Frost Burn (The Fire and Ice Series, Book 1) by Erica Stevens Read Free Book Online

low and tugged the two remaining stakes from her boots. She wouldn’t be able to throw these, but if they got close enough to her she would make them rethink ever trying to touch her again. She rose back to her full height just as one of the others tossed aside their dead friend and hefted a barstool over his head. Quinn spun away from the chair hurtled at her with so much speed it was mostly a blur even to her enhanced vision.
    Her deft movement kept her from taking a direct hit, but she was unable to avoid the stool completely. It felt as if the leg of the stool had actually crashed straight into her bone instead of a layer of her muscle, fat and skin first. A small grunt escaped her; the force of the stool caused her to stagger forward a few steps. She regained her balance quickly, but not quick enough to escape the grabbing hands of a burly vampire. What would have been considered a beer gut if he were human hung over his belt, but this was most likely a blood gut.
    He jerked her toward him with one, harsh tug. Adrenaline and her instinctual need to survive caused her ability to kick in of its own volition, with far more deadly ferocity than she was used to. The sensation of tentacles, or perhaps suckers, shooting from her body to grab hold of his hand filled her. She didn’t actually grow tentacles, but she’d always pictured her power like an octopus grabbing hold of someone while the suction cups drained them of their life force.
    His chipmunk cheeks shrank, his ruddy skin took on a grayish hue, and all of the color leached from his face. A startled cry of agony escaped him. She could feel him trying to jerk his hand away, but once the tentacles took hold they were impossible to break free from until she released them.
    Blood Gut’s brown eyes bulged, his mouth hung open in disbelief as he continued to shrink in size. The whites of his eyes were yellow when they rolled back into his head. His now ninety-pound, saggy body dropped to the floor like a crumpled skeleton. It had been six years since she’d required air to breathe, but she still found herself gasping for breath when he finally fell away from her.
    She bent over, shaking as she fought the influx of power surging through her body. Her ability had been weakened by the interaction, but his life force kicked around in her body like a ghost in a haunted house. This unsettled and jumpy feeling inside of her was one of the many reasons she tried not to completely drain the life force from someone.
    A little snap to get them to let go, or to ensnare them for a few seconds within her trap was usually enough time for her to be able to stake them or warn them off. But she was outnumbered now with only two stakes left on her. Her best option had been to show them what she could do, hope they stayed back afterward, and that they didn’t suspect her power had been drained by the interaction. If they were looking to kill her this would have been an entirely different scenario, but thankfully this group meant to keep her alive, for now.
    She had enough power left in her to give one more of them a good blast, but from the looks on their faces, she didn’t think they were going to take one step closer to her. They stared at her with gaping mouths and bugged out eyes. The only one who didn’t look about to turn and run was the first one who had entered. The smile on his face brought to mind a praying mantis hunched over its prey.
    “It’s you .” Out of everything she’d expected to come from his mouth, those words were the farthest from her mind. “We’ve been looking all over for you. This worked out much better than I’d ever anticipated.”
    Her head spun as she tried to process his words. “Who’s been looking all over for me?”
    He didn’t get a chance to respond as another sound drew her attention around the corner of the poolroom and to the kitchen doors. The blond vampire from earlier and the humans gathered around him stood behind the other vampires.