Nightwalker

Twenty-Five

I walked down the main staircase toward the first floor, my feet sinking into the thick carpet that covered the stairs. Apparently Ryan had sent out some kind of mental warning to the proper people because I heard doors being thrown open around me and hurried footsteps across the hardwood floors. I needed to get these people out of my way. If something not good was headed to the compound, I didn’t want to concern myself with the stray gawker trying to collect a little valuable data.

A part of me was aching for a fight. A couple of naturi to deal with, something to rip apart; their flesh squishing warmly between my fingers and collecting under my fingernails. While I’ll admit that I was still extremely hungry, more than a rising blood lust clouded my thoughts. I craved just the sight of blood. I wanted to see it splashed across the skin and soaking into torn and shredded clothing. I needed the violence, an outlet for the frustration and the fear. In the brief moment when you are struggling to stay alive, you convince yourself that you’re actually in control of your life and destiny. And when you kill that which was trying to kill you, you bask in a moment of true power. I wanted that moment, even if it was an illusion.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t afford a fight right now. My job was to protect Sadira, and the best way to do that was to avoid confrontation altogether. Sadira’s skill lay not in physical strength, but in the horrible ways she could destroy a creature’s mind. She cultivated fear and obedience in her own special way but was not a fighter. Furthermore, neither she nor I were at our top strength after last night’s healing session. We both had to feed, and I still needed a couple more days of rest.

A familiar voice halted my descent at the second floor, jerking me from my frantic thoughts.

“What is it?” Danaus called from behind me. I turned on the stairs to find him buckling the last leather wrist guard on his right arm as he descended. His hair was damp and hung heavy about his broad shoulders. To my surprise, he was wearing a pair of dark blue jeans instead of his usual black cotton pants. His navy T-shirt was untucked and strapped down with a pair of sword sheaths crossing his back. I guess now that he was home, he felt he could go casual. Or maybe it was the fact that his mission was technically over. I had a tendency to forget how handsome he was when I was plotting how to peel his skin from the network of muscles and sinew that danced as he moved.

“I don’t know yet,” I said. “Get your people somewhere safe. I’ll handle it.” I continued down the stairs at a slower pace, reluctantly serious.

“They’re being moved to the basement, and all spare hunters are going to stand guard down there,” he replied, walking down one step behind me.

“Any naturi?”

“None that I can sense.”

I think Danaus was about to say something else when the heavy front doors crashed open against the walls. Splinters flew through the air and I barely had enough time to raise my arm to shield my face. There had been no warning, no surge of power. I stayed, unmoving, on the third step from the bottom, a gust of cold air trying to push me back up the stairs. Lowering my arm from my eyes, I saw Jabari step across the threshold, the wind dying away to a whimper.

I’ve heard humans say someone looked like the wrath of God. To me, Jabari looked far worse. Bare-chested, the nightwalker stared at me, his eyes glowing a wicked pale yellow, like so many fires I had conjured in my past. His cheekbones seemed more prominent than usual and his cheeks were hollows. For the first time since I’d met him, Jabari looked like the walking dead. He reminded me grimly of Charon, the ferryman for the underworld. Indeed, I believed Jabari had arrived to usher me from this life.

Some part of me still loved him, but even I was beginning to question who it was that I loved. The questions were piling up, and the one person I’d been willing to trust was holding a stake over my heart. Sadira’s tale replayed in my head as I stared at him, dragging up painful questions as a knot of betrayal and anger rose in my throat. I had seen Jabari manipulate and use other nightwalkers like pieces on a chessboard, moving them about and sacrificing others when necessary to accomplish his ultimate goals. Somewhere along the way I’d convinced myself that I was different, that I truly mattered to the Ancient. Had I been wrong? Would he dangle me before my greatest fear in an effort to control me? Yes.

“Jabari!” I cried, throwing my arms up in sham surprise. “It’s so good of you to join us. Please, come inside.” If it had been at all possible, his gaze would have set me ablaze at that moment. I only widened my smile, my teeth clenched so hard my jaw ached.

“You were ordered to protect Sadira,” he snarled, his voice crackling through the air like lightning.

“And so I have.” My tone was still light and mocking. I had nothing to lose any longer and was tired of being pushed around.

“Here?” He threw open his arms to encompass the manor. At the same time, half of the little globes in the overhead chandelier exploded, dimming the light. Shadows lunged from the corners and clawed up the wall to slink across the ceiling.

“They’ve hunted us for centuries. It’s time they protected us for a while.”

“You go too far.”

“No, not yet,” I said with a sigh. “But don’t worry; I will.” To his obvious surprise, I came down the last three steps to the main hall, drawing closer to him. “Would you like to see Sadira?” Extending my right arm toward the hall along the left side of the staircase, I motioned for him to walk with me. His body was so stiff with rage, he could give only the barest of nods. I don’t know why he didn’t rip me in half then, beyond pure curiosity.

I preceded him down the long, narrow hall, keeping a slow pace, as if I didn’t have a care in the world. What did I have to fear other than the rabid vampire at my back? The pair of hunters flanking the door headed toward the basement with a jerk of my head. No need for an audience. In a fight between nightwalkers, humans just ended up being props.

Opening the door, I saw the same tableau I’d witnessed before leaving to take a shower. Sadira was seated in her chair like a queen, her back to the wall. Tristan stood dutifully behind her with a blank expression, while another pair of hunters stood near the door and window. My own pair of guardian angels, pacing the room, paused as we entered.

“All humans out!” I announced as Jabari, Danaus, and I entered. The two hunters quickly left the cheerful, buttercup-colored salon without another word, but Michael and Gabriel didn’t move. “My angels as well,” I added, my tone softening. Both frowned, but left without another word. I think instincts alone told them to put some distance from this lethal gathering.

I turned to shut the door behind them and found that Danaus was still in the room. My eyes moved from him to the door in a silent question. A grim half smile lifted one corner of his mouth for a couple of seconds. “I don’t fit either of those categories.”

“You may regret this,” I muttered, shutting the door.

“Wouldn’t be the first time where you’re concerned.”

That I believed. If he wanted to remain, so be it. My only worries were Jabari and my neck.

“He leaves,” Jabari ordered, snapping my attention back to the Ancient. “He is not one of us.” I flinched at the sharpness of his voice, but I tried to not let it show. The Elder wanted me groveling before him, cowed and obedient. Not this time.

“No.” I stepped away from the door, to stand next to Danaus. My face was blank, devoid of servitude. I wasn’t taunting or particularly begging for a fight, but I wanted Jabari to know that I was finally drawing the line in the sand.

I sensed more than saw it when the Ancient’s arm snaked out with the intent of grabbing Danaus’s neck. Gritting my teeth, I caught his wrist and shoved him backward, nearly throwing him across the room. Jabari slid across the polished hardwood floor and caught himself before he slammed into the opposite wall. In the far corner, I heard Sadira gasp and Tristan hiss softly at my unexpected response. Both seemed to shrink as Jabari growled, the sound resembling a tiger’s warning more than anything that would emerge from the throat of something that had once been human. His powers flooded the room, nearly choking me. I mentally clawed my way back to the surface, refusing to be swamped by him. Truth be told, I would rather have been killed by Jabari than face the naturi again. But either way, I’d go down fighting.

“Is this what shall finally destroy us? This creature, I will not let you kill,” I spat out, my lips drawn back to reveal my fangs. My posture was hunched as I waited for him to attack again, every muscle pulled taut and ready. The wound in my chest and back screamed in pain, but I pushed it back. The darkness deep inside of me began to rise up, swelling until it started to slowly blot out what was left of my humanity. It was the blood lust, the driving need to feel another creature’s life clutched in the palm of your hand. I remained in front of Danaus, making it clear to the Elder that he would have to go through me first.

“There is always your failure to kill Nerian as I ordered,” Jabari reminded me.

“He’s dead now. Just a few centuries late.”

“You also failed to protect Tabor’s replacement,” he continued, his body completely still. The quiet before the storm. Apparently, Sadira had succeeded in reaching him with the news that evening.

“The naturi knew where we were. They knew.” Rowe always seemed capable of finding me easily. My voice dropped down close to a whisper. “I wonder how.”

“What are you implying?” Jabari’s fingers curled into fists, and the glow in his eyes flared, as if he was using all of his energy not to crush me. He knew exactly what I was saying.

“Not implying. Just curious,” I hedged, trying to give myself some room to maneuver. “The naturi seem one step ahead no matter where I turn. They can’t sense us, but Nerian knew where to find me. They knew to kill Thorne before I even knew who the hell he was. Rowe has come hunting for me twice now. Someone is betraying me.” I moved a step closer.

“So you turn first on your own kind, when the enemy stands at your back,” Jabari bellowed, pointing at Danaus. The nightwalker took a step to his right, moving away from the wall and closer to me.

“Not first. I’ve talked to them. I don’t think Themis has been in contact with the naturi, and they’re not the ones keeping me in the dark.” I’d reached the point where I preferred to see both Danaus and Jabari dead than give either of them another chance to carve out my heart.

“You’ve been told everything you need to know. You do as you have been instructed.”

“Bullshit!” I screamed, taking another step closer. “I stopped taking orders a long time ago, and I won’t put up with your secrets when it’s my life on the line. I was the one they were trying to kill in Aswan, not you.”

“How do you know he didn’t send for them? His people attacked you while you slept.”

“Because the naturi don’t follow orders either,” I hissed. “Not from humans or nightwalker. Or am I wrong?”

Jabari’s eyes widened before he lunged at me. I barely had enough time to jump out of the way. Pain flashed up my arm as his fingernails ripped through the sleeve and slashed my skin. I landed in a crouch and launched myself into him, colliding with his chest. He fell back with a heavy thud. Siding across the floor, he crashed into a pale blue sofa with me on top of him. A small end table went over and a ceramic lamp was smashed, sending small shards skidding across the hardwood. I sat up, hissing at him, my fangs bared. Jabari backhanded me, snapping my head around. To him, I was nothing more than an annoying fly. I tumbled backward but quickly rolled to my feet, to find him standing as well.

“You’ve been hiding for a couple of years now,” I said before he could attack again. “Why? Why hide when the naturi can’t sense you? Afraid of someone else finding you?”

“I want to be left alone.”

“Did you know about the naturi?”

Instead of answering, Jabari threw himself at me again. The haze of anger clouding my thoughts also slowed my reflexes, allowing him to catch me before I could move out of his grasp. His momentum carried us into the wall, and a grunt escaped me as my spine dug into it. Lifting my legs as soon as I hit, I placed my feet against Jabari’s chest and kicked out with all my strength, pushing him off me. Then I pushed off the wall and lunged. Jabari was just getting back to his feet when I hit him, reaching for his throat. Once again he brushed me aside.

“Did you know?” I asked again, jumping to my feet. I shoved against the sofa, sending it skidding across the room, its wooden feet screeching against the floor. I didn’t want anything in my way when I went after him again. The Ancient stood unmoving, watching me. “Did you?” My scream rattled the glass in the window.

“Mira, stop,” Sadira said. I could barely feel her tension and fear over Jabari’s angry powers. She’d stopped cloaking her presence when he appeared. Now I could feel all of her chaotic emotions, even hear some of her thoughts.

“Then tell me I’m wrong,” I demanded, never taking my eyes off Jabari. His blank expression never changed. “Tell me.”

“You are wrong,” he said, carefully enunciating each word, as if talking to an addled child.

“I don’t believe you.” The words came out choked and broken.

“That is not my concern.”

“It will be,” I whispered, straightening my stance. I was no longer poised for the attack, but I wasn’t relaxed either. The fight was over for now. “I don’t know who you’re protecting, but I hope they’re worth it.”

“It should be your life you worry over. You are the one who has failed to reform the triad. You are the one who has brought your sire to this haven for hunters,” Jabari said, his lips pulling back in a sneer.

For a brief moment I wondered if he was referring to Sadira or himself, but I let the thought drop. If it was true, Jabari obviously didn’t want me to know, which gave me a slight edge for now. “You gave me an impossible task,” I snapped. “I couldn’t protect Sadira and fetch Thorne at the same time. Not with the naturi running around. She had to be put somewhere safe and this was my only option. She has come to no harm. If anything, they’ve treated her like a queen since she stepped foot on their grounds.” Reaching up, I shoved a lock of hair that had fallen in front of my eyes behind my ear.

“You should have taken her with you. She could have saved Thorne.”

“Maybe, but I doubt it,” I said with a shake of my head. “I couldn’t have properly protected them both. But none of this matters. The triad has been reformed.”

“What? How?” Sadira demanded, springing from her chair. I could feel the hope blossoming in her chest. I clung to that light emotion against Jabari’s drowning anger.

“Me. I will be the third,” I said, my eyes darting from Sadira back to Jabari. I didn’t want to be, and if we could find someone else, I would happily hand over the position, but that didn’t seem to be an option.

Jabari laughed, the dark sound crawling across my flesh like a hundred tiny spider legs. “Where would you get such an idea?”

I glanced over at Danaus, who was standing near the door. He was returning his sword to the sheath strapped across his back. I hadn’t even seen him draw it. He paused in the middle of the act for half a breath, his eyes narrowing on me. “I spoke with a warlock,” I continued, returning my attention to Jabari.

“And what does he know about the triad?”

“Apparently a lot. At the very least, he knows more about what is going on than I do. He said that the triad has already been reformed.”

“He said you would take Tabor’s place?”

“Not exactly, but it’s not like there’s a lot of other vampires hanging around. He could have meant Tristan, but I didn’t think so since he’s still cutting his fangs.”

Jabari’s gaze never wavered from me as his smile widened and I saw his beautiful white fangs. It reminded me of Nerian’s smile, with all the grim, painful promises it held. “You fool,” he said, the words encased in a chuckle. “You believe the word of a human over your own kind.”

“I’m just trying to survive, and you’ve done nothing to help that cause recently.”

“Mira, my child, you can’t be the third,” Sadira whispered, as if trying to soften the blow. “It’s impossible.”

“Why? Because we’re of the same bloodline?”

“You’ve turned on your own kind,” Jabari snarled.

“Not yet, but I see little reason to defend them at the moment. Why can’t I be the third?”

“You’re not strong enough.”

“Bullshit. I’m stronger than Sadira, and I’m stronger than Thorne was. Why can’t I?”

“Mira!”

I turned on my heel, startled by Danaus’s voice. His presence had been pushed from my mind by Jabari’s attack, and now I stood so I could look at both him and Jabari, not wanting to put my back to the Ancient I no longer trusted.

“They’re coming,” the hunter said.

I read it in Danaus’s face before he could speak. Tension had crept in around the corners of his mouth and pulled his lips into a worried frown. A thick, heavy silence pushed into the room, and it was all I could do to keep from drowning in it.

“How many?”

“Enough.”

My throat suddenly constricted and I’m not sure what kept my knees from buckling. Either it was too many to bother to count or it was better I didn’t know.

“Do we have time to leave?” I asked, wondering how long it would take to get everyone out of the compound.

“No, they’re too close.”

“Who?” Jabari interrupted.

“We’ll have to make a stand here,” I said, desperate to get hold of a situation that continued to spiral out of my control. “Your people safe?”

“Safe as can be expected.” Danaus reached up and withdrew one of the swords strapped to his back. His deep blues flicked before he tossed it to me.

“Who’s coming?” Jabari demanded again, his shout filling the room.

I slashed the air a couple of times with the sword, testing its weight and balance, purposefully ignoring Jabari for a moment. It wasn’t the same one I had borrowed in the Aswan cemetery. It seemed of a higher quality. Maybe something from his private collection, kept for only special occasions? Lucky me.

At last I looked up at Jabari and smiled. “The naturi.”