“Now that is an interesting question,” I slowly said. “Unfortunately, you’re the only living naturi I know. The rest tend to die quickly upon meeting me.”
Thunder rumbled again, louder this time, the storm drawing closer. Rowe growled as his arm shot up into the air. Less than a second later a bolt of lightning plummeted to the ground, striking no more than three feet from where I stood. I jumped away, landing in a heap before rolling back to my feet. The air still tingled with the electricity hanging in the atmosphere along with the scent of burnt ozone.
Rowe’s hand shook slightly as he lowered it back to his side. There was no missing the intent look on his face as he watched me. I was getting a firsthand look at the powers of the wind naturi. Not only could they fly, but apparently they could also control the weather. I would never survive a lightning strike, and I knew he could kill me before I could incinerate him.
“Hmmm,” I mocked, desperately trying to hide my mounting fear behind sarcasm. “Killing me may solve some of your problems, but it won’t help you discover the identity of the little naturi hiding on the island.”
“Hiding? What do you mean ‘hiding’?”
I laughed at him, but swallowed the sound when Rowe started to raise his arm again. Lightning darted among the rolling clouds, illuminating each black giant for a blink of an eye before plunging all back into darkness again. Gritting my teeth, I took a desperate chance. I ran straight at Rowe. The air tingled and the ground shook as another lightning bolt struck the ground directly behind me.
Slamming his back into the tree, I wrapped my fists in his red shirt and leaned in so my nose nearly touched his. “You may be able to control the lightning, but I am willing to bet you can’t survive a lightning strike. So the question becomes, how badly do you want to see me dead?”
“That’s an interesting wager,” he replied. His green eyes narrowed on mine and a smirk twisted his lips.
There was no mistaking the surge of energy that crackled and snapped around us. He was pulling the energy from the earth and I could sense it; something that should not be happening. Nightwalkers lost all connection with the earth when we were reborn.
The sensation from the building power was both amazing and painful, biting at my flesh and gnawing on my bones. The energy was trying to find a way into my body, but it was at odds with what I was. Nightwalkers were creatures of blood magic. We couldn’t do earth magic. Or at least that’s what I had always been led to believe.
“Of course, we both know that killing me won’t get you any closer to finding out about your missing female,” I said, just trying to buy a few seconds. “And we’ve both seen what a joke kidnapping me is.”
“I’m sure I can come up with some other options.”
“While you’re at it, why not try thinking of a reason as to why a naturi may be ensconced on an island filled with nightwalkers and not be threatened?” I pulled my face away from his so I could clearly look into his eyes without going cross-eyed myself. Some of the anger had slipped from his features as he thoughtfully stared at me. Standing so close, I could see the scars that snaked across the right side of his face and disappeared behind his eye patch. I remembered that when we met years ago, there were only a couple faint scars along his neck but nothing else. Once, he was pale and blond and nearly perfect, but now he stood before me dark and scarred. What had he been through that could possibly scar a naturi like this?
“I think you’ve got bigger problems than just me,” I said, slowly releasing my grip on his shirt. I knew that the naturi on San Clemente was not a hostage, but part of some bargain the Coven was working out. Meanwhile, Rowe knew there was a naturi on the island but had no idea who it was or why she was there, which indicated that he had not sent her. He was not a part of whatever this other naturi and the Coven were cooking up. I wasn’t the only one who was being betrayed in Venice.
I winked at him one last time as I backed away, hoping I had finally given him enough to think about so I could escape to a more populated location. “Just a word of advice,” I said. “I’d get all your ducks in a row before trying again in four nights.”
Before I could slip away, Rowe roughly grabbed both of my shoulders, holding me just inches from his body. A wicked grin split his mouth and laughter danced in his one good eye. “You say you don’t remember me being at Machu Picchu,” he murmured. “Let me see if I can jog your memory.”
To my utter shock, he jerked me close and pressed his lips against mine. I stood frozen, my brain completely locked up in a mix of disbelief and revulsion. And something even worse happened. I realized that his touch, his smell, his taste were all too familiar. I pushed against him violently, pulling out of his grasp as I stumbled backward. His mocking laughter followed me, but I was only vaguely aware of it as my thoughts flew back to my time at Machu Picchu.
“You were in the cave,” I choked out past the lump in my throat.
“You still thought I was human,” Rowe taunted.
I had been exhausted, weighed down by pain and starvation after being tortured for more than a week. An hour before sunrise, they returned me to the caves that made up the Temple of the Moon. Only this time there was a pale blond human in there already. I didn’t think about how or why. Through the fog of pain, I only saw the human I had met by the lake.
“You said they’d kill you,” I whimpered, bringing a dark laugh from my companion. Rowe had told me they would kill him if I didn’t do as the naturi ordered. He pleaded with me to save his life, but I couldn’t betray my people to save the life of one human. When they came for him, I pulled on the chains that bound my hands behind my back. I tried to set them on fire, but I was too weak. All I could do was shout and kick as the naturi approached, tears streaming down my dirty face.
As they grabbed my blond-haired companion, he had leaned down and kissed me. I remembered the softness of his lips, the taste of sweetness in his mouth like ripe berries. I could smell him, a mix of earth and desperation. He pleaded with me one last time to save him, but all I could do was weep for him as they dragged him out, the words lodged behind the lump in my throat.
I stared horrified at Rowe now, all the memories rushing back with startling clarity. I had wept endless tears for him, guilt eating away at me like acid. I had forced myself to forget about him because his memory nearly destroyed me. I thought I had sacrificed an innocent man to save my own kind from extermination.
“You may have forgotten me, but I never forgot the taste of the tears you cried for me,” he said in a low voice.
I wrapped my arms around my middle, nearly hunched over in pain. They had nearly destroyed me with a trick, nearly broken me. Even now, after so many centuries, the pain felt so fresh.
Rowe simply smiled at me, making no move to stop me as I backed away from him. “It was the will of the fates you survived our first two encounters so many years ago. Your life will benefit me one day.”
Shaking my head, there was nothing I could say. I blinked back tears of humiliation as I slowly walked back toward the entrance. That night at Machu Picchu replayed in my head over and over again with each step, increasing my endless hatred for the entire race.
A low rumble of thunder followed me back to the boat, but the lightning remained locked within the clouds. Rowe was still laughing at me.
FIFTEEN
The sun slid back beneath the earth, its long rays of light clawing at the sky in a desperate attempt to find some last second purchase. The world sighed and shuddered, shaking off the day’s tight grasp like shedding a skin it had outgrown. I didn’t see the sun’s steady descent into darkness, but I could feel the birth of a new night. The subtle shift of the nocturnal world as it yawned and stretched, ready for a night of hunting, rippled through me.
Tristan lay silent last night in the bed after returning from the Coven, lost somewhere between Sadira’s betrayal and my failure to protect him. I’m sure his mind had replayed his time with the court in all its gory detail. He’d come so cl
ose to dying in that place of permanent night and horrors.
I should never have left him alone with Sadira, completely underestimating her need to strike out at me. The court could have easily destroyed him, and Sadira had already proven that he was dispensable if it meant breaking me. Protecting Tristan was going to be harder than I’d anticipated, and he had paid the price for my foolishness and ego. His encounter in the Great Hall was my fault. We both knew now that neither of us would ever be completely free until Sadira was dead and gone. But at the moment, he slept deeply beside me on the bed, curled up in the fetal position, the blankets twisted around his naked body.
Hesitantly, I reached over and smoothed some of the soft locks from his face. Full dark was still more than an hour away, and he was immersed in the deep, healing sleep of our people. Blissful darkness consumed his thoughts, and for a time the memory of Sadira’s betrayal and my failure were no doubt wiped away. He would have to face those memories again all too soon, but for now there was only nothingness.
I stared down at his beautiful form, cool and limp. A knot lodged in my throat and I blinked back a swell of tears that blurred my vision. My sweet, beautiful Tristan with the fragile, playful smile. In him, I saw both a child and a brother. Brought into the darkness by the same nightwalker, we were of the same bloodline. Yet, he was so much younger and weaker. His very existence seemed so tenuous.
Jabari had saved me five hundred years ago from Sadira, bringing me out of the shadow of pain and despair. Was it my job to save Tristan now? How could I when I could barely protect myself? Both Michael and Thorne had died while I watched. Would the young nightwalker be next despite my best efforts?
Touching his hair again, I wished his peace would last. I wished for his wounds to heal, on the outside as well as the scars on the inside, but I feared it would all be for nothing. Just nights ago I had professed to James that nightwalkers were more than monsters. I told him that we felt joy and that we loved. Yet hadn’t the bloody mess that they’d made of Tristan’s back when they peeled the skin from his body proven that wrong? Hadn’t the fact that I reveled in the bloodbath I created proven that wrong? How could one monster ever succeed in protecting another monster?
Sparing a glance to find that his back had healed from last night’s debacle, I pushed off the bed. Never in my long existence had I risen so early. I had been called. I could feel Valerio in my head the second consciousness came flooding into my brain, and then he pulled away, leaving behind a faint impression on my lips, as if he’d kissed me. Standing in the silent room, I inhaled deeply, half expecting to catch a faint whiff of his scent, and my brain even told me for a second that I did, but I knew he had never been in the room. His presence in my thoughts had been so strong that it left a mark on all of my senses.
But that was Valerio, as silent as a shade and as ubiquitous as the wind. He was a ghost from my past that I could never quite shake off. But then, there was the question of whether I truly wanted to shed his long-reaching touch.
The sound of the door to the hotel room closing jerked me from my thoughts. I grabbed the ankle-length silk robe from where I’d tossed it over a chair and quickly pulled it on. I was still tying the sash of the hotel robe when I stepped into the main salon. Danaus was pushing in a cart covered with a white cloth, laden with dishes hidden under silver covers. A dozen scents of rich sauces, cooked meat, and hot coffee suddenly filled the air. It was time for dinner or breakfast. By the smell of it, I was convinced that the hunter was indulging in both.
Danaus abruptly halted, his eyes darting from me to the bay of windows that revealed the distant sunset. The sky was painted deep shades of red, orange, and a heavy purple. It had been centuries since I last looked on such colors in the sky.
“Did you have any problems last night?” I stiffly inquired. With my arms folded over my stomach, I walked over to the windows, ignoring the silent question resting in his narrowed eyes. The fading sunlight made my eyes burn, and I blinked back bloody tears but didn’t move. I wasn’t sure if I would ever see the sunset again, and I wanted to soak in the colors while I could.
“No. You?”
“Nothing important.” I tried to sound nonchalant and indifferent about last night, but failed. Those two words came out sounding weary and ragged. My encounter with Rowe and the slaughter at the Great Hall had left me torn in two.
“Mira?” I hadn’t heard him move, but he sounded closer now. Just a few feet away, standing directly behind me. The scent of him was strong, a soothing mix of soap and the sun, with a hint of spice from his cologne or aftershave. A part of me wanted to lean back and rest my shoulders against his strong chest as we shared the sunset in comfortable silence.
“Everything is well,” I said, pushing aside the silly urge.
“It would be easier to protect each other if I understood what was happening,” he firmly said. “Who took Sadira and Tristan?”
I opened my mouth to say that it was none of his business and that I had it all under control, but another set of words came tumbling out. “Sadira took Tristan to the court of the Coven to punish me. He was tortured until I arrived.”
“Did you destroy Sadira?” The words escaped his throat, sounding matter-of-fact, his question holding no emotion or inflection. I couldn’t decide whether he would condemn or praise me for my actions.
“She still exists, though I’m sure she wishes she didn’t,” I finally replied.
“And the Coven?”
“Who knows what they think? They weren’t present at the time. They will only act when it is to their benefit.” Biting back a sigh, I turned on my bare right heel to face him. I needed to get moving. Valerio had woken me for a reason. He wanted something, and I didn’t want him showing up there. “I have another meeting tonight.”
“Alone?”
“Naturally,” I said with a little smirk, which faded almost as quickly as it appeared.
“What about the Coven and their arrangement with the naturi?” Danaus inquired.
“I haven’t forgotten. We have to stop it, or it could mean war among all of the races, along with fighting a war against the naturi. No one would survive such a thing.”
“Don’t you find it odd that Jabari demanded we come here, risking us discovering their grand plot?”
A smile brightened my features and exposed my fangs briefly. “Yes, I do,” I said, almost chuckling. “I’m beginning to think that not everyone is of one mind on the Coven.”
“And it’s our job to destroy the bargain,” Danaus finished with a nod.
“Destroy the naturi trying to break the seal. Destroy the Coven’s bargain with the naturi.”
“It’s what we do best,” Danaus said. A fleeting smile slipped across his face.
“True, but we may need some help, hence the meeting.” I glanced over my shoulder one last time as the colors in the sky continued to fade. “Stay close to Tristan while I’m gone. Don’t let him out of your sight,” I commanded, not caring how the hunter felt about my issuing orders to a creature more than three times my age.
“Do you think they’ll come after him again?”
I cocked my head to the side as an odd thought skipped through my brain. “Would you protect him if they did?” I softly asked, my eyes drifting over his hard features. Danaus’s eyes darted across the room and his frown deepened as he paced a few steps away from me. I doubt either one of us knew the answer to that question. I opened my mouth to push on when he suddenly spoke, his voice like a distant rumble of thunder in the quiet room. “I would protect him against the creatures that hurt him last night.”
I wouldn’t go into detail about what happened to the young nightwalker last night. That was Tristan’s choice. But I had no doubt that Danaus felt my pain and rage. I had not attempted to shield him.
A slow smile grew on my lips, and my eyes glowed dark lavender with the memory of the bloodbath. “Those creatures no longer exist,” I purred.
Danaus nodded, the frown disintegratin
g from his face. I was surprised. There was no disgust or disappointment in his eyes when he looked at me. All I could feel from him was a sense of peace and calm.
I blinked and the glow disappeared from my eyes, the swell of power slipping from my form as if caught up by a light breeze. “No, that is not why I want you to stay with Tristan. I fear the court may come after you next.”
“And you expect him to protect me?” he asked incredulously.
“No,” I said, a smile trembling on my lips. “Tristan and I are connected. I can feel his emotions and see through his eyes. I will know if you are troubled.”
“Unlike our connection?” he asked, arching one thick brow at me.
“Our connection weakens with time and distance,” I replied sharply. “It is also a connection I do not wish to cultivate, and would prefer it to die completely.” I was still unnerved by the way his mind had touched mine last night, slowly scanning my body for the injury I’d sustained. But now the contact had dissipated, and I was only vaguely aware of his emotions, much like most humans.
Danaus simply nodded, wisely refraining from commenting on the fact that I hadn’t known Tristan was in trouble last night until it was too late. But then again, I had taken care of that problem last night. Sadira wouldn’t cause any problems for a long time.
As I turned to go back into the bedroom to throw on some clothes, Danaus pointed out a large box that had been delivered to the room a couple hours earlier. I shook my head as I carried it into the bedroom with me, knowing without opening it who had sent it. Valerio believed that appearance was everything in keeping up a facade.
Placing the large, white garment box on the bed, I pulled off the lid. Inside I found a black silk camisole and a white wrap made of antique lace. The straight, black skirt fell to my calves and was slit up the back. And of course, a pair of heels that had wide black ribbons that wrapped around my ankles. Quickly dressing, I decided at the last minute to leave my hair down. I took one last glance in the mirror and couldn’t quite fight back the small smile that rose on my lips. The outfit was elegant and appropriately conservative. Yet, it still somehow managed to be sexy and alluring with its tiny flashes of pale skin. If Valerio could divert his attention long enough from fashion and keeping up appearances, he could be a truly dangerous figure.
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