Quinn came around the van, a shadow in black that merged with the night. "We've got twenty minutes to get up the mountain."
"What?"
"Afraid so." His gaze swept down me. "You ready?"
No, I wanted to say. Never. But I forced a nod and quietly followed as he led the way across the twig-strewn ground.
Twenty minutes isn't a whole lot of time to climb a damn mountain, so we went up it fast. Thankfully, there were no cliff edges or long drops to make my stomach go haywire, but by the time we'd reached the plateau that held the compound, my legs were jelly and my lungs burned. While I might claim to be reasonably fit, this mountain sure as hell made a mockery of it. I was really, really going to have to make an attempt to get to the gym more often.
When we finally reached the clearing that held the compound, my whole body was a mess of twitching, aching muscles. I stopped beside a big old gum tree, using its girth to hide behind as I desperately dragged air into my system. Quinn stopped behind me, wafting the rich scent of sandalwood my way. His breathing was even. He might be over a thousand years old, but he was a damn sight fitter than me.
"It's empty," he said softly.
I lifted my gaze Beyond the expanse of empty pasture stood the wire of the compound's fence. No lights shone in the darkness beyond that fence. The shadowy shapes of the buildings seemed to hold no life or movement in or around them. Not even under infrared. Everything was still. Eerily so.
Even so, I had to check. Just because I wasn't seeing it didn't mean it wasn't there. And Quinn could sense the thud of life, whereas I could not. "Completely empty? As in, no life at all, human, nonhuman, or otherwise?"
His gaze met mine, dark eyes seeming to gleam in the night. "Nothing at all."
"No one's there? At all?"
"From where we stand, I wouldn't be able to sense Rhoan and the others. It's too far. But it would appear that the complex has been evacuated."
"Why would they do that? From what I saw of the place, it was huge. Why suddenly abandon it?"
"I would hazard a guess that you were the cause."
I raised an eyebrow. "Because I'd escaped?"
He nodded. "They obviously know who you are. They would know you are connected to the Directorate, even if only at an assistant level. Given what happened to the Genoveve research facility, given your part in it, they would have had an evacuation plan in place."
"How would they know my part in that?"
"Talon's mind was partially burned away, remember. Whoever did that would have done a thorough search of all his memory and thought centers first, just to check what had been happening." He paused. "At least, that is what I would have done."
A shiver ran down my spine. I didn't want to contemplate the sort of telepathic strength it took to completely burn away someone's thoughts and memories. I certainly didn't want to contemplate the fact that this vampire could do it as easily as he breathed.
"If this place was abandoned, and no clues left behind, it might take us ages to pick up the trail again." And I had a bad feeling I couldn't afford that.
"If they left in a hurry, there's a chance they left information behind." He glanced at his watch. "We have five minutes before we have to go in."
"Then I'm using them to rest."
I sank down on a nearby log. Quinn sat beside me, close enough that I could feel the warmth of him, but not quite close enough that we touched.
I resisted the urge to move—either closer, so that we did touch, or farther away so that his closeness didn't seem to infuse my soul with heat—and kept my gaze on the fence line rather than the impressive body sitting so very near. "I very much doubt they'd have left that place unguarded. Even if we can't sense anything from here."
"Possibly."
He wasn't even looking at me, yet awareness flowed between us, as strong as it had ever been. Part of me wanted to bathe in it, to lose myself deep in its warmth and never surface.
Crazy, that's what I was.
Or was it simply a matter of wauling something I knew I shouldn't have? Like the chocolate Rhoan used to hide from me when I was a pimply teenager? It was there. I knew it was there, and I wanted it, even if I knew it wasn't good for me.
I crossed my arms, as if to ward off a chill. But the cold night air never truly had a chance to get close, chased away by the heat of Quinn's nearness.
"So, what are we going to chat about while we while away our five minutes?"
It was an invitation to chat on a more personal level, and one I wasn't entirely sure he deserved. Still, if he was going to be involved in this investigation for any length of time, then I guess we did have to start talking.
"How about we discuss mistakes?"
"Depends on whose mistakes we're going to discuss."
"I think we should start with mine." His gaze caught and held mine, his eyes dark pools I could so easily drown in. "That's what my refusal to see you again was. A mistake."
Oh, great. Like I needed that statement when I was torn between the desire to explore what lay between us and the realization that it would be wrong to go there, simply because there could never be anything truly lasting. I didn't want to end up being yet another werewolf who had hurt him.
"And what has brought about this sudden change of heart?" My voice was even, which surprised the hell out of me. Recent revelations aside, he'd still basically dumped me and, at the very least, deserved to have some annoyance flung his way.
"Lot's of things—"
"Like what?" I interrupted. "Are you perhaps finding sex a little hard to get after destroying your fiancee's life?"
It was an extremely catty comment. The annoyance mightn't be showing in my voice, but it was sitting there regardless.
His gaze hardened. "You know why I did that."
"Yeah. She pissed you off. Well, buddy boy, you've succeeded in pissing me off, and now you have to live with the consequences."
He studied me for a moment, then looked away, his face expressionless but the air vibrating with barely contained annoyance. Part of me couldn't help but be pleased with that. Hey, I was a bitch after all.
"I refuse to believe that you can walk away so easily."
"Why not? I'm a wolf, aren't I? We flit from one partner to another, without thought or morals."
Something flickered in his eyes. Recognition of a point, perhaps. "You're not like that."
"Maybe I am, maybe I'm not." I studied him for a moment. "I'm a wolf born and raised, Quinn. My morals and ways are never going to be compatible with yours."
"That doesn't mean we can't meet somewhere in the middle."
Yes, it did. Because he was my chocolate—and one bite was never going to be enough. But he was also a vampire, and could never provide the one thing I truly hungered for.
Damn it all, when did a simple matter like sex get so damn complicated? I rubbed a hand across my eyes. "Look, we need to discuss this more, but I don't think this is the right place. Let's just get inside and find the others."
He rose and offered me a hand. I hesitated, not wanting to risk touching him, yet knowing I'd look foolish if I didn't accept his help. Knowing also that that was the precise reason he was offering his hand. It was a dare, of sorts.
And I was never one to back down from a dare. I placed my hand in his, and something akin to electricity surged between us. His gaze jumped to mine, leaving me drowning in those lusciously dark depths. His fingers were so warm, so gentle yet strong as he pulled me upright. And suddenly I was reliving the moments when those clever, skillful hands were on my body, teasing and caressing and pleasuring. Lust shimmered, burning the air between us, as if, just for a heartbeat, those memories hung between us.