Of Blood and Passion (2 page)

Quinn pulled away with a frustrated sigh. She appreciated his concern for her, she really did. But they’d had this discussion too many times.

“You don’t have any way to get the sword out of its case. My magic is our only option.”

“We will think of something else.”

“No. You won’t. I can do this!” She turned away from him, because she wasn’t sure that was true. And if she failed? God help them all, because Zack wasn’t the only one in danger. She would lose many, many she now considered good friends. When Vamp City crumbled, hundreds of vampires, werewolves, fae, and immortal humans would die.

And it could happen at any moment.

Vamp City, or Washington, V.C., as the vampires called it, was a magical otherworld created in 1870 by a powerful wizard, Phineas Blackstone. Blackstone duplicated a large portion of Washington, D.C. at that time—though only buildings and land, nothing living—to create a vampire utopia, a place where the sun never shone, where humans, brought in as servants and slaves, were unable to escape, where vampires could live and play and hunt in the open, free of human reprisal.

The vampires had been able to travel freely between the worlds until two years ago when the magic began to fail, trapping all within V.C.’s boundary at that moment. Hidden deep within the illusion of Blackstone’s utopia was the true purpose of Vamp City—a vampire death trap.

As possibly the last sorcerer left in the world, Quinn was the only one who could possibly renew the magic and save the city. But to do that, she had to break the Levenach curse that was still partially binding her magic. And to do that, she had to destroy the enchanted sword, Escalla.

A shiver of dread rippled through her at the thought of intentionally walking into Cristoff Gonzaga’s castle. Not only was he the most powerful vampire in Vamp City with the ability to pulverize the brain of any victim with a mere touch of his hand, be he human, werewolf, or vampire, but he was a sadist who literally fed on the pain of others.

“Quinn,” Arturo said quietly behind her. Neither he nor Micah had been in V.C. the night the magic failed and were, as far as Quinn knew, the only two vampires remaining who were still able to come and go as they wished. There were other vampires in the D.C. area, others who were not trapped, but the others stayed far away from the crumbling city that could no longer fully protect its inhabitants from the deadly sunlight. Only Arturo and Micah remained, determined to save their friends. And determined to help her save her brother.

Strong hands cupped her shoulders from behind, then gently turned her to face him.

“I cannot lose you,
amore mio
,” he said, the depth of emotion in his dark eyes melting her. As she slid her arms around his waist, he covered her mouth in a drugging kiss and she pressed closer, needing his touch, his strength, the momentary forgetfulness she found in his arms. She loved the feel of his cool lips, loved the way they turned warm when he kissed her—the way his entire body turned warm. She reveled in the strength of his arms sliding around her, and sighed with pleasure as her senses once more drowned in the scent of almonds and moonlight.

He was coming to mean far too much to her, which had her pulling away in a schizophrenic chaos of joy and frustration, of warmth and uncertainty. Because while she believed Arturo was as concerned with her safety as he claimed to be, that hadn’t always been true. And, try as she might, she couldn’t forget that.

The first time she met him, she and Zack had only just stumbled into Vamp City while searching for Zack’s missing best friend, Lily. Arturo had lied to her and betrayed her even as he’d saved her over and over. Ultimately, she’d learned that his soul had been compromised, his morals damaged by the poisonous magic of Vamp City, but the goodness inside of him, even then, had not been entirely suppressed.

It was the purity of her own magic, he said, that had saved him. And, for the most part, she did believe that he’d fully reclaimed his soul.

But the memories of those old betrayals whispered warnings, still, especially when she caught him withholding information from her, as she had yesterday. Important information about Zack. That he would do that to her even now, after all they’d been through together, continued to prey on her mind.

Quinn pulled away from him, refusing to let him soften her resolve. There were too many lives at stake.

“I’m not waiting another day, Turo.”

He met her gaze, an obstinate gleam flaring in his eyes. “First show me that you have acquired the finesse you will need to free the sword.”

Oh, stubborn, stubborn vampire. She intended to win this fight. But perhaps there didn’t have to be a fight. Maybe she really could prove to both of them that she had that finesse in her. Knowing she did would add to her confidence immeasurably.

“All right.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “What do you want me to lift?”

He looked at her with surprise, then pressed his lips together, considering. “The barbell in the gym.”

Quinn gave a short nod, dropped her arms and started for the door. “No problem.”

“With two hundred pounds.”

Her jaw dropped and she whirled on him. “That’s ridiculous! Escalla can’t weigh more than twenty.”

“But the enchanted case in which it lies will not so easily let it go,” he replied reasonably with a lift of his brow. “Lift the barbell a few inches using magic alone, then set it carefully down again, and I will be satisfied.”

Yeah, him and her both. She’d been trying to find that kind of control for the past couple of days, and so far, had failed miserably. Another failure like before would only solidify his argument that she needed another day’s practice. But she’d told him she’d try and she might as well.

Turning on her heel, she left the sparring room and strode down the hall toward the weight room where Zack spent most of his time these days. Both rooms were part of the extensive underground complex beneath Neo’s safe house deep in the Vamp City otherworld. Just a week ago, this place had been swarming with humans who’d escaped their vampire masters—humans who Neo and his team had ferried back to the real world through a well-organized underground railroad. But as Vamp City raced toward its end, everything was changing. Neo and his team no longer cared if they were caught. They’d been taking risks they’d never have taken before in order to free the humans quickly.

No one was certain what would happen to the humans when the magic crumbled.

As Quinn entered the weight room, she found Zack and Jason—the human ex-marine who’d been training her brother—in the midst of a pull-up competition. Both men were sweating, Jason a little flushed with exertion, Zack a bright crimson thanks to the illness that had spiked his fever well over 120 degrees Fahrenheit.

He should be dead. According to Dr. Morris, he would be soon unless they managed to free him from the magic’s deadly grip.

The sickness raging through her brother’s body might be killing him, but it was not making him weak. Just the opposite. Against all that was logical, he felt perfectly fine and had been growing stronger by the hour. Quinn stared at her little brother, at the layers upon layers of muscle in his arms and chest, and shook her head. Just a couple of weeks ago, he’d been a tall, skinny computer geek who’d never lifted anything much heavier than his laptop. The two of them could have almost passed for twins, despite being only half siblings, with their height, wide mouths and green eyes inherited from their dad. Only their hair was strikingly different—his a mass of red curls, her own straight and blonde. Now, while she remained slender, he looked as buff and built as Jason.

On the surface, Zack appeared to have become addicted to bodybuilding, but Quinn knew the real reason he worked out constantly. He was determined to become as strong as possible, as quickly as possible. Just as she had a one-track mind when it came to keeping Zack safe, his own thoughts were focused on finding, and saving, Lily.

Arturo walked over to the weight bench, adjusted the weights at the ends of the bar to suit him, then stepped back.

“Now,
cara
,” Arturo said. “Six inches.”

Quinn met his gaze, then turned to her brother and Jason. “I hate to interrupt the pull-up battle, but I need you two to leave for a few minutes in case things start flying.” She was fairly certain she could lift the weights. The trouble was doing it with any measure of control.

Jason responded immediately, dropping to the ground, but Zack executed three more seemingly effortless pull-ups before doing the same. He turned to Jason with a grunt. “Beat you.”

Jason laughed. “No way in hell. You ignored direct orders.”

Zack smirked. “You were hurting, man. Admit it. The moment she asked us to stop, you dropped.”

Jason punched him good-naturedly in the shoulder and turned toward the door, but Arturo blocked their path.

“Stay.”

Quinn looked at him sharply, then rounded on him as understanding crashed. “You’d endanger them intentionally.”

“It will give you the proper incentive,
tesoro
.”

She just stared at him.

But he didn’t budge, just continued to meet her gaze with that unflinching stubbornness. And while she longed to tell him no way in hell, she knew he was probably right. With a suitable incentive, she just might find the necessary control. Then again, she knew Arturo wouldn’t actually let Jason or Zack get hurt.

What the hell. It was worth a try. With a huff, she turned toward the weights and shook out her hands.

“Find the control, Quinn.” Arturo’s words were part demand, part plea. “Find it quickly.”

“I’m trying. God knows, I’m trying.”

She could almost feel the weights smirking at her, and had to quell the sudden, fierce desire to slam them against the wall.
That
she could do. Force was easy. It was the subtle lifting that remained steadfastly out of her reach.

“
Tesoro,
” Arturo pressed.

“I know, I know.” With a huff of frustration, she concentrated on the barbell, willing it to rise. Almost immediately, the weights began to rattle and shake, but the bar remained glued to the bench.

Come on
, she urged silently, pushing a little more energy into it. The rattling increased, the weights clanking together, but still the thing refused to rise. Dammit. She thrust still more energy at it and this time felt a welling of anticipation inside her as if she could feel the barbell on the brink of movement. They were almost…
There!

The barbell shot straight up into the air, crashing against the ceiling.

Quinn gasped. “Zack, move!”

Jason ran for the doorway, but Zack started moving toward the barbell as if planning to catch two hundred pounds of steel!

“Turo!” she cried, but though the infuriating vampire moved close to Zack, he took no steps to interfere. Was he expecting her to use her magic to push the bar out of the way? There wasn’t time!

Even as she lifted her hands, Zack caught the barbell with both of his, one leg lunging forward, his entire body absorbing the weight with ease.

Quinn’s jaw dropped.

“Jesus, Mary, and Joseph,” Jason breathed behind her.

Holding the barbells as if they weighed nothing, Zack turned to her, green eyes glittering with challenge and temper. “When the fuck were you going to tell me that I’m a sorcerer, too?”

Chapter 2

Q
uinn stared at her brother. “Who told you that you were a sorcerer?”

She turned an accusing glare on Arturo, but the vampire lifted his hands with an innocent shake of his head as the three of them, and Jason, stood in the weight room beneath Neo’s safe house.

“I’m not a fucking idiot,” Zack snapped, holding a two hundred pound barbell as easily as he might a broom. “It wasn’t that hard to figure out. My sister’s a sorceress. I’ve suddenly got super power. It doesn’t take Einstein to do the math.”

Quinn met his challenging gaze. “Zack…you’ve also got a magic sickness.”

Arturo edged toward the door. “I will let you handle this,
cara
. I have things to see to.”

“Coward,” she muttered, adding, “Both of you!” as she saw that Jason was following Arturo out.

“People die from magic sickness,” her brother snapped. “They don’t turn into freaking Superman.”

Quinn stared at him. “Apparently you have.”

“Yeah. Why did you tell me you’d inherited all your magic from your mother?”

“Because until yesterday, I thought I had. Your mom always called mine ‘the witch’. It made sense, especially in light of the fact that I always had weird magical things happen around me as a child, and you never did.”

He set the barbell back in its rack. “What changed yesterday?” he asked, his voice still stiff with temper.

“Arturo told me what I believe is the truth, that I inherited my Blackstone magic from my mom, but my Levenach magic…and curse…from our dad. Which makes you a Levenach heir, too. But not a sorcerer, Zack. Thanks to the curse, heirs of Levenach have no magic.”

It had taken her a while to untangle her own magic heritage, but she’d finally come to believe she was descended from two powerful wizards—the Black Wizard, from whom she’d inherited her Blackstone magic, and Levenach. Millennia ago, the two had been mortal enemies, according to legend, until finally Levenach had created an enchanted blade—Escalla—to kill the Black Wizard. As the sword stole his life, the Black Wizard had cursed Levenach and all his heirs, forever stealing their magic.