"Or maybe he'll think it simply doesn't work for him. He won't blame you."
"You don't know him. He'll kill me."
"I'll protect you."
She laughed at that dryly, then looked out of the floor-to-ceiling windows down to the Vegas Strip. The vague reflection of a dirty, windblown, frustrated blonde looked back at her. She glanced over her shoulder.
"You want it that bad."
"Haven't I proven that to you by now?"
"All this just to be human again."
He shrugged.
"Human isn't all that great," she said.
"I know. Wasn't that long since I was one."
"So what the hell is the big deal? Why this single-minded obsession to not be a vampire anymore?"
She waited, but he didn't answer right away. She turned around again to fully look at him. His throat worked like he was trying to swallow and was having a hard time with it.
"I've been a monster all of my life, Janie. I just never realized it. Now Iliterally am one. It's my punishment for being a hunter all those years. But if I can be human again… I can change things. I can try to redeem myself. I can help people. I know I can."
"You really think it's that simple?"
He crossed his arms and walked over to the window to stare outside. "No, of course not. Nothing's simple. But if I was an evil human, I have no idea how horrible a vampire I'll become if given enough time. And if I have much more blood—" His voice broke. "I can see myself becoming like Malcolm. An immortal, indiscriminant murderer who doesn't even realize what he's thinking and doing is insane. I don't want to hurt anyone, Janie."
She put her hand on her hip and studied him for a moment. "And you think getting the chance to make this wish is going to change all of that."
He moistened his lips with the tip of his tongue. "If it doesn't, then I'm out of options. I won't live this way. I won't. One way or the other—I either live as a human or I'll… I'll die as a vampire."
Her heart clenched. "What are you talking about? You wouldn't kill yourself over this, would you?"
His silence answered her question.
She moved closer to him, wanting to wrap her arms around him and hold him tight. To tell him it was going to be okay.
But then she changed her mind.
The immediate sympathy she felt that he'd had to come to this horrible decision was pushed away by a big wave of anger. "I think you might be the dumbest guy I've ever known."
He blinked at her. "Is that so."
"Yeah. Dumb. Moronic. Idiotic." She shook her head. "Honestly, you're such a fool, Quinn."
"This is making me feel so much better."
"Sorry, but I'm not on the high school cheerleading squad. Never was. Honestly. If you're willing to kill yourself over something like this, you deserve to die."
"You're probably right."
She hissed out a long breath. "You know what? You seemed so cool and cute and together back when I was a kid with a crush. Little did I know what a difference a dozen years would make. Pathetic."
He frowned at her. "Maybe I won't wait to end it later. Got a spare wooden stake lying around?"
She shook her head as she tried to figure out what to do. If she didn't let Quinn use the Eye, he was going to be looking for ways to kill himself. If she did let him use it, her Boss would probably kill him.
They were screwed either way.
"Fine," she finally said through clenched teeth.
"Fine, what?"
"Fine, we'll look for my sister. If, and that's a big fatif we find her, then you can make your loser,
cop-out wish and I won't try to stop you."
And then she'd figure out what to do about the Boss. There had to be another way out of this situation.
Christ. Maybe she should have just killed Quinn earlier when she had the chance.
The thought was almost funny. Almost.
He looked at her warily, perhaps waiting for the catch. "Okay."
"Okay." She shook her head again. "I'm going to find something to wear that doesn't smell like sweaty desert. Had I known this assignment was going to take more than a day, I would have packed a bigger bag. I need a vacation so bad."
He cleared his throat. "So, meet you in the lobby in half an hour?"
"Fine." She left the room and headed down the hall to her own room.
She felt something wet on her face and reached up to touch her cheeks. Wet. Clear, warm liquid.
Oh, Christ. She was crying.
When the hell had that happened? Yeah, she was crying over the stupid vampire's lack of intelligence and common sense. Not to mention her own lack of judgment when it came to him.
She wanted to beat it into him that he was great, vampire or not. That he was nowhere near evil. She'd met evil guys, and Michael Quinn wasn't one of them. Had he made some mistakes in his life? Sure. Who hadn't? Was it something worth dying over?
Was he someone worth killing just because her Boss said so?
No.
She'd figure it out. Nobody had to die today. Not if she had anything to say about it.