Wait for Dusk

Chapter Twenty-Two

Sofia sat at the small table in the far corner next to Danaus as they shared a tray of food brought up by room service. I watched her cutting dainty bites of her chicken, wishing I could shove the fork down her throat. Danaus had risked both of our lives for this woman, and unfortunately, I was beginning to see why. In the broken, dimly lit room, she seemed almost luminous. Her features were delicate and perfectly formed, from her large innocent eyes to her button nose to her little rosebud mouth. It was as if she were a fragile, blown-glass ornament resting in the wreckage of the hotel room.

It didn’t take a genius to see why Danaus was drawn to her. It was more than the fact that she was a helpless human tied to a ruthless vampire. It was that she represented the epitome of the beautiful damsel in distress. Danaus had spent a lifetime searching for good deeds, in hopes of winning his soul back from the bori. He had searched his life for just this situation. Now all he needed to do was vanquish the evil vampire and the heroic act would be complete. Then he and Sofia could ride off together into the sunset.

If it had been possible for me at that exact moment, I would have vomited with the thought. Danaus had no business with a woman like that even if her laughter sounded like jubilant little bells and her eyes sparkled when she gazed up at him. Danaus and I were a better fit. Dark, violent, and sarcastic, we could face whatever the world threw at us and still come back for more. We belonged together. But right now all he could see was a pair of wide blue eyes watching him.

Balling my hands into fists at my sides, I searched for an even, reasonable tone. “Does Veyron know you have her?” I demanded as way of greeting.

“I slipped out just before sunrise,” Sofia said. “Veyron didn’t know where I was going.” She wiped her hands on her napkin before setting it by her plate. She rose to her feet and curtsied deep to me.

Meanwhile, Danaus sat back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest as he stared smugly at me. “There was no fight. No one was killed. Sofia has been safely hidden here all day and no one has come to retrieve her.”

“She’s not hidden,” I snarled. “She’s Veyron’s pet. The moment he wishes to know her location, he will. And then he will either come to fetch her himself or he will send some of his flunkies for her. Just because getting her was easy doesn’t mean that it will be just as easy to keep her.”

A flood of tears erupted from Sofia as she collapsed back in her chair. “Oh, she’s right. It is only a matter of time before Veyron comes after me. I’ve put your lives in horrible danger.”

I shrugged one shoulder as I shoved my hands into the back pockets of my leather pants. “Then go back. If you don’t want to selfishly risk our lives, then go back to him.”

“I can’t,” she gasped, raising her face from where she had it buried in her hands. “He’ll kill me. I know he will. Veyron will kill me.”

“I doubt that.”

“Mira, you don’t know that,” Danaus growled at me.

“No, but I truly doubt that Veyron will kill her. Her only fear is that he’s going to punish her in some way and she doesn’t want to face it.”

Danaus shoved to his feet while placing one protective hand on Sofia’s shoulder. “The only thing she’s afraid of is a lifetime of being a slave to that monster. She wants her freedom.”

“Then she shouldn’t have chosen to become Veyron’s pet in the first place.”

“Please, Mira. I need your help,” Sofia said. “I made a mistake. I didn’t realize what I was getting into when I made the deal with Veyron. At the time, he was just so powerful and mesmerizing. I wasn’t thinking clearly.”

I rolled my eyes and paced away from the woman. “And now you’re thinking clearly? You want out of your deal and you’re expecting us to protect you when it comes time to pay the piper.”

“Please, I have nowhere else to go. No one who will help me. I’m alone, and you and Danaus are the only ones strong enough to take on Veyron. Besides, he said that you’re the keeper of the domain now. Can’t you just order him to release me?”

“I can order him to release you, but if he wants to be able to show his face in this city again, he has to challenge me for you. And truth be told, I don’t want you. I’ve got enough problems on my hands already. I don’t need to add to them.”

“But I won’t be a burden to you. I will leave Budapest. I will go somewhere far from here, like Paris or London or maybe even New York. I will never come to this city again,” she promised.

I turned on my heel and shook my head at her. “Do you honestly think that it’s going to work that way? Once Veyron hears that you’re out of my direct care and supervision, he will come after you again. And then he will kill you to prove that I wasn’t able to protect something that was supposed to be mine.”

“But I don’t want to be your pet,” Sofia said in a breathless whisper.

“And I don’t want you either, but you turned to another nightwalker for help. That means I have to steal you away from Veyron to protect you.”

“But I ran away. You didn’t steal me.”

“Keeping you alive, keeping you safe, means stealing you from him.”

“We could just kill Veyron and then you wouldn’t have to worry about protecting her,” Danaus suggested.

Sofia twisted in her seat and placed a hand over Danaus’s hand. “Must you? He didn’t treat me that poorly. I don’t think he deserves to die because I made a mistake.”

“I see no reason to kill Veyron,” I said. “With the naturi dead, I’m prepared to leave Budapest and not look back. The coven is a more pressing matter for us.”

“Then send her to Savannah,” Danaus suggested.

“No!”

“Mira—”

“Absolutely not. If she boards my plane, she’s going to Venice, and that’s where she’s going to stay.”

“Oh, please no,” she pleaded. At the suggestion, the woman grew considerably paler as she clenched both of her hands in her lap.

“She wouldn’t survive in Venice with the others,” Danaus said, “particularly since I know that you have no intention of remaining there.”

“I won’t take her to Savannah and she can’t remain in Budapest. That only leaves Venice,” I argued, struggling to keep the smile off my lips. There was something very appealing about sending a helpless Sofia to Venice. Deep down, I knew that I couldn’t and wouldn’t drop her off in Venice. I had moments when I could be truly cold-hearted, but there were limitations to even my vicious nature. She wouldn’t survive her first night in Venice and we all knew it.

Unfortunately, I was still stuck with trying to come up with someplace to send her where she would be out of my hair, and preferably away from Danaus. Furthermore, the place had to be secure from a potential attack from Veyron should I decide to leave the nightwalker alive. At the moment I didn’t care one way or the other. I just wanted to get home again, and now that the naturi were dead, I had no reason to remain in Budapest beyond giving Macaire a chance to kill me.

“Why not send her to Themis?” I suggested.

Danaus pushed away from the table and rose to his feet, looking far from pleased with my idea. “You want to put her in Ryan’s hands?”

“She’s a human who knows about our world. I can wipe her memory and set her free, but that’s not going to keep her safe from Veyron and anyone else who might know about her. Ryan can watch over her, while she gives the researchers some interesting little tidbits about my world. It’s a brilliant idea.”

“It’s a terrible idea.”

“You had no problem putting Lily in his hands,” I accused, hating to even say the child’s name out loud. She didn’t need to be brought into this conversation, but it didn’t make any sense to me that Danaus would be willing to send something dear and precious to us to Ryan, but not this creature.

“Lily was going there under the protection of your name. I know that you wouldn’t do the same for Sofia. Ryan doesn’t owe me any favors and he’s not trying to cultivate my friendship. Sofia would not have the same security that Lily would have had.”

“It doesn’t matter anymore. If she doesn’t want to stay in Budapest, then she goes to Themis and is out of my hair as far as I’m concerned,” I said, throwing my arms up in the air. “In truth it doesn’t matter to me since she’s not going back to Savannah, which is where I am headed after this coven nonsense is finished.”

I cocked my head to the side and stretched out my powers as I felt a shifting in the air. Danaus grew instantly quiet when I raised my hand. Someone was coming, and I preferred that they did not catch us in the middle of this particular conversation. Sofia looked from me to Danaus, her expression growing tense.

A couple of seconds later both Stefan and Macaire appeared in the hotel room. A part of me had secretly hoped that the coven Elder had returned to Venice where he belonged, but apparently he was lingering in Budapest to make sure that whatever trap he’d set was properly sprung on Danaus and me. A frown pulled at the corners of my lips at Valerio’s painful absence. The nightwalker had been my personal pocket of mischievous joy when he was around, and now I was just stuck with two nightwalkers that wanted me dead and a hunter that was trying to get me killed.

“How is he?” I asked, content to ignore Macaire for the time being.

“He’ll live,” Stefan replied as he unbuttoned his winter coat to reveal a handsome dark suit. “He fed heavily last night and I saw to it that he fed again as soon as I rose. He just needs another night of rest and food before he travels again.”

“That is a shame about Valerio,” Macaire murmured, rubbing one gloved hand against his chin.

“Valerio will be fine,” I said firmly, fighting to keep from clenching my teeth whenever I spoke to the Elder. “The important part is that we have rid the city of the naturi. I need to still make a few phone calls to get arrangements in place, but Danaus and I will be returning to Venice tonight. I’m sure you two gentlemen can manage on your own. In fact, there’s nothing keeping you here now.”

“We’re leaving Budapest?” Stefan demanded first, his mouth falling open in shock.

I nodded at him, but turned my gaze directly on Macaire, who was looking less than pleased by my announcement. “As I recall, the only reason for our coming to Budapest in the first place was the naturi infestation, which has now been cleared out. There is no reason for me to linger in this city any longer. We were to reconvene in Venice, and then Danaus and I will be returning home to Savannah.”

So, you’re going to permit me back in Savannah, but not Sofia? Danaus whispered in my mind, making me wish I could throw something at his head. Yet in all honesty, I wasn’t sure which of us was acting more childish at the moment. I had a sick feeling that it was me. Sofia wanted her freedom, and Danaus was determined to give it to her. As his friend and companion, I should be willing to support him despite the fact that it went against my ways as a nightwalker.

It wasn’t that I was unwilling to take on the protection of yet another creature, because I felt confident that Veyron would not travel to my domain of Savannah for her. It was more the concern that I would be protecting a creature that seemed destined to become Danaus’s lover one day. I didn’t think I had it in me to be that strong and not allow jealousy to crush Sofia.

“What about Ferko and Odelia? What about my Michelle?” Stefan demanded, taking a couple of steps toward me.

I smiled broadly at him, placing both of my hands on his stiff shoulders. “As keeper of Budapest, you have my permission to track them both down and eliminate them in any manner that you see fit so long as it doesn’t endanger our secret.”

“You’re too kind,” he replied, pulling out of my touch.

“I can well understand your eagerness to return to the coven and home again, but you can’t leave this domain in the chaotic order that it is now,” Macaire interjected quickly before I could turn my back on the both of them. “You need to establish your position of power within the city.”

“I have. There was the language lesson at the Széchenyi Baths,” I said, but Stefan was quick to speak up.

“That was in the name of the coven and establishing yourself as an Elder to be respected.”

I forced a broad smile at Stefan as I clenched my teeth together. I didn’t need his help. “There was also the slaughter at Bahnhof just the other night. I do believe that was in the name of establishing my position as keeper, if I’m not mistaken.”

“Yes, I heard about Bahnhof and that was a very nice start,” Macaire conceded.

“Cleared the place out,” Stefan said proudly, referring to the nightwalkers that quickly vacated the nightclub rather than stay in our presence any longer than absolutely necessary.

Macaire heaved a heavy sigh and placed his hands into the pockets of his large overcoat. “Unfortunately, I get the feeling that the whispers of that event are still making the rounds among our kind here in this large city before you can comfortably vacate it, even for a short period of time. You need to make a larger display of your power, Mira. Take the advice of one who has been around quite a bit longer than you. When you took over Savannah, there were few nightwalkers present. Budapest is considerably larger and older. You will need a grander display to have an impact on your people here.”

“Do you have something specific in mind?” I asked, knowing that he did.

“The Solstice Ball,” Sofia said in breathless tones. I turned to look up at her, but she had turned her wide eyes on the other Elder. “Tonight is Odelia’s Solstice Ball. Everyone will be there.”

“Exactly,” Macaire said with a smile, then turned his attention to me. “Collecting another one? She doesn’t seem to be quite your type.”

“Yes, well, I’m open to new experiences,” I said with an ugly smile before turning my attention to Sofia. “What can you tell me about Odelia’s party tonight? Have you ever been?”

“I’ve been a few times. As far as I know, every nightwalker in the city makes an appearance at this ball with his or her pets. It’s a very formal affair with elegant ball gowns and beautiful suits. Veyron always called it the only civilized affair of the year because there was no fighting and no werewolves present.”

“What about warlocks or witches?” Danaus inquired, before I could.

“Not as far as I know. Just vampires and their pets, which are always humans,” she said with a pretty smile for him.

“Then I guess we’re going to a ball tonight, gentlemen. It’s a shame that Valerio can’t make it, because this is exactly the kind of thing that would have raised his spirits. Where is it held?”

“I’m not exactly sure,” Sofia said, “but it’s always been in a private castle in the Castle District.”

“I’m sure we can find it with little problem,” Stefan interrupted, arching one eyebrow at me. “We can just focus on the heavy concentration of nightwalkers in the middle of the city.”

“Then we should get going,” I said. “The sooner this mess is taken care of, the sooner we can get back to Venice. Danaus, stay behind and protect Sofia while I am out tonight. Macaire, Stefan, and I apparently have a formal ball to attend.”

“Is that what you’re wearing?” Stefan demanded, looking me up and down. I was back in my leather pants and leather halter top with its varied selection of knives spread across my body.

My smile widened for him, allowing my fangs to peek out. I wrapped one arm around his shoulders, forcing him to place an arm around my back so his hand rested on my hip. “My ball gown is at the cleaners. I’m sure they will understand. Besides, this makes the impression that I want to leave behind.”

A reluctant smile tweaked one corner of his mouth. “Blood, fear, and ruthless violence,” Stefan said.

“Like Macaire said, it’s all about leaving the right impression, and I have no doubt this is the one I want to leave behind in Budapest if I am to be both her keeper and a coven Elder. Let’s dance,” I said, grinning at my companion in violence. Despite the fact that he still wanted me dead, Stefan and I were starting to get along very well. But then he always loved a bloodbath and terror in his victims. Something I was starting to be good at once again.

No matter. It was time to crash Odelia’s party, and for once, I couldn’t wait, even if I did have Macaire tagging along.