A Kiss of Blood: A Vamp City Novel (28 page)

Rolling her shoulders, she glanced at the place where the lamp sat on the bedside table, imagined it igniting, and whispered, “Light.” Nothing happened. Maybe calling fire would never be her thing, or maybe fire was just one of the many aspects of her gift she needed to learn how to control. The thought of the possibilities sent excitement winging through her blood.

Reaching for the Bic, she lit the lamp, then dressed quickly, needing to see Zack. Arturo’s accusation that she thought of no one but Zack had cut too close to the bone. In some ways, he was probably right. Maybe in all ways. She’d never let anyone get close enough to see what she was, knowing they’d run.

But everyone here knew exactly what she was. And none of them had fled. Arturo, in fact, just kept coming back for more. He’d held her close most of the time she’d slept. Every time she’d awakened, he’d kissed her temple and told her to go back to sleep. Vampires needed no sleep. Yet he’d stayed with her, cradling her close, making her feel . . . cared for. It was a feeling, a softness, she couldn’t afford. Certainly not from a vampire.

As she stepped toward the lamp, to douse it, she spied a wooden stake on the floor, which must have fallen out of her jacket. With a small smile, she lifted her hand and called it to her. It rose suddenly, wavered a moment in the air, then zinged straight to her hand. The practicing she’d done while Arturo visited Cristoff had paid off.

Slipping the stake into the breast pocket of her jacket, she went to search for Zack. She found him doing pull-ups on a bar hanging from the ceiling of the gym, his shirt off, the muscles of his chest gleaming with a fine sheen of perspiration. Muscles. Real, honest-to-goodness muscles. If it hadn’t been for the bright red appearance of his usually pale skin, she’d have thought he looked wonderful.

He grinned when he saw her. “Hey, Quinn,” he gasped between reps.

“That’s twenty-five,” Jason said, amazement in his tone. “Twenty-six,” he added as Zack kept going. “Twenty-seven. Twenty-eight.” At thirty-four, Zack finally dropped to the floor, barely winded.

Quinn stared at him. A Levenach sorcerer. Her little brother.

Jason tossed him a towel.

Zack took it, wiping the sweat from his face. “I heard the ritual was a bust.”

“The curse is still holding back my magic. But I guess you heard that, too.”

“Arturo told me.”

“Is that all he said?”

The joy she’d seen in his eyes as he’d discovered what his body could do died a swift death. “He said they haven’t found Lily.” His mouth turned harder than she’d ever seen it. “I’m going to find her.”

All he could think about was saving Lily, just as all she could think about was saving him. Stubborn, one-track minds apparently ran in the Lennox family.

“When you’re ready,” Jason said evenly, “we’ll go out together and hunt for them both—my wife and your Lily.”

Zack met the Marine’s gaze with a certainty she could hardly credit, and nodded. He was changing before her eyes. In more ways than one.

She thought about telling him about the Levenach-Lennox tie, knowing how much that would probably delight him. But other than bulking up at a surprising rate, he’d never shown any sign of magic or power. And it worried her that knowing he had sorcerer’s blood might send his confidence even higher. Maybe too high, making him reckless. The fewer people who knew Zack was a sorcerer, himself included, the safer he’d be.

She headed back into the main room to find Arturo and found the doctor instead. Arturo’s words came back to her, that she could make friends if she wanted to.

“Amanda.”

The woman turned, a professional smile on her face that turned serious an instant later. “Zack’s holding his own, Quinn. That’s all I can tell you.”

Quinn hesitated. She briefly considered confiding in her about the Levenach blood, then pulled the secret close again. “I guess the magic sickness works differently in everyone.”

Amanda nodded thoughtfully. “I suppose it does.”

Quinn opened her mouth, looking for something friendly to say. When nothing came out, she shut it again. Now probably wasn’t the time anyway. “Have you seen Arturo?”

“He’s upstairs.”

“Thanks.”

She took the stairs two at a time and found the door partly open, the sign that it was safe to be on the main level. Slipping through, she followed the sound of raised male voices. Kassius’s, if she wasn’t mistaken. And Arturo’s.

“You must,” Kassius said.

“Never.”

As she stepped into the kitchen, Arturo looked up. Kassius turned away, his mouth hard with frustration.

“Want to fill me in?” she said, her tone letting them know they weren’t being given an option.

Suddenly, the house began to shake. A shout went up outside. Micah darted in through the back, slamming the door shut. Silence settled like a musty blanket as the world stood still. But Quinn saw no light filtering from beneath the edges of the room-darkening curtains that covered every window.

“Take a look,
cara,
” Arturo requested. “Carefully, please.”

Quinn crossed to the window and pulled back the drape only an inch. The sunbeams visible were faint and distant. “Nothing close.”

Arturo joined her, pulling the thick drape aside, and together they looked out.

Neo’s house sat in the middle of thick dead woods, but the sunbeams were easy to spy through them, and she counted no fewer than eleven in the distance.

“It’s getting worse,” Arturo murmured. If a sunbeam broke through in Neo’s yard, the vampires would be taking their lives in their hands every time they walked outside.

“What’s the plan, Ax?” Micah asked.

Quinn turned away from the window.

Arturo moved to the counter to pour himself a splash of whiskey. “I shall destroy the sword.”

“How are you going to get it out of the case, let alone out of Gonzaga Castle?”

Arturo took a sip. “I’ll think of something.”

“You’re not going alone,” Micah said, at the exact moment Kassius said, “I’m going with you.”

“You will both stay out of it. Cristoff has killed four of his own, and those are the ones I know of. Stay here. Protect Quinn.”

His friends’ expressions turned incredulous.

“Absolutely not.”

“What if you need glamour?”

Quinn watched the way Arturo fought to protect his friends and how they refused to send him into the lion’s den alone. She envied him that kind of friendship. But she understood all too well the willingness to sacrifice for those one cared about. And she understood, too, Micah’s and Kassius’s unwillingness to remain behind.

It wasn’t in her nature to hide any more than it was in theirs. Nor was it in any of their best interests to leave her behind. Because there was no denying that Cristoff was powerful, and it might well take their combined skills to pull this off. Going in one at a time, and
dying
one at a time, would help no one. They might be vampires, but these three males, these men, were her friends. An extraordinary thought.

And she didn’t want any of them dying.

“We’re all going,” she announced, watching three faces swivel toward her with varying levels of scowls.

“No, Quinn.”

“Absolutely not,
cara.
”

“It’s not safe, Quinn.”

She met Arturo’s unyielding gaze. “You said I needed to start working with others.”

“Not
this
way.”

“And that I need to open up to friendships. I’ve decided you’re my friends, and I’m not letting you go in alone.”

“
Cara . . .”

“You need me.”

“We need you to remain safe.”

But she wasn’t giving an inch on this. Taking a deep breath, she looked around, spying the fat, flickering candle that sat in the middle of the kitchen table. Concentrating, she called it to her. With a wicked sense of enjoyment, she watched the vampires’ eyes widen with surprise.

Micah whistled. “Nice job.”

“Perhaps you’ll need a way to remove the sword from its case without actually touching the case.”

Arturo glared. “You are not coming with us, Quinn. I forbid it.”

“Do you?” she asked quietly. Did he still not realize they’d moved past the point where he could easily control her actions? Besides, she had other abilities that might be of use, others she’d practiced extensively while she’d waited alone for him at the safe house. Closing her eyes, she willed a bubble to form around the three vampires and herself.

At the exclamations of surprise, she opened her eyes and smiled at the black void that now enclosed them, a darkness lit only by the fat candle still cradled in her hands.

“
Quinn . . .”
Micah exclaimed, knocking into one of the bubble’s walls, which sent him careening into Kassius.

“What is this?” Kassius asked, clearly surprised.

“She can create worlds, as Phineas Blackstone could,” Arturo muttered. “One that vampires apparently cannot leave at will.”

Kassius pressed against one of the walls, but though his hand sank into its dark surface, he couldn’t move through it. To her surprise, he began to chuckle. “Well done, sorceress.” His expression sobered as he turned to Arturo. “I understand your reluctance to involve her, but she’s right, Ax. She has power. And we’d be fools not to use every advantage we have.”

Arturo threw his hands in the air. “I do not want
any
of you going with me.”

“Looks like you got outvoted, Ax.” Micah grinned. “All for one and one for all?”

“No!” Arturo’s gaze swung to her, his eyes throbbing with an emotion she couldn’t name. “You know what will happen if Cristoff gets his hands on you, again, Quinn. Must you always sacrifice yourself?” he asked quietly.

For moments, she stared at him, the air thick and pulsing in the void. “What happens if you fail? If Cristoff catches you, or if you accidentally spring one of his booby traps, you’ll die. And your friends will almost certainly be implicated even if they’re not with you. They’ll die. And then it’s up to me alone. Isn’t it better to combine our strengths right from the beginning and maximize our chance of success than to risk dying one by one?”

Arturo shook his head, his stance mulish. “I will not fail.”

“Ax . . .” Kassius eyed his friend calmly. “I think she’s right.”

“I have to agree, Ax.” Micah glanced at the bubble above his head. “She’s strong and getting stronger. But I’d suggest we take the time to develop a plan. One that uses Quinn’s strengths. One that she can practice ahead of time.”

Arturo glared at his friends, his frustration palpable. But he was beginning to waver, she could feel it. Finally, he turned to her. “Free them. I wish to speak to you alone.”

This was coming down to a battle of wills, she could see that. And she was ready for it. Shifting the candle to one hand, she held out her other to Micah. When he took it, she nodded toward the wall. “Go.”

Giving her a wary look, he reached out his hand and watched it disappear. Stepping forward, he left the bubble, releasing her hand at the last minute. She held out her hand to Kassius and he did the same.

When they were alone, she turned to Arturo. He stared at her for a long moment, his hard expression slowly melting to one of resignation and misery. He held out his hand to her. “Come here.”

She gave in, placing her free hand in his, and he pulled her close, careful to avoid the candle as he buried his face in her hair. “I do not want to agree to this.”

“I know.” She stroked his back as he held her tight.

“You are coming to mean too much to me.” His words, and the depth of emotion behind them, burrowed into her heart, warming it, filling it.

“I need to do this, Turo. Not only do I owe that son of a bitch . . .” She pulled back, forcing him to look at her, to meet her gaze. “But this is what I was born to do. You know that as well as I.”

He tipped his forehead to hers. “You are too strong for your own good,
tesoro mio.
And a thousand times too stubborn.”

She smiled. “Better to work with me than to wonder what I’m doing behind your back, right?”

“Too strong.” He cupped her jaw.

She stroked his cheek. “You’ve attempted to be my master.”

“A spectacular failure.”

She smiled. “You’ve been my protector and my teacher. But the student has learned much and is becoming strong. And while I still have a lot to learn, it’s time we worked together, Vampire. It’s time we became a team. Partners.”

He sighed. She’d won, and they both knew it.

“You will be the death of me.”

“I’m counting on being your ace in the hole.”

He stroked her cheek, then gripped her jaw, his eyes as soft as they were intense. “Not partners. Teammates. And I am the leader of the team. I call the shots. You do not know that castle or its dangers. And I do.”

“I can live with that as long as you don’t try to protect me.”

His jaw tightened. “No heroics, Quinn. I mean it.”

She tugged on his hand, not quite ready to promise him anything more. “Come on, Vampire. Let’s go. We’ve got work to do.”

He followed her out of the bubble and back into the kitchen, where she placed the candle back on the table as Kassius and Micah watched, and waited.

Arturo started issuing orders. “Feed if you need to, then get ready to ride in an hour. We’ll be returning to the safe house to hammer out a primary plan and at least two backups. Quinn will need adequate food to take with us. She’ll be expending energy and power and will become quickly depleted. Micah is right, we must be fully prepared this time.”

“All four of us?” Kassius asked.

Arturo nodded, his mouth twisting ruefully. “All four of us.”

Kassius nodded. Micah gave her a small smile.

An answering smile lifted Quinn’s mouth, then quickly fell away. Yes, she’d succeeded in getting herself included in this critical mission. A mission that required her to return to Gonzaga Castle and put herself once more within reach of a vampire who, if he caught her, would hurt her beyond imagining. A monster even the vampires feared.

She had power, now, at least. Abilities that she lacked before.