“Or we could drive them out another exit,” Melissa said.
“We still have the group we sent out to find a back road. Hopefully, they’ve found it by now. We could search this place and these mountains for the next month and possibly never find all of their exits. The longer we wait, the more time we give them to prepare for us. They’ll also have a better chance of getting away from us during the day. The five of you can’t watch everything when the sun is up, and the people in this building most likely outnumber you.”
“True,” Melissa agreed.
“I’ll go with the group we send,” Luther said. “Show them where the other exit is.”
“I’ll return with him,” Dani offered.
“Hadie and I will go back too,” Prue said.
“We’ll all go with them again,” Carla said, and the other vampires who had gone searching with them nodded their agreement.
“Good,” Julian said.
“What are you going to do here?” Luther asked.
Julian grinned as he gazed at the barricaded door again. “I have a plan to get inside.”
“I hate your plans,” Quinn muttered.
He refrained from telling her that she would probably really hate this one.
Luther lifted an eyebrow at him. “Care to fill us in on it?”
“Let’s just say it’s going to take a lot of group effort,” Julian replied. “You’ll know if we get inside.”
“I’m sure we will,” Luther said.
“How much time will it take you to reach the other entrance again?”
“Twenty minutes give or take.”
“We’ll wait a half an hour before launching an attack on the building.”
“Plenty of time,” Luther replied. “Let’s go,” he said to the others.
Quinn took hold of Julian’s hand as the group turned and made their way back toward the woods. “They’ll be fine,” he assured her, pulling her close to kiss her temple.
“Yes, they will.”
“Come on, let’s get more of this field cleared while we wait.”
Over the next half an hour, they worked side by side, tossing hundred pound rocks onto the field to set off more mines. All of them seemed to be concentrated across the middle of the field. They found none within the first fifty feet of the gate or within thirty feet of the building. He didn’t trust The Commission not to throw one or two surprises in, so he continued to have vampires working to clear those areas too. If they had to retreat, they would need as clear of a pathway as they could get.
Quinn didn’t speak as she watched the vampires around them. Most of whom were watching her even more.
“What’s the matter, Dewdrop?” he asked.
“Some of them keep looking at me as if I’m the messiah.”
“Some of them may see you as such.”
She shivered and ran her hands over her arms before turning away from him. Gripping her elbow, he pulled her back to him and wrapped his arms around her. Her head fell to his shoulder; she kissed the hollow of his neck. A sense of peace descended over him as all around them explosions and smoke filled the air.
“Almost lost you,” he murmured as he stroked her nape.
“I want these bastards dead, and then I just want to sit somewhere for a while and not think about anything.”
He smiled as he smoothed back her chocolate-colored hair and tucked it behind her ears. Her eyes glistened with love when she lifted her head to look at him. “A beach somewhere,” he suggested.
“Yes, a beach sounds great, but I’m thinking maybe Canada. There are some kids I’d like to meet.”
Bending, he cupped her face tenderly within his grasp and claimed her lips in a slow kiss. Her mouth opened to his, the heady feel of her tongue dancing with his filled his senses as he tasted her. Breaking the kiss, he pulled her flush against his chest.
“Then meet them you shall,” he promised her. “Your ability is growing. I could feel you still connected to me when I was on the roof.”
“Maybe it’s not growing, maybe it’s only you that I stay connected to.”
“Maybe,” he agreed.
“Or maybe it’s because I killed two men and their life is fueling me more than normal.”
“They deserved it.”
“I wouldn’t change it. When I thought he was going to drive that stake through my heart, I was so afraid… for you.” Her ragged admission tore at his heart.
“I felt the same way about you when Zach staked me.”
“Julian,” Chris said as he appeared beside them. “It’s time.”
Chris’s features were haggard and his shaggy blond hair hung in tangled disarray as he looked between the two of them. Julian reluctantly stepped away from Quinn, but he kept one of his arms locked around her waist.
“Are you sure we’re going to be able to get in there?” Chris asked him as they made their way toward the door.
“I think so,” Julian replied.
“How?” Quinn asked.
“You’re going to fuel me,” he said.