Burn the Night

Twenty-three

Danaus had not arrived at my home yet when I felt a shift of power in the air. The feeling built slowly, like a spider crawling up my flesh until it was squatting at the back of my neck. I knew what it was. Or rather who it was. Frowning, I left my sanctuary in the basement and climbed up the stairs before crossing through the underused kitchen to exit out the back door. My nearest neighbors were several acres away, with trees surrounding my property in all directions, obscuring the view. It was the safest place for facing Nick, and it protected my house in some small way. I had just finished rebuilding my study following his destruction of it and was in no mood to rebuild any more of the house. I had spent too many years moving around, and I liked it and its contents as they were.

Standing unarmed in the middle of the yard, I raised my arms out to my sides and stretched out my powers so I could feel the various energies swirling around me. Nick had opened up my senses. Before, I could only sense the soul energy that emanated from humans and lycanthropes, as well as the thin, wispy presence of nightwalkers. Now, it was as if a great door had been opened before my eyes. I could sense the energy of the earth along with the beating pulse of the naturi. I could sense other strange powers I couldn’t identify and seemed indeterminate, as if trying to cloak themselves yet unable to completely hide from me.

In the mix of it all, I had learned to identify my father’s unique power signature. Most of the time he seemed distant, content to simply watch the show that was my life from a comfortable chair in some hidden theater of the cosmos. However, when I strayed from the direction he thought I should be headed in, my dear parent intervened. Apparently, I wasn’t on the track he deemed proper for me. Or in truth, for him.

Still tapped into the energy around me, I summoned up a ring of fireballs the size of baseballs in a large circle around me. Shadows lunged and danced from the nearby trees as the night came alive with motion due to the flickering lights.

As I expected, Nick accepted the invitation and appeared in my circle, transforming one of the fireballs on the far side of the circle into the form of a tall, lean figure. After a couple of steps toward me, the flames subsided to reveal a man in a dark maroon suit with a crisp white shirt and tie. His hair was black and slicked back, while his features had become sharp and hawklike. I had never seen him in this form before. Usually, he appeared looking like the kind, sweet man who had raised me from birth in the belief that I truly was his daughter. He had also appeared as a goth teenager full of angst and piercings, and as a man with red hair and lavender eyes like myself. But this was new and strangely disconcerting. Not for the first time, I felt as if my soul were on the line as I stared at him, unflinching.

“I’m assuming that you wanted something,” I said with as much distain as I could muster without betraying the fear twisting into tight knots in the pit of my stomach.

“Can’t a father pay his loving daughter a social call?” he asked, extending his arms as if he meant to embrace me. I took a step back before I could catch myself, not wanting to be anywhere close enough so he could actually touch me. That path only led to excruciating pain and broken bones.

“You’re not the social type,” I sneered, forcing myself to remain still at the edge of my circle. My knees were like water and I could feel my fingertips trembling. I needed him gone as soon as possible. I didn’t want another fight I couldn’t win, and I definitely didn’t want him anywhere near Danaus, should the hunter suddenly appear at my house now that the sun had set. “What’s with the new appearance? I thought you preferred to look like my father.”

“I grew bored looking like a common fisherman. I thought I would come looking like someone you might encounter in your business dealings,” he said, running his hands down the front of his suit jacket with a look of pride. However, that look was instantly wiped away, replaced with an appearance of ominous threat. “Besides, I am the true father that you need to concern yourself with. Not that distant and dead memory.”

I gave a huff and shoved one hand violently through my hair, which gave away my growing anxiety. I didn’t need Nick in a bad mood. I needed him amused or focused on an important issue. Not angry. “Fine. What did you come here for?”

“I’m not happy with how things are developing within your domain. You are not handling things how I would have hoped.”

That was way too vague to be considered helpful in any fashion. I was dealing with the Daylight Coalition poaching lycanthropes outside of Savannah, the Japanese nightwalkers were attempting to drag me kicking and screaming to Japan, and the naturi were expecting me to side with them in the coming war against their queen. What part of that complete mess was not to his liking? Because at that moment I could have done without all of it.

“Jabari, that nightwalker that has the ability to control you, is still hanging around in your domain,” Nick declared, nearly causing me to laugh out loud with relief. He had chosen to focus on what appeared to me to be the least of my concerns.

“Jabari? You’re worried about Jabari causing problems?” I demanded, unable to keep the sarcasm out of my voice. I was playing with fire when it came to mocking Nick, but then I was never very good at bowing to anyone, however much more powerful they were than me.

Nick shoved his hands into the pockets of his slacks and settled back on his heels as he shook his head at me. “You have not tamed this one. He still thinks he can control you at any moment. He wants you in the palm of his hand or dead. Neither suits my needs.”

“I’m sorry to hear you’re not pleased. What can I do to rectify the situation?” I inquired in my most patronizing tone. I knew I had overstepped what Nick was willing to tolerate when he immediately disappeared. My stomach dropped and my throat felt as if it had closed in on itself. I twisted around, trying to spot where he would reappear next, while at the same time scanning the region for his powers. I felt him, but there was no exact location until it was too late.

A hand clamped on the back of my neck in a viselike grip, while a hot breath brushed against the hair that covered my left ear. “Now see, that’s the kind of attitude I’m looking for. I just want your complete cooperation and total obedience. Is that too much to ask?” he growled at me.

“Considering what you’re asking for most of the time, yes it is,” I said through clenched teeth. I was too stubborn for my own good. I was literally in the hands of a god and still picking a fight because I was unwilling to bow to his every wish.

“Well, this time I think you’ll be in complete agreement with me,” he said. He tightened his grip on my neck long enough to pitch me forward. I caught myself with both hands and tucked in for a quick roll on the ground before popping back up to my feet. I jerked around and remained in a defensive stance as I waited for him to strike again. “I want you to finally kill that nightwalker.”

My head fell backward with laughter and my hands unconsciously dropped down to my sides as I lowered my guard against him. I couldn’t help it. It was as though he’d asked me to take an afternoon stroll in the sun. He wanted the impossible.

“Kill Jabari?” I repeated as if my hearing had suddenly gone fuzzy. “Don’t you think that if I could, I would have done so already?”

“You haven’t been trying hard enough,” Nick said in a low growl.

“He’s thousands of years old! I can’t beat him. I can only control him when he lets me, when it’s to his advantage. He’s not going to stop doing that just so I can kill him.”

Nick waved his hand toward me and a surge of energy knocked into my chest. I fell to the ground, my butt slamming against the earth. “He may be an Ancient, but you are my daughter.”

“Some daughter.” I gave a soft snort as I moved some hair out from in front of my eyes. “You toss me around like a rag doll. Do you honestly think it’s going to be any different with Jabari?”

“You have more powers to call upon now. You have an edge over him at last.”

I pushed off the ground and brushed some bits of grass and dirt off the seat of my leather pants. “Why now? If you haven’t noticed from all the gatherings I’ve been attending recently, we’re facing a multifront war, and me picking a fight with Jabari now isn’t the best timing.”

“I see this as the next stage of your training,” he offered.

There were times when Nick was willing to provide me with information, and there were times when he simply wanted to knock me around. This seemed like one of those times when he needed me to know something—or at least I hoped it was.

He paced a little closer to me. “Training that provides you with the strength and ability to regain my place as a true god once again.”

I crossed my arms over my chest, suspicious of that statement in too many ways. “And what does that mean for everyone else? We spent a lot of energy and lives getting rid of the naturi and the bori so the humans would be safe. Are we now going to suffer under your rule once you regain your place as a true god?”

“You spent a lot of energy and lives!” he screamed, his hands balling into fists as his face flushed red. There wasn’t a second to guard against the attack. He was simply there in the flash of an eye. The back of his right fist slammed across my face and I fell to the ground in a heap. As I rolled onto my back, Nick was on top of me again. Kneeling at my side, he placed one hand against my chest, but I could feel his energy plunging deep inside me. It felt like his fist was wrapping around my soul and trying to pull it from my body. He was trapped in a blind rage, and he was going to kill me if I didn’t do something to stop him.

Closing my eyes against the wrenching pain, I focused all my energy inside of myself and wrapped my own pull of power around my soul, attempting to hold it in place. I tapped into the swirling energies around me, strengthening my hold so he could not pull my soul free of my body. If he removed it from where it resided in its little hole deep within me, he could set it free, instantly killing me, and yet I had a feeling that my soul would be trapped forever on this plain, never able to move forward to the next level of existence.

After more than a minute of tug-of-war with my soul, Nick finally released his hold and lifted his hand from my chest. I remained perfectly still on the ground with my eyes closed and my powers wrapped tightly around the remnants of my soul in case he should try to attack me a second time. Energy flowed into me from all directions, from the earth and nearby humans. I could even feel some of Nick’s powers mixing with the other energy pouring into me. I felt stronger, more powerful, than I ever had before. I felt as if I could take on Jabari and at last crush him like an insignificant insect.

While I lay there, I felt Nick’s powers increase again as he prepared for another attack. Balling my hands into fists, I pushed the power deeper inside of myself and then I disappeared. Stunned shock gripped me so quickly at the unexpected ability that I immediately reappeared exactly where I was, which did me little good against Nick. My eyes popped open and my mouth formed a perfect O in surprise. The only time I had been able to disappear and reappear before was when I tapped into Jabari’s powers. Now I either had the power to do it on my own or I could simply tap into Nick’s powers to do it.

“You can do it on your own,” Nick said.

“What else can I do?” I demanded with an eagerness I couldn’t hide. The world had suddenly opened up to me in a new way, and I needed to know the extent of what I was capable.

Nick gave a slight shrug of one shoulder as some of the anger started to drain out of his expression. “You will never know until you try.”

With a small smile, I wrapped a ball of energy tight within my chest, gathering together as much energy as I could stand. It crawled along my skin like a millipede and pounded against my chest like a heartbeat, but it was nothing more than power looking for an outlet, and I was willing to give it one.

I directed the energy at Nick, sending it crashing into the center of his chest, throwing him several feet backward across the yard. As soon as he was standing again, I hammered him once more, knocking him off balance while I set him on fire in a towering inferno that threatened to light the nearby trees. I paused long enough to watch the flame-cloaked figure brush off his jacket and take a few easy steps toward me.

“The fire bit is getting old and stale, Mira,” Nick said in a singsong voice.

“Then how about this?” I said. Pushing to my feet, I directed my hands down to the ground, feeling the pulse of the earth beneath me. Straining to maintain the flames, I directed the roots of the surrounding trees to explode from the ground and wrap around his ankles. The roots pulled and slammed him to the ground again as he extinguished the flames. Pulling in different directions, I attempted to split him into two different pieces, but he disappeared before I could even get a grunt of pain out of him.

Nick instantly reappeared before me and cocked back his fist to punch me, but I was gone this time before he could touch me. I reappeared a few feet away, my mind scrambling for some new way to attack him that could make some kind of impact when it dawned on me: use the same attack that had been so effective on me. Gods had to have souls as well, right?

Gathering up as much powers as I could possibly stand before a scream could be torn from my throat, I reached out toward the energy flowing from Nick. I plunged the powers inside of him, searching for that faint wisp that was his soul. I found it in a heartbeat, but it was like trying to wrap my arms around an angry grizzly bear. The energy thrashed about, shoving me away anytime I grew too near. His soul could actually fight me, where mine lay limp and helpless against his attacks.

“And that is why you should never have become a nightwalker,” he calmly said, before finally brushing me and my powers aside like an annoying fly. I was thrown back again, slamming into the ground.

I pulled the energy back to me and disappeared again before he could attack me. However, it felt as if a hand grasped me around the neck and pulled me back so I was standing directly in front of Nick.

“Enough playing for one night,” he declared. “I think you’ve begun to understand exactly what kind of power is at your fingertips if you only try.” To my surprise, his words sounded heavy, as though he was struggling to catch his breath. There was a slight flush to his cheeks, indicating that he might actually be tired from all the exertion of fighting me. I tucked that little mental note away in the back of my brain and kept my face clean of any expression.

Of course, it was only after I released the powers I’d been holding onto that I felt a wave of exhaustion pour over me. My knees turned wobbly and threatened to buckle under me, while my arms felt as if lead weights had been tied to my wrists. I needed to sit down and wait for the feeling to pass, but was unwilling to show any weakness to Nick, knowing that he could potentially take advantage of it.

“Do you think you can handle Jabari now?” he demanded.

“It feels as if the fight will be a little more even,” I admitted. “He can still control me, which gives him an edge.”

“And you can stop him from doing that if you truly want to. Take care of this, Mira, because you do not want me to,” he warned. Nick took a step back, and I did the one thing I thought I would never do. I stopped him. My curiosity had gotten the better of me.

“The nightwalkers didn’t really cage the naturi, did they?” I quickly blurted out when I sensed he was preparing to disappear.

The energy in the air seemed to dissipate with the spring breeze. He frowned at me, and I felt myself clenching all my muscles as I waited for him to strike me again. It was that statement earlier that had set off his temper in the first place. For reasons I didn’t understand, the story that had been told to me centuries ago about how the naturi and bori were caged was proving to be false. I had a feeling that only a creature as old as Nick might hold the truth I wanted.

“No, the nightwalkers were not the ones to cage the naturi,” he said with a sneer. “Nor were the lycanthropes the ones to cage the bori. I will give you that both races aided in the capture of the naturi and the bori, but you were not the force behind the act.”

“Then what happened? How were the two races drawn into their cages?” I asked, still inwardly cringing as I waited for his temper to explode again.

“They both chased after the one thing they want most in the world.”

“Control of the Earth?”

“More power.”

“I don’t understand.”

Nick sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose with his thumb and index finger. He wandered over to the patio at the back of my house and silently settled into one of the wrought-iron chairs around the table. He waited until I slowly walked over and took a seat opposite him. It was the first time either of us had come close to a civil conversation, and I had a feeling it might be the only time. Nick’s temper was too like my own and could flare up with the smallest provocation. I was treading on thin ice.

“The naturi and the bori are attracted to power. They believe that more power is the only thing that will give them an edge over the other, and thus the ability to wipe out the other,” Nick explained.

“So what kind of power could have attracted them both into a cage?”

“How about a pair of fallen gods?”

I sat back in my chair, speechless as I tried to wrap my brain around the thought. “You sacrificed two of your own to capture the naturi and the bori?”

“No!” he shouted, slamming his fist on the table. “They made the sacrifice. They made the choice to go into the cages and act as bait for those bastards. It’s their powers, their souls, that are keeping the cages from breaking down.”

“But the naturi cage is breaking down,” I said, hating the words as they came out of my mouth. I didn’t need to throw more wood on the fire burning in his glowing lavender eyes.

“That’s because she’s dying without her mate.”

“Which gods were they?”

“The creator gods. The first gods.” Nick looked down at his hands, which were folded in his lap. “They need each other for strength and stability. They have been separated for a very long time.”

“They were the first?”

“Born from the Earth herself,” he declared with a faint smile. “The Pagans referred to them as Freya and Woden, but they truly have no names. They were simply the first gods, and then came the other gods, and then the humans. The naturi and bori were later created to keep a balance with the humans, but it was a mistake. The two were constantly at war with each other no matter what the gods ordered. They had been made too powerful in their own right.”

“So the first gods sacrificed themselves by locking themselves with the naturi and bori in cages. The cages have been feeding off their powers. The naturi and bori have been feeding off their powers, weakening because they’ve been kept apart from each other and the earth.”

Nick gave a short little chuckle. “There is hope for you yet.”

“Will they die?”

“Eventually, if someone doesn’t take their place.”

“And if they die, then the cages will break and the remaining naturi and all the bori will be set free again.”

“Yes.”

“But you said that the gods were half dead. How can anyone take their place?”

Nick gave a twisted little smirk and shook his head at me. “They can’t.” My father pushed out of his chair and gave a pull at his jacket to straighten it. I remained lounging in my chair, turning over the dark information he had already handed to me. “And before you can ask, yes, the reason the gods are half dead and nearly forgotten from this world is because the first gods are gone from it. Their sacrifice nearly killed us all as well.”

“But you’re looking for a way to make a comeback,” I said, bringing a smile back to his lips. “And I’m sure that you’re not the only one.”

“Definitely not. But I wouldn’t get any ideas of finding some outside help. None of the other remaining gods are half as forgiving or generous as I am.”

“I’m sure,” I said sarcastically.

Nick started to turn away from me, but paused and turned back, scratching the tip of his nose. “And before I forget. Your nights with that bori bastard are growing short.”

“What?” I demanded, trying to lunge out of my seat, but a wave of his hand succeeded in pushing me back down. I started pulling the energy back toward me again, ready for another fight with my father, but he only shook his head in warning.

“He can control you, and I won’t allow it.”

“Danaus won’t control me,” I argued, tightly gripping the arms of the chair. “We’re on the same side. He doesn’t want to control me.”

“You’re on the same side for now. Considering your past relationships, I have a feeling that truce could end very quickly, and then you will have no choice but to kill him.”

“Then let’s wait for that truce to end naturally,” I argued, inwardly confident that such a day would not come between Danaus and me. “There’s no reason to kill him now.”

“He’s a distraction.”

“He’s a needed ally in the coming war.”

Nick shook his head at me, refusing to budge from his stance. “He’s a distraction and a threat. His days are numbered, but my main concern is Jabari. Take care of him.” And then, without another word, he disappeared from sight. I scanned the immediate area, but his distinct signature of power was gone. I was alone.

I remained sitting on the patio for several minutes, turning over all the information that Nick had delivered as well as the new extent of my powers. He was right in that I needed to finally be rid of Jabari. The Ancient was not only a threat to myself, but to Danaus and anyone else that mattered to me. I couldn’t allow him to continue to risk their lives just so he could use and manipulate me. It was time for it to end.

But then, Jabari wasn’t my only problem. I needed to get rid of Nick as well. I couldn’t be his pawn any longer. For that matter, I couldn’t be allowed to make him a more powerful creature than he already was. The world was far too fragile at the moment to stand the shake-up he would create. What I needed was someone else that had a similar problem as myself. Nick had intimated on more than one occasion that I wasn’t the only offspring of a god wandering the earth. There had to be another like me, with their share of impressive powers that could aid me in getting rid of a god. And in truth, I already had a solid guess as to where I could find one. The only problem was getting him to go along with any plan that I managed to weave into creation. It was one thing to take on nightwalkers, lycanthropes, and the naturi. It was a completely different story to stand toe-to-toe with a god and expect that you just might live through it.

Sitting on the back patio, I closed my eyes and listened to the breeze as it swept through the trees, rustling the leaves. Crickets chirped softly now that Nick had left and I’d gone completely still in my chair. Around me, energies swirled and flowed, carrying with them burbles of emotions and broken thoughts. I could feel the soft swell of the powers that flowed up from the earth like a mother’s gentle reassuring caress. I knew what I had to do for the first time in my life. The only problem was that I couldn’t bring myself to move. I had so much to lose now. Danaus, Knox, Valerio, all of my people. The Savannah pack. My home here in Savannah. The quiet peace that existed between the occult and the humans. It all was balanced on a precipice, and I knew that if I failed, I would lose it all. It was time to act for the final time.