"Why not?"
The elevator reached their floor and the doors opened. They walked down the hall to Quinn's room and entered.
"My boss," she began, "He's… well, we're not supposed to talk about this, but he's got these contracts.
I signed the contract to work for him in blood."
Quinn felt cold at that admission. "Who the hell is this guy?"
She shook her head. "I honestly don't know. Let's just say I won't make the same mistake again."
"What? Signing your freedom away to a black magic practitioner who holds your life in his hands?"
"No. Actually I meant that I didn't read the small print. I haven't had a raise in three years." At his look,
she smiled weakly. "Look, it's really not that bad. I don't always have to do shitty things for him."
"You're lying."
"But it sounds believable, right?"
"How do you get out of the contract?"
"I'll have to die." She shrugged and then frowned hard. "At least, I'm pretty sure that will release me, but maybe not. Again, I really should have read the fine print."
His stomach lurched. "Janie—"
"So, shall I go get the Eye right now and you can make your wish?" Her gaze moved over the contents of Quinn's suite, from raunchy paintings to floor-to-ceiling brocade drapes. She walked over to the window and looked out at the brightly lit Vegas strip. "I'll bet you a thousand bucks there's a message in my room from Lenny about when we're meeting with the Boss." Her heels clicked against the half moon of orange and red ceramic tiles by the window as she turned around. "Definitely not going to get my raise tonight, am I?"
"How can you sound so calm about all of this?"
"Do I sound calm? Obviously the screaming is only going on inside of my head."
"Janie…" He studied her for a moment longer and then looked away.
Shit. If he made his wish to be human again, how was he supposed to protect her from this bastard of a boss? And how was he supposed to do anything at all to stop Malcolm's let's-create-a-vampire-super-race plans?
Quinn had been the one who made the decision not to kill the old man when they had the chance at the museum. A stupid, sentimental decision. He hadn't even had enough time to check out the convention to make sure Malcolm hadn't done any damage there yet. He had said he'd been planning for a year for this event.
He looked up to see that Janie looked back at him with concern in her eyes. "Quinn, what's the problem?"
"I wish there was a better answer." He shook his head slowly. "I… I just don't want to be what I am."
She frowned hard at that, but then understanding filled her expression. "You'renot a monster, Quinn, if that's what you think."
"That's not what I think, that's what Iknow ." His voice cracked on the words.
"You think you are. But you're not. You're… you're better than that. Much better."
"Don't lie."
She let out a gasp of frustration. "Why do you have to be so stubborn about this?"
He stared at her for a moment. With anger suddenly coloring her cheeks she looked even more beautiful than she had before.
"I don't know what to do, Janie."
"What you need to do is listen to me. Look at me. Even if you're stuck as a vampire for the next twelve centuries, you're not a monster and you'll never be one. You have to be a monster in your heart, and your heart is pure." She rolled her eyes. "Okay, that sounded dumb, but you know what I mean. Even when you were a hunter, you approached it with that purity. You always wanted to do the right thing. You're the coolest guy I've ever known. You hear me? And I don't say that to just anybody, either."
He shook his head and began to look away, but she grabbed his chin and made him look directly at her.
"Do you think I'd let any vampire bite me like you did last night?" she said, and then a smile lit up her beautiful face. "And just for the record, I didn't want you to stop. Any of it. Do you think I'm lyingnow ?"
She now stood close enough that he was able reach forward an brush the long blond hair out of her eyes.
He swallowed hard. "No, you're not lying."
"Of course I'm not," she said. "We made a deal, and now the Eye is all yours."
"But your boss—"
"I'll deal with him."
No, Quinn decided. They'dboth deal with him when they took him the Eye intact. There was no way in hell he was going to risk Janie's life just so he could make his self-serving wish. End of story.
"Now, you get the Eye ready. I'll go to my room and get the red stone." She glanced around the room.
"I'm going to make a couple calls and find out what the status on the Boss is. Wait here for me, okay?"
Before he could say anything in reply, she pulled him against her and kissed him hard on his lips. Then, just as suddenly, she turned and left him in the room, as his cheat pounded like crazy in his chest.
Okay, she hadn't meant to kiss him.
It was just one of those highly inappropriate things that sometimes happened when emotions were running high.
Damn. The man had lips like a Greek god.
She'd let herself in to her dark hotel room and now was trying to regain her composure in front of the vanity mirror. She flicked on a sidelight to look at her reflection.
Nice dress.
Not a bad outfit to die in. And when the Boss found out what happened to the Eye, that was exactly what would happen.
Hopefully Barkley and Angela would be well on their way out of town by then.
She already had the plan all figured out. Quinn would make his wish to be human. Then, knowing him,