Frost Burn

by Erica Stevens

  Quinn turned away from the window and paced over to the kitchen sink. “My mother’s sister and her husband were the Hunters who found and rescued her. They took my mother back with them and kept her hidden, my aunt told me she was never the same though. She never attacked them, but she’d been broken by the change and never recovered from losing my father. When I was born only two months later, perfectly healthy and normal weight, she handed me over to her sister and walked out into the sun.

  “My aunt and uncle raised me. Even before my strange birth, they’d decided to tell their Guardian and The Commission we’d all perished in the attack. After my birth, they put two vampire bodies into their house, lit it on fire, and fled to Alaska with me. They had no reason not to trust their Guardian, but they knew my existence would either be completely unwelcome, or it would create more questions and a possible case study of me. They knew how Hunters were created, and they didn’t want anyone experimenting on me.”

  “Wise choice,” he murmured. “Did anyone ever search for them?”

  “They were declared dead in the fire so there was no reason for anyone to.”

  “Besides your early, and healthy birth, did you exhibit other nonhuman signs?”

  She fiddled with the tab on her can as she spoke. “I always needed blood. Nowhere near as much as a normal vampire, but I required a few drops of blood with my formula. As I got older raw meat was the way I got it. I had a heartbeat until I changed; I never had fangs, but when I got mad my eyes would start to change color.”

  “Like they did earlier?”

  “Sort of. Only my irises changed color before, and they looked exactly like what you just saw without the whites of my eyes turning red. I was also stronger than a normal Hunter, I grew faster, and my ability was more lethal. The sun affected me too. It hurt my eyes, and only a half an hour under its rays would burn my skin. My cousin Betsy was born six months after me, the differences between us were impossible to ignore. My other cousin, Barry, was two years younger than me. They both went to school; I was kept home.”

  Her hand went to the heart locket as her thoughts turned to Betsy. For years her cousin had been her best friend, her confidante. They’d spent many nights talking until almost daybreak about dreams and boys. She’d lived vicariously through Betsy; listening to her stories about school and a world she didn’t think she’d ever get to be a part of.

  “When The Slaughter occurred, we were still in Alaska, and my family fled once again. They’d been listed as dead, but they weren’t willing to take any chances with our safety. They settled in a town a couple of hours from here in California. I wasn’t able to go out as much after the move, but we blended in with the people and assumed an entirely human lifestyle. Even with all of my abnormalities and the knowledge of what I was, my aunt and uncle treated me like their own child, and they loved me.

  “When I was thirteen, I’d gained control of my ability and my strength, but I was still too afraid of losing my temper to be around other people so I remained hidden away. I didn’t think I’d ever go out in the world. By the time I was sixteen, I felt confident enough of my restraint to risk going to high school. I knew I was different but my family loved me, and they encouraged me to try and live as normal of a life as I could. My happiness was the only thing they wanted for me.”

  “I’ve never heard of a vampire being born before,” he murmured.

  She popped the tab off her soda and dropped the can in the sink. Leaning against the counter, she turned to face him again. “Apparently I’m a rarity.” A stab of sorrow slid through her as she remembered he’d already called her that, had already compared her to Cassie.

  His gaze slid over her from head to toe and back again. “You most certainly are. So they raised you as a Hunter?”

  “For the most part. I was always aware of my real heritage. They never could have kept it hidden from me, and it would have been irresponsible to try. I learned the lore of the Hunters and Guardians and was taught to fight vampires, something I do well.” She wasn’t bragging it was a simple fact. “I was determined to one day take revenge on the species who had killed my parents and slaughtered countless others, but I also enjoyed my role in the human world. When I turned eighteen, I started to prepare for high school graduation, and talk of college was eagerly discussed at the dinner table. Betsy and I were going to be roommates. Two days after graduation it all came crumbling down.”

  She wrapped her hand around the locket and clasped it in her grasp as memories flooded her. It had been six years, yet the screams still echoed in her head as vividly as they had that night. The nightmares still came to her at least a few times a month.

  “I’m still not sure how the vampires got in the house. One minute Barry was opening the front door, and the next thing I knew they were on us. In our home.” She lifted her head to look at him. “We’d mistakenly assumed we were safe there.”

  “One of them probably had the ability of mind control. It takes age to be able to use it with a lot of force, but I’ve encountered at least a dozen mind controllers over the years. The most powerful one I know is Devon. His ability can be chilling, and he can do some impressive and lethal things with it, but at seven hundred and fifty-four years old, he’s the oldest one of us now.”

  “Do you think he could have been the one who did it?” she hissed.

  Julian snorted and shook his head. “No, Devon most definitely was not involved in the murder of your family.”

  “How can you be so certain?”

  “Because until Cassie walked into his life, Devon hadn’t killed anyone or drank human blood for almost a hundred and fifty years. Cassie’s blood was the first he’d had in all those years. The only reason he would kill another is to keep those he cares for safe.”

  Quinn tilted her head. “Why did he give up human blood?”

  Julian folded his arms over his chest and leaned back in his chair. “Devon fancied himself in love.”

  “With Cassie?”

  “Oh no, this was before Cassie. A pretty girl named Annabelle he became fascinated with. She was sweet and innocent and Devon was determined to destroy that in her.”

  Quinn’s stomach turned. “He sounds like a monster.”

  “He was, but so was I back then.” The relentless hold of his stare made her realize he was gauging her reaction. She didn’t know what he expected to see from her, but she couldn’t fail him. “We were both monsters.” The underlying current in his flippant tone made her realize this was far more important to him than he was letting on. “And we both enjoyed it.”

  “I’ve seen what vampires are capable of.”

  Julian sat up in the chair, folded his hands before him and rested his elbows on his knees. “You’ve only seen the tip of the iceberg, Dewdrop; I can assure you of that much. What Devon and I did all those years, together, are things you probably can’t even imagine. Then one day Devon came across Annabelle. The only problem was Annabelle loved a human, Liam. Determined to destroy their love, Devon turned her into a vampire, and everything blew up in his face.”

  Despite the lethal light in his eyes, she found herself drawn into his story. “What happened?”

  “Annabelle turned out to be Devon’s downfall, or at least that’s what I considered her at the time. The night Annabelle turned, instead of becoming a mindless killing machine who turned on Liam like Devon had hoped, she slaughtered a field of cows. Devon found her there. He realized that instead of destroying her, she’d retained the characteristics that had made her good as a human. She made him realize he could be better. He stopped killing and stopped drinking human blood. After a couple of years Annabelle went to Liam, told him everything, and changed him when he agreed to it.”

  “What became of them?” she asked.

  “Annabelle and Liam have been mated ever since he turned. Devon remained a boring do-gooder. I hated him for it.”

  “Why?”

  “Why would I like him? He’d been my best friend; he’d helped to m
old me into the monster I’d become, and then he walked away from it all because of a girl. I became determined to break him as punishment. I bided my time and I waited; Devon may have been good, but he was still stronger than me. Then he met Cassie, and I saw my opportunity to take him down by taking her down.”

  The challenge in his gaze only intensified. “I see,” she murmured.

  He rose to his feet and walked with the lethal grace of a puma across the room. Quinn remained frozen as he stopped before her and rested his hands on the counter beside her again. The tantalizing scent of him engulfed her; she became mesmerized by the eyes burning into hers. “Do you really see, Quinn? Do you really understand what I was? I tried numerous times to kill Cassie, in order to destroy him. I missed my friend, but even more I wanted to destroy the good in them and the love between them, because I’d been engulfed in the evil, death and blood for centuries.”

  “What happened?” The bare whisper of her question probably wouldn’t have been heard by a human.

  “That’s a horror story for another time.”

  She grabbed hold of his arm when he went to turn away. The powerful muscles of his forearm rippled beneath her hands, the warmth of his flesh sent little tingles into the palm of her hand. She ignored the attraction blazing to life between them.

  I will not look at his lips, she chanted in her head.

  “If you want to know about me then you’ll tell me what happened,” she said.

  He glanced pointedly at her hand. “I could already know about you.”

  It was a tactic meant to unnerve her, and it did, but she refused to release his arm. It was also a challenge. He was trying to see if he could drive her away; she wasn’t going to let him. “But you don’t.”

  His eyes were callous as he stared at her. “Not yet.”

  “Maybe not ever.”

  He leaned closer to her, the mantra in her head kicked up as his mouth hovered only inches away from hers. “Dewdrop, you’re a mystery I’m going to solve no matter what it takes.”

  Were there bones still left in her legs? She didn’t think so as his words caused his lips to brush over hers before he stepped back.

  “The Commission was determined to try and create new Hunters.” He walked away from her as he spoke and over to the table. He didn’t return to his seat but rested his fingertips on the table and turned to face her. “They felt the best way to do this was to use a current Hunter and an Elder, if they could get their hands on one. Cassie had no abilities when she was a Hunter, a perilous rarity amongst your kind. They were determined to capture her if they could, but they knew it would be difficult, if not impossible, to take her and Devon.”

  “So they went after you?”

  “They took me. I never saw those bastards coming.” The flash of red in his eyes revealed more about his fury than the growl he emitted. “A Hunter with telekinesis and some members of The Commission teamed up to take me down. They drugged me with something strong enough to knock out ten elephants and took me to a hidden laboratory under a school in upstate New York. There they locked me up and they waited.”

  “Waited for what?”

  “For Cassie. For their fun to begin. And then they unleashed every torture they could think of upon us. They were trying to get Cassie to turn into a monster, and I was their vampire pincushion. The only one we had to talk to was each other; we helped to keep each other sane while we were in there.”

  “And you fell in love with her?”

  His head tilted to the side, his hair fell across his forehead. “I did,” he confirmed.

  “Did she fall in love with you?”

  “No. She loves me, she always will, but she never could have fallen in love with me. After being in there with her though, I finally understood why Devon had walked away from what he’d been, and allowed Annabelle to go to Liam. I understood everything about him. Including the realization I would let Cassie go.”

  “Why?”

  “Because she was never mine to have. She’s Devon’s mate.”

  Quinn’s gaze slid to her window. “I’m sorry.” She didn’t know what else to say. He’d been through hell and back; he’d been locked away like an animal, tortured, and he loved a woman who didn’t love him.

  “Don’t be, I’m not. Being in there was awful, but if it hadn’t happened I may have killed her or died myself. Instead, I got my best friend back; I got more friends and a family out of it. I also realized that blood and death doesn’t have to be my life. Loving her gave me a whole new life, a better one, and I wouldn’t change anything that happened in order to bring me to this point.”

  She still felt as if she should comfort him in some way, but he didn’t look upset. He was an ancient man who was extremely aware of who and what he was. A man who was perfectly accepting of the twists and turns his life had taken.

  “What is this mate thing you keep talking about?” she inquired.

  “It’s an intense bond between vampires. They’re soul mates and can’t be separated from each other once the bond is completed through the exchange of blood and sex. If one mate dies, so does the other.”

  Quinn’s hands wrapped around the edge of the countertop. “I see.”

  “And I came to see Cassie was the same thing to me as Annabelle was to Devon. She showed me how to love again.”

  “And maybe one day you will find your mate.”

  A snort escaped him; a smile curved his luscious mouth. “Doubtful, but I’m quite content with living the single life. I may not be a killer anymore, but I’m certainly not a saint.”

  “That’s for sure,” she muttered.

  He released a small laugh before dropping into the chair again. “Now Quinn, I’ve told you my secrets, it’s time to hear the rest of yours. How did you become a vampire?”

  “I’m sure you have plenty more secrets.”

  “You’ve only asked for some of them, and I’ve already told you that if you would like to know every horrid, juicy detail of my life I will happily reveal all to you one day, but not today. Quit stalling and tell me, or I will take the answers from you.” His eyes burned as he leaned toward her. “I am not playing a game; I won’t allow my friend’s lives to be placed in jeopardy. I gave and now so shall you, one way or another.”

  Quinn bristled over his highhanded attitude, but he was right. She’d asked for him to reveal his secrets, and he’d done so. For her to not return the favor was wrong but she’d been determined to never go down this road again.

  “I don’t like threats,” she told him.

  “I don’t like to give them, but I know you understand.”

  “I do,” she said.

  “Now, I’m guessing the vampire with mind control got to your cousin before they arrived at your door that night.”

  “You think they knew we were Hunters.” She’d always suspected that, but it was the first time she’d said it aloud.

  “They knew what you were,” Julian confirmed. “Or at least what your family was. I highly doubt they knew what you were. You wouldn’t be standing here if they did.”

  She shuddered at the idea. “How would they know what we were?”

  “The vampire with mind control was older; he’d have to be to accomplish what he did, but he somehow figured out you were Hunters. For years, many vamps didn’t look for Hunters and Guardians because The Elders had told them they were all wiped out during The Slaughter. With the death of The Elders, most now know it wasn’t true. How many of vampires came into your house?”

  Her gaze went beyond him, but she didn’t see the wall there, she saw an entirely different scene. “Six.”

  “What happened once they were inside the house?”

  She closed her eyes and shuddered. Her hand instinctively went to the scar at her temple, her fingers traced over the puckered flesh. “They killed Barry first, and then they came for us. My power wasn’t as strong then, but I managed to give one a good enough zap that I sent him through the wall. The next one came at me with a
bowie knife over a foot long. He sliced me across my temple first and slammed the handle of the knife into my skull. I was still trying to get my bearings from the blow, and I’m pretty sure a fractured skull, when he cut me from my lip to under my chin.”

  Her fingers slid over the faded scar there. “I don’t remember falling, but the next thing I remember is him leaning over me and that knife plunging into my flesh, pinning me to the ground.” Her hand fell upon the scar beneath her sternum; she rested her palm there as the agony of the moment slid back over her. “Then, he took my hands and pinned each one of them to the ground with nearly identical knives, like I was nothing more than a bug. I will never forget his face, those eyes, or one single detail about him. I will find him one day, when I’m stronger, and I will make him pay for what he did to my family. I will destroy him.

  “I laid there and listened to the slurping sounds of him feeding on me. The screams of my loved ones filled my ears, but there was nothing I could do as my blood seeped out of me and the world faded away,” she said. “And then I don’t remember anything else until I woke again. Dead.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  She stared at him but he knew she didn’t see him; he was certain the only things she could see right now were the memories of that night. Memories he’d glimpsed when he’d first touched her. The color had faded from her already pale skin; her eyes were shadowed. Crimson color had bled into the whites of her eyes again and the gold of them had red flames flickering around the edges once more.

  “The vampire who attacked you gave you his blood,” he prodded when she remained mute.

  Quinn shook her head; her hand fell away from her stomach. “No. Apparently being born a vampire and a Hunter was enough for me to transform without having an influx of vampire blood. It wasn’t an easy one.”