Burn the Night

Twelve

Danaus softly snickered as he stood by the window looking out of my office in my town house. I glanced up from the financial paperwork that my human assistant Charlotte had recently sent me to find the hunter standing with his hands in his pockets as he shook his head at whatever he was watching outside. A frown started to pull at the corners of my mouth, as a feeling crept over me that said nothing good was arriving on my doorstep. Following the brief chaos caused by the Daylight Coalition and Jabari, everything seemed to settle back into an easygoing quiet, and I was hoping that Danaus and I could spend a little time enjoying that quiet uninterrupted.

“I’m afraid to ask, but what are you looking at?”

“It seems that you’re possibly about to have a visitor, if she can make up her mind,” Danaus replied, his gaze not wavering from the scene outside the window.

I pushed out of my chair and started to walk around my desk, closing the distance between us. Pressing my head between his strong shoulders, I wrapped my arms around his waist from behind, holding him tightly against me. “What are you talking about?”

“She approaches the front steps then stops, and paces away talking to herself. She’s done it three or four times now.”

“Who?”

Danaus twisted around to look down at me, a smile growing on his handsome face. “The one person that can make you feel uneasy.”

Ignoring his ominous, teasing comment, I peered around him to look out the window and saw a woman pacing the sidewalk in front of my town house, talking to herself as if trying to give herself a pep talk into ringing my doorbell.

“Shit! It’s Shelly!” I hissed between clenched teeth. I grabbed Danaus’s arm and tried to pull him away from the window, but he wouldn’t budge. “Come on and move. Maybe she hasn’t seen you yet. We can pretend that we’re not here. She’ll go away.”

As if it were a sign that my luck really had run out, the front doorbell rang, echoing through the town house.

“Damn it! We don’t have to answer it,” I said in a hushed voice, as if she could hear me through the thick brick walls.

“Mira, we have to answer the door,” he replied in a firm voice, though the corners of his mouth were twitching with suppressed laughter as he stepped around me and starting walking toward the front hall.

“You don’t have to enjoy this so much. It’s not like you’re all that comfortable around the witch either,” I muttered under my breath, but I had no doubt the hunter with the superior hearing heard the comment.

Reluctantly, I followed him into the hall, but hung back several feet with my arms folded across my chest as Danaus answered the door. He didn’t hesitate, didn’t bother to ask what she wanted; he simply guided her into the house, grinning up at me over Shelly’s head as she glided across the doorstep.

The pert blonde beamed at me in her pretty white slacks and yellow top as if she were a fresh spring flower. She quickly rushed across the short distance that separated us and captured me in a tight hug that didn’t seem to end until I finally patted her on the back a couple times. When she pulled back, she grasped both of my hands in hers and released a heavy sigh.

“Oh, it is so good to see you again!” she crowed. “After all that mess at Machu Picchu and the stories I heard about what actually happened at the ruins, it just gives me nightmares. But you and Danaus made it out safely and that’s all that matters. And you look fabulous! Well, of course you look fabulous. You’re a nightwalker. Have you ever seen a nightwalker that didn’t look fabulous? But really, you look just great after everything you have been through.”

“Shelly, would like to come in and sit down?” Danaus inquired when she finally seemed to take a breath.

“Yes, that would be wonderful!” she said, giving my hands one final squeeze before releasing me. She preceded Danaus and me into the parlor, giving me a chance to throw the hunter a dark look behind her back.

I hadn’t seen Shelly since we’d left her at the resort at the foot of the Machu Picchu ruins months ago. Danaus had initially contacted her when I expressed an interest in trying to learn how to use earth magic, since Shelly was an earth witch. Unfortunately, it seemed that being a nightwalker was effectively stunting any hopes I might have of becoming a great user of earth magic. However, she had been key in protecting the nightwalkers during the day from the naturi that had surrounded us. She had also been instrumental in keeping a close watch on Cynnia when Danaus and I were otherwise preoccupied with staying alive.

After Machu Picchu, I heard that Shelly returned to her home in Charleston and possibly traveled a little farther north in search of fresh, welcoming earth to recharge, following the violence and bloodshed that washed over the peaceful Peruvian mountain.

In truth, I expected never to hear from her again. She and I were as opposite as two people could be. She was an eternal optimistic who saw only the good in people she encountered. She was a powerful witch in her own right and yet struggled to use her powers against anyone else, even if they were aiming to harm her or those she was sworn to protect. I had no doubt she fully believed in the creed that many magic users initially swore by: “Do no harm.” Unfortunately, as I learned the hard way, the more powerful a magic user became, the easier it was for them to forget that little promise.

Shelly perched on the edge of one of the chairs, as if her excitement threatened to send her back to her feet again in a fit of joy. I chose the corner of the sofa farthest from her, while Danaus chose the other end of the sofa, directly across from her. But then, I think he was confident that she was there to visit me and not him, which would mean he would be able to beat a hasty and obvious retreat.

“I ran into Knox a few days ago,” she started as soon as we were all seated. She shifted so she was fully facing Danaus, and the hunter slid back in his seat, suddenly looking extremely uncomfortable. It was all I could do not to laugh out loud. “He told me that you’ve left Themis and you’re now staying permanently in Savannah. That’s wonderful!”

“Thank you,” he said in a low, gruff voice. His eyes shifted to me for a second, as if seeking help, but I only grinned at him.

“Knox also mentioned that you’re working at the Dark Room. That has got to be a strange switch for you. I mean, one minute you’re hunting down nightwalkers and now you’re serving them drinks. How did you make such a switch?”

“I look at it as he’s keeping the peace,” I smoothly interjected before Danaus could take a breath to answer. I worried that this was still a sore subject with the hunter after spending so many centuries hunting nightwalkers; that his new position at the Dark Room chafed more than he was willing to reveal to me. “That has always been Danaus’s job, to keep the peace. He did just that for Themis for centuries, and now he is helping to maintain the peace in one of the most dangerous places in all of Savannah.”

That seems a bit of a stretch, Danaus silently said. She’s more correct. I serve drinks instead of removing heads now.

The Dark Room is a safer place for both nightwalkers and humans now because of you.

That might be true, but you’re stretching the truth, he pressed, but I could feel the underlying laughter in his mind, which only made me long to lean across the sofa and press a long kiss to his full lips. For now, the hunter was happy in his new life with me and Savannah. I planned to bask in that happiness for as long as it lasted. In time, I knew he would grow restless again and keeping the peace at the Dark Room wouldn’t be enough for him. But considering his long life, I was hoping he would at least stick around for a few decades before the boredom kicked in.

“Is the Dark Room really that dangerous?” she asked in awe-filled tones. “I mean, I don’t know a lot of nightwalkers. Just you and Tristan, which I am really, really sorry to hear about. I don’t know what happened—”

“We don’t discuss it,” I said sharply, slashing cruelly through her apology.

“I am sorry, Mira,” she continued after a tense moment of silence. “He was a wonderful person. Tristan, and you, and Knox, are the only nightwalkers I really know, and I never saw you as all that dangerous. I didn’t know that the Dark Room was such a scary place. I guess it is a lucky thing that Danaus is there now.”

“Shelly, what brought you to Savannah?” I suddenly demanded, causing Danaus to wince as I cut straight to the heart of the matter. The mere mention of Tristan’s name had dissolved the last of my patience. Now was not the time to give the little earth witch a lesson in exactly how dangerous nightwalkers could be. She had seen the violence with her own eyes, and yet it seemed she had chosen to whitewash the memory so that nightwalkers didn’t come out looking half as scary as we truly were. Of course, if she was willing to face the fact that she was sitting with one of the most dangerous nightwalkers in all the world, I truly doubted that she would have come on this little visit alone. On the other hand, she had been smart enough to pick a night that Danaus was free from his duties at the Dark Room. She could have been counting on the hunter acting as a buffer, as he always did.

“I’m actually here on someone else’s behalf,” she admitted slowly. Leaning forward, she placed her elbows on her legs and twisted her fingers together as if knotting them in her growing anxiety. It was one of the few times I saw a frown cross her small, bowlike lips. Her long blond hair fell forward, framing her heart-shaped face, accenting the flush to her cheeks, which I hadn’t noticed there a moment ago. In the silence of the room, I could hear her heart pounding in her chest.

“Who?”

“We need your help, Mira,” Shelly evaded, raising her wide eyes to me as to somehow weaken my will.

“Who?” I repeated, my voice growing harder and colder. A knot twisted in my stomach the more anxious that she became.

“Cynnia would—”

“No, absolutely not!” I said, coming out of my seat. I paced to the far end of the room, shaking my head while clenching my teeth. I wanted absolutely nothing to do with that renegade princess. Sure, I admired her for the gutsy way she used me as protection against both nightwalkers and her own kind. But that admiration only stretched so far. Trouble followed that naturi no matter where she went. And after the rough several months I’d spent fighting against and with Danaus, I thought we both deserved a little peace and quiet. Cynnia would not allow such a thing.

“Please, Mira. She only wants to talk to you,” Shelly said, rising to her feet as well when I paced back toward the sofa.

“I’m no fool, Shelly,” I snarled. “Cynnia wants more than just to talk. She used me as her own personal bodyguard last fall. I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s come back looking for a repeat performance.”

“Actually, that’s been my job.” Shelly tilted her head up a little as she spoke, pride filling her words.

“What do you mean?” Danaus asked. I leaned against the arm of the sofa and crossed my arms over my chest as I watched the witch through narrowed eyes. She stared back unflinchingly, head held high.

“I encountered Cynnia and Nyx not long after Machu Picchu. There were looking for someplace to stay hidden while they formulated a plan to stay alive against Aurora. Since that time, I have been acting as Cynnia’s personal bodyguard along with her sister Nyx.”

“They’re going to get you killed.”

“They’re fighting for a good cause. If you have to die, isn’t it best to die fighting for a good cause?”

“Dead is dead. Glory and honor are just pretty ideas that don’t exist anymore,” I whispered, talking mostly to myself. Honor was a concept I still clung to, though mine was more than a little tattered and torn these days.

I stared at Shelly in silence for more than a minute, dark thoughts swirling through my head. Just a couple centuries ago I would have told her to bring Cynnia forward and the consequences be damned. I was always searching for the next fight, the next adventure that led me so close to death that I could kiss the grim reaper.

But now things had changed. I had seen more than six centuries pass before my eyes. I had watched people I loved greatly fall at my feet and die. I had been washed in the blood of my comrades and my enemies more nights than I ever wanted to count. A part of my soul was tired of it all. Besides, now I had Danaus to help soothe the ache when the memories came to haunt me. I had Danaus’s gentle touch and teasing smile. I had his wisdom and experience to help guide my decisions and to drive me insane when we didn’t see eye-to-eye on a matter. I had Danaus now, and I no longer wanted to chase after death. For the first time in more years that I could count, I was ready to live.

“She does need your help,” Shelly said gently when I finally seemed to calm down, “but for now, she would be content with a meeting. She just wants you to hear her out. Cynnia has already sent Nyx out to speak with someone else. It’s my job to convince you to at least meet with her, listen to what she has to say with an open mind. That’s all we’re asking.”

“If Nyx is away and you’re here with me, then who is guarding the little princess? That’s not being a very good bodyguard,” I taunted.

“It was a risk Cynnia was willing to take. She knew that I would be the only one you’d listen to for even a few minutes, so she is taking a big chance by allowing me to leave her alone for a period of time.”

Staring at Shelly, I furrowed my brow before glancing out the window behind me. Cynnia didn’t take big chances. She took calculated risks. Right now she was being hunted by Aurora’s followers, and there was only one place nearby that they might fear to tread.

“Damn it, Shelly! She’s already in Savannah!” I shouted, throwing my hands up. Pointing at Danaus, I growled, “Check the area! How many naturi are lurking in my city?” I could have tried to complete the search myself, but while Nick had given me the ability to sense all the different types of power, I still had trouble distinguishing the naturi from the lycanthropes, and I wasn’t very good at estimating their numbers.

Frowning at me, Danaus nonetheless pushed his powers out from his body and through the house. I closed my eyes and was swept along in the wave as it washed through my city. I could feel the soothing vibrations of the nightwalkers across the landscape and then the jarring sensation of the naturi.

“There are seven,” he replied, pulling his powers back into his frame. “They are sticking to the outskirts of town, possibly across the river in lycan territory. None in the city proper.”

“That’s not good,” Shelly murmured, balling her hands into fists before her. “When I left, Cynnia had only three guards with her. I don’t know who the other three are.”

Sucking in a slow breath and releasing it to cleanse my mind, I looked over at Shelly as she was torn between her duty to convince me to listen to her charge and her duty to protect the princess. It was a position I could understand.

“Does Cynnia’s need to talk to us have to do with her sister Aurora?” I asked in a low, even voice, which made me sound more reasonable that I was feeling.

“Yes, I’m afraid it does.”

I looked down at Danaus, who simply shrugged his broad shoulders at me. “You knew it was coming.”

“I foolishly wanted a little more time.”

Turning my back on Shelly, I glanced out the window into the large park square opposite my town house. Cars swooshed by, their lights dancing across the trees so the shadows lunged about the open area. I sensed no nightwalkers close to my home, only humans enjoying the warmer than usual spring evening. There were still many hours until the sun rose. Plenty of time to hear the plea of a naturi princess.

“If Cynnia is talking about engaging Aurora and is thinking of potentially using Savannah as a battleground, then Barrett Rainer, alpha for the Savannah pack, should be involved in this discussion.”

“I don’t think she wants to use any city as a battleground,” Shelly quickly countered. “However, there is always the chance of Aurora coming after her.”

“Barrett should be involved,” I pressed. That was my first big mistake when dealing with the naturi. I had made it a nightwalker issue and kept the shifters in the dark in an effort to protect our own shame and secrets. In the end, many good lycanthropes had died without knowing why. I’d learned my lesson the hard way. Barrett deserved a voice in what was going to happen next.

“All right,” Shelly said. “I don’t think Cynnia will be averse to your suggestion. We shall meet—”

“Tonight,” I finished. “I want this over as quickly as possible. We are currently faced with another pressing problem, and I would prefer not to have the naturi in the region causing problems as well.” Danaus was frowning at the callous way I was treating Shelly, but I didn’t care. She was bringing a threat into my domain and it was my job to protect my people, not bring them more harm. “We need a neutral location. I’m not holding the meeting here.”

“The Dark Room?” he suggested.

“No naturi will ever step foot in the Dark Room again,” I said, glaring at him. The last time such a thing happened, Knox had nearly been killed and several other nightwalkers and lycanthropes in fact had.

“The Docks?” he tried again, mentioning the newly restored nightclub that I favored down on River Street.

I shook my head. “Too loud and too many humans.”

“Then how about the tunnels?”

A smile lifted the corners of my mouth and I resisted the urge to kiss him. It was brilliant. It was a favorite haunt of the shifters during the day when they needed to take care of a little business, while other nightwalkers used it as a daytime lair and a secret way of sneaking around the city.

“There’s an entrance to the tunnels just off River Street where it meets up with Bay near the shipping yards. Tell Cynnia to meet us there in two hours. I’ll bring Barrett.”

“Thank you, Mira,” Shelly said in a rush. She unexpectedly closed the distance between us and wrapped me in a quick, tight hug before she was out of the room and out the front door, heading back to the naturi she was supposed to be guarding.

Threading the fingers of my right hand through my hair, I bent my head and stared at the ground. I was trying to convince myself that it all wasn’t crumbling away beneath my feet. I had worked so hard getting my life back in order, putting some distance between not only myself and the naturi, but myself and the coven as well.

“You will just go and listen to what she has to say,” Danaus said. I could hear the leather creaking beneath him as he pushed off the sofa and approached me. He laid his large hands on my shoulders and squeezed, attempting to ease away some of the tension.

“The war with Aurora is coming, and Cynnia needs our help if she is going to survive. We’re getting sucked into another battle with the queen of the naturi,” I said, my voice trembling.

“Look deep inside yourself, Mira. Tell me there’s not a part of you longing to take another shot at her.”

A slow chuckle rose from my lips as I dropped my hand back down to my side. Danaus knew me too well. Aurora and Rowe were the reasons I had been tortured so many years ago. Aurora was the one who nearly had me killed among the ruins at Machu Picchu just a few months ago. Destroying her would mean that her people would be weakened, and in time they could slowly be picked off. Destroying Aurora would be one of my most favorite kills of all.

“The cocky bitch has been causing too many problems in my domain for too long.”

“All you need is Cynnia to point you in the right direction and potentially provide you with a little bit of an army,” Danaus whispered in my ear. “It could be fun.”

“You’re a deliciously evil man, Danaus, but you’re right,” I said, twisting my head so I could press a kiss to his hand. “Killing Aurora, and if I’m lucky, Rowe, would finally cleanse me of the naturi. I could restart my life again without this shadow from my past hanging over me.”

“Just one more battle and then it will all be over with the naturi,” Danaus said, pressing a kiss to the top of my head.

I jerked around, a smirk twisting my lips. “I seriously hope you don’t believe that. Nightwalkers and naturi living in peace? Now that’s the stuff of fairy tales.”

“I find that idea no different than our situation.”

“Ours is different. You came to your senses. The naturi will not,” I teased, slipping away from him before he could grab me.

“I hope you are wrong,” he called after me as I headed back to the office to call Barrett.

“Me too,” I whispered. I wanted Aurora’s head clasped firmly in my hands, but I didn’t want a war with the naturi. There would be no hiding it. The humans would see it, and our world would be thrown open at last. No more hiding in the shadows, only the Great Awakening.