Dayhunter

FOUR

Venice. Europe’s ultimate tourist trap, with its clichéd gondola drivers and pigeon-filled piazzas. Venice was like watching a grand dame of society slowly wither and die. She was filled with chatty, boisterous tour groups and their little clicking cameras as they crowded San Marco Piazza and oohed at the basilica. Then it was down to the Rialto and the open air market. Did any of them bother to cross the Guidecca Canal or wander through the quiet beauty of Campo Santa Margherita? Or even venture into some of the finest restaurants in San Polo?

When I’d traveled with Jabari, I spent many nights wandering the narrow streets of La Serenissima. I loved the vibrant nightlife in Dorsoduro, populated with its college students from the nearby universities. I loved the thickly populated island of Burano with its vibrantly painted little buildings. But my favorite was taking a water taxi to Torcello in the northern part of the Lagoon. This was where Venice had been born centuries ago, but now it was little more than a ghost town, its inhabitants shrinking from twenty thousand to fewer than thirty. Torcello’s streets were only dirt and broken cobblestone, while most of her buildings had been torn down so the materials could be used elsewhere. However, those fragmented shells and the desolate, overgrown land offered up a quiet respite from my world. I had even lingered on this nearly forgotten island during the daylight hours, sleeping in a dark, quiet corner of an empty building.

But I doubted I’d be able to wander along her ancient sidewalks this time. When we stepped off the plane, an escort was already waiting to greet us. Tall and lean, the nightwalker stood not far from where our jet had taxied to a private section of Marco Polo Airport. I had seen him on my last few trips to Venice. The vampire was picking pieces of lint from his dark Armani suit, looking supremely bored with the task at hand. I knew better. A toady of the Coven was a tenuous position, one that you were careful not to screw up.

Climbing off the jet, I glanced nervously at the sky. Dawn was less than two hours away and we still had to deal with the formalities of landing in Venice, the nightwalker playground. If not for the time constraints, I would have been happy to wait until sunset tomorrow to leave for Venice.

The nightwalker in Armani gracefully strolled over as Danaus came to stand beside me. I had given him the guns and sword. I’d take back the Browning and Glock if forced to hunt the naturi again. For now, I didn’t have a clue about the Coven’s plans, but I knew that Rowe wouldn’t give up on his plan to break the seal just because I had thwarted him once. The naturi was going to try again, and I suspected the Coven would “request” that I be the one to stop him again.

Tristan descended the stairs last, carrying both of our bags with ease. He was lowest on the totem pole so he got to play the part of pack mule. It wasn’t fair, but we were protecting him and that task was more easily done without a bag on your shoulder.

“Benevenuto a Venezia,” the vampire greeted in flawless Italian, bowing deeply to me. “Il mio nome è Roberto.”

“Mira,” I said, biting out my name through clenched teeth, fighting the urge to use Italian as well. “Danaus. Tristan.” I completed the rest of the introductions with a quick wave of my hand toward my companions.

Roberto smiled at me, his eyes flickering with amusement. “The Elders are glad that you have arrived safely,” he replied, slipping into heavily accented English.

A snide comment nearly tumbled from my lips, but I bit off the words at the last minute. No reason to start a fight just yet. There would be plenty of opportunities for that later.

“We are losing moonlight. Shall we go?” I stiffly said in quick, sharp Italian. The language came easy for me. Sadira had insisted that I learn it even before I was reborn, and it was all Jabari had spoken while attempting to teach me Arabic. But I didn’t want to speak Italian; each syllable carried with it an echo of grim memories and dark pleasures I had left behind.

“Do you have any other baggage?” Roberto asked, his eyes darting to the jet.

“No. I assumed the Coven would see to my needs,” I said.

“Naturalmente.” With a wave of his hand, he turned sharply and started walking toward the canals. He had been inquiring about my customized coffin. The five-and-a-half-foot box with interior locks was my sanctuary from the sun. I’d left it in London with instructions to ship it to the States. It had become too impractical to keep moving the coffin around with me, but I hated traveling without it, though it could be done. If necessary, I could sleep in the Lagoon. Nightwalkers didn’t breathe, and the silt and algae made the water murky enough to block the sun. Now, I’m not saying the experience was enjoyable—there are few things more repulsive than waking covered in dirt and algae—but at least you wake up again.

Our little trio followed Roberto to a waiting boat. Once we were seated, the nightwalker deftly maneuvered the sleek speedboat from the dock and across the Lagoon. Yet, something seemed off. Instead of heading toward the southeast side of Murano, Roberto passed the southwest side of the island and soon entered the winding canals of Venice. This didn’t make any sense. Typically, we traveled southeast toward the Lido before heading back north to the remote island that housed the Coven. This way would take longer, as we would be forced to travel at a slower speed while within the narrow confines of the Venice canals. There wouldn’t be much time if we were to appear before the Elders before sunrise.

After a few moments darting down one narrow canal after another, Danaus touched my arm, drawing my eyes to his face. Silently, he held up three fingers and then tilted his head toward the rooftops. We were being watched, which wasn’t surprising. I had felt them as we stepped onto the tarmac at the airport. However, the hunter had miscounted. With a wink and a smile, I chuckled deeply, catching Roberto’s attention.

“What has amused you?” he inquired, glancing over his shoulder at me.

“The hunter is honored by the Coven’s thoughtfulness to send an escort of four nightwalkers,” I replied. Danaus’s expression remained unreadable, but I’m sure those were not the words he would have used.

“He can sense them?” Roberto asked, his eyes briefly shifting to Danaus. His hand swept over his slicked-back, dark brown hair.

“Naturalmente,” I purred.

Roberto looked over at Danaus one last time, the tip of his tongue nervously flicking across his lips before he turned his attention back to the canal. “The Coven is eager to meet him,” he softly said, his voice barely carrying over the rumble of the boat’s motor and the splash of the waves.

I was sure they were, but I wisely kept my comments to myself. Instead I watched the passing buildings and the shimmer of lamplight reflecting in the waters in the canal. We had briefly cut across the Grand Canal and were now moving down the Guidecca Canal. The nightwalkers watching us kept their distance and did nothing to provoke the passengers of the speedboat. They were there to make sure we didn’t attempt anything stupid, though I’m not sure exactly what the Coven thought we might try.

After about thirty minutes Roberto slowed the boat and carefully docked in a beautiful landing on the Guidecca side of Venice. I frowned, my gaze and powers sweeping the immediate area. This wasn’t where the Coven held court. That was still another ten minutes away on a lonely island in the Lagoon.

“Are we not going before the Coven?” I asked Roberto when he turned off the motor.

“Because of the late hour, the Elders have graciously decided to allow you to rest first. You are expected to appear in court an hour after sunset tomorrow,” he explained.

“Alone?” I stood, my legs braced apart against the rocking of the boat. I doubted it, but it was always good to know exactly where you stood when you went before the Elders.

“All are to come,” Roberto announced, his eyes sweeping over Tristan and Danaus before returning to my face.

I looked over at Tristan, who was still sitting. His expression was blank, but his knuckles were growing white from the death grip he had on my bag. After living with Sadira for more than a century, I was confident that he was as well versed in the romance languages as I was. “Have you appeared in court before?” I demanded, switching back to English.

“No,” Tristan said with a shake of his head, peering up at me with wide eyes. A wave of fear from the young nightwalker rippled through me, skimming along my arms like a cold chill. The court of the Coven was a place of horrors and nightmares, particularly for the weak. It was there that the term “chum” had been coined.

I turned my gaze back to Roberto, who was watching Tristan like a predator sizing up his prey. “Relay a request to the Elders for me,” I said, my words falling gracefully back into Italian. “Tell them I humbly request to be allowed to leave Tristan behind. He knows nothing of the matter we have come to discuss and will only waste valuable time.”

Roberto smiled at my delicate choice of words. I had never been humble about anything I did. “He has come into their domain. He has to show proper respect,” he reminded me, his dark gaze sliding back to my face.

“They’ve already given their approval for the day’s rest. If they refuse, I can still send him back to London after the sun sets. No harm done.”

“I’ll relay your request,” Roberto said stiffly, his lean face twisting with his displeasure.

“Grazie,” I said, smiling at him wide enough to expose my fangs. It wasn’t a threat; more of a friendly nudge not to cross me. Coven toady or not, I’d ripped apart stronger vampires than him for less, and he knew it. Besides, the noose was already around my neck, so what did I have to lose?

We climbed out of the boat and walked up to the hotel. I paused and watched Roberto pull from the dock and drive out into the Lagoon. He was headed for the Coven. The other nightwalkers remained around the hotel, watching. They’d hold for a little while longer but would have to find a suitable resting spot as the night crumbled around us. As I turned to continue into the luxurious hotel, I found Tristan standing before me, a look of gratitude on his face.

“Why?” he whispered, his voice seeming to catch on something in his throat.

“You wouldn’t survive the night,” I grumbled, stepping around him and striding toward the hotel. The look on his face, a sickening combination of gratitude and awe, was making me uncomfortable. It was the same look I had seen on his face when we first met in London at that punk bar. To Tristan, I was a legend and a beacon of hope—I had “escaped” our maker and gone on to live my own life away from her. And when he saw me for the first time, he assumed that I would help him do the same. Unfortunately for him, I wasn’t the type to come rushing to the aid of a weaker nightwalker. In fact, I was frequently an exterminator of fledglings when they endangered our secret.

“Sadira won’t let anything happen to me,” Tristan argued, following on my heels.

“I will try to get Danaus to smuggle you back onto the jet before sunset tonight,” I said, ignoring his comment. “You can be back in London or in the States before they awaken.”

He grabbed my arm, stopping me. “What if they summon me and I’m not in Venice?”

“I’ll tell them I shipped you away without your knowledge.” It was a considerable risk. I had never defied the Coven before, but then I’d never had a reason to try.

“No,” he firmly said with a shake of his head. “I’m staying.” He repositioned our bags on his shoulders, completely at ease with their awkward weight. My brow furrowed as I stared at him. Earlier that evening he had wanted to run, to flee the Coven.

“I thought you wanted to be free of Sadira,” I snapped. Exhaustion and fear ate away at the last of my patience. There wasn’t time for this discussion.

“We both know shipping me to another country or continent won’t free me from Sadira’s grasp.” Tristan stepped forward and placed a hand on my shoulder. He leaned in and our cheeks nearly brushed as we spoke. “Sending me away will only antagonize the Coven and Sadira. And while you may be the great Fire Starter, I don’t think you are strong enough to take them both on and succeed.”

My own words come back to haunt me. And he was right.

I stepped back so I could look him in the eye. “Very well.” He was young, but determined. For now, he would stand by his mistress and endure the gaze of the Coven. If he were lucky, they would be so preoccupied with Danaus and me that he would be overlooked.

With a nod, I led my two companions into the opulent Hotel Cipriani. When I’d scanned the area upon our landing, I sensed Sadira on one of the upper floors waiting for us. Neither Tristan nor I had any desire to see the manipulative old nightmare again, but we were running out of time and I had something to accomplish before the night drew its final breath. As we neared the private suite, Sadira threw open the white double doors, smiling at her young ward.

“At last,” she said, sounding deeply relieved. There was a slight flush to her pale cheeks, revealing that she had fed recently. She was wearing a pale pink shirt and long black skirt. The night’s battle had been erased from her appearance, except for the lines of nervous worry that still clawed at the corners of her eyes. Stepping around the two nightwalkers as they held each other, I rolled my eyes in disgust. I knew Tristan was obediently relaying the night’s events to his mistress through his thoughts. I didn’t care to review what had happened since we parted ways. For now, I turned my attention to our accommodations. I’d deal with Sadira later.

The main sitting area was coldly elegant, decorated in smoky gray and black marble with creamy white walls. The furniture was covered in an interesting black and gray fabric and perfectly coordinated with the large area rug in the center of the room. The area oozed luxury, offering an enticing mix of beauty and comfort. Yet, the windows troubled me. The far wall was comprised of a massive bank of windows looking out at the canal. Frowning, I quickly peeked into both bedrooms to find large windows spanning the far walls. Even the bathroom looked out onto the canal. At night the view was stunning. By day it would be a death trap as the sun slowly crept through the room, searching us out.

“How are we supposed to meet them tomorrow if we burn up during the day?” My voice exploded in the suite as I stalked back out into the living room.

“The curtains are thick in the master bedroom,” Sadira said. “It will be enough to block the sun.” Her seemingly eternal calm was unshaken by my lack of emotional restraint. The night had been too long already, with bitter revelations nagging at me from both my beloved Jabari and my enemy Rowe. There had been no time to sit alone and think over what I’d learned, to formulate my next plan for survival. Always moving forward, toward the next destination, closer to the next creature that wanted to control me or kill me.

I wanted my metal box with its double locks on the interior. I wanted my one sanctuary in this world that was unraveling faster than love after betrayal. Traveling without the box was insane. I hadn’t taken any trips outside of my domain without it in centuries. It had saved me on more than one occasion. Unfortunately, I currently needed to travel light and fast. I had to find other options. Hell, for half a second I actually thought about sleeping in the Lagoon, but quickly pushed the idea aside. The Elders were having a little fun. If they wanted to kill us, they would have done something far more creative and painful. This was just a joke; a death trap draped in exquisite luxury.

The panic ebbed and I redirected my thoughts toward my primary concern as I felt the nightwalkers move away from the hotel. It was less than an hour from dawn, and they were seeking their own resting place. They assumed I wouldn’t be up to any trouble this close to sunrise. Furthermore, their human guardians wouldn’t be in place to keep an eye on Danaus for another hour or two. They would have to be sure their vampire masters were safely stowed for the day before leaving. It was a window of opportunity, albeit a very small one, and I wouldn’t have a second chance.

“Come with me,” I commanded, pointing at Danaus as I headed for the doors.

“You’re leaving?” Sadira gasped, horrified that I was heading outside when dawn was already beginning to lighten the sky.

I threw open the doors and stepped back to let Danaus precede me. “I have a question that needs answering before tomorrow’s meeting.”

“But the sun—”

“Don’t wait up,” I said, and laughed, following Danaus out of the room.

We jogged down the hall and through the hotel as silent as the wind. I might have been laughing, but I could feel the night struggling as it entered the final throes of death. No matter how hard I clenched my fist, the sand was slipping through my fingers. I was going to cut this one close, but I had to know. Rushing back outside, I hurried down to the dock, the rubber soles of my boots silent along the worn stone sidewalk. I untied one of the speedboats resting there, fighting the urge to glance up at the sky.

“Can you hotwire it?” I called as Danaus jumped onto the boat.

Wordlessly, he walked over to the wheel and knelt before it. I was stepping onto the boat when I heard the sound of breaking plastic as he ripped the panel off. He fiddled with the wires for a moment, causing the motor to sputter and cough. I was skilled with some mechanical items, but had yet to learn the fine art of hotwiring a vehicle. When I needed to go somewhere, I usually hijacked a driver as well, saving myself the trouble. Unfortunately, most people were still asleep at this hour and I didn’t want to try to track down a private taxi driver.

An impatient remark nearly leapt from my tongue before the motor suddenly roared to life. Danaus rose to his feet and shifted the boat into reverse. As he dropped it into drive, I pointed toward the Lagoon and he launched us into the darkness, moving me away from the safety of a resting place for the daylight hours.

“Where are we going?” he asked after a couple minutes. We had left the Guidecca Canal and entered the Lagoon. The dark waters opened around us, the gentle waves rising and falling in a hypnotic dance. Lights danced in all directions, cold and distant, as if taunting me with promises of protection from the sun that was rising closer to the horizon. The immediate area was a thick, inky blackness, a swamp of night created by the waters—a sanctuary that was chosen only as a last resort.

“Head for that island, San Clemente,” I said, pointing toward a swath of land another ten minutes away. A large hotel rose up out of the darkness, a handful of its windows glowing against the slate-gray sky. A neat row of lamps lined the sidewalks, wrapping around the island. “That’s where the Coven resides most of the year. It started as a monastery but was converted into a hotel in the past century. There are other buildings on the island, including the main hall for the court.”

“Why are we going there now?” Danaus asked, turning the boat and putting on more speed. His eyes jumped up to the sky for a second, possibly judging the time left until the sun officially rose.

“We’re not,” I replied, forcing back a smile. “Turn off the engine.”

His head jerked toward me, his brow furrowed in confusion, but he also wordlessly slowed the boat to a stop before killing the engine.

Standing next to him, I spread my legs as wave after wave rocked the small craft, lapping at its sides. “I want you to scan the area for naturi.”

“Now?” he demanded in surprise. His eyes darted again to the sky, which was growing lighter by the minute.

I gripped the seat in front of me, my nails biting into the plastic. “Yes, now. Just do it. We don’t have time for a debate.”

With a frown, Danaus stared out at the Lagoon. His powers surged out from his body, ripping through me as if made of nothing more than smoke. I flinched but didn’t move. Its warmth wrapped around me in a snug cocoon, holding me tightly, but it lasted only a few seconds before it dissipated.

“I can’t search all of the city,” he said at last. “That island is cloaked in some kind of magic. Everywhere else is clear, but I can’t verify the island.”

“I suspected as much,” I murmured. I could sense the creatures through the barrier. Even without using much of my powers, I could tell there were more than two dozen nightwalkers on San Clemente, not to mention the nearly three hundred humans. However, I couldn’t sense the naturi. No nightwalker could, as far as I knew.

But I could with help from Danaus. I had been able to sense them briefly when we combined our powers at the Themis Compound. This was stupid and extremely dangerous, but I had to know. I had to know what we were walking into tomorrow.

“I need your help,” I slowly said in a low voice that barely reached above the sound of the breaking waves. “I have to know if there is a member of the naturi on that island. When we were linked in England, I could sense the naturi. We have to do that again. I’m the only one who can push through their protective barrier.”

Danaus nodded and held out his hand to me. Hesitantly, I lifted my hand, but I still didn’t take his.

“We can’t kill anyone on the island. We can’t even try. Don’t think it, Danaus, or I swear I will destroy us both,” I warned. “Let’s just take it slow.”

It took a great deal of effort to force myself to take his hand. The pain for our last joining was still fresh in my mind, and while I had recovered, I was in no rush to experience it again.

Lucky for me, it was different this time. The power didn’t run screaming into my body, but slowly flowed in like a small woodland stream. It trickled up my arm and into my chest. The warmth seeped into my bones, filling my body. But then it changed. The power expanded in my bones until I thought they would splinter and break.

“Too much,” I whimpered, struggling to keep to my feet. I tightened my grip on the chair before me but could no longer feel it. There was only Danaus’s hand and the steadily increasing pain.

“I can’t slow it any more. Focus,” he said. His voice sounded distant, as if he were on the other side of the Lagoon. The sound of the water hitting the side of the boat had faded.

Focus on the island.

This time the words came as a command in my head. Thoughts about the pain starting to rip through my limbs ebbed and my mind focused on the island that bobbed ahead of us. It took only a moment, but I found what I was looking for. A member of the naturi lay sleeping on the island. By the size, I was willing to guess that it was probably a female, maybe of the light or wind clan. I made one quick scan of the buildings but knew I wouldn’t find another. It didn’t matter. One was enough for me.

“Stop,” I said in a hoarse voice, struggling to release his hand.

I felt Danaus hesitate, his hand still tightly gripping mine. His thoughts were a jumble, but I understood the feeling. Frustration. One order from him and I would torch every nightwalker on the island. He wouldn’t get another opportunity like this one.

“Stop!” I cried, my voice cracking. I jerked my hand but couldn’t break Danaus’s grip. I was fighting the power burning in my body, trying to halt its progress as it raged through me.

Angrily, Danaus released my hand and I dropped to my knees. He was breathing heavily, leaning on the steering wheel, but he looked to be in better shape than during our first attempt at this little trick.

My bones ached and my muscles burned and throbbed with a pain that I was becoming well acquainted with. Yet it wasn’t as bad as earlier in the evening. I’d recover soon enough.

“You would have been tempted too,” he breathlessly said, struggling to straighten.

“But I wouldn’t do it,” I croaked, leaning against one of the seats in the boat. “We made a bargain.” I put my head down on the seat and closed my eyes, listening to the sound of the water hitting the side of the boat. “Don’t worry. You’ll get another shot at them, I promise.”

Something had died inside of me, leaving a small, heavy corpse curled up in the pit of my stomach. I never had much respect for the Coven, but I’d always believed their ultimate goal was to protect my kind. I believed they would protect us all.

Countless centuries ago the Coven had been created by Our Liege to help establish some kind of control over the growing number of nightwalkers that were filling the earth; to establish order in the chaos. Four ancient vampires were handpicked by Our Liege to hold court and pass judgment when Our Liege chose to be absent. During the centuries, Elders were killed in power struggles and evil schemes, but the feel of the court never changed. It was a place of horrors and dark fantasies. The Coven was about power and control.

But in the end I also believed it was about the protection of our kind. The Coven was created to protect all nightwalkers as much as it was to protect humans. The naturi had slaughtered nightwalkers through history like animals. For nearly countless ages they hunted down and destroyed thousands of humans and vampires, believing both races to be a pestilence on the earth. Nightwalkers had sealed the naturi from this world, and we have protected that seal. Why would the Coven suddenly turn its back on that history?

Danaus stared down at me, a look of surprise filling his blue eyes. “Let’s get out of here,” I whispered. “I’m running out of time.”

With a nod, he started the speedboat again and turned us back toward Cipriani. I pulled myself up into the seat and stared up at the pale gray sky. Dawn was close. The night was drawing in its last gasping breaths, its weight pressing down on me as it if were my job to support its lifeless frame.

“There’s a very specific reason why we chose Venice for the seat of the Coven,” I slowly began. “There are no naturi here. There never have been. Members of the water clan won’t even lurk in the canals. They call it the Dead City. I’m not sure why. I think one of their gods supposedly died here. They’ve never set foot in the city.”

“Until now,” Danaus interjected.

“Not only is a naturi deep in nightwalker territory, but it had to have been invited. All magically inclined creatures have to be invited onto the island.”

“How do you know it’s not a prisoner?”

“Because it wasn’t afraid or in pain,” I said. My bitterness left a nasty taste in the back of my throat. I didn’t know how I was sure of that fact. Something in me just knew it. When I sensed other creatures, I could get an emotional imprint. Something in me said I would have known if that naturi had been tortured or afraid for her life.

I’d suspected that my kind had been betrayed somehow. During my travels the past few days, the naturi remained one step ahead of us, always knowing exactly where to find me. The only way they could have managed such a feat was if someone were informing them. I’d suspected it, but I didn’t believe I would actually be proven correct.

Silence settled back between us as we entered Guidecca Canal and drew close to the hotel. The area was still empty of nightwalkers, and most humans nearby were sleeping. The only ones who were awake were members of the hotel staff—not that they couldn’t be servants of the Coven as well. I wasn’t worried. The Elders knew I had been out in the Lagoon, but they couldn’t know why.

By the time Danaus was tying up the boat, I was struggling to keep my eyes open. I climbed onto the dock, lacking my usual grace. I was hanging onto consciousness by a thread. My body was sore, fighting every movement. Danaus tried to pick me up, but I growled at him, lurching away from his touch. I had enough strength left to drag myself into the hotel.

“Promise me you won’t go near San Clemente during the day,” I mumbled as I entered the elevator. I leaned heavily against the wall, fighting to keep my eyes open. “They’ll know. You’ll put us all in danger. Just wait until sunset.”

“But I—”

“Just promise,” I snapped. “We’re in their domain. We have to play by their rules.”

“I promise,” he grudgingly said, obviously less than thrilled with my request.

“Wait. Wait for me. We’ll get them,” I whispered.

The elevator doors slid open with a soft hiss and I lurched forward, hurrying into the suite. The sun was nearly up. I wasn’t going to be awake much longer, and if I wasn’t hidden, I’d be fried to a crisp. Throwing open the door to the master bedroom, I stumbled inside and slammed the door shut behind me. I didn’t bother to lock it. If Danaus or someone else wanted in while we slept, they would find a way in. The room was pitch-black, as the heavy curtains had been pulled across the windows. Sadira and Tristan lay stretched out on the bed, his arms wrapped around her. I tripped across the room and slid onto the king-size bed next to Tristan. Exhausted, I was drifting off to sleep when I felt Tristan roll over and wrap his arms around my waist. He snuggled close, his long body curving against mine. And then there was nothing.