Quinn snorted. “I’ve been told that’s pretty unlikely. In fact, it’s taken me twenty-five years to find one of you, so I doubt I’ll see others in the next couple of decades.”
Winter gave her a patient smile. “While we are solitary in many ways, our kind are also drawn to each other. Now that your powers have begun to surface, you’ll see others of our kind. You may even see your father at some point, if he’s remained in this area.”
“Can I ask you another question?” Quinn asked hesitantly, not sure Winter would even know the answer.
“Of course,” Winter said with a patient smile.
“I came out here today to get some time away from my mate,” she explained. “At least, I want him to be my mate. My lynx half wants him, but I keep refusing to allow him to claim me. Is there something different with mage mating that I should know about? He’s trying to be patient, but I think he’s worried I’ll never be able to accept him because he’s a vampire.”
Winter thought for a moment. “I’ve never been mated, so I have no firsthand experience in this area, but I do understand the basics. As a mage who controls the elements, you are already very connected with nature, and the lynx side of you strengthens the bond you have with nature. Vampires are not a naturally occurring phenomenon. We would never encourage any mage to seek out a vampire for a mate because your instinct will be to reject him.”
Quinn’s head dropped. “So, it’s hopeless? Is that what you’re telling me?”
“Your two sides are strongly influenced by your instincts,” Winter explained. “This does not mean you have to be ruled by them. Do you love your vampire?”
“Yes,” Quinn admitted. It was crazy after such a short time, but she loved Danny.
“Then I suggest you find a way to fight your own instincts,” Winter said, and Quinn could tell she was getting ready to leave. “You, who will one day control the elements of nature with little more than a thought, are strong.”
Winter stilled and her eyes closed. “Best you leave this area soon, child,” she warned.
“Why?” Quinn asked, looking around.
“Death is near. There are two vampires nearby, a male and a female.”
“That’s probably my mate and someone from his settlement,” Quinn assured her.
Winter shook her head. “The spirits of the trees speak of impending death. A male so crazed, he will make the female suffer greatly before she dies.”
“We have to help her,” Quinn said urgently.
Winter gave her a strange look. “Why would we help a vampire?”
Quinn just stared at Winter for a moment, wondering if the mage was insane. “The female will die if we don’t do something.”
Winter merely shrugged. “Death is inevitable with their kind. It’s best not to get too attached.”
“I’m going,” Quinn said and scented the air, hoping to find the vampires. With any luck, they were in the same direction as Danny and the others. If not, she’d have to go on her own.
Chapter Fifty-Six
A sharp slap to her cheek is what woke Claire this time. She tried to give Abram her best glare, but probably failed since her mind was still fuzzy from the tranquilizer.
“About fucking time you woke up,” Abram complained. “I had to slap you nearly a dozen times.”
That would explain why her face felt like it was on fire. Her arms were tied behind her back at an awkward angle, while she lay on her side on the damp ground, which explained the chills and the pain in her arms.
“Sorry to inconvenience you,” she muttered.
“Always the little bitch, aren’t you?” he snarled. “You think you’re so much better than me, but I’m going to be the one in charge soon. You’ll just be the corpse that puts me in power.”
“How do you figure that?” she asked, hoping to keep him talking long enough for her brain to kick in so she could figure a way out of this mess. There was no way she’d be able to talk Abram out of killing her, so she wasn’t going to bother hoping for that. At this point, he had to know he was as good as dead if Roger figured out what he was up to.
“The council is going to come down hard on the person who killed you,” he said with a confident smirk. “You’ve got protection from one of them, and she scared Roger into thinking you have to stay alive until the big meeting. He’s already starting to think that meeting is never going to happen, and you’ve been confined to the settlement because he doesn’t trust you. Maybe you should thank me for killing you now. Roger would do it in a much less humane way.”
“Humane?” she spat out. “Aren’t you the one who said you’re going to torture me?”
Abram huffed. “Only for a little while. Roger would torture you for days.”
“Aren’t you just a fucking saint,” she grumbled. Claire heard the sound of approaching footsteps, so she kept talking. “What happened to you being my friend?”
Abram merely shrugged as he put the dart gun in the back of his pants and pulled out a large knife. “Poor naïve little Claire. Friendship is a weakness we can’t afford. You should know that by now, sweetheart.”
The dark-haired woman lunged at Abram from behind. Claire was grateful for Abram’s cockiness because it made him less aware of his surroundings and gave the woman time to tackle him to the ground. Claire had no idea what she was. The woman moved too fast to be human, but not fast enough to be a shifter or vampire. Unfortunately, she wouldn’t last long against Abram. He was faster and stronger.
“Bitch!” Abram said as he raised the knife.
The woman reacted quickly and knocked the knife out of his hand with a roundhouse kick. Abram recovered and backhanded the woman hard enough to knock her to the ground. Abram snatched up his knife and froze when he heard footsteps. A panicked look came over his face as he struggled to decide what his next move should be.
“This isn’t over,” he snarled before taking off running into the woods.
The dark-haired woman struggled to her knees and crawled toward Claire. “Are you okay?” she asked.
“Yeah,” Claire said with a nod. “Thanks for saving me.”
The woman grinned, which looked funny with the side of her face already turning purple and swelling up. “Cam would never have forgiven me if I’d let anything happen to you. I’m Quinn, Cam’s cousin. I can’t believe I’m finally getting to meet Cam’s Claire.”
“While I know Cam, I belong to no one,” Claire said.
Quinn grinned and began untying her. “Sorry for my choice of words. I’ve spent way too many years around shifters.”
“You aren’t a shifter,” Claire said, studying Quinn closely. “While you’re a good fighter, you don’t move nearly as fast as they do.”
“I’m part shifter,” Quinn explained.
Cam and Nate burst from the trees, both looking terrified. “Are you okay?” Cam asked, dropping to his knees beside Claire.
“I’m fine,” Claire assured him. “Your cousin came and kicked some serious ass.”
“What the hell are you doing here, Quinn?” Cam asked angrily. “That stupid vampire is supposed to be taking care of you.”
“Knock it off, Cam,” Quinn said. Claire was really beginning to like Cam’s cousin. “Danny knew I needed some space.”
“Danny?” Claire asked.
“Yeah, he ended up at the shifter settlement,” Cam explained. “Which is exactly where you’re going. And don’t you fucking dare argue with me.”
“He’s right,” Nate said. “It won’t be safe for you to go back now. Roger tore out of there looking for you. Abram had some of his people tell Roger you’d taken off to meet a lover from the born vampire settlement, so Roger thinks you’re a traitor.”
“You could just go to the vampire council and tell them what happened,” Cam said. “Tell them what Roger’s up to.”
“I’m afraid innocent people will be killed if Roger thinks he’s out of options,” Claire said.
“We also don’t know how that vampir
e council will handle things,” Nate explained. “Still, I think it’s our best option for now.”
“You should talk to Connor,” Quinn said.
“I’ll take you there now,” Cam said before standing and extending a hand to Claire, one she refused to take.
When Claire tried to get to her feet, she nearly lost her balance, and Cam had to catch her.
“When was the last time you had blood?” Nate asked.
Claire shook her head. “I don’t know.”
“You need to feed,” Cam insisted.
“Not here,” Claire argued. “Both Roger and Abram are out here. We need to get more help to find them.”
While they were arguing, Quinn stood up and was already starting to walk away.
“Where are you going?” Cam called after her.
“To find my mate,” Quinn said in a determined voice.
“Not with two sick bastards running around the woods,” Cam said. “We’ll come back after I get Claire to the born vampire settlement. She needs blood right away.”
Quinn glared at him over her shoulder. “He’s not too far from here. I need to warn him, Layla, and Jase about the danger.”
Cam looked torn, and Claire knew he didn’t like the idea of sending his cousin off on her own.
“Go with her,” Claire said. “Nate can help me get to the born vampire settlement safely.”
Cam shook his head. “I’m not leaving you.”
“I’ll stay with Quinn,” Nate offered, probably because he knew Cam wasn’t going to leave Claire alone, knowing both Roger and Abram were out there somewhere.
Chapter Fifty-Seven
Danny felt like a complete dick for pushing Quinn the way he had. After telling her she could have all the time she needed, he’d snapped at her for refusing to let him mark her again. Why couldn’t he just stick to his word and give her more time?
“I’d tell you what a jerk you are, but I can see you already figured it out on your own,” Layla said from beside him.
“I’m still going to tell you what an asshole you are,” Jase said from Danny’s other side. Despite his words, Jase was cuddled against Danny to offer comfort, and Danny was actually glad he’d shown up at the settlement looking for Quinn while they were getting ready to leave. It was a comfort to have the shifter close to him.
“What the hell is wrong with me?” Danny asked no one in particular.
“Shall I make a list?” Layla teased.
“Smart ass,” Danny muttered.
“You do realize that you’re going to fight with Quinn, don’t you?” Jase asked. “Even after she lets you mark her, you’ll fight with her. It happens when two strong people live together, and it’s not necessarily a bad thing.”
“I know, but this is different,” Danny said helplessly.
“How so?” Layla asked.
“He feels like he’s attacking something about me, and he can’t figure out why he feels that way,” Quinn explained as she came up behind them with Nate by her side.
Of course, Danny had known she was coming. The others probably had too, since Quinn hadn’t been trying to approach them quietly, and he’d had no trouble recognizing her voice. While he was curious about Nate’s presence, Danny had no time to ask about that now. Jumping to his feet, he stalked toward Quinn.
“Who hit you?” he demanded. While no one could miss the anger in his voice, Danny did his best to sound calm so he wouldn’t upset Quinn.
“A vampire by the name of Abram,” Nate said. “He was trying to kill Claire, but Quinn stopped him. She saved Claire’s life.”
Danny pulled Quinn into his arms. “You fought off a vampire?” he asked in amazement.
“Not very well,” she admitted. “Luckily, Cam showed up with this vampire. Sorry, I can’t remember your name.”
“His name is Nate,” Danny said. “He’ll forgive you for forgetting under the circumstances. Where is Claire?”
“Cam took her to see Connor,” Quinn explained.
“Why was she even out here?” Layla asked. “Didn’t Cam say she was confined to the settlement?”
“She was,” Nate said. “Abram took her out of there to kill her. Thankfully, one of us saw him do it, and I was able to find Cam so we could track them. I don’t think we would have been able to save Claire had it not been for Quinn.”
Nate’s adoring gaze was pissing Danny off.
“How’d you find Cam?” Quinn asked. Danny was amazed at how quickly her face was healing. The swelling was gone, and the bruises were already turning a shade of green.
Nate grinned. “I put one of Claire’s dirty shirts in my back pocket. I can always find him if I smell like Claire.”
The problem with having a larger group of sweaty vampires and shifters together was that it was harder to smell someone approach. That’s why they missed the scent of the approaching vampires.
“Looks like I found a traitor and my weapon,” Roger said as he emerged from the woods, eyes shining bright with madness.
Nate snorted. “I’d say I’m the least of your problems. I only headed out here to rescue Claire from Abram.”
“Abram?” Roger asked, looking confused before quickly recovering. “No, you’re lying about Abram. He’s loyal to the cause. Even if he’s not, he’s too afraid of what would happen if he betrayed me.”
“Looks like he’s loyal to his cause, not yours,” Nate scoffed.
“You’re just trying to save yourself,” Roger said with a dismissive wave of his hand. “It won’t work. If you’re lucky, I’ll just kill you. You’re all coming with me.”
“Idiot,” Quinn muttered, and Danny had to hide his grin. Yes, they were in danger, but he loved the fact that Quinn wasn’t going down without a fight.
“What did you say, bitch?” Roger asked, clearly shocked by her insult. He’d spent too long hiding in his settlement where everyone followed his orders and groveled at his feet.
“I said you’re an idiot if you think Danny’s just going to hand himself over to you so you can kill him or experiment on him,” Quinn said, not mentioning the others.
“I’ll go with you if you let the others go,” Danny offered. Jase could always come after him while Layla and Nate got Quinn to safety.
“Don’t even think about it,” Quinn said with an angry glare directed at him.
“I have five armed vampires with me,” Roger said. “From what I can tell, only two of you are armed, so I don’t have to make a fucking deal with you. You’re all coming with me.”
The wind picked up, subtly moving the leaves around at first before it increased. The clouds began to move across the sky.
“Are you doing this?” Jase asked Quinn in awe.
Quinn didn’t respond. Her body was rigid, and her focus was on what was happening around her. The crack of thunder startled the vampires, and one of them actually dropped his knife.
“It’s just a storm,” Roger snapped. “Take them down now!”
Quinn’s eyes glowed with her power as the storm raged around them. She looked at the vampires with Roger. “Will you stay with him and die?”
Two of the five vampires, including the one who’d dropped his knife, shook their heads before taking off running like demons were chasing them. Now, only three remained to back Roger up, and they looked terrified. Quinn lifted her hands, and the wind crashed into the vampires, sending all of them tumbling back. Nate, Jase, and Layla attacked while Danny stayed by Quinn’s side in case Roger tried something.
“I’m going to enjoy killing you,” Roger snarled at Quinn.
“Ridiculous creature,” called out a strange woman from the edge of the woods. Her hand lifted in front of her, palm up. A ball of lightning formed above her palm, and she sent it flying toward Roger. Too shocked to react, he merely stood there and watched his death approach, as if mesmerized by it. When the ball hit him, Roger jerked in place before falling to the ground in a twitching mass. A horrible guttural scream erupted from his lips as flames licke
d at his clothing. Finally, he reacted by rolling and trying desperately to extinguish the flames. The smell of burning flesh nearly made Danny gag, and he had to admit that he almost felt sorry for Roger.
A light rain fell from the sky until the flames were gone, leaving Roger lying on the ground, wheezing in pain. “I can’t die,” he said with a strange whistling sound. “I’m a fucking god.”
Danny knew vampires could recover from a lot with enough blood, but he was pretty sure there was no way anyone could survive this. Roger’s intestines were blackened. With one last pained breath, Roger’s chest lifted from the ground, and then he collapsed, taking his last breath.
The other vampires didn’t have much interest in sticking around to see if they were next, so they all took off into the woods.
“You really should avoid these creatures, young one,” the strange woman said.
“Why did you help us?” Quinn asked.
The woman hesitated for a moment. “I was curious about the ones you would risk your life to save, and we must protect our own kind. Try to stay out of trouble,” she said before walking away without another word.
Now was the time to pursue the fleeing vampires, but after what they’d just witnessed, no one seemed inclined to move just yet.
“What the hell just happened?” Nate asked.
“That was Winter,” Quinn explained. “She’s a mage.”
“A what?” Nate asked. “Did you make the wind start blowing around?”
Nate’s awe pulled everyone from their state of shock.
“We need to go after the other vampires,” Layla said.
“You’re right,” Danny agreed, but Quinn appeared to be swaying on her feet. She’d obviously either used up a lot of energy, or the stress of the attack was getting to her.
“Take care of Quinn,” Jase said. “We’ll go after them. Layla can call for back up.”
Shattered Restraint Page 27
