Scorched Ice (Fire and Ice #3)

Releasing Julian, she climbed down the steps and walked toward the windows. “Quinn!” he hissed from behind her.

She ignored him as she made her way over to the first window. Rising on her toes, she placed her hands on either side of her head and peered through the glass. Melissa stood in front of a bureau, carefully moving aside clothes as she searched through them. Chris stood beside her, rifling through a closet full of flannels and jeans. Their flashlights were the only source of illumination as their beams played over the bare, wood walls.

There would be no hiding their presence here from Herb, not after Julian had broken the door, but the three of them were taking care of the things they were rifling through. Quinn understood why the Hunters were being careful; she would have done the same. No matter who Herb was, these were still his possessions, and going through them was intrusive enough without tossing them carelessly aside.

Dani bent down to search something in front of the window. Her eyes came up, and she let out a small squeal when she spotted Quinn on the other side of the glass. Dani leapt back with her hand on her heart and her chest heaving for breath. “Shit!” she blurted, her voice distorted by the glass. “You scared the crap out of me! Don’t do that again!”

“Sorry,” Quinn apologized.

Dani took a deep breath before returning to where she’d been. She bent over and lifted something up. A lid appeared before Quinn, blocking her view of the room. Julian’s hand clasped her forearm, pulling her a little away so he could look in. Over her shoulder, Vern didn’t have to rise onto his toes to peer into the room.

“Can either of you see anything?” Quinn demanded.

“They’re fine,” Vern replied.

The lid closed again, revealing the room and the three Hunters exiting it. Quinn hurried to the next window, tugging Julian along with her as they went from window to window, following the Hunters around the house the best they could. When they returned to the main living room, Quinn climbed the steps as Chris came to the door.

“There’s nothing obvious here about any other members of The Commission, where they could be, or what their plans are. Do you want us to start bringing stuff out for you?” he asked Julian.

Julian gazed beyond Chris’s shoulder before turning toward the garage. “We’ll search in there first.”





CHAPTER 17


Quinn sat on the bow of the boat within the garage, her feet dangling over the edge of it. Dani and Melissa sat on each side of her. The three of them had just finished searching the boat with Julian touching everything he could get his hands on. Afterward, they’d settled here to watch as Julian went down to help the others finish searching the garage.

Dani stifled a yawn; Quinn knew exactly how she felt. Stressed and exhausted, all she wanted was to retreat to the RV and sleep, but they still had a lot to do before that could happen. Below them, Vern, Julian, and Chris were going through all of the drawers and cabinets lining the walls. Most of them were full of an endless array of tools. Julian handled every one of the tools before tossing them aside.

Glancing over the boat, she now understood the reason for the large garage; it had been necessary to house Herb’s work in progress. If she hadn’t known what Herb was, she would have considered him a reclusive man, content to work with his hands and enjoy nature. It was unnerving to see how much the surface could differ from the interior of a man.

Julian and Chris were blessed or cursed to be able to see beneath that surface, to be able to spot the monsters lurking within someone; the rest of them had to take everyone at face value. Herb’s face value was that of the serial killer who all the neighbors swore was the kindest man there ever was, until they were interviewed for the news after a hundred bodies were pulled from the guy’s basement.

“If he has anything, it’s in the house; where vampires can’t go,” Julian said as he closed another cabinet and turned to face the room. The dim glow of the overhead lights danced over his platinum hair as he ran a hand over it.

“Then we’ll go back in the house,” Chris said.

Julian’s eyes met Quinn’s as she swung her legs back and forth. He didn’t have to say a word; she knew he didn’t want them back in that house. She didn’t either. Nothing had gone wrong the first time, but they might have gotten lucky. Luck could easily run out.

“It’s what needs to be done,” Chris said and turned from the garage.

Chris walked out the door and toward the house before she could leap to her feet. She clutched the railing on the boat and jumped over the side of it. Her feet landed silently on the ground; her fingers brushed over the cool floor beneath her as she bent her knees to take the impact. Julian stepped beside her and clasped her elbow as she rose back up.

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