Authors: Jocelynn Drake
“So, she’s hiding out in the open?” It didn’t make any sense. Why would this frightened vampire be pacing Johnson Square? I knew for a fact that the naturi didn’t abide by the rules that Mira had set down for her domain, considering the slaughter that had occurred in Forsyth Park just a couple of months ago.
A frown pulled at her full lips as her eyes darted over to the park. “She wants to meet with me.”
“A meeting? This is how you schedule meetings?” I mocked, loving that I finally had the chance to rib her a little. “You know cell phones are a great, convenient way to communicate. I really didn’t think you’d be so reluctant to accept this century’s technology.”
“Asshole,” she snapped, releasing my hand. “Put the knife away before I give you a new place for you to store it.” Mira darted through traffic using her gift of vampire speed, leaving James and me to catch up a minute later when there was a lull in the traffic.
When we got across the square to the small fountain on its eastern side, Mira was already standing next to the other vampire. She appeared to be a young woman, somewhere between the age of twenty-two and twenty-eight when she had been reborn, with long, dark brown hair that hung wild about her shoulders. She was talking quite animatedly until her wide eyes fell on me. Her mouth fell open and she attempted to step away until Mira grabbed her arm.
With the water cascading behind them, I couldn’t make out their conversation despite my keen sense of hearing. The only thing I could make out was the frightened vampire saying “I’ll tell them,” before Mira released her. The vampire looked at me for a second and then ran.
By the time I reached Mira, she was cursing in Italian. The steady stream of water garbled some of her words, protecting the secrets that had been told at this spot over the years.
“Good news?” I asked when I finally came to stand beside Mira.
“No, I—” She stopped herself mid-sentence, shoving one hand through her hair as she paced a couple feet away from the fountain and back again. She stopped again and looked up at me before returning to her pacing. “Something has come up. You and James should go back to the hotel. I have to take care of this and then I’ll come back for you.”
“No.” Dropping my bag on the ground, I grabbed her by the shoulders, holding her still so that she was forced to meet my gaze. “You’re not going anywhere without me. What’s going on?”
“Nightwalker business.”
“We don’t have time for this,” I reminded her, releasing her shoulders.
“I know, but I can’t put this off. They already know I’m here.” She paced back toward the fountain and stared down at the dancing water that seemed to sparkle in the distant lamplight. The hand wrapped around the handle of one bag tightened, causing the leather to creak.
“What’s going on? Does this have to do with the murder?” James inquired before I could. I had the sickening suspicion that she intended to work on the investigation without me. I didn’t trust her to leave the evidence untouched or to take out the murderer with me there.
“No!” she snapped, turning sharply on her heel to face me. She was already frustrated by the sudden turn of events and pushing her wasn’t helping her mood. And in truth, I wasn’t feeling particularly patient either. The longer I stayed in Mira’s domain, the more I felt like a perpetual outsider. I crossed my arms over my chest, balling my hands into fists.
The nightwalker ran her left hand through her hair again, pushing some errant strands from her eyes. She stared at me in silence, a slow smile slithering across her face. “Fine. You can come, too, but James has to remain behind. After this little meeting, we’ll pick up James and then we can go to the woman’s apartment.”
“Where?” I inquired, the wary word becoming lodged temporarily in my throat. A knot of tension tightened in my stomach and I fought the urge to reach for my knife. I knew I wasn’t going to like this at all.
Mira started to walk again, ignoring my question, but I could feel the laughter and amusement bubbling from her.
“Danaus?” James asked, looking more than a little lost and confused. He wasn’t the only one.
“Go back to the hotel. I’ll call you when we get back,” I said before picking up my bag again and following her. “This isn’t a game, Mira,” I called after her. “I will defend myself if I am attacked.”
Mira laughed deeply and spun around to face me. I didn’t feel it like usual—it was just a sound. “We’re in my city this time,” she said, walking backward. “They won’t touch you unless you strike first. It’s all a matter of whether you can behave yourself.”
From the square, we walked a couple of blocks to the east until we reached one of the city’s few parking garages. At the back corner of the third floor, Mira stopped in front of a black car and sighed. There was an almost peaceful look on her face as she gazed down at the sleek vehicle.
“Isn’t she beautiful?” she whispered, not even looking up at me when I came to stand beside her. “I got her a few days before James showed up. I ordered her months ago after Knox banged up my M5.”
“You like cars?” I asked, unable to keep the skepticism out of my voice.
Mira snorted and looked up at me like I had lost my mind. “This isn’t just a car!” she cried. “This is a 2010 BMW M6 with a five-hundred-horsepower, V10 engine. This exquisite piece of steel, glass, and leather is a work of art.” Then to my shock, she bent down and placed a gentle kiss on the hood of the car. “She’s my baby.” With another sigh, Mira walked around to the trunk, trailing her left hand over the car’s sleek lines in a loving caress. She popped the trunk using a remote and dropped in the bag she had been carrying, then stepped aside so that I could place mine beside hers.
After thirty seconds on the road with her, I realized that it wasn’t the supple leather seats, the impressive sound system, or the curvaceous lines that screamed of sin and seduction that drew Mira. No, it was the raw power that she had at her fingertips. With the tires squealing, we tore out of the parking garage and through a maze of streets to the interstate, pouring through all seven gears like water rushing down a narrow gully.
A smile lifted her lips and her eyes never wavered from the road as she weaved between the widely spaced cars on the expressway. Despite the breakneck speed, I felt safe. She wouldn’t do anything to threaten the existence of her “baby.” And she was right. The car was an impressive symphony of sex and power that fit Mira perfectly.
NINE
W
e followed the pale concrete ribbon winding north out of the city and along the interstate. As traffic picked up, Mira eased up on the gas and relaxed her grip on the black leather steering wheel. In the glow of the pale interior lights, I could see the tension creeping back into her face as the joy of being back in her car started to fade.
“Where are we going?” I asked, my deep voice rumbling in the silent car like a bit of thunder.
“A small gathering of nightwalkers,” she stated.
“Why?”
Mira sucked her lower lip into her mouth, holding it with her teeth for a second. This couldn’t possibly bode well for me. “First Communion,” she finally volunteered.
“Why do I have a feeling that this has nothing to do with the Last Supper?” I said, sarcasm sharpening my tone. My right hand tightened on the armrest on the door. This was going to be bad.
“Last night, a nightwalker within the city brought over a companion,” she began.
“Brought over? As in, made another of your kind?” I interrupted.
“Yes, and if you don’t settle down, I’ll lock you in the trunk,” she threatened, her fingers tightening on the steering wheel. “I’m not too thrilled with this development myself, but it’s too late. The deed is done.” She pinned me with a warning gaze for a couple seconds, and I gritted my teeth and waited for her to proceed. This was an argument for another time. She was right, in that there was nothing to stop the fact that there was yet another vampire in the world.
“All right,” she continued in a huff. “First Communion is the first time a new vampire feeds. For my kind, it’s a big deal. There’s no real ceremony, but if the sire and new night walker are hunting in another nightwalker’s territory, it is customary for the keeper to be present at the First Communion.”
“Why?”
“To begin the process of indoctrination into our culture. There is a lot a fledgling must learn if he or she is to survive. The new nightwalker must learn the full meaning of words like ‘master’ and ‘slave.’”
Something cold and dead crawled into her voice. There were times when something dark uncoiled in Mira when she spoke of her kind. While she was a staunch defender of vampires against the naturi, there were moments that I don’t think she really liked some of the aspects of her culture. And I think it was all from some dark corner of her past. I knew nothing of the years spent with her maker beyond the fact that Mira’s hatred for Sadira was second only to her hatred of the naturi.
“Will other vampires be there?” I asked.
“I imagine it will be quite crowded. It has been a long time since we last had a First Communion and things have been dark since Machu Picchu. Besides, I have been somewhat inaccessible—when it spreads that I will be present, more will come.”
“And you think it wise for me to be there? A vampire hunter? I hope you don’t think to pass me off as a pet.”
Mira laughed and there was something unexpectedly friendly in the sound. There was nothing in it to seduce or coerce like so many of her subtle little tricks. It was just the sound of pure amusement.
“You would never be considerate enough to play the part,” she chuckled, a soft smile lifting her full lips. “No, it’s not wise for you to be there, but when have I ever been wise where you are concerned?”
“True,” I conceded, fighting back a grin. Her good mood was almost infectious in the few moments that it blossomed into life.
“No one will attack as long as you don’t attack them. However,” she said, her smile slipping a notch, “the others will be feeding while we are there. Many of the nightwalkers will bring humans to feed from. All of these humans will be there willingly.”
I snorted in disbelief and opened my mouth to comment, but Mira continued before I could speak. “First Communion is one of our most important rites of passage. For some, it’s even an intimate moment. If a nightwalker brings a human, it won’t be some random victim off the street. The human and nightwalker will have had a history; a relationship together for a length of time. No human will be harmed tonight…unless you start something.”
It suddenly dawned on me that Mira’s concern was not the nightwalkers’ reaction to my appearance tonight. She was more concerned with me doing something that would embarrass her or endanger her kind. It was also strange that she was taking me to this ceremony when it was obviously very important to her kind. Now that I knew what was going on, I had no problem with Mira dropping me off to wait for her. Yet, now it seemed like she actually wanted me there and I couldn’t even begin to guess as to why.
We slipped into a pregnant silence as Mira turned the car off the expressway, winding it along one of the exit ramps. We had entered a small suburb of Savannah, with its old houses and quaint shops. We were less than ten minutes from downtown. If we were lucky, the ceremony would go quickly and we could be downtown before 10 P.M. How long would it take for a fledgling to feed, for Mira to speak to her people, and then be gone? I couldn’t imagine she would want to linger with me hanging on their every word.
As we headed deeper into the quiet neighborhoods with their barren flower beds and darkened windows, I could feel the vampires ahead of us. At first it was just a handful and then their numbers climbed. By the time we parked in the cracked and crumbling driveway of a two-story house with the peeling white paint, I could sense more than thirty vampires waiting inside. At a guess, I’d say that it was every vampire within a fifty-mile radius; maybe even farther. Savannah hadn’t had thirty vampires even before I started cutting into their numbers months ago.
I looked over at Mira as she turned off the car. Even in the darkness, I could see her frown and furrowed brow. “Are you sure about this?” I asked, hesitant to even unbuckle my seat belt. I had never battled this many vampires at once, not even when we faced the coven.
“It’s more than I expected, but everything will be fine,” she said, pulling the key from the ignition. Mira opened her door and gracefully slid out. I followed behind her, distinctly lacking her confidence. Of course, Mira had walked into the coven’s Main Hall with her head held high and oozing self-confidence. That was just her style.
As she shut her door, I saw her snap back around as something caught her attention at the last second. She lunged a couple of steps forward then stopped, her fists balled at her side. Her powers exploded from her body, nearly knocking me back a step. I grabbed my knife from its sheath at my side and stood beside her, stretching out my powers as well. I scanned the area, but I felt nothing but the vampires in the house behind us.
“What—?”
“Naturi. Do you sense any naturi?” she rasped in a low voice. Her whole body hummed with energy, ready to lash out.
“No. None anywhere near here.” It had become second nature at this point to search for them. The naturi seemed to be constantly at our heels, lurking around every corner. I’ve learned to search for them at every opportunity if I want to have any hope of staying alive much longer.
Mira stood in the middle of the empty street, her hands extended out from her body, bathed in blue flames. Confusion and rage rolled off her in equal parts, hitting me in the chest as I took a couple steps closer to her. My gaze swung from one end of the street to the other, praying that no one chose that moment to look out their window. Mira had always been very careful to be discreet about the use of her powers, doing nothing that would threaten the exposure of her world. Yet, I could feel the fear driving her to this desperate act. If anything moved at that moment, it was going to be burned to a crisp.
“Mira, you’re drawing attention to us,” I hissed. “Put the fire out.”