felt a spike of anger from the vampires as they whispered amongst each other. Some of them slipped further toward the back of the crowd. They were losing them, or at least some of them. They had expected as much, but it seemed too soon to already have some defecting. They had to keep them here until the vampires could hear everything they had to say. If they lost them now, they would never get them back.
She felt eyes on her and turned to meet the gaze of the giant near the front of the crowd. His steady brown eyes sized her up. She held his gaze with steely resolve before turning to face the group once more.
“This is a lot to ask of you, I know!” Quinn yelled over the growing noise.
The voices stopped the second she started speaking again. Beside her, Julian shifted closer, his shoulder turning so he could step in the way if someone came at her. She didn’t bother to try to wave him off, he wouldn’t budge, and right now she had to remain concentrated on the vamps.
“Remember, this is all based on trust on both sides. Eventually the Hunters and Guardians will be given your pictures, if you agree to it”—she was flying by the seat of her pants here, but she didn’t see why it couldn’t be done—”and that way, they will know when they meet you if you’re an enemy or not. But if you’re not killing innocents, then you’re probably not going to run into a Hunter or Guardian. They won’t be drawn to you, or your area unless they have a reason to be.”
“Will we be given pictures of the Hunters?” the giant inquired.
She didn’t have to think about that. “No. It would be too easy for those pictures to fall into the hands of vampires who don’t agree to this. It will put the Hunters at too high of a risk if we do that.”
“What if one of your Hunters or Guardians decides we’re all evil and goes rogue?” someone demanded.
“Then they will be destroyed too,” Quinn vowed. She felt a shifting behind her, but no one protested her words. “Fair is only fair after all.”
“So, no matter where we are, we will be offered this protection from all of you if we’re in danger?” another asked.
“Yes, but I will be the one you will deal with the most,” Julian replied.
“Are we going to get your number to call you, Julian, or do we click our heels and think of you really hard?” another vampire retorted.
Titters of laughter followed this question, and Quinn felt the corners of her mouth quirk toward a smile.
“You can try clicking your heels,” Julian replied, “but I’m certain it won’t work. We plan to recruit vampires as we go. Those vampires will also work closely with us and with you. They will help regulate any problems that arise which will allow us to cover more area and offer more protection if an emergency should arise. They will also contact me if they think it’s necessary for me to get involved.”
“And what will these regulators get in return?” the giant asked. “It sounds like they’ll be doing a fair amount of work for you; will it be out of the kindness of their own hearts?”
Quinn liked the term regulators the instant the giant said it. She used to enjoy watching westerns with her uncle when she was a little girl, and it brought to mind Billy the Kid.
Julian smiled at the giant as he spoke. “We’re vampires, even if we don’t kill, our hearts are far from kind.”
“True,” the giant agreed.
“The vampires who work closely with us will become a part of the governing system that will be established to lead all vampires, with myself and Quinn at the head of it. Those vampires will have power. They will hunt down and destroy any who break our rules, and they will also be able to keep the spoils of those they kill.”
An excited murmur went through the crowd. Power, security, and money, they were three things most vampires coveted. Julian had just waved them before these vamps like a red flag. She wouldn’t be surprised if the vamps stampeded them in their eagerness to get at what Julian offered them.
“These regulators will have the ability to make choices on their own regarding wayward vampires, if they deem it necessary. They will also be struck down as quickly as anyone else should they cross the line. I may not be able to be everywhere at once, but”—Julian held his hand up to the crowd—”it will only take one touch for me to know what you have done, or plan to do.”
“What will Devon be doing?” another in the crowd asked.
“Cassie and I will continue to train Guardians and Hunters. We will work to make sure they understand things are changing for the better and what will be expected of them. That doesn’t mean I won’t be there to help Julian, and you, if Julian calls me. I’ll also destroy you if it’s deemed necessary.”
“And who will keep you and
Julian in check?” another asked. “You may not be slaughtering humans and vampires now, but we all know your histories, and as Elders, you are stronger than the rest of us.”
“I will!” Quinn declared. “If it becomes necessary, I will do what must be done. I won’t condone the murder of any innocent, even if it is Julian or Devon doing the killing. I may be a vampire now, but I’m also a Hunter who lost her family to vampires, and I won’t allow that to happen to others. Despite that, I’m also a vampire who understands the strain we all go through to resist killing.
“Throughout all of history, bringing the Hunters, Guardians, and vampires together is an idea that was never considered. Both sides have experienced heavy casualties because of ignorance; it’s time that stopped. I don’t care if you like it or not, but if you have faith in the prophecy, then you believe I’m to be your ally, and I know this is the first step to keeping all of us safer.”
Silence met her statement before more chatter erupted through the group. This time she let them figure out what it was they wanted on their own. There was only so much she could say to sway them one way or the other.
“I’ll say one thing for you, little one,” the giant said, “you got lady balls.”
“Ah…” Quinn had no idea how to respond to that. “Thank you… I think.”
“One question,” the giant said to her in a voice so low the crowd couldn’t hear him. “Vampires crave power. Many give into the lure of blood and death because of the power that comes with it. But you, you can take power from another without your fangs and with only a simple touch. Many of these vamps see you as their savior, but I want to know who will regulate you if you give into the temptation and start taking from others?”
“It is a possibility,” she admitted, “but all of you will regulate me, and so will Julian. He pulls me back from the edge when I’m tempted to lean too far over.”
“One of the most prolific and legendary killers of all vampires keeps you stable, interesting,” the giant murmured and lifted his hand to rub at his chin.