Of Blood and Passion

by Pamela Palmer

  She needn’t have worried. The moment she touched the energy of the dome, it grabbed her and yanked her into the heart of its power, right into the middle of a lightning storm. A bolt tore through her like a knife. As a second did the same, Quinn screamed. She couldn’t move! She couldn’t dodge them.

  Tesoro! Arturo shouted in her mind.

  “Quinn!” Micah exclaimed. “Quinn, you’ve got to come out.”

  But she couldn’t. The energy had immobilized her so completely she couldn’t even draw breath.

  Even her heart had stopped beating.

  Arturo tore himself from Sam’s wrist, the blood coursing through his veins once more as he leaped to his feet.

  “Quinn!” He raced to the dome and tried to dive inside to save her, but the Focus threw him back so fast, so hard, he landed in the middle of one of the last of the battles, between one of Cristoff’s guards and three werewolves. Two, now, since he’d just landed on the third.

  “Apologies,” he muttered, pushing himself off the wolf and out of that particular skirmish. There was only one person he knew who might be able to enter the Focus unassaulted.

  “Where’s Grant Blackstone?” he yelled.

  “Ax!” Micah called.

  Arturo turned toward his friend’s voice and saw Grant already carrying Quinn out of the Focus’s lethal dome. By the time Arturo reached them, Quinn was beginning to rouse. Arturo’s heart began to beat again.

  “I could have told you that would happen, Quinn,” Grant muttered. “The Focus hated you even before your Levenach magic was free.”

  “I had to try.”

  Arturo took her from Grant, holding her tight against his heart. The gaze she turned on him was pained, but not from the physical discomfort she’d known far too much of in the past days.

  “How can I save them?” she asked, her voice an aching whisper.

  Grant scratched his beard, a touch of regret in his voice, for once, as he turned to look out over the battlefield. “You can’t. It’s too late.”

  Arturo helped Quinn to her feet, then pulled her against his side. Together they turned and followed Grant’s gaze to where several wolves lay on the ground, breathing heavily, as if unable to pull in enough air. A handful of vampires had already collapsed. Even as he watched, one exploded.

  They were dying. The Vamp City world was ending.

  And they had no way to stop it.

  Chapter 52

  Quinn watched with shock as the battlefield went deathly silent, as the combatants, one by one, started to collapse. She saw Neo sink to his knees, watched Sam fall unconscious. The wolves, too, were crumpling, one by one, into boneless heaps on the ground.

  Not five feet away, one of the Slavas suddenly began to age drastically, his dark hair turning gray, then white, his skin wrinkling, his bones curving in on themselves. When the aging ceased, he’d be dead.

  Quinn stared, her mind blazing with the need to do something.

  “Octavia.” She whirled on Arturo. “Find me Octavia!”

  Arturo simply swept her up and deposited her, seconds later, before the ancient sorceress who, like many of the other vampires trapped by the magic, was already on her knees, her fledgling sorcerers gathered worriedly around her. The only ones unaffected by the dying magic were Arturo and Micah, those humans who were still fully mortal, and the handful of Traders and fae who’d joined the fight.

  “Put me down, Turo.”

  As he set her on her feet, Zack strode over to her and gave her a quick hug. She squeezed his arm in return, but her gaze was riveted on Octavia.

  “How do I save you?” Quinn demanded, kneeling before the ancient woman. “The Focus won’t let me save this world.”

  “Create…another.”

  Quinn stared at her. “Another world?” Her heart began to thud. “How?” She looked around her. It was like forming a bubble, right? Good grief. No, it wasn’t. Not at all. It was so much more.

  “I don’t think I have that kind of power.”

  Octavia’s fingers curled around her wrist weakly. “Then harness the others’. You’re connected. Quickly!” Weak fingers slid away. Zack and Jason moved, catching the woman as she collapsed, lowering her to the ground.

  Desperate faces turned to Quinn from all directions—the Levenach heirs, Micah, Arturo, a handful of Traders. A few of the vampires and wolves were still conscious, but the rest all lay on the ground now, dead and dying.

  “Save them, Sis,” Zack said, voicing the words all were thinking, she could see it in their eyes.

  Save them.

  Oh, shit. “Okay.”

  If Cristoff could create a brand new world, if Octavia believed she could, too, then that was what she had to do. There was no time for doubts, though she was drowning in them.

  Taking a deep breath, she started issuing orders. “Form a circle around me.”

  “Quinn.” One of the women—Jason’s wife—stepped forward. “Octavia’s been teaching us how to pull power. For just this purpose, I suspect.”

  Quinn nodded. “Good. Do that. Follow…”

  “Heather.”

  “Follow Heather.” Panic threatened to choke Quinn, a performance anxiety that put all others to shame. But she closed her eyes and almost at once sensed connections flying out from her to all those around her, energetic cords she’d either never had before, or never noticed. Two of them were stronger, by far, than the others, and she immediately recognized them as her connections to Arturo and Zack. Interestingly, of all of the energetic powers she sensed around her, Zack’s was by far the strongest. A Levenach sorcerer, indeed, little brother.

  “Make Zack your focal point,” Quinn told them. “Him alone. He’s the strongest of you, by far, and the one best connected to me.” As she said the words, she opened her eyes and met Zack’s gaze. She hadn’t taken a good look at him until that moment and realized, with a bit of shock, that his face had returned to its natural color. His fever was gone! In the steady gaze of green eyes the same shade as her own, in the small smile that lifted his mouth, she saw a confidence she’d never seen before. Belatedly, she realized he was splattered with blood. He’d fought today, and won. And while he might have become a sorcerer, in battle he’d claimed the most potent power of all, that of a confident man.

  She glanced outside the circle to where the smattering of others stood. “Join us please. Anyone who can still stand. Micah, you too.”

  The Traders and fae threw her surprised or questioning looks, but all did as she asked. She was running on instinct, now, uncertain where any of this was leading.

  Above, the sky cracked open. As the golden light of sunset poured down, Quinn threw up a powerful shield to protect those within her charge. And knew it worked.

  They’re mine, dammit! You’re not taking them.

  She found Arturo with her gaze and held out her hand to him. “I need you.”

  The look he gave her melted her heart all over again. “I am yours, amore mio. Tell me what to do.”

  “I’m going to focus my power through you again.”

  “You have power of your own now.”

  “Yes, as do you. But just as I magnified your power, I need you to magnify mine. Don’t ask me how I know that, I just do.”

  “Don’t we all need to hold hands or something?” one of the young sorceresses asked.

  “Only if you want to.” Arturo’s hand was the only one she needed. As she reached for him, as his strong fingers curled around hers, she closed her eyes and opened her heart and mind to the power swirling through her, a power now infused with Arturo’s love and the sunlight and warmth that always bloomed when they came together. It filled her heart with joy and might have made her smile if not for the keening cry of the earth as another crack tore through the ground.

  She felt, rather than saw, one of the downed vampires explode. And another.

  Terror that she was going to be too late to save any of them tore through her heart and mind even as words began to flow from he
r lips, words she’d never heard before. Power raced into her from two sources—Zack and Arturo, funneling the energy of all those gathered, all still standing. The power welled up inside of her, an energy pulsing with life, with love, and with a brilliant, glowing sunlight. A thrumming, swelling pressure filled her chest, brimming with hope, with joy, amidst the despair.

  She continued to whisper the words, focusing only on that glowing light, growing, pressing against the walls of her chest, demanding to be set free just as her feelings for Arturo had. Demanding to be born.

  The pressure grew and grew, but there was no pain, only an indescribable joy. Arturo’s hand gripped hers hard as if he felt it, too, as if he experienced this same excruciating anticipation.

  She thought of what Octavia had said before. Let it go.

  And what would happen if she did?

  It didn’t matter. There was no alternative.

  With her will alone, she set that energy free, expelling it in a powerful, raw, immensely satisfying explosion that felt as if it came right out of her heart.

  As she watched in horror, the red sky above her shattered, disintegrating the shield she’d formed to protect her vampires. Golden sunlight poured, unimpeded over all those she’d claimed as her own.

  Deadly, deadly sunlight.

  Chapter 53

  Arturo froze as the sky shattered, as raw sunlight blanketed them all.

  A few voices cried out, but most who were still conscious merely stared in stunned silence, meeting their deaths with stoic acceptance. They’d done all they could.

  Arturo waited in agonizing dread for the burn of sunlight on his flesh, for his body to erupt into flame. For death.

  But seconds passed. Nothing happened.

  A couple of vampires sat up, looking at one another in confusion.

  Arturo’s own brows drew down. He felt no fire, no burn. Just warmth. Quinn’s loving warmth.

  His eyes widened and he turned to her, his gaze slamming into hers. He saw the moment she, too, understood—the leap of joy, the catch of her breath.

  “I did it.” Her words were little more than a whisper followed by a gasp. “I did it!”

  Still, the others looked at one another and Quinn, utterly perplexed.

  With a laugh that erupted from deep in his belly, a euphoric shout, Arturo swept her into his arms and twirled her around, then caught her mouth with his. As her arms caught around his neck, he kissed her, thanking her, rejoicing with her, loving her.

  All around them, voices began to murmur.

  “What happened?”

  “What does this mean?”

  “Are we safe?”

  “Did she renew Blackstone’s magic?”

  “No, of course not. Look around you. This is not Blackstone’s world. This is the Healer’s.”

  “But…the sun?”

  Arturo pulled away, kissing Quinn’s hair. “We must see how many we can save.”

  Her euphoria immediately doused, Quinn nodded, worry flooding her eyes. But as Arturo released her and looked around, he found the wolves pushing to their feet. And most of the vampires, Slavas, and fae, as well—Kassius and Neo. Lukas and Sam. Fabian and Grant.

  Many had died, he knew that, both in the battle and the failing magic. But from a quick scan, he would guess more than half of their army had survived.

  Fabian strode forward, then turned to address the others. “Blackstone gave us a world of darkness,” he shouted, quieting the throng. “The Healer has given us back the light!”

  Silence blanketed the crowd.

  “How?” someone asked.

  Fabian laughed. “How do you think? Magic!”

  Micah came to stand beside Arturo and Quinn. “Cristoff stabbed himself,” he said with wonder.

  Arturo nodded, not quite sure how to process the loss. “He knew.” Arturo turned to Quinn. “He said, just before he died, ‘And the one does know’.”

  Finely arched brows knit. “The curse could only be broken by Escalla drinking the heart blood and the power of the one.”

  “The one who stole the power in the first place,” Arturo said. “Cristoff. It was a diabolical provision, for what were the chances of the same vampire stabbing a sorcerer for power, then sacrificing himself?”

  “Yet the two minds of Cristoff managed just that,” Quinn said. “When he stabbed me, I’m pretty certain that we both saw that vision, the two wizards uttering the curse. Cristoff knew what it took to break the curse and to destroy Escalla. When the good Cristoff finally broke free, he used that knowledge to end it.”

  Kassius joined them and Quinn hugged him. “I’m so glad you’re okay.”

  “Ax,” Micah said quietly, and nodded behind him.

  Arturo turned to find every vampire, every wolf, every Slava, and fae, on one knee watching them. Quinn glanced at him in confusion. A confusion which cleared when Fabian, directly in front of them, called out loudly, “I pledge fealty to the Healer and her Snake.”

  “The Healer and her Vampire, please,” Quinn replied with a laugh. “Or better yet, just Quinn and Arturo.”

  Fabian grinned. “To Quinn and Arturo!”

  All throughout the gathering, the shout went up. “To Quinn and Arturo!”

  As Quinn turned to him, her eyes filled with wonder, Arturo felt a pride in her he could barely contain and a love that filled him beyond imagining. As their gazes met, she smiled at him, a smile that had him almost lifting off his feet.

  Do you have any idea how much I love you? he asked her.

  Almost as much as I love you?

  He stared at her, startled by the sound of her voice in his head. Marry me.

  Now it was her turn to stare.

  His heart tightened with chagrin. “That was too soon.”

  But to his amazement, she took his face in her hands. “Not too soon.” She searched his eyes, her own filled with wonder. “Marriage? Are you sure? As a potentially powerful sorceress, there’s no telling how long you might be stuck with me.”

  His hands gripped her waist. “Potentially powerful? You just created a world.” His arms slid around her and he pulled her close. “I pray you live forever.” It was his turn to search her face, her expression, for sign of her answer. “You don’t have to stay here. It wasn’t fair of me to ask you to live the life of a vampire, unable to walk in real sunshine.”

  Her smile, filled with such tenderness, sent his heart soaring. “I once asked Amanda why she’d given up her life for Sam. She said, ‘He is my life.’ At the time, I didn’t understand. But I do, now, perfectly. Where I live doesn’t matter, Turo. Whether it’s in real sunshine or my magical sun, D.C. or V.C., all that matters is that I live my life with you.” Quinn lifted an eyebrow. “For now, though, we’re staying right here. This is my world, now.” Her smile turned wickedly mischievous. “And I’m making some changes.”

  Joy surged through him, a joy he’d never believed possible. And he began to laugh.

  Epilogue

  “We should be up and running by the end of the week,” Amanda told Quinn and Arturo as she showed them around the brand new Vamp City Hospital, previously known as Neo’s basement. “Bram’s insisting we can’t open without a decent supply of antibiotics and pain killers, though I really think the antibiotics will be unnecessary with healers and vampires working here. I’ve yet to find a bacteria that can’t be quickly overcome by a vampire bite. The pain killers are a different matter since we may run across other Levenachs who can’t be enthralled.”

  Quinn poked her head into one of the newly appointed examining rooms, impressed by how much it looked like any doctor’s office in the real world, complete with overhead fluorescent lights. Neo’s now had a number of generators.

  It had been two months since the sun rose on Vamp City and the changes wrought in that short time Quinn found nothing short of astounding. Then again, when vampires put their minds to something, they could accomplish it amazingly fast. And to her immense gratitude and delight, they’d set thei
r sights on making her world exactly what she wanted it to be—a utopia not just for the vampires who lived here, and those who were arriving by the legions, but also for the wolves and Slavas, the Traders and fae, most of whom had no way to leave. Only the Rippers continued to be problematic.

  As Amanda walked them down the hallway, showing them examining rooms and surgery centers, one after the other, Arturo began to frown.

  “I thought we’d agreed on no new mortals for the time being. All this for Octavia’s dozen Levenach sorcerers?”

  Quinn smiled. “Are you forgetting about her school?”

  He looked at her warily. “Her school for the dozen.”

  Quinn’s smile turned into a laugh. “That’s just phase one, training the trainers.” She slid her arm through his. “Oh, Vampire, you have no idea the plans she’s making.”

  Amanda nodded sagely. “When you consider how many Levenachs accidentally walked in on sunbeams in D.C. alone, there must be thousands worldwide. All of them are coming into their power, all without a clue what’s happening to them.”

  “Thousands of wild sorcerers. That’s a disaster waiting to happen,” Arturo muttered.

  Quinn had to agree. Fortunately, there were those who possessed the ability to see the magic in others. A team of vampires and sorcerers had been assembled to start hunting them down, to try to coax them into studying with Octavia.

  “How did your call for staff go?” Quinn asked Amanda. She and Arturo had spent most of the past week traveling between the real world and Sakamoto’s, where they would live, for now. Though Arturo could have claimed Cristoff’s castle for his own, he’d agreed that the memories there were too horrific. For both of them.

  “I have nine vampires and three fae who’ve committed to helping staff the hospital,” Amanda told her. “All but one have healing skills. The last is Bram who, while not technically a healer, has mad surgical skills and tremendous hospital experience. He’ll continue to work nights at G.W. Hospital in D.C., but he’ll spend his days with us.”