Frost Burn (The Fire and Ice Series, Book 1) (5 page)

His chipmunk cheeks shrank, his ruddy skin took on a grayish hue, and all of the color leached from his face. A startled cry of agony escaped him. She could feel him trying to jerk his hand away, but once the tentacles took hold they were impossible to break free from until she released them.

Blood Gut’s brown eyes bulged, his mouth hung open in disbelief as he continued to shrink in size. The whites of his eyes were yellow when they rolled back into his head. His now ninety-pound, saggy body dropped to the floor like a crumpled skeleton. It had been six years since she’d required air to breathe, but she still found herself gasping for breath when he finally fell away from her.

She bent over, shaking as she fought the influx of power surging through her body. Her ability had been weakened by the interaction, but his life force kicked around in her body like a ghost in a haunted house. This unsettled and jumpy feeling inside of her was one of the many reasons she tried not to completely drain the life force from someone.

A little snap to get them to let go, or to ensnare them for a few seconds within her trap was usually enough time for her to be able to stake them or warn them off. But she was outnumbered now with only two stakes left on her. Her best option had been to show them what she could do, hope they stayed back afterward, and that they didn’t suspect her power had been drained by the interaction. If they were looking to kill her this would have been an entirely different scenario, but thankfully this group meant to keep her alive, for now.

She had enough power left in her to give one more of them a good blast, but from the looks on their faces, she didn’t think they were going to take one step closer to her. They stared at her with gaping mouths and bugged out eyes. The only one who didn’t look about to turn and run was the first one who had entered. The smile on his face brought to mind a praying mantis hunched over its prey.

“It’s
you
.” Out of everything she’d expected to come from his mouth, those words were the farthest from her mind. “We’ve been looking all over for you. This worked out much better than I’d ever anticipated.”

Her head spun as she tried to process his words. “Who’s been looking all over for me?”

He didn’t get a chance to respond as another sound drew her attention around the corner of the poolroom and to the kitchen doors. The blond vampire from earlier and the humans gathered around him stood behind the other vampires. The human’s gazes were riveted upon the sack of skin and bones lying at her feet. The blond vampire and an older man with glasses were the only ones looking at
her
. The human looked completely fascinated as his gaze ran over her.

It didn’t matter what they thought of her; her eyes remained locked upon the assessing ice blue eyes of the vampire she’d interacted with earlier. He knew what she could do now, knew a little of what she’d done to him earlier, but instead of looking infuriated, fascinated or even slightly terrified, a smile began to curve the corner of his full mouth.

Julian stared at the emaciated remains of the vampire lying on the ground in front of her. He’d never seen anything like it, never known a power like that existed, but it had been one of the most amazing and disconcerting things he’d ever witnessed. He couldn’t help but smile as he met her dilated golden eyes. He didn’t know what to make of her, but she seemed more on their side than most of the vampires they came across.

She most likely wouldn’t be able to drain the life force from him. However, he knew what it was like to be ensnared within her trap and realized now she could have chosen to do a lot more damage to him than she actually had. Figuring out exactly where she stood was something to figure out later; there was someone else who had to be dealt with first.

His gaze traveled to the ugly little man standing by the front door. The look on his face reminded Julian of a vampire in the first throes of bloodlust as he eyed the girl eagerly. He couldn’t believe there actually wasn’t drool running down the side of his face. He’d hoped to never encounter this particular vampire again, but unfortunately fate had other plans. The only good thing was Scully wouldn’t be walking out of here alive.

Scully’s eyes were a fiery red color when he looked toward him. “Julian,” he greeted in a flat tone.

Julian held his gaze, “Scully.”

“This doesn’t concern you.”

“If you think I’m going to walk out of here and let you take this girl, you’re dumber than you look.”

Scully’s upper lip curled into a sneer. “Don’t make me have to kill you.”

Julian released a harsh bark of laughter. “It’s good to see you’re still such a joker, Scully.”

A muscle twitched in Scully’s cheek, but he made the wise choice to remain where he stood. “Bring her to me!” he commanded brusquely. The remaining four vamps he’d brought with him enthusiastically shook their heads no. They took an abrupt step away from the girl who’d just killed their associate with only a touch.

They’re not fools,
Julian decided.

“You idiots!” Scully barked. “She’s burned herself out, bring her to me!”

“Stay away from her,” Julian hissed to the people gathered around him before stepping away from them.

“For once I’m not going to argue with you,” Chris muttered but he and Melissa spread out as they moved into the barroom behind him.

“No one is bringing anyone anywhere,” Julian said in a low voice as he tried to keep his eyes on the girl near the poolroom and Scully by the front door.

The four men standing in between him and the girl all took an abrupt step toward her before taking two more back toward him. Julian would have laughed at the torn looks on their faces if they weren’t a danger, no matter how small. The fact they were frightened made them a bigger threat, but the biggest menace remained standing by the front door.

Julian braced his feet apart and dropped his hands to his side, Scully wasn’t foolish enough to attack him, but he stood in between the other vampires and the door. Those vamps were going to do everything in their power to get out of here, something he wasn’t going to allow after their attack on the girl. This group was up to something, and he was going to find out what.

“I didn’t think I’d ever see your ugly mug again, Scully,” Julian said.

“I’d hoped to never see yours again,” Scully grated from between his teeth.

“This,” Julian said and waved his hand in front of his face. “Is far from ugly.” Scully’s eyes flashed red, Chris and Melissa made a disgusted sound. “What are you doing here?”

“Anything pertaining to vampire business stopped having anything to do with you when you turned your back on us.”

“I did no such thing.”

“You helped to destroy The Elders.”

“Zane and his cohorts got what they deserved and you know it,” Julian retorted.

“You’re killing us off one by one.”

He shifted his feet, his gaze slid toward the girl when she took a step back and adjusted her hold on the two stakes in her hand. His attention returned to Scully when the other vampires moved further away from her. “Only the ones who deserve it.”

“Who are you to judge?” Scully’s eyes turned a volatile shade of red. “You were one of the worst of us.”

“I still am.” Julian gave him a smile that revealed his elongated canines. “I just play by a different set of rules now. A moral code of conduct, you could say.”

Scully’s upper lip began to twitch. His buddies looked as if they were actually contemplating plowing through the wall in order to get out of here, but no one moved. “You’re a pussy,” Scully spat.

“I can still kick your ass all over this bar,” Julian assured him.

For the first time fear flickered over Scully’s face. Julian knew he was going to make a move before he did. He rushed forward as Scully spun to the side. Scully grabbed one of the high top tables, lifted it over his head and heaved it at him. It flew through the air with the deadly trajectory of a missile. Julian flung his arm up to knock the table aside. The fifty-pound wood and metal table slammed off of his forearm. One of the wooden legs shattered on impact and the rest of the table spun away into the wall with a loud crash. A snarl tore from Julian as pain lanced down his arm; his hand flipped over to catch the broken leg of the chair before it could fall to the floor.

Pulling his arm back, he flung the leg sidearm at Scully. The vampire flung himself toward the ground, but the broken end of the leg still drove into his arm with enough force to bury itself halfway into his flesh and bone. Scully let out a yelp; he tried to roll away as Julian leapt at him.

Shoving his foot into Scully’s back, he pushed him so hard into the ground that the piercing crack of one of his ribs breaking resonated through the barroom. Squealing like a trapped rodent, Scully’s arms and legs flailed at the floor. He tried to get his hands under him, but Julian forced him down again. With Scully firmly pinned to the ground, Julian lifted his head to take in the others. Melissa had one of the vampires pinned against the wall; the girl had two cornered in the poolroom. Julian almost laughed at the spectacle of the men cowering against the wall in an attempt to stay away from the woman who had killed their friend. Luther and Zach closed in on her right and left; they were giving her the same look they would a hungry anaconda.

Chris stood over the body of the other one, a stake protruded from the center of the vamp’s chest. Julian turned away from them, he bent down to get a better look at Scully. Rabid dogs would have been afraid of the look on Scully’s face; Julian simply smiled at him. “What were you and your friends planning here, Scully?”

Scully spat at him, but in his position, the liquid didn’t get very far. “Not smart.” Julian pressed his foot into Scully’s back hard enough to crack more of his ribs. Scully let out a low moan, his fingers left scratch marks as they dug into the dark wood beneath him. “Now why were you looking for this girl?”

This time when Scully tried to spit at him all that gurgled up from his mouth was a stream of blood. He could pull the answers from Scully by touching him, but he found this a much more preferable way to extract the information he sought. If Scully didn’t spill what he knew, then Julian would dive in and tear the answers from him.

“Give me a stake,” Julian commanded and held his hand out to Lou. The color had drained from Lou’s face as he approached, but his hand remained steady when he handed the stake over. “I’m not going to ask you again Scully.”

He removed his foot from Scully’s back. Before the vampire could leap to his feet, Julian drove the stake halfway through his back. Scully howled, his hands flattened against the floor. He went completely still as the stake brushed against his heart. “One more centimeter,” Julian murmured. “And I’ll be dragging your body out for the sunrise tomorrow. Now tell me what you meant by, “
we’ve been looking all over for you,”
and just who is looking?”

“You’re going to kill me anyway,” Scully retorted.

Julian twisted the stake a little. The sides of it scraped against bone and caused Scully to jerk reflexively. “But I can make it fast or I can make you squirm for days. You know me; you know what I’m capable of.” A low moan escaped Scully, his whole body convulsed again when Julian twisted the stake once more. “You know how much joy I find in the pain of others. Now what are you doing here?”

“You saw what she can do!” Scully blurted. “A Seer had a vision about what she can do too. We’ve been hunting for her.”

“How did you know she is the vampire of this Seers vision?”

“I didn’t know it was her when we came in here.”

Julian glanced up at the girl. Her eyes were focused on Scully. “Do they know what she looks like?”

“No. Her face hasn’t been revealed yet.”

The
yet
didn’t sit well with him. There was a chance another vision could reveal her face to them, it might be a slim one, but he didn’t like it. “What do the vampires want with her?” Julian inquired.

Scully started to shake his head. When Julian turned the stake so it dug sideways into his flesh he began to rattle off words so fast Julian had a difficult time following them. “For protection against you and yours! To rebuild our future. To be the leaders The Elders once were, but to be stronger and faster. Her ability and…”

Scully’s words broke off as a round of coughing caused blood and spittle to fly from his lips. “And what?” Julian inquired when the coughing stopped.

“It’s like nothing we’ve ever seen before. We need her against
your
kind!” Scully blurted.

“Oh,
my
kind,” Julian purred. “You could be one of my kind.”

“A whipped puppy? I’d rather die!” he spat.

Scully cringed away from him when Julian rested his hand on his cheek, but Scully would never escape him. He enjoyed a good bit of torture, just not in front of these people, and not in front of
her
. He didn’t know why but the idea of her seeing that side of him unsettled him. His time with Scully was coming to an end; however, he had to make sure they’d learned everything they could before he finished the job.

“And you will,” Julian promised.

Julian drove the stake the rest of the way through, piercing his heart. Scully jerked, his hands beat against the floor; his feet kicked in the air. Strangled sounds escaped him, blood spilled from his lips, the muscles in his neck stood sharply out. His face turned completely red before he finally went completely still.

“Kill them,” he said to the others and tossed the stake back to Lou.

“What if there’s more they can tell us?” Chris protested.

“There’s nothing more, at least not anything truthful.”

“I’ll tell you anything!” The one with Melissa protested instantly.

“You don’t know anything,” Julian told him. Melissa looked questioningly at him when the man began to spew denials. “Do it.”

She gave Julian a grim smile before plunging the stake into the vampire’s heart. The last few vampires were rapidly dispatched by the girl and Chris, their undead yet lifeless bodies thumped loudly as they fell to the floor. They would have to deal with the remains soon, but there was something far more important to deal with now as his gaze fell upon the only other vampire in the bar.

Her chin jutted out, she braced her legs apart as she relentlessly held his gaze. He had to admire her fire, but he’d kill her if it became necessary.

***

“Now, what do we do with you?” the exceedingly deadly vampire across from her inquired.

Quinn’s teeth grated together. She had no idea how she was going to get out of this mess with her life still intact. She had enough power to take out at least two of the humans but she hoped she wouldn’t be forced to do that. Besides, after watching this group she knew they were more than human, or at least some of them were. She should still be able to drain one and at least jolt another in order to escape the bar, but she doubted she’d be able to outrun
him
. Not after what she’d just witnessed.

He was ruthless, he was brutal, but more than that, he was
fast
. Even if she could shock him enough to knock him off of her, she’d never be able to outrun him. “You’re not going to do anything with me,” she retorted with far more bravado than she felt.

She held her hands up before her and looked pointedly at the two humans standing closest to her. Their eyebrows shot up, they took an abrupt step away from her. “She has to touch you,” the man with the glasses said, drawing her attention back to him. “She’s powerful.” She didn’t like the inquisitive, excited gleam in his eyes one little bit. “But she has to touch you in order to drain you.”

“Drain us?” the beautiful black haired woman inquired.

“She’s a Soul Master; it’s an exceptionally rare gift…”

“Gift,” Quinn snorted. “We have different ideas on what constitutes a present.”

The man gave her a small smile. “It’s a gift if you know how to use it.”

“I
know
how to use it, and I
know
what it can do.”

“I’m sure you do.” He took a step away from her and walked over to sit on the edge of the pool table in a gesture meant to put her at ease. It failed to make her feel any more relaxed. “I just witnessed the damage you can do, but you can also breathe life back into things. Humans, animals, plants, you can give them all life again.”