A Kiss of Blood: A Vamp City Novel (16 page)

“Halt! Down. Now!” The wolves backed off, and the alpha helped her to her feet. “Just as Blackstone created Vamp City, the sorceress created a small bubble of a world, a place for us to talk, and negotiate, in private.” That was one way to spin it. “Once the sorceress has renewed the magic of Vamp City, she will return and share her power with us. Bring the vampire in the trough to me. He’s her protector and henceforth will not be harmed.”

Releasing Quinn, he lifted both hands. “Douse the flames.”

As the wolves began scooping up dirt to put out the fires, the alphas’ three friends gathered close around them.

“You trust her, then, Savin?” the woman asked.

“She holds no love for Cristoff. He’s tortured her.”

The woman nodded as if that answered her question. The enemy of my enemy and all that?

A couple of minutes later, Arturo was led forward, naked and stumbling. Quinn gasped at the sight of him, her stomach roiling until she thought she might be sick. His bloody legs were more bone than flesh. His skin was paler than she’d ever seen it, his eyes gleamed white-centered with hunger, though he kept his fangs behind his lips.

Quinn’s heart twisted to see the powerful vampire brought so low. “Have you fed him?” she demanded.

The werewolf who held him shook his head.

Quinn gave the alpha a look of disgust.

He lifted his hands. “I thought he was dinner.”

Quinn strode forward, pushing the werewolf male away, taking Arturo’s ice-cold arm. “You need to feed. Drink from me.”

Arturo shook his head, his eyes glassy, but focused on her. “No. Not you. You are unharmed?” His voice was hoarse from screaming. Lines of strain bracketed his mouth.

“I’m fine. You need to feed.”

“No,
tesoro mio.
Your blood is too sweet.” He sounded exhausted. “I will not be able to stop.”

How many hours had he suffered? She went light-headed at the thought of the pain he must have endured.

The alpha stepped forward. “The sorceress has negotiated your release, vampire. Both of yours. I hope you will honor the terms of that release.”

Quinn eyed him with a question. “What terms? The food shipment?”

“That, and the vampire shall never attempt retribution for what was done to him here.”

Those
terms. “The second is up to him, though I suspect that allowing him to feed on one of you might alleviate his need for retribution.”

Arturo nodded slowly. “It might.” He turned to her, his eyes going hard even as they flickered with pain. “I felt your terror soon after you awoke. Were you harmed?”

“No. One of the wolves tried to reach me, but the alpha here stopped him.”

“Let me seek vengeance on the wolf who tried to hurt her,” Arturo said to the alpha. “Then I will give my word to this treaty.”

“You cannot kill him.”

“Agreed.”

Savin yelled, “Gunroth!”

A moment later, a large gray wolf slunk slowly toward them.

“Shed your fur.”

The wolf’s eyes gleamed, hard and belligerent. But a deep growl from the human throat of his alpha had the wolf hanging his head in submission. And a moment later, Gunroth the man was standing before them, his mouth hard, his eyes shining with fear.

“This is the wolf who tried to reach your sorceress. He disobeyed my direct order and picked the lock of her cage intending to eat her, Vampire. You will not kill him or the treaty is forfeit. Short of that, you may feed from him thoroughly and with my blessing. Seek your vengeance on him for what was done to you and for what he intended to do to your companion.” Savin’s gaze turned to the wolf. “And he will submit, fully, or be banished from this pack.”

The bearded werewolf began to visibly shake, the whites of his eyes gleaming with light from the dying fire, but he nodded.

Savin stepped forward and removed the silver chain from around Arturo’s neck. Arturo turned to Quinn. “I do not wish for you to see this,
cara.
Turn away. Please.”

With a deep sigh, she did as he asked, not only turning away, but walking away.

She heard the snarl, the rip of flesh, the scream of pain, and felt no pity. Gunroth would have torn into her with the same level of viciousness, knowing she’d never heal, knowing he was killing her. And while it might not have been personal, she’d have been dead all the same.

The female friend of Savin’s stepped beside her. “I’ll fetch your clothes and the vampire’s.”

Quinn looked at her. “And my weapons.”

The woman glanced at Savin, who nodded. By the time the woman returned, the noise had died down to mere groans. Then, finally, to nothing.

Quinn quickly dressed and armed herself. Arturo joined her, looking almost normal again if still a bit pale. As he dressed, she watched him. “Feel better?”

He gave her a brusque nod. If he had more to say, he wasn’t saying it within wolf hearing.

To her surprise, another of the werewolves led their horses to them. “I figured they’d eaten them,” she muttered to Arturo.

“No one kills a horse,” he said. “They are far too valuable.”

“Unlike humans,” she added darkly.

Savin joined them, and Arturo met the alpha’s gaze, a powerful vampire once more. “I will abide by the terms of the sorceress’s treaty; however, I would add one more condition.”

Savin lifted a brow.

“Cristoff searches for her. He would hurt her, and I would not have it.”

“I have no use for Cristoff. No one will know you were here.”

Arturo gave a nod, then turned to Quinn. But before he could usher her to the horses, she turned to the wolf. “Good-bye, Savin.”

“I look forward to the shipment, sorceress. And to your return. In the meantime, I will provide you a wolf escort—” The alpha jerked back, staring at her. Gasps peppered the air around them.

Quinn cocked her head warily, but Arturo cleared up the mystery. “Your glamour has worn off.”

Quinn glanced at her hand, now gleaming pale in the firelight. She met Savin’s shocked gaze with a rueful shrug. “Now you know what I really look like.”

The alpha stared at her a moment more, then began to laugh. “Working with a sorceress will take some getting used to.” To her surprise, he took her hand in a move that was distinctly friendly. “Anytime you are in the Crux, shout my name, and if my wolves are within hearing distance, they will provide you safe escort.”

“I will. Thank you.”

Arturo helped her onto her horse, then mounted his own. As promised, several wolves escorted them for quite a way before falling back. Arturo lifted a hand in thanks as the two of them continued on, alone.

“I’m sorry you went through that, Arturo,” she said quietly. He looked a thousand times better than he had when they’d first pulled him from the trough, but he still didn’t look well. “Will you heal completely?”

“I’m fine.”

“Vampire . . .” She ached for him, for what he’d endured. His yells would echo in her ears for a long, long time.

“I’m fine, Quinn. Leave it at that.” But his tone said otherwise. And she hurt for both of them.

He needed time to heal, physically, mentally, and emotionally. But there was no time. If they wanted any chance of saving Vamp City, and Zack, they had to reach Vintry as quickly as possible. There was no way in hell she was letting Arturo seek out the dying fae in this condition, without her. They would head for Fabian’s castle together.

Even if Arturo fought her every step of the way.

Chapter Fourteen

A
s Quinn and Arturo rode back to Neo’s, Arturo was silent. Brooding. The landscape was dark as pitch, and Quinn couldn’t see a thing, but her horse seemed to be able to follow Arturo’s, so she gave the horse his head and concentrated on not falling asleep in the saddle. She was exhausted. But with Vintry’s life going quickly down the drain, sleep was a luxury she couldn’t afford.

The rumble of the earth startled her into full wakefulness. Moments later, flashes of light appeared here and there across the landscape. Not sunbeams—it was the middle of the night. But streetlights, car headlights, the nighttime glow of the city. She could see them, sprinkled through the dead trees and it gave her chills.

“It’s getting worse,” she murmured. The bleed-throughs were everywhere.

“Did you tell them my name?” Arturo’s words took her by surprise, yanking her thoughts back to the wolves. He still sounded so . . . spent.

“No. I was careful about that. They didn’t seem to recognize you.”

“Wolves . . . are Kas’s job.”

Kassius, she knew, was a vampire and a wolf. A werevamp. “I imagine it is. Does he get along with the other wolves?”

Silhouetted against a distant bleed-through of a streetlamp, she saw Arturo glance at her though she couldn’t read his expression. If she had to guess, she suspected he wasn’t sure he liked that she knew that Kassius was a wolf. She wouldn’t have known if Kassius hadn’t bitten her to get the truth out of her at Cristoff’s insistence. And if she hadn’t stolen a few truths from him in return.

“No,” was all he said. And even that word seemed to cost him.

They fell once more into silence. She had things to tell him—the bubble, for one. But now wasn’t the time, so she held her tongue and kept an eye out for more trouble.

Movement caught her eye in the distance. A couple of figures on horseback silhouetted against an office building’s nighttime lights.

“We’ve got company,” she murmured, preparing to reach for her gun. Or maybe her knife since she wasn’t sure how many bullets she had left.

“It is Micah and Neo.”

It always surprised her that he could see so well in the dark. From what she’d been able to gather, vampire senses were not superhuman, exactly. They weren’t that much better than her own. Except for their night vision, which was a huge advantage.

Arturo turned toward the other two vampires, and they met in the middle a few minutes later.

“Where the hell have you been?” Micah demanded. “We’ve been looking everywhere for you.” He frowned, peering at Arturo closely. “You look like hell. When was the last time you fed, Ax?”

Arturo ignored the questions. “Fabian’s. ASAP.”

Quinn’s jaw dropped. “After what you’ve been through? You need time to recover.” But even as she said the words, she heard the fallacy in them.

“No time,” he said, voicing her thought. He turned to Neo. “Take Quinn.”

“No way. I’m going with you.”

“You’re staying,” he snarled.

“No,” she replied calmly. “I’m not.”

Micah looked from one of them to the other. “Ax, you look terrible. What happened?”

When Arturo made no move to reply, Quinn did it for him. “Wolves. He’s been in their feeding trough almost since we left here.”

Micah whistled low, turning to his friend. “And you haven’t fed.”

“He has,” Quinn replied, when Arturo remained mute. “He just did.”

The bleed-throughs disappeared suddenly, the worlds closing once more. And once more she couldn’t see her hand in front of her face.

“Are you okay, Quinn?” Neo asked, his voice warm with concern.

“They didn’t hurt me. The alpha and I came to an agreement . . . after I almost killed him. I promised them a shipment of beef and pork, by the way. I hope you can help me honor that. I suspect they could be valuable allies.”

The silence that met her request had a heaviness that told her she’d made a mistake. Or overstepped.

“Is that a problem?” she asked.

“Mukdalla’s son was killed trying to deliver store-bought meat to the wolves six months ago. The wolves killed him.”

Quinn’s heart clenched. “Poor Mukdalla. But Savin said the wolves that killed the Traders were from the Herewood pack, not his. I made a promise, Neo. We’ll have more trouble with the wolves, not less, if I fail to honor it.”

“Discuss this later,” Arturo snapped, startling her. “We need to go.”

Suddenly, there was a flurry of movement between the vamps and she heard Micah’s low curse. She hated not being able to see!

“Back to Neo’s, Ax. You’re in no condition to go anywhere like this. There’s too much at stake to risk screwing this up.”

“What happened?” she demanded, as the horses started forward again.

“He nearly fell off his horse,” Micah told her. “I thought you said he fed.”

“He did. I thought he did. It certainly sounded like it.”

“I fed,” Arturo grumbled, but he sounded completely exhausted.

“What’s at Fabian’s?” Neo asked.

When Arturo didn’t answer, Quinn did, suspecting he was using all his concentration to stay on the horse.

“Tarellia said that Fabian’s sage, Vintry, is the only one who might be able to help me free my magic, but he’s aging. There’s not much time. And that was yesterday morning.”

They continued in silence until, finally, the faint lights of Neo’s house appeared between the trees. They rode into Neo’s courtyard, and Quinn dismounted easily, handing her reins to one of Neo’s men—vampire or human, she wasn’t sure. Neo led the way in through the back door, and Quinn followed, Arturo and Micah close behind.

“Your eyes have turned white, Ax,” Micah murmured as they closed the door behind them. “He needs blood, Neo. And fear. A lot of it.”

Neo frowned. “I’ll send someone, but you must ensure he doesn’t accidentally hurt her.”

“I’ll stay with them.”

Neo called to one of his people. “Bring Marissa to 3A. At once.” To them he said, “She just arrived last night and is still utterly terrified.”

“I’ll clear her mind when he’s through,” Micah assured Neo. “She won’t be harmed.”

Though Quinn followed them downstairs, she remained in the hallway as Micah led Arturo into one of the bedrooms, and a young woman was escorted there soon after. The door shut behind her, and a moment later, her bloodcurdling scream tore through the underground.

Quinn went rigid.

Neo squeezed her shoulder. “He’s not hurting her, you know that. He’s scaring her because he has to. Because he has to feed.”

“I know.” She looked at him. “I swear he just fed from a wolf.”

“Who probably had little fear in him.”

She wasn’t so sure about that, considering what Arturo almost certainly did to him. With a shake of her head, she moved away. “Do you know where Zack is? I can’t listen to this.” The poor girl was
terrified.

“It’s the middle of the night. He’s probably in bed.”

“Right.” It was so hard to remember night and day in a land without a rising and setting sun.

But when she checked his bedroom, she found it empty. As she headed back into the main room, she caught sight of Mukdalla’s vampire husband.

“Rinaldo.”

He turned to her with a smile. “Sorceress.”

“Do you know where my brother is?”

“With Jason, I believe. Last I saw them, they were in the study.” He pointed down yet another hallway. “Third doorway on your left.”

Quinn thanked him, the muscles of her neck and shoulders easing as the screaming finally quieted. She found Zack sitting at a long table in a room lined with bookshelves. He was shoulder to shoulder with Jason as they peered at something in Zack’s hand. A Gameboy.

“Damn, you’re good,” Jason muttered. “It’s my turn.”

Zack grinned. “Give me a computer or game player, and I can kick anyone’s ass.”

Jason grunted, accepting the Gameboy. “You’ll be kicking vampire ass by the time I’m through with you. One more game, then we get some sleep.”

“I’m not tired.”

“I am.”

Quinn watched them, glad that Zack and Jason seemed to be getting along. Happier still that Jason had, wisely and amazingly, found a way to remind Zack of the things he
was
good at.

She walked fully into the room, joining them at the table. “Hey.”

Zack looked up, relief in his eyes. “You were gone a long time. Everything go okay?”

“Yes and no. We found the fae, but she can’t help me. There’s someone else we have to find. We may be gone a couple of days.”

“
Days?
”

“It’s hard to tell. Nothing happens quickly in this place.”

“And you’re still not going to let me go?”

She shook her head apologetically. “We’ll be going in undercover.” At his frown, she added, “I’ll be fine, Zack. Arturo and Micah are going with me.”

“Any word on Lily?”

Quinn shook her head, hating the disappointment that tightened her brother’s jaw. “Arturo’s sent someone to find her. As soon as Arturo hears anything, I’m certain he’ll let you know.”

She slid her hand against the side of Zack’s neck and grimaced. He was hotter than before.

“If Arturo’s not going after her, I am.”

Jason set the Gameboy down, meeting Zack’s gaze calmly. “Then come morning, let’s get back to work. If you attempt a rescue untrained, you could hurt her more than you help her. Training is key.”

Zack stared at him morosely, then released a hard huff. “I know.”

The thought of Zack’s attempting a rescue attempt on his own terrified her. But Jason was a good, calm influence. And Zack did need to learn how to fight, if only to protect himself.

Zack glanced at her again. “How soon are you leaving?”

“I’m not sure. Arturo’s getting a bite to eat . . .”

Jason snorted.

Zack eyed her with concern. “Be careful, sis.”

She gave into the urge and kissed him on the cheek. “I will. You, too.” Then she headed back to the room where Arturo fed, needing to know the vampire was going to be okay.

She only had to cool her heels in the hallway for a few minutes before the door opened, and Micah stepped out, the girl at his side, smiling, the two fang wounds on her neck barely visible and already healing.

“What kind of dance?” Micah asked kindly, meeting Quinn’s gaze with a knowing look before turning back to the girl.

“Jazz mostly, but I take one ballet class a week, and I’ve been thinking about trying hip-hop.”

As the two disappeared down the hall, Quinn stepped into the doorway. Arturo sat on the bed, his head in his hands.

“Better?” she asked quietly.

“Come in,
cara mia
.” He lowered his hands and looked up at her wearily. His eyes were back to normal, but he still looked tired and beaten. Maybe it would just take time for him to recover.

She sat beside him and took his cold hand in hers, then gave in to the urge and leaned against him, resting her head on his shoulder. “I’m sorry.”

She felt his mouth buss her hair.

“That feeding didn’t help you, either, did it? You’re so cold. I’ve never felt you so cold.”

“It is not blood that I still require. Nor fear.”

Her brows drawing together, she straightened and looked at him. His eyes were normal, his fangs not elongated. “What do you need?”

He stared at her, his own brows lowered as he reached up to caress her cheek. “It makes no sense,
bella,
but there is one thing and one thing alone that I crave. That I must have.”

“What?”

“You. Your sunshine. Your warmth.” The thumb that slid softly across her bottom lip trembled subtly. “Your kiss.” The depth of need in his voice, in his eyes, caught at something deep inside of her.

With shaking hands, he framed her face, his need not quite hunger. Nor quite passion. But there was no denying it existed. Her breath turned shallow as he stared at her, as he stroked that unsteady thumb across her lips.

“I must kiss you,
cara.
Do not deny me this.”

“I won’t.” She reached for him.

He dipped his head, slowly this time, his mouth covering hers, his cold, closed lips pressing against hers, just that. But with that simple touch, she felt the tension go out of him as if his body sighed. His hands on her face gentled even more, a featherlight caress. And she shuddered, a longing deep inside her stirring, making her eyes sting. She’d been so worried the wolves would kill him.

Lifting her arms, she slid her hands to the back of his neck, then he was pulling her tight against him, one hand in her hair, the other around her waist as he swept his tongue into her mouth, claiming her, drinking of her as if she were the only thing he needed to survive. Her body softened, heating, as affection for this difficult, dangerous male surged within her.

And still he drank of her kiss. His lips began to warm. Beneath her hands, his flesh warmed, too. And still he kissed her, making no move to do more. The door was still open, but somehow she doubted that would stop him if he wanted to coax her beneath him.

Instead, he pulled away, his lips pressing a kiss to her cheekbone, her eyebrow, her temple. Breathing hard, he pulled her against him, pressing her head to his shoulder as he held her close. Just that.

“I failed you,” he said softly, his tone devastated. “Again.”

“No.”

“I did not protect you.”

Quinn pulled back, lifting her hand to his face, to his warm flesh. “You were battling a pack of wolves and a sorceress’s magic at the same time. You may be fast, and strong, but you’re not Superman.” She stroked his cheek. “The only way you’ve ever failed me was in betraying my trust and handing me over to Cristoff. You didn’t betray me this time, Arturo. I know you tried to reach me.” Stroking his cheek again, she smiled. “You’re warm. And you look better.”

He didn’t return her smile. Instead, as his hands caressed her hips, he watched her with a bemused expression. “I needed your sunshine.”

She frowned. “You really did, didn’t you? How can that be?”

“I do not know. You feed me in a way I do not understand. The girl’s fear left me cold.”

“Literally.”

“Yes.” He stroked her cheek. “You are becoming important to me in ways I would not have thought possible. I do not want to take you with me,
tesoro.
”