Scorched Ice

by Erica Stevens

  Julian didn’t bother to look through the windows but went straight to the front door. The thumping of their boots on the steps caused her to wince as they climbed onto the porch. Quinn’s gaze was drawn to the window beside the chair, but she didn’t approach it.

  Julian and Chris walked around the porch, their eyes focused on the boards. Quinn glanced down and took a small step back at the thought of someone hiding beneath floorboards. Julian pulled the chair back while Chris lifted the table. They approached the bench together; Julian ran his hands over the surface as he examined it while Chris pulled the cushions from the seat and tossed them aside. Seemingly satisfied, Chris rejoined them while Julian stalked over to the front door.

  “Don’t think anyone’s going to invite us in,” Vern said.

  “That’s why we have Hunters with us,” Julian replied. “But it is always polite to knock first.”

  With that, he opened the screen door, lifted his hand, and rapped his knuckles loudly against the wood. Quinn bit her lip as she listened for any hint of sound from the other side of the door. Everything remained as it had before he’d knocked; the creaking of the pines and the whistling of the wind were the only sounds in the clearing.

  Julian grabbed the knob and twisted it; it didn’t move beneath his hand. With a sharp jerk, he tore the knob from the door and tossed it carelessly aside. The abrasive clatter it made against the porch caused her shoulders to tense as she waited for someone to leap out or some weapon to fire at them. When nothing moved, her shoulders relaxed slightly.

  Turning, she surveyed the woods again. She saw nothing out there, not even the vampires she knew were watching them.

  Julian leaned his shoulder against the door and shoved it inward. It swung inward with the slightest creak of its hinges. The open door revealed the pine wood floors and midnight blue, fluffy throw rug in the center of the small living room beyond.

  Lining the wall, the heads of deer, moose, and bears stared down at them from beady black eyes that made Quinn’s skin crawl in a whole new way. A red wolf was propped in the corner, its head tilted back in an endless howl. She’d always hated trophy animals. She found something infinitely creepy in the way the eyes would follow her wherever she went. With Herb, she wouldn’t be astonished if they also discovered the heads of vampires hanging on the wall somewhere inside.

  For the first time since becoming a vampire, she was glad she couldn’t enter a residence without an invitation.

  Julian lifted a hand and tried to push it inside the home, but it stopped in the doorway, blocked by an invisible barrier. “The bastard is still alive,” he muttered before stepping back. He gave an elegant wave of his hand to Chris. “I wish I could say after you, but we’ll still be here.”

  Chris stared at him for a minute before his gaze went back to the heads lining the wall.

  Melissa’s onyx eyes simmered with anger as she gazed at the animals. “Disgusting.”

  “Would the vegetarian in you be happier if he didn’t eat them before mounting them?” Chris asked her, earning him a scathing glare that caused his eyebrows to shoot into his hairline. “Just trying to lighten the mood a little.”

  “It’s not funny. A red wolf,” Melissa muttered with a shake of her head as she stepped into the living room. “Apparently ‘endangered’ means nothing to this man, and is that a puma?” The outrage in her voice made even Julian take a step back. “Why didn’t he just slap a bald eagle on the wall while he was at it. If he were here right now, Julian wouldn’t get a chance to kill him.”

  Julian chuckled and leaned against the doorframe as Chris followed her into the living room with Dani right behind him. Chris kept some distance between him and Melissa as she continued to glower at the walls. Quinn’s fingers itched to pull the three of them back, but they’d moved beyond her grasp the second they’d gone through the doorway.

  Dani and Melissa pulled out their stakes from the holsters at their sides while they moved; Chris tugged a crossbow from his back.

  “Keep an eye out for booby traps,” Julian said to them.

  Chris glanced over his shoulder at him. “We know.”

  Julian’s posture remained casual, but Quinn felt the stress within him. When Chris took another step forward and they all turned on their flashlights, Julian tensed. She rested her hand on his arm to calm him.

  He relaxed slightly before speaking. “Also, don’t forget to look to the ground for something hidden beneath this place.”

  She wondered if he realized he sounded like a mother hen. If he did, she knew it wouldn’t change, not until the three Hunters were free of this cabin.

  “I know,” Chris replied. “We’ve seen what The Commission can do and build too.”

  “Yeah, you have,” Julian muttered.

  Beside her, Vern glanced between Julian and Chris before his gaze settled on her. “They really are friends.”

  “If they weren’t, they probably would have all killed each other by now,” she replied.

  “We certainly tried to kill him once,” Melissa said as she poked her head cautiously around a corner of the wall to what Quinn assumed was a hallway beyond. “And he definitely tried to kill us.”

  “Bygones,” Julian replied with a wave of his hand that earned him scowls from the three Hunters in the living room.

  “This is how we will all work together,” Quinn said to Vern.

  “Hopefully so,” he replied.

  Quinn turned her attention back to her friends, unwilling to take her gaze off them for too long. There was nothing they could do if the Hunters got in trouble inside the house, but she had to know what was happening with them. When the three of them slipped into the hall and out of view, she took an instinctive step forward to follow them.

  She nearly banged her hands against the invisible wall holding her back from entering the house when she came up against it.

  “It’s okay,” Julian said, drawing her back a step. “Chris?”

  A second later, Chris’s head poked back around the corner of the hall. “Yeah?”

  “Keep talking to let us know where you are and that you’re safe.”

  “Oh sure, that way if someone else is in here, I’ll let them know our every step too. Great plan, dead boy.”

  A rumble of annoyance slid up Julian’s chest as Quinn hid a smile. “I may kill you myself if you make it out of there, Christopher,” Julian said.

  “Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Chris muttered. “I’m shaking.”

  Before Julian could reply, Chris disappeared down the hall once more. Beside her, Vern was unable to hold back anymore and released a deep, resonating laugh. “I never thought I’d say this, but I actually like that Hunter.”

  “They all tend to grow on you after a while,” Julian replied. “Doesn’t mean you’re not tempted to break their necks occasionally.”

  “Julian,” Quinn said.

  “It’s true,” he replied as he leaned forward and turned his head to hear any sound from the house.

  Quinn went completely still, her gaze going to the windows on the side of the house. “We can follow their movements, at least a little.”

  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 withou
t 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.

  Melissa and Dani leaped down beside her; their feet thudded dully on the concrete floor. “Really not looking forward to going back in there,” Melissa said as they trailed Chris out of the building.

  “Picture his head mounted on the wall,” Julian suggested.

  “Done that already,” Melissa replied. “All of his things give me the creeps.”

  Julian rested his hand on her shoulder, drawing her attention away from where Chris waited for them near the porch. “You don’t have to go back in,” Julian told her.

  “Yes, I do. We all do.” Melissa turned and walked over to join Chris.

  “It will go quickly,” Dani said.

  Quinn climbed the steps to the porch. She felt as if a stone had been tied around her neck; it weighed her down as she watched the three of them enter the cabin again.

  “What do you want us to bring you first?” Melissa asked Julian.

  “Clothes, pillows, photos, ledgers or journals he’s written in. Pens are always good,” Julian replied.

  Quinn gazed out at the wood line as he spoke. The vamps who had come here with them crept forward to stand at the edge of the trees, making themselves visible now. Cassie, Devon, Luther, and Lou stood at the front of the group. Quinn tore her attention away from them when the Hunters began to bring Julian items from the house.

  Leaning against the cabin wall, she folded her arms over her chest as the night crept steadily onward. Julian held each of the things handed to him for a minute or so. No one looking at him would realize how much this task wore on him, as he kept his shoulders back and his jaw set, but she felt his exhaustion deep within her. She resisted touching him, knowing that it would only break his concentration if she did.

  Relief, instead of her normal dread of the sun, filled her when the sky began to lighten on the distant horizon. “It’s time to go,” she said as Chris handed Julian a glass paperweight and disappeared back into the house.

  Julian glanced at her before lifting his eyes to the sky. “Yes. We have to go!” he called into the house.

  His hands ran over the glass paperweight as the Hunters emerged moments later from around the corner of the hall. With the shadows under their eyes and the lines forming around their mouths, they looked as exhausted as she knew Julian felt. All she wanted was to get him back to the RV so he could shut his ability down and rest.

  Quinn stepped to the side just as Julian’s entire body became as stiff as a rod. His jaw clenched, and his hands tightened on the paperweight to the point that the glass shattered in his grasp. Quinn gasped and stretched her hand toward him. He seized her before she could touch him.

  “Get off the porch,” he snarled.

  “Julian?”

  “Everyone, get off the porch, now!” he barked.

  Before she could reply, he wrapped his arm around her waist, lifted her up and raced with her across the porch. Quinn’s legs encircled his waist as he ran toward the railing and cleared it in a single leap. His muscles bunched and flowed beneath her hands when he hit the ground and threw himself forward so that she was pinned on her back beneath him.

  Her back crashing into the ground caused her to lose her grip on his shoulders, but she realized he presented a far larger target than she did as he remained on top of her. One of his arms encircled her head while the other remained around her waist.

  He rolled rapidly to the side just as a clicking noise registered and a wave of crossbow bolts fired. The sound of splintering wood filled the air. One of the bolts scraped down her arm, slicing her from shoulder to wrist. She gritted her teeth against the pain as a startled yelp came from the other side of the house.

  Peeking beneath Julian’s arm, she saw some of the vampires across the way poking their heads out from around the trees they’d hidden behind.

  “Bastard!” Julian spat.

  Quinn tried to lift her head to see what exactly had happened, but he rolled her further out of the way as another wave of bolts fired. Rising to his feet, he lifted her and pressed her against the cabin wall.

  “Are you okay?” he demanded, his ruby eyes filling her vision as he gently clasped the
hand of her wounded arm.

  “I’m fi-fine,” she stammered out. “The others?”

  Julian stuck his head out far enough to see around the corner of the house. He pulled back almost instantly. “Chris, Melissa, and Dani are trapped inside. Vern’s on the other side of the cabin.”

  “What just happened?”

  “The bastard’s hiding beneath the porch.”

  “The whole time!” she gasped.

  “Yes. I should have seen it sooner.” He shook his head and slammed his hands against the side of the cabin. Wood splintered and pieces of it fell around them from the impact of his fists.

  “You couldn’t have known.”

  “I’m the only one who could have known,” he growled. “Objects are just so precarious sometimes. They don’t hold the memories like a person does. Still I should have seen something.”

  “Stop. Don’t beat yourself up, not over this. Why didn’t he attack us sooner?”

  “Either he knew he was outnumbered and didn’t want to risk giving away his hiding place unless it became necessary, or he was waiting for the sun to rise when he knew he’d have a better chance at taking us out. He might not have enough weapons to defend himself with against all of us either.”

  “Can he get under the house too?”

  “I don’t know.”

  Quinn shuddered at his words as he knelt beside her. She examined his body for any sign of injury, but though he had a jagged tear on the side of his jeans, she saw no blood.

  Daring to poke her head out around the corner of the building, she spotted Chris plastered against the wall next to the door and Vern on the other corner of the cabin. Blood trickled from the bolt in Vern’s thigh, but he appeared otherwise unharmed.

  The porch they’d been standing on all night was nothing but a shredded mess of broken boards and wood splinters. Parts of the porch roof had at least a hundred bolts embedded into it. Some sections of the roof had been completely torn away. Despite all the destruction, enough of the porch remained that she couldn’t see what was hidden beneath it. More bolts were embedded in the walls of the garage across the way and the trees surrounding them.