Authors: Pamela Palmer
A Blood Seduction (30 page)
“That’s a good girl. Find the source of the fire,
cara.
Can you tell me what it looks like?”
“It’s . . . a door. A door I opened and can’t shut.”
“Then we will shut it together. Focus on the door, Quinn, on the handle. Grip that handle tight in your hand. I am behind you, with you. Together we will close it
.
Are you ready?”
Shaking with pain, with fear, Quinn nodded. “Yes.”
“On the count of three then. One, two . . .
three!”
Quinn poured her will into closing that door, just as she’d poured her will into opening it. But it wouldn’t . . . there! It was starting to move. She could feel strength pumping into her own, Arturo’s strength. She could do this!
Perspiration broke out all over her body as she concentrated, as she struggled to close that door, to shut the bright glow of power behind it once more.
“That a girl,” Arturo encouraged. “You’re doing it. A little more. A little more.”
Slowly, together, they pushed until the door finally clicked shut, containing the power. As suddenly as it began, the vibrations fled, and the pain drained away.
With a last quaking shudder, Quinn sank against Arturo.
He gathered her close, his lips brushing her temple. “Are you all right?”
“I think so.” She was still out of breath, damp with perspiration, shaken. Stunned. As Arturo stroked her hair, she pulled back to look at him. “What happened to the vampire?”
His gaze was warm and concerned as he studied her as if seeking signs of damage. “The moment you released him, Kassius killed him.”
“They’re all dead?”
“Yes. Neither Ivan nor his guards will carry tales to Cristoff of our hand in your escape. We need to go.” He pulled away, curving his arm around her shoulder as he stepped to her side and started for the two horses that stood docilely now between Kassius’s and Zack’s mounts.
Her stomach clenched, and she forced herself to look up at her brother, dreading the fear and horror she’d see on his face. Instead, she found him, inexplicably, grinning at her. “That was fucking
amazing
, sis. Like something out of
X-men.
”
Tears began to run down her cheeks, unbidden.
Zack’s grin died, his brows lowering into a frown. “What’s the matter, Quinn? Are you still in pain?”
Quinn swiped at the tears fiercely. “I never wanted you to see me like that. I never wanted you to know.”
His frown deepened. “That you were a superhero?”
A watery laugh escaped her throat. “That I was so weird.”
Zack gave her a brotherly roll of his eyes. “You’re not
weird
, Quinn. You’re my sister.”
Such simple words. And the fear that she’d lived with for longer than she could remember, the fear that he, too, might turn from her in disgust, slipped away as if it had never been. She brushed the tears from her cheeks. “I love you, Zack.”
Arturo squeezed her shoulder. “We need to go,
cara.
Others could come.” He helped her onto her horse and mounted his own, then urged all into a gallop. As they ate up the ground, something ahead caught her eye. It almost looked like . . . a Shimmer. It had the same flowing rainbowlike colors of water mist.
She stared at it, stunned.
Of course.
The Shimmers of D.C. were the Boundary Circle of the magical Vamp City, shimmers only she could see.
When they were but a few yards from the wall of moving color, Arturo pulled up and dismounted. Turning to her, he pulled her down and into his arms, his dark eyes intense and serious. “This is it,
tessoro.
”
As she stared into his rugged, handsome face, something clenched inside her, a fist of unhappiness. She would probably never see him again. Lifting her hand, she stroked his cool cheek, allowing herself to drown in that deep gaze one last time. “You’ll be okay?”
“Of course. All will be as it is meant to be.” He brushed a stray lock back from her face. “You’ll be safe now.”
“I’ll miss you, Vampire.”
His mouth kicked up on one side. “Will you? I doubt that. Though I will, of a certainty, miss you.” He kissed her, his cool lips moving over hers, caressing, sipping, warming. Slowly, he pulled away, then began unbuttoning the front of her dress. “You’ll draw too much attention in this where you’re going.”
Quinn was suddenly glad she’d left her clothes on underneath and began unbuttoning the buttons from the other direction. When they were done, she stepped out of the dress.
Arturo’s gaze locked on hers, regret in his eyes. “Be happy.” Then he released her and took her hand. “You must be touching me to go through.” Just as the Slavas had to touch her as they escaped through the sunbeam. “But I cannot follow.”
As Arturo led her to the wall, Zack close behind, the air began to crackle around her, popping and fizzing, lifting the hair on her arms.
“You feel it,” Arturo said with surprise.
“I do. And I see it. I’m wondering if I could pass through on my own.”
He cocked his head. “It would be a good thing to know. Try,
cara.
”
“It won’t hurt me if I fail?”
“No. It should not.”
He released her, and she turned toward the wall. If the magic sucked her through as that first sunbeam had, she’d immediately come back for Zack if Arturo didn’t send him through himself. But as she reached out to the Shimmer, her fingers encountered a rubbery surface. A split second later, she was sitting on her butt in the dirt.
Arturo chuckled. “Question answered.”
Quinn rose, dusted off her pants, and met Arturo’s amusement with a disgruntled look. He pulled her into his arms and kissed her thoroughly one last time, then pulled away, tenderness in his eyes. “I shall miss you, Quinn.”
Feeling a rush of tenderness for him in return, she kissed his cheek. “And I you.” She turned to see Kassius waiting with the horses and lifted her hand. “Thank you.”
He nodded gravely.
Arturo motioned her over. “Give me your hands, both of you.” When she and Zack had done so, Arturo lifted their joined hands to the front, urging them to step forward.
This time, the wall embraced her, dancing over her flesh like tiny ions, tickling coolly. And then she was through, stepping into the bright sunshine, Arturo’s hand no longer in hers. Zack was beside her, squinting against the brightness as the deafening noise of their world bombarded ears grown accustomed to quiet.
“We did it,” Zack breathed. “Fuck me, but we’re out of there.”
Quinn turned back, still able to see the Shimmer, but nothing on the other side. No one.
“Good-bye, Arturo,” she said quietly, then took Zack’s hand and started home.
“S
he believes you’ve freed her,” Kassius commented, as they rode through the Nod a short while later, pretending to search for the sorceress like the rest of Cristoff’s men.
Arturo shrugged. “She believes many things . . . that I cannot leave Vamp City, that she and her brother should stay in the area, and that I have no way to follow her if she does leave.”
“You have a way to track her this time?”
“I do. I would not make that mistake twice.”
“Have you told her
any
truths?”
Arturo smiled. “There was truth between us.” Their bodies had spoken with profound honesty though what exactly that meant, he couldn’t say.
“What did you tell her to make her believe she’s no longer needed to save V.C.?”
“That Grant is more powerful than she is.”
Kassius snorted. “It’s a wonder your nose doesn’t grow long enough to spear your next meal from twenty paces. And I assume you failed to tell her about her brother?”
“Certainly. There was no need to alarm her. Better for her to think their lives can return to normal.”
“I can’t fault that. I’m still not entirely sure what I saw when I drank from her.”
“We’ll figure it out. When the equinox nears, I’ll collect them both.” He smiled. “Cristoff will praise me for finding the sorceress at last. He need never know I was responsible for her escape in the first place. Or that I’ve known where she was all along.”
Kassius shook his head. “I thought your loyalty to him had finally begun to wane.”
“Never. He’s my master as he is yours.”
“He’s a sadistic bastard, and we both know it.”
Arturo shrugged. “We are what we are.” But the thought of Quinn in Cristoff’s hands again, suffering his wrath, chilled him. He told himself he didn’t care, that he was as heartless a bastard as his master.
But he knew his own lies too well to be fooled.
“Will you leave her to her own devices, now? Or keep an eye on her?”
A grin spread across Arturo’s mouth. “I mean to keep a very close eye on her. As soon as night falls, I plan to take the Jeep through the Boundary and stay with Micah for a day or two as I catch up with my work on my computer.” He turned to his friend with regret. “I wish you could accompany me.”
“As do I.”
Arturo’s lie to Quinn had been a small one. While he and Micah and a handful of others were still able to come and go through the Boundary Circle at will, most vampires had been caught by the magic and were firmly stuck inside. Kassius, unfortunately, was one of them. As was Bram.
“I will not let anything happen to our sorceress, Kas. She will renew the magic when the time is right. Vamp City will be saved.”
He’d given Quinn a reprieve.
But from the first moment she’d stepped into Vamp City, her fate had been sealed.
A
huge thank-you to Kelly Poulsen and Kyle Poulsen for their help in brainstorming the world of Vamp City. And to Shannon Silkensen for assistance with the NIH details. Any mistakes are my own.
Many, many thanks to my editor, May Chen, who is a dream to work with; Laurin Wittig and Anne Shaw Moran, my critique partners, soul sisters, and best friends; and the wonderful team at Avon Books, including Pamela Spengler-Jaffee, Jessie Edwards, Amanda Bergeron, and Art Director Tom Egner (for my fabulous cover).
Thanks also to Robin Rue, Emily Cotler, and Kim Castillo for all their efforts on my behalf.
And a huge thank-you to you, my readers. You delight and inspire me.
When
New York Times
bestselling author PAMELA PALMER’s initial career goal of captaining starships didn’t pan out, she turned to engineering, satisfying her desire for adventure with books and daydreams, until finally succumbing to the need to create worlds of her own. Pamela lives and writes in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. Please visit her on the Web at www.pamelapalmer.net.
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Vamp City Novels
A Blood Seduction
Feral Warriors Novels
Ecstasy Untamed
Hunger Untamed
Rapture Untamed
Passion Untamed
Obsession Untamed
Desire Untamed
Coming Soon
A Love Untamed
