A Vampire’s Thirst: Quinn

by A. K. Michaels

  Of course! Why hadn’t he thought of that? He didn’t need to talk to either of them and risk being overhead. All he needed to do was text them and let them know what he planned on doing once they arrived. Obviously he wasn’t thinking straight or he would have come up with that solution because it was the clear solution to the problem. Retrieving his cell, he fired off a text to both Ace and Thorne, his fingers flying so fast it was done in seconds and his cell safely back in his pocket before anyone noticed.

  Thorne checked his, cocked his head but otherwise didn’t alert anyone to the contents. Ace wasn’t able to do the same as he was pulling to a stop at the gates to the entrance of the large storehouse district they were about to enter, but Quinn kept a close eye on him. As soon as they’d stopped, Jana exiting to gain them entrance he saw him pull his out and read the message. Ace looked over his shoulder briefly, his eyes locking with his giving him a brief nod, as Jana jumped back in. “Hit it, Ace, you know what building we’re going for and you know to stop one before it. We don’t want to alert them of our arrival. The others will go to their positions and wait for my order to breach.”

  “Sure.” Ace pulled away and Quinn’s excitement grew at the same rate as his concern.

  This was always the point where things could go wrong in any mission and this was the most important one of his damn life. He couldn’t afford for any hitches. Not a one. He and his men had to get in fast, hit hard and as viciously as possible to assure Amaya’s safety. Only when he held her in his arms, safe and sound, would he breathe easy. Hell, even then he wouldn’t. He wouldn’t relax until she was back in his home in the Highlands surrounded by his army of men to protect her. Aye, maybe then he’d be able to relax.

  Ace pulled up behind a large, dark building. “We’re here. The one she’s being held in is the next one over.”

  “Let’s get this done.” Everyone exited and Jana spat out her orders, again. It was now the middle of the night and pitch black but that didn’t pose a problem for anyone apart from Henry who remained at the rear. That was until he told everyone he’d cast a spell so he could see better, which was just as well. They couldn’t have him tripping over shit and alerting Igoravich that they were coming.

  Jana waited for a few moments before asking over the comms if the other teams were in place and then led them toward their prize. Quinn still left his off, he didn’t want her aware of his actions, and he planned on playing dumb if questioned by her later, simply saying he’d forgotten to activate it, or lost it in the fight. He’d come up with something. What he wouldn’t do was have the damn thing on and allowing her to listen in on what he had arranged for the bastard that had kidnapped his Bloodmate. Not when their plans were at such odds.

  He just hoped he could carry things out without ending up in the crosshairs of Jana and the entire Directive. Then again, he’d been in tight spots before and managed to survive, this would be no different. He hoped, but those hadn’t involved The Directive, or Jana Noskova.

  As she led them to the edge of the building, their target came into view, a few lights showing from windows, glowing dimly in the darkness to light their way. Although there were other buildings that seemed to have workers teeming in and out, this one was silent with doors closed and no sign of movement, although there were two vehicles parked outside. Jana held up her hand, turning to face them, and using the comms again said, “Okay, we’ll go on my command. It’s a blitz attack, we go in hard and fast. We take down anyone we see, cleanly and quickly. Questions will come after we secure the Bloodmate. Is that clear?” She paused before looking at Henry. “Sorry, Henry, but you’ll just have to catch up when you can. We can’t wait for you. We need to move fast so they don’t have a chance to hear us coming.”

  Henry didn’t answer, merely nodded and Quinn moved forward, next to her. She was fast but he was faster. She had no possibility of keeping up with him and he wasn’t holding back. As soon as she gave the order he was going to use every last ounce of his strength and speed to get in there as quickly as he could . . . and he knew where he was going to breach. The window nearest them at the right corner of the building. Ace and Thorne would follow his lead and the three of them would be inside first because he was damn sure the others would be going for the door.

  The other two teams were breaching from the rear and the opposite side of the building so he’d be in before anyone else and that was exactly what he needed. Just a few moments was all that was required, to get in and locate Igoravich, and end the bastard before anyone could stop him. Then he’d find Amaya and whisk her away to safety and they’d be able to live in peace without the dark cloud of worry looming over them.

  Jana held her hand up. “Three, two, one.” She dropped her hand and before she could say another word he took off, hearing her issue the order as he ran. “Go, go, go!”

  His feet flying over the ground, his thighs pumping at breakneck speed, his eyes focused on the window he’d picked and he didn’t look back, knowing that his men were at his back. He also knew that they’d left everyone behind by at least a few seconds as they’d waited on Jana to issue her order like good little soldiers. He was certain he heard her curse him as he closed in on his prize, leaping up into the air and covering his head with his arms as he crashed through the window. He’d judged the height well, but didn’t count on there being dozens of crates on the other side which he crashed into, tumbling head over heels and landing into a mess of broken wood and the contents which were, surprisingly, soft toys of all shapes and sizes. Teddy bears flew all around him as well as pink elephants and a plethora of other cuddly toys as he rolled onto his feet, ignoring the mess as he sought out his prey.

  There was movement to his left, a door opening and several men appearing, one he knew immediately. The bastard that had dragged Amaya away earlier and another dressed in an immaculate suit that looked like the grainy image of Zorin Igoravich. Jackpot! A rumble began in his chest, tearing up and breaking free in a ferocious roar as Quinn ripped across the open space toward them. Anger and fury building inside him like nothing he’d felt before, so great was it that he swore he could taste it as he closed in on the man who now faced off with him, a look of surprise on his face.

  Thorne was right beside him, veering off to head for the man who’d dragged Amaya away earlier, and Ace was tearing toward another who was appearing in the doorway. Good. That left him to deal with Igoravich and he had precious moments only to do so before Jana and the rest of the team breached the building. He wanted nothing more than to spend time with him to make him suffer, inflict grievous injury and pain but he was aware he didn’t have the luxury of time to do so. Instead he’d have to do it as quickly as possible before Jana and her people reached them and took her man into custody.

  When he was close enough, he launched himself at the man whose face had turned into a mask of cold, hard, death staring back at him. One that was used to doling out murder and who was ready to battle him with every ounce of his own vast strength. But Quinn was older, wiser, and stronger. He knew it and so did his opponent, but it didn’t stop him from trying. His hand reaching to fumble for a weapon, a handgun appearing and Quinn had no illusions that it would be armed with silver bullets. Swerving to his left as one rang out barely missing him, passing through his hair and flying off to slay a purple fluffy dragon in the corner behind him that exploded dramatically with its white cotton innards floating all over the place, and the purple wings fluttering down to lay broken on the floor next to a pink rabbit.

  Ducking down and to the right, Quinn kicked out with all his force, his foot landing on its target and the resounding crunch of a knee breaking and his opponent toppling to the side was all he needed to hear. He pounced as the man fell, gun tumbling from his hand and his hands gripped his neck, twisting and turning with all his might. Damn, he wanted to do more. So much more. His eyes blazing with fury as he spat into the face of the man who was behind everything.

  He saw the moment he realized what was hap
pening. Zorin’s hands attempting to claw his own away, but he was too far gone, his fingernails were long, sharp and deadly claws as they dug into Zorin’s neck, ripping and tearing to carry out his sentence. The only one Quinn would be happy with: death. Decapitation would ensure he would no longer be a threat to Amaya. It was the only way he could sleep at night. The only fucking way. The Russian bucked, kicked, and fought with every ounce of his strength to dislodge him, but Quinn was older, stronger, and filled with a fury borne from a Vampire’s Thirst and being separated from his Bloodmate. There wasn’t a damn thing that could stop him now as he continued to rip, tear and twist the head from the body of the Vampire beneath him.

  Although it seemed to take forever, in truth is probably took mere moments, until finally in a bloody mess the head tore free and he fell to the side as the entire building was breached and lit up like a fucking Christmas tree. Thorne rushed over, pulling him to his feet. “Come on, we need to find Amaya and get the hell out of here.”

  “Right!” He turned away, ready to do just that and took two steps when his blood ran cold and was stopped dead.

  “Don’t you dare move a muscle, Quinn Alexander! Stay right there!”

  Chapter 12

  “Fuck!” Thorne cursed, stamping his foot and looking anywhere but at the person who now raced toward them as Ace stood over their two prisoners who lay broken and bloodied on the floor.

  She slid to a stop, her face cold as ice as she glared up at him. “What the hell was that? You had explicit orders. We were to breach together and you disregarded those orders and when we get in I find this . . . this bloodbath. What the hell, Quinn?”

  Jana prodded him in the chest. Hard. With such force that she forced him back a step. Shit, she was strong, but he kept his voice steady as he glanced down at the bloody mess on the floor. “I can’t help it if you and your people can’t keep up and as for him, he attacked me. I was merely defending myself. He wasn’t going to stop until he killed me. I had no choice.”

  “There’s always a choice,” Jana spat back.

  “I have to find Amaya.” Quinn turned away. “I need to find my Bloodmate.”

  He stormed away and was surprised when she allowed him to. No. Not surprised. He was fucking astonished. He’d taken out her prize and she’d barely slapped him on the wrist. He rushed away, not wanting to look the proverbial gift horse in the mouth. “Ace, Thorne, we have to locate Amaya. She should be on this floor. Give me a moment and I’ll . . .”

  Before he could utter another word, there was a shout and a flurry of movement and excitement from the rear of the vast expanse of the warehouse. “She’s here! We’ve got her”

  He spun around, eyes searching and landing on a group of people herding toward them out of the gloomy darkness. His heart stopped beating in his chest when he saw her looking bewildered and in shock, her head spinning this way and that, searching for . . . him. Her eyes landed on his and . . . thump, thump, thump. His heart started up again at the same time as his brain engaged enough to send a message to move his feet, sending him rocketing toward her at breakneck speed.

  Amaya shook off the helping hands of her rescuers, none too gently, and ran to meet him. Her hair flying out behind her, her legs pumping quickly and soon she was there, right there her arms open and jumping up into his as he grabbed her tight against him. Inhaling her scent, and he’d been right . . . wild heather overtook him, mind, body and his fucking soul, settling him like nothing else could. “You’re here,” she whispered against his chest, a tiny hitch in her voice alerting him to the fact she wasn’t quite as all right as she’d tried to portray.

  “I’m here.” He held onto her as if she were about to disappear. Terrified she would be taken from him again. He couldn’t allow that to happen. Wouldn’t allow that to happen. “I’m going to take you home, Amaya. Back to Scotland, right now. Is that okay? I have to get you away from here. I need to get you home, where I know you’ll be safe and protected.”

  “I’ll go anywhere with you, Quinn.” She leaned back and sighed. “I’m tired, I just want a shower, some food, and a bed.”

  “I can do that.” He placed her down onto the ground and only then noticed the crowd that amassed around them.

  The entire team stood watching, including Jana, Delia and every other person who’d come along. “What?” he growled, not liking the attention one bit.

  “I’d like to debrief her, and you.” Jana looked around at the rest of the crowd, waving them away.

  “You can contact us at my home, Miss Noskova,” he replied formally. No longer did he call her Jana and she noticed the change. Her back straightening and her jaw tightening. “I’m taking my Bloodmate home and I’m getting out of here right now. We’ve done nothing wrong and broke no laws so you have no right to detain either one of us. We’ll be available for questioning once she’s had a chance to recover from her ordeal, which I am sure you’ll appreciate, has been horrendous for her. Being kidnapped by such vicious men as these and held prisoner, well, it’s taken its toll on her and it’s my duty to take care of her. Now, if you’d excuse us, we’ll take our leave. You have my details and I will, of course, avail myself to you at all times and I thank you and your team for everything. I will be sending a large donation to your Christmas fund, or is it the Orphan fund? I can’t quite remember, but just send the details to my office and I’ll ensure a donation is sent.”

  Delia stepped forward and stamped her foot. Actually stamped her foot! “You can’t just walk out of here, Signore! We need to question . . .”

  Jana held her hand up stopping her. “It’s okay, Delia. I know where to find him and he’s right, Amaya has gone through enough for now. She needs rest before we can talk to her. Look at her, she’s exhausted. Another day won’t make any difference and as Mister Alexander says, I know exactly where to find him. He’s not stupid enough to try and evade our questions. Isn’t that right?”

  “That’s correct.” Quinn turned on his heel, Amaya’s hand in his and walked away. “Ace, get the car, Thorne, phone and get the jet ready. I want to get in the air as soon as possible.”

  Ace jogged away and Thorne caught up to them, his cell already out and calling his pilot. When he’d finished they were already outside and he was looking over his shoulder. “Fuck, I thought we were going to be locked up.”

  “Me too,” Quinn chuckled. “But we weren’t, now can you call and have food delivered to the jet, please? Amaya will require to be fed. What would you like, darling?”

  Amaya had yet to say a word but now she let out a giggle, high-pitched and full of glee as Ace pulled up. “Oh my god. I can’t believe that was Jana Noskova! The Jana Noskova and you just basically told her to go take a run and jump! I almost had a heart attack in there. I swear my heart was beating so fast I thought I was going to faint.”

  “Let’s get out of here before she changes her mind.” Thorne opened the door for them, his eyes darting back to the building time and again before he got in and slammed the door. “Go, go, go, Ace.”

  Quinn wrapped an arm around Amaya’s shoulder, pondering Jana’s reaction, a sliver of unease slithering up his spine. “Something seems wrong to me. Jana appeared far too calm back there, especially after she’d been so hell-bent on capturing that bastard. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but she let us go far too easily. Don’t you think?”

  Ace agreed quickly. “Boss, when you were resting back at The Directive offices, she was like a woman possessed about getting her hands on that guy. I agree, something screwy is going on but I’ve no idea what.”

  “I don’t care,” Thorne butted in. “All I care about is that she didn’t slap us all in handcuffs and lock us up for disobeying her orders. I want to get in the jet and in the air as soon as possible. I won’t believe she’s let us leave until we’re twenty thousand feet in the air, and even then, I’ll still expect her to appear out of thin air and whip us back for questioning.”

  “That’s not going to happen, relax.”
Quinn had felt Amaya’s body tensing as Thorne spoke and he didn’t like it that his words had affected her. “Stop talking nonsense. Jana will contact us when we’re home and we’ll answer her questions like civilized people. I’ll send a huge donation to whatever fund she wants and the matter will be closed. Now, did you carry out my orders? Will there be provisions for Amaya onboard?”

  “Yes, of course. I ordered a variety of food as I wasn’t sure what you liked, Amaya. I’m sure there should be enough for you. You’re not something weird like a vegan or anything like that, are you? Because you’re a Shifter so I ordered a ton of meat dishes . . . hell, I hope I didn’t muck that up.”

  Amaya smirked, shaking her head. “I’m not a vegan, no, although I do enjoy veggies and salads, but meat is my primary food, Thorne, thank you.”

  “Whew!” Thorne dramatically wiped his forehead before giving her a wink. “The boss man would have my guts for garters if I didn’t feed you right.”

  Amaya laughed, her body shaking next to him as Thorne glanced up at him. His look was one that conveyed a thousand words . . . wonder was top of the list, quickly followed by how happy he was for him. His friend tipped his head, his lips tugging up as he carried on teasing Amaya for the rest of the journey. Her quick retorts back showed she wasn’t taken in and she was more than a match for Thorne, going so far as challenging him to a chess match when he said he was “unbeatable”. Quinn had snorted at that as he regularly played with Thorne, and although his friend was good, he was in no way unbeatable. But he guessed he was only trying to break the ice with his Bloodmate, and he was doing a damn fine job of it too. By the time they reached the airport she was relaxed and smiling widely and showing no signs of the ordeal she’d gone through as they boarded.

  It was a temporary fix, he was aware of that, but he was grateful nonetheless. If Amaya was calm and stress-free as they started the long flight home then he hoped she’d be able to rest and sleep, and hopefully, recuperate from whatever she’d gone through. She was, in fact, like an excited puppy as he led her inside the cabin, her eyes wide and flitting all around taking in the plush furnishings that he took for granted and barely noticed any longer. Her fingers running over the soft leather while he spoke to the pilot and Thorne showed her around and Ace made sure his men were all accounted for, having arrived just behind them. One was injured, a Wolf, but he looked to be healing fast and there was nothing to be concerned about so Ace made sure he went to clean himself up and get a change of clothes and then food. After that he’d rest and be right as rain by the time they landed.