“No!” she hissed. “I’m not going to hide behind you.”
Those vibrant red eyes met and held hers. He gave up on trying to maneuver her behind him, but he drew her closer as they waited for all of the others to come through the fence. They spread out across the fence as they came through, most of them staying low to the ground while they surveyed their surroundings.
“That’s a pretty wide-open space between here and the building,” Melissa said as she stepped forward to stand beside Quinn. Chris moved to Melissa’s other side. Vern, Hadie, and Prue appeared on the other side of Chris while Luther and Lou stood on the other side of Julian. The vampire she recognized as Carla, the one who Julian believed needed this in her life, flanked Luther.
“It is,” Quinn agreed.
At least two hundred yards separated them from the building, and none of the land offered cover for them. She still saw no movement in the windows, but The Commission was most likely waiting until they were all closer before making their move. Knowing that he was outnumbered, Herb never would have attacked them until Julian had discovered his hiding place, but The Commission would.
“Maybe we can get the vehicles and drive them across,” Chris suggested. “They’ll at least offer some protection for all of us.”
Quinn turned to look at the gate a hundred feet away from them. The dirt lane they’d traveled on to get here approached the gate from the other side. Beyond the gate, the dirt drive continued to the front door of the building.
“If something happens to the vehicles, we have nowhere to retreat to if this isn’t over before the sun comes up,” Hadie said.
Julian gazed between them and the roadway before turning to face the group again. “It doesn’t have to be all of the vehicles. We can use the van and one of the other larger vehicles as cover. Not the RV, we’ll need it if the other two vehicles get destroyed. What is everyone else driving?”
A small woman stepped forward and lifted a set of keys into the air. “Jeep Cherokee.”
“That will do. Hadie, go back with her and get the van.”
“You got it,” Hadie replied.
“We’ll have the gate open for when you get back,” Julian told them.
Quinn watched as the two women walked away and blended seamlessly in with the woods. Julian took hold of her hand again and gave it a subtle tug. Quinn turned away from the forest to follow him across the inside of the fence toward the gate. This time, at least he didn’t walk as brazenly as if he owned the place but moved in a crouched-over position that she duplicated. They were open targets no matter what out here, but that didn’t mean she wanted to offer them a bigger target.
The others all moved noiselessly behind them, in the same crouched-over position until they’d reached the gateway. On both sides of the gate was a keypad with numbers on it. More barbwire ran along the top while electrical wire entwined with the chain links.
Dani rested her fingers against the gate. “It’s safe,” she confirmed and stepped away from it.
Julian glanced at the building before walking across the drive to the other side of the gateway. Quinn followed behind and watched as he wrapped his fingers around the edge of the large pole on the end of the gate and gave it a hard jerk. The lock gave way with a snap. The Commission already knew they were here, but the noise grated like sandpaper on Quinn’s already frazzled nerves.
The gate rattled and clanked on its sliding track when Julian flung it open. He caught hold of it and held it open when it hit the end of its track and slid toward him once more.
“I hate this place,” Chris muttered from beside her.
“Me too,” she admitted.
Julian stared down the roadway toward where they’d left the vehicles before looking at the building again. Quinn braced herself before focusing on it once more too. It was a simple structure made of concrete and metal, yet she couldn’t help but feel as if it were a living, breathing entity waiting patiently for its moment to pounce on them.
Don’t get carried away. She couldn’t help it though, not when it continued to feel as if eyes were boring into her neck.
A low rumbling drew her attention back to the road as the van materialized over the top of a small hill with the Jeep right behind it. Bits of dust kicked up beneath the tires of the vehicles, marking the trail of their passing as they approached the gate.
“How are we going to do this?” Luther asked.
“We’ll have the vehicles stay next to each other and lead the way. We’ll stay by them, using them for whatever cover they provide. We’re going to have to go in low and fast, it will present less of a target if we do,” Julian replied. “You and Lou can ride with Hadie if you’d prefer.”