“The naturi are coming. The next new moon is in three nights, as well as an old pagan holiday. I think the naturi will try again to break the seal then,” I explained. Placing my left hand flat on the floor, I tried to find the will to push back to my feet but couldn’t. “I cannot begin to guess at what the Coven plans. You’re older than most. I assumed that you might know more.”
“I know nothing,” he admitted with a shake of his head. “Most of the court is a witless bunch, prone to gossip. If any of them knew what was going on, I believe I would have heard by now.”
“Macaire will try soon to meet with me privately,” I murmured, dragging my gaze back up to his face. A new frown pulled at his full lips, drawing deep lines of worry in his cheeks. It somehow added to the distinguished age of his features.
“More games,” he muttered, absently pacing the room. I had a feeling he was talking to himself more than to me.
“Jabari and I have had…a falling out,” I said, fumbling for some phrasing to encompass my hatred for a creature I had once loved and respected. Everything fell short of what I needed, but it wasn’t important.
“More games,” Valerio repeated, sounding more confident.
“I will not be a pawn for the Coven,” I firmly stated.
Valerio stopped pacing and looked down at me. A small sad smile slipped across his mouth and glittered in his eyes. “Firefly, that is all you have ever been.”
“Even for you?”
His smile grew larger and more sheepish at my question. Extending his hand to me, I ignored it until he finally spoke. “I have never used you as such, but that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t or won’t if the opportunity presented itself.”
I hated his answer, but it was the truth, which was more than I was getting from anyone else. Struggling to keep from gritting my teeth, I placed my left hand in his so he could help me to my feet. Yet he paused unexpectedly, staring down at my hand. It was only when I felt his thumb run over my ring finger that I realized he was looking at the ring he had given me a few centuries ago. It was a silver band with ocean waves inscribed in it in an old Grecian style.
“You still have it,” he whispered, not trying to keep the surprise from his voice.
“I like the memories,” I admitted as he finally pulled me to my feet.
“And the creature those memories are tied to?”
“He’s tolerable some nights,” I teased, brushing a kiss across his cheek near his ear.
“I believe you found me more than tolerable some nights,” he reminded me, his voice dipping down to a husky tone. He still held my hand in his, increasing the pressure slightly. I was being drawn back into him, his allure, his promise of happiness away from all the chaos that seemed to currently rule my life.
“Valerio…” I started, but paused when my voice threatened to fracture. When I could finally speak again, the words would drift no higher than a whisper. “What games are you playing?”
The nightwalker looked up at me, a smile back on his lips, but it somehow failed to reach his eyes. “I’m just trying to survive.”
He tilted his head back and pressed a kiss to my jaw just below my ear. “We do not have to go back,” he whispered, his lips skimming across my cool flesh. “Stay with me. Away from the naturi.”
“And keep running from the Coven?” I asked, letting my eyes fall shut. For a moment the idea was truly tempting; more tempting than the fantasy Sadira had dangled before me last night because this one was real. To go back to my nights of hunting and pleasure with Valerio at my side. No more naturi. No more Coven Elders. No more worrying about whether a nightwalker could protect himself without me. No more horrid weight of responsibility dragging me down.
“In time, they will forget about you.”
With a sigh, I took a step away from him and blinked back some unexpected tears. “No, they won’t. And the naturi won’t go away because I go into hiding with you.”
“I blame Jabari for this silly noble streak in you. It certainly didn’t come from me,” Valerio teased before brushing his lips across mine. “But the offer still stands.”
“I can’t spend the rest of my existence running from Jabari.”
“Facing him will only shorten your existence.”
“I—”
Mira!
The sudden, unexpected shout from Tristan in my head nearly put me back on my knees. I was beginning to wonder if I would ever get adjusted to so many creatures stomping around in my brain.
No shouting, please. I briefly wondered if the sarcasm would translate this way. I never spent a great deal of time speaking with other nightwalkers that way. I never felt confident that they could see or hear only what I wanted them to, and I liked my privacy.
The naturi. They’re here!
I didn’t question him. At any other time I would have laughed and called him crazy, but not now. A naturi was already lounging in the catacombs of the Great Hall and Rowe was sulking on San Michele. Why couldn’t more be strolling down the fractured sidewalks of Venice?
“We have to go back,” I said, turning my attention to Valerio again.
“What’s wrong?”
“The naturi are in Venice.” Those words actually caused the vampire to backpedal a couple steps away from me, and I honestly couldn’t blame him. A nightwalker did not go marching into any area where the naturi were known to be. It’s why you never heard tales of vampires wandering the woods alone on a moonless night.
“No,” I snapped, instantly closing the distance between us. I wrapped my fists in the lapels of his jacket, holding him close to me. “You and I are going back to Venice now or I will give you a nasty sunburn. You have to see them. You need to understand.”
“Mira—”
“Now, Valerio!”
I didn’t have a chance to make another argument when I felt the push of magic as it ran its hands through my body. There was only time to blink when I found us standing in my suite at the Hotel Cipriani. I opened my mouth to thank him when Valerio wrapped his arms around me, pressing my body tightly against his as he leaned forward. A second later there was the telltale thunk of a knife hitting wood.
Valerio stood, pulling me back into an upright position. We both looked around to find a silver knife with a black handle embedded in the door frame of one of the bedrooms. Our eyes then traveled over to Danaus, who stood frowning at us.
“Does he always try to kill you when you enter a room?” Valerio teased, slowly releasing his hold on me.
“We have a special relationship.” I stepped away from the nightwalker. I didn’t have to say anything to Danaus. The hunter had been startled by our sudden appearance and reacted. It was that kind of speed that had kept him alive for so long. I was even particularly pleased with the fact that Valerio obviously had the ability to come and go where he wanted. I’d always thought there were more rules and limitations to that type of travel. Unfortunately, asking Valerio directly was a waste of time. That wasn’t the kind of information he would volunteer.
“Mira.” Tristan’s fragile voice pulled me back to why I had raced to the Venice in the first place. The young nightwalker was standing before the bay of windows dressed only in a pair of jeans that were too big for him. His heels were resting on the bottom of the pant legs and the waist hung low on his hips. I briefly wondered if they belonged to Danaus, considering he and I were the only ones to bring a change of clothes, but decided not to ask. My eyes briefly skimmed over Tristan’s back to find only a few faint red marks.
Frowning, I joined him at the window, with Valerio standing behind me. I didn’t need to follow where Tristan was pointing. The three black shapes were easy to make out despite the dark sky as they headed toward the island of San Clemente. The creatures flew like bats, with quick movements of their wings instead of gliding on the air. However, they were too big to be anything that humans were accustomed to seeing. These nightmarish figures were naturi.
“What are they?” I asked, unable to tear my eyes
away from them as they drew closer to the distant island. The three figures circled once then finally descended into a pocket of trees. They were headed for the Great Hall. I placed my hand on Tristan’s shoulder, meaning for the gesture to be reassuring, but removed it when I felt him flinch at the contact. His fear rippled through me, sapping my own reserve of strength, which had kept me going during the past few nights. We were all running low and this dance was far from over.
“Not sure,” Danaus admitted, drawing my gaze to his face. He was standing a couple feet away from me, his features tight and drawn. After a couple of seconds he looked down at me. “But this isn’t good.”
“I agree. We need to get out of Venice soon. If they’re going to make another attempt at breaking the seal, they’ll try to do it during the harvest holiday and the new moon. That’s only a few nights away, and we have no idea where the sacrifice is going to be. Delays aren’t good.”
A part of me wanted to know where the next sacrifice was now so we could grab my private jet and head off to that distant locale. We could stop whatever naturi were in that hot spot, but that wouldn’t keep more from arriving from other parts of the world. It would be a nonstop battle for the next three nights. If one or both of us were killed before the new moon rose, there would be no way to stop the naturi from making the sacrifice.
“But…” A slow smile dawned on my face as I looked up at the hunter. “We could stop by the Coven and see what’s happening.” Jabari had brought us there for a reason, and I refused to believe it was because he wanted the naturi to destroy us. He wouldn’t give up the opportunity to kill me himself if he was so desperate to have me dead. Danaus and I needed to be on the island to disrupt whatever plans the Coven and the naturi were cooking up.
A rare smile trembled on Danaus’s full lips and jumped in his deep blue eyes, laughing at me. “Risky, don’t you think?”
“Oh, it’s definitely risky, but not as much as you would think. Besides, it could also be fun.” I laughed.
“More risky than going after nearly a dozen naturi in the forest?” Danaus asked, raising one thick eyebrow at me.
“No,” I said, my smile dwindling at the memory. Looking back on the hastily launched assault in the woods not far from Stonehenge, I realized that the plan had been stupid and highly flawed. I’d reacted out of fear and anger. I knew better than to launch an attack on the naturi in the woods with an inexperienced nightwalker at my side. The fact that all three of us hadn’t been destroyed was a miracle in itself.
I shook my head, pushing away the memory and the need to berate myself for my impulsive stupidity. It would do no good now, and I assured myself that this time would be different. “The Coven still needs us both alive. That’s our ace in the hole. You in?”
“Definitely. Weapons?” he asked, his right hand sliding down to the knife that was still strapped to his waist.
“Load up.” My gaze slid over to find Tristan watching me with a blank expression. He was waiting to see if I would command him to accompany Danaus and me. And he would if I demanded it, regardless of the fear still trembling within him. “You’re not coming along. Not old enough,” I teased.
“Mira, I can—”
“No,” I interrupted before he could continue, my hand tightening on his shoulder. “Danaus and I are the only ones going in. Makes it easier to get out again.”
“Do you actually think they won’t kill you for this?” Valerio demanded. I had forgotten that the nightwalker was still in the room. Looking over my shoulder at him, I was surprised to see his handsome features looking haggard. His full lips were pressed into a hard, thin line and shallow furrows now stretched from the corners of his eyes and crisscrossed his brow.
The naturi had become a garish ghost story we told all the new, little nightwalkers to give them chills, but now we were all waking up to discover that this nearly dead species was suddenly fighting back. Our nightmares were threatening to become real and expose us to the sun. Again.
“That’s another question I’m hoping to answer,” I admitted with a smirk. “Exactly how irreplaceable am I? Would they be willing to risk the door opening by killing me or Danaus? Would they damn all nightwalkers just to protect their schemes? Or is that their plan in the first place?”
“You’re not that important, Mira,” Valerio chided, his frown deepening.
That was probably true but I wasn’t planning on being killed that easily. I still had an ace or two up my sleeve in the form of Danaus. Of course, this plan could just as easily slit my own throat as save it if I was reading Jabari’s intentions wrong.
“I need your help,” I started, turning to Valerio. I quickly grabbed the sleeve of his blazer, even though I couldn’t hold him here if I wanted to.
“I’m not going with you to the Coven. They need me alive even less than they need you.”
“True, but I need you alive,” I countered. I took his left hand in both of mine. “Go east. Find others who are older than me. Tell them everything I told you. If the Coven succeeds with whatever it’s planning with the naturi, our people have to be prepared.”
“You want me to raise your army,” Valerio said, trying to pull his hand free.
“No, if the Coven and the naturi succeed, it will be your army. Someone needs to protect the nightwalkers from the Coven.”
“Mira, I’m not a leader.”
“Bullshit. You just never wanted the responsibility. Fine. Then find someone else to give the job. Don’t let the information stop with you.”
Frowning, Valerio squeezed my hand. “You may not want a seat, but you’re the only one that deserves to be on the Coven.”
“For our sakes, I hope you’re wrong.”
SIXTEEN
Once I was back in a pair of leather pants and one of the few cotton tops that had survived my travels, Danaus and I quickly snatched up a speedboat and rushed out to the island. The hunter drove the boat, his large hands tightly gripping the steering wheel. His black hair danced in the wind, revealing his clenched jaw and narrowed eyes. Tension hummed through his muscular body and energy snapped silently around him. I wanted to remain in the far corner of the boat away from him, but it wasn’t an option. We had to talk, come to some kind of understanding before we waltzed into the Great Hall.
Lounging in the other chair beside him, my eyes locked on the island as we approached. “Do you have any guesses as to what flew to the island?” I asked.
“Big bats,” he muttered.
“Great. Are they the only ones?”
There was a pause as his powers jumped from his body and spread out toward the far reaches of the area. They washed through me like a warm wave. It was a feeling I wasn’t sure I would ever become accustomed to, and always left me wishing I could wrap myself up for a minute longer before facing the cold reality of what loomed ahead of us.
“I won’t be able to sense what is on the island until I reach it, but they’re not the only naturi,” he announced. His voice had a distant, dreamy quality, as if his attention was focused on a faraway point. I resisted the urge to take the steering wheel from him and remained seated. “There are another six naturi on the mainland, not far from Venice. It’s hard to pinpoint. Maybe somewhere around Padua or Verona. And there’s one alone in Venice. But I don’t know the area, I can’t tell you which island.”
A chill slipped down my arms. “Rowe,” I whispered, talking to myself, but I knew that Danaus heard the name the moment it left my lips. I occasionally forgot about his stronger than normal hearing.
“You think he’s here?” Danaus demanded. The hunter turned his head briefly to look at me before returning his gaze back to the open waters before us.
“I know it,” I admitted. “I ran into him last night after I got Tristan settled in the hotel. He knows there’s a naturi on San Clemente, but he doesn’t know who it is or why she’s there.”
“Doesn’t he think she’s a captive?”
“I may have disabused him of that idea,” I s
aid with a little smirk as I recalled his stunned expression last night. “At the very least, we know that he’s not in on whatever the Coven is planning.”
Danaus slowed up as we drew closer to the island. “How does that help us?”
“It creates turmoil within his own kind. Possibly a distraction, a weakness we can later exploit.” I said, pushing some hair back from my face. “I think the other six on the mainland are to serve as backup in case something goes wrong. Together with the three we saw from the hotel window, these nine were either sent by Rowe to reclaim the missing naturi or are outside of Rowe’s plans and aligned with the naturi already on San Clemente.”
“Should I ask if you even have a plan?”
“Get out alive,” I replied dryly, folding my hands over my stomach. The statement earned me a fresh frown as Danaus concentrated on pulling the speedboat into the dock. It wasn’t the most difficult of tasks, considering there was only one other boat tied to the little stone structure. Apparently, the house had been emptied of the court before the Coven’s guests arrived. The hunter had also chosen the dock the farthest from the Great Hall. With the court gone, we could quickly travel to the hall and still give me enough time to lay down a couple of ground rules. I wasn’t sure Danaus was going to go for it, but I had to try.
Of course, I’d promised to keep him alive while in Venice, so I had to protect him no matter what happened with the Coven. Yet, nowhere in that agreement did I state in what condition he had to be in. If he became too much of a risk, I’d drain his stubborn ass in a heartbeat and keep him unconscious until we were out of Venice.
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