“They are,” Julian agreed.
Quinn’s eyes came back to his, and he saw the determination in their golden depths. “No matter how much I hate this idea, I won’t turn away from that.”
CHAPTER 24
Vern stepped up to his left side and rested his hands beside Julian on the door. “Make sure you don’t touch me,” Julian said quietly, and Vern nodded.
Julian had a feeling Quinn would be able to spread her power beyond him and into Vern, but he didn’t want any of them to know she could be capable of such a thing. He preferred for them to believe he was the only one she could funnel her power through because of their bond. So far they all seemed trustworthy enough, but the temptation of harnessing her power for themselves may be too much for a vampire to withstand.
Most likely, Quinn would drain them dry if they tried to capture her and use her to do what they wanted, but if someone with mind control got hold of her again, she could be bent to their will. He would do everything to keep her protected from something like that happening again. Including taking the chance of not being able to get into this place by keeping her power centralized only on him.
Quinn stood on his other side, one hand squeezed in to rest against the door, the other on his shoulder. He saw no cameras around the building, but he had no doubt The Commission was somehow watching them. No doubt they’d seen Quinn survive a near staking and turn their fellow dickheads into ash. They’d tried to kill her before. After seeing what she was capable of, they wouldn’t go for the kill again. They would capture her for their own uses if they could.
He’d ordered all of those who had volunteered for this to stay around them, touching each other in one way or another. Melissa stood against his back with Lou at her shoulder and Chris on her other side. It was the first time Melissa had willingly touched Chris in days, and Julian could feel the tension in her rigid body, but she didn’t try to move away from him.
Almost all of the vampires had volunteered to help with this. A feat he never would have considered possible ten minutes ago. The vamps who hadn’t volunteered were the ones who were injured and couldn’t have helped anyway. Afraid she wouldn’t be able to handle too much influx at once, Quinn had only asked for ten vampires to gather closer with Lou, Chris, and Melissa. If they found she required more, they had another group ready to step forward in order to add to the power source.
“Are you ready?” Quinn asked him.
“Yes.”
Julian knew she started to draw from the others when behind him, Melissa and Lou sucked in sharp breaths. The vampires remained silent, but their bodies stiffened. Having already experienced what Quinn could do, Chris was the only one who showed no reaction to her ability. Julian remained against the door, waiting as he felt the rippling swell of her power against his back.
Quinn’s fingers dug into his bicep; he turned his head to look at her. Her eyes burned like molten gold when they met his. Her hair floated around her face, blowing in the breeze. Tendrils of her power crackled over his skin and caused the hair on his body to rise.
She was hundreds of years younger than he was, yet her ability awed and overwhelmed him. Her fingers slid over his arm to brush against his cheek. A tender stroking that conveyed her love for him as the others swayed toward him. The hair around her face blew more forcefully. This time it had nothing to do with the breeze as the strength of her power agitated the air.
His muscles swelled beneath her touch as her fingers ran back down to his arm and her hand encircled his bicep once more. He found he couldn’t take his eyes off her as a rush of power unlike anything he’d ever experienced flooded him. She’d fed into him before and used him to drain another, but this influx made him feel as if he could tear this whole place down with his bare hands.
Leaning forward, he dug the toes of his boots into the ground as he pushed more firmly against the door. There were so many feeding him, yet he could feel every separate life within him. Their strengths and weaknesses ebbed and flowed through his body, coalescing to make one powerful ball. His toes dug in deeper. Beside him, Quinn made a whisper of sound that drew his attention back to her.
Her eyes shone like the sun, and a halo of light enshrouded her, giving her an angelic appearance. Then he heard it. His heart gave a riotous beat as it banged against his ribs in a pattern that had become increasingly familiar to him again. Around him, gasps sounded as the pulse of a new heart filled the air. The beat didn’t die out, but continued a staccato rhythm for longer than it ever had before.