“Why would you split up?” Julian demanded, drawing her gaze back to him.
“Because you two idiots took off after a man who is a member of The Commission!” she retorted. “Because we had no idea what had happened to you or what was going on. Because you could have run straight into a trap without so much as a backward freaking glance at us!”
Devon stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her. She remained rigid in his grasp, her chin jutting out as red briefly burst to life in her eyes.
“We’ll find the others,” Devon assured him as he ran his hands up and down Cassie’s arms. She relaxed a little in his hold. “Which way did they go?”
“Chris, Melissa, and Dani went that way. Quinn went that way,” Cassie answered as she pointed down the different hallways.
“She went alone?” Julian’s throat went dry, and his chest constricted at the realization. “We have no way of knowing how many of them are here.”
Cassie didn’t bother to tell him he should have considered that before he left Quinn behind; he already knew that. If it were possible to kick himself in the ass, he would gladly do it up and down this hallway as soon as he found Quinn. He never should have taken off after that man, but the second Lou had said Commission, he hadn’t been able to think about anything other than murder. His impulsiveness and rage were things he’d believed he’d gained better control of; he’d been wrong. He wouldn’t make the same mistake again.
“Did you catch him?” Cassie asked instead.
“No,” Julian replied. The man must have had a room to retreat into soon after he’d fled from the pool area. With all the numerous scents filling the hotel and the many heartbeats, it had been impossible to track the man once he vanished from sight.
Horror filled Cassie’s eyes. “We have to find him.”
“We will,” Devon assured her.
“You go after the others. I’ll locate Quinn,” Julian said.
He took a step away from them as all the lights lining the hallway dimmed.
“Dani,” Cassie whispered. The lights flared back to life before dimming again. “They’re in trouble.”
“Find them,” Julian said. “I have to find Quinn.”
He didn’t look back as he fled down the hall Quinn had taken. If the others were in trouble, she could be too.
The lights dimmed again, this time for a longer period of time. When they burst to full life again, three of the bulbs lining the walls shattered. Julian didn’t bother to try to protect himself from the shards of glass raining over him. He barely felt the slices tearing across his skin as he ran.
***
The glass of the pinball machine shattered beneath the impact of her body. Quinn groaned as pain lanced through her. Not only had the bastard hit her with a bolt of electricity, but he’d drawn from the energy flowing through the hotel before doing so.
Tendrils of smoke spiraled up from the black hole burnt through the front of her robe. Beneath it, she could see the charred and blistered skin of her breastbone. The hair standing up on her arms was singed at the ends, and she was pretty sure that, if she went to feel it, the hair on her head would be standing straight up. Her fingers twitched against the glass beneath her, slicing the tips of them open and spilling more of her blood. She tried, but she couldn’t get her hands to stop their jittery movements as electricity continued to course through her body.
No matter how badly her body ached, she had to move. Immobility guaranteed death. The thick robe managed to protect her from some of the glass, but it still sliced over her palms and bare feet as she rolled over and threw herself out of the pinball machine.
She hit the ground a second before the lights dimmed again and the scoreboard of the pinball machine exploded. Glass and mechanical bits fell over her. More glass cut open her palms and feet as she scrambled to get out of the way of a possible third bolt.
She shed the robe as she ran. Being forced to fight in a bikini should be reserved for one of the circles of Hell, but continuing to wear the cumbersome robe was plain stupidity.
She dove under the pool table, rolling to the other side as another current of electricity hit the ground inches from where she’d been. Quinn stared at the smoke rising from the smoldering carpet. Anger clawed at her chest and made her fangs prick with more than the need to feed, but also a desire to end this.