Arctic Fire 2 Read Online Free

She was suddenly very focused on the pieces of splintered wood she picked off the floor.
    “That heart’s not going to bite you, Zachariah,” he said to Zach. “I already killed it for you.”
    Zach lifted his head to scowl at him. “It’s just Zach,” he said for probably the hundredth time. Julian had no idea why he kept bothering to correct him; he had to realize by now it was useless.
    Zach placed the heart into the trash bag and wiped his hands on the rag Quinn handed him. His dark-blond hair stood in spikes around his head; his brown eyes were red-rimmed from lack of sleep. Zach was the newest Hunter they’d discovered shortly before arriving in this Arizona town. Neither he nor Chris got any bad vibes from the young, surfer-looking kid, but Julian still didn’t like him.
    However, that wasn’t saying much as there were few people he did like.
    Walking across the room, Julian lifted another body and heaved it over his shoulder. As if determined to prove he wasn’t squeamish, Zach came alongside Julian, grabbed the arms of another, and lifted the body up. Julian caught a glimpse of the tree of life tattoo on the inside of the young Hunter’s right wrist when he swung the body over his shoulder.
    Chris grabbed hold of the last body and draped it around his shoulders. One of the dead guy’s hands fell down to slap him across the nose with a thwack. “I really hate our heritage sometimes,” he muttered.
    Julian laughed as he turned toward the swinging kitchen doors. Don’t look back; don’t tell her to be careful.
    Despite telling himself not to, he couldn’t stop himself from pausing at the doorway to take one last look at Quinn as she tied off the trash bag and dropped it on the floor. He hurried through the kitchen and back across the desert. He left Zach and Chris in his dust as he raced over to the boulders again and threw the new body on top of the other one. When the sun came up, it would burn away the remains, erasing all evidence the bodies had even been there. Chris and Zach caught up with him and added their bodies to the heap.
    Stepping back, his gaze scanned the shifting sand and dunes rolling out before him. Cactuses and rocks dotted the landscape, his eyes picked out the different hues of oranges and reds swirling throughout. In the distance, he saw a coyote hunting amongst the rocks, searching for its prey.
    The idea of hunting caused his fangs to tingle. He’d killed tonight. He’d unleashed some of the brutality he kept so restrained within him, but he hadn’t fed. The scent of all the blood and the rush of the kill had made him ravenous. He could go now, give Quinn more of the freedom and space she’d asked for, but he was already itching to be at her side again, and she would most likely have to feed too.
    Turning on his heel, he ran back across the desert and back into the bar. He paused before the swinging kitchen doors when he heard Quinn and Melissa giggling. “I can’t believe you ate a peanut butter cup while he fought off four vamps,” Melissa said.
    “He deserved it, with his caveman attitude,” Quinn replied.
    “Aw, he doesn’t know how to handle what he feels for you, and at least he hasn’t hit you over the head with a club.”
    “Yet!”
    The sound of Quinn’s heartwarming laughter melted his irritation over the two of them talking about him. He shoved his way through the swinging doors and into the main part of the bar. They both stopped speaking as they looked up at him.
    “I don’t have a club, but I could always get one if you’d like,” he said to Quinn.
    Melissa chuckled and turned her head away. Quinn brushed back a strand of her that had worked free of her ponytail as she grinned at him. He wasn’t surprised she felt no shame over getting caught talking about him.
    “Just you try it,” she retorted.
    “Try what?” Chris asked as he shoved his way through the kitchen doors.
    “Nothing,” Julian said.
    He grabbed the trash bag from the floor and