Authors: Jocelynn Drake
“My cell ph—”
“Cell phone!” he shrieked. In one fluid movement, he unfolded his body and poured to his feet before his mistress. “Call you like a common servant, like Charlotte or Gabriel? Contact you like a human would? You’re my mistress and yet I am to be without your presence.”
To my surprise, Mira broke eye contact first, pacing away from him. “I’ll not have you mucking around in my mind at all hours.” She slowly circled to her right, moving with the grace of a panther edging closer for the kill. “I’m not Sadira.”
Tristan moved as well, his hands out at his sides and open like a gunslinger waiting for the first opportunity to reach for his guns. The two vampires were sizing each other up. The younger vampire was greatly outmatched by Mira. Any scuffle between the two would prove to be brief, but even with the odds against him, it didn’t seem to be enough to deter Tristan from wanting her blood.
“It’s more than that!” he shouted, his voice echoing across the empty park. “You’re not in my thoughts either. Since my arrival in your domain, you have not once dipped into my thoughts, not reached out to make your presence known.”
“Forgive me. I didn’t realize you needed a babysitter,” she sneered, with a mocking bow. “More than a century of time has slipped before your eyes. You don’t need me there watching over you at all times.”
Mira’s only warning was a low growl in the back of his throat. The younger vampire lunged at her, knocking her onto her back. He gripped her shoulders tightly, his legs straddling her slim hips. His shoulder-length hair fell like a curtain around his face, making it impossible to determine if he had bared his fangs to his mistress. As a reflex, I took a step forward, trying to decide how to best separate them without getting my own throat ripped open in the process.
“This has nothing to do with you, hunter,” Mira said with a grunt, pushing Tristan off of her. The young vampire quickly rolled to his feet but remained squatted low, waiting for his mistress to attack. Mira remained seated on the ground, but she had pulled her feet up underneath her body so that she could quickly rise if she needed to.
“It’s not about needing a caretaker,” Tristan began. His hands were clenched so tight into fists they trembled. “As I’m sure you remember, Sadira provided ample restriction. It’s about compassion. About having a familiar voice in the darkness.”
“So when I was unavailable, you chose to pursue a girl that could make our lives unbearable? You know the rules. Avoid those that can’t disappear,” Mira argued, but I could feel the anger in her subsiding as her taut shoulders started to slump.
“The girl was nothing. Just a meal. She belonged to others and was offered to me in a gesture of hospitality.” Tristan straightened, shoving both of his hands through his hair in a frustrated motion.
Mira stood as well, a soft sigh escaping her parted lips. “I don’t know if I can be what you want, Tristan,” she whispered. “I’m your protector. That is all.”
“This family might be just the four of us, but it is still a family. You neither seek nor give comfort when we both need it so much. Particularly now, when hunters wait for us to slip.” Tristan’s eyes lifted to settle on my face. Mira turned her head to look at me as well, her hair slipped like a waterfall off of her shoulder. I had thought they had forgotten I was even there, but now the spotlight had shifted to me.
Standing in the thick darkness with two vampires was not a strange occurrence for me. What was strange was that now I felt like the outsider in a dark world I had inhabited for most of my life. I was the foreign creature that had invaded their domain. I didn’t like the feeling. Clenching my fist, I was surprised to discover that I was still holding my dagger. My eyes fell on the silver blade glinting in the distant lamplight. And maybe I was the only threat standing in that small, circular building. Neither had attacked me or even made a move toward me, and yet I stood ready to cut out the heart of the first creature to look my way.
Mira walked over and wrapped her arms around Tristan’s shoulders, pulling his left shoulder against her sternum. “No,” Mira murmured with a shake of her head. Her left hand drifted across his face, her thumb grazing his cheek in a caress that drew his eyes from me to her face.
“But he’s still a hunter,” Tristan said. I could barely make out his expression, but the words sounded like more of a question than a statement. I had a feeling that Mira had said something to him telepathically, but I didn’t pick it up.
Leaning in, she pressed a gentle kiss to his temple. “Always.” The word had been so soft that it sounded like she had breathed it rather than whispered it. Her gaze returned to me, her glowing lavender eyes coldly weighing me. When she looked at me, I no longer had the feeling that she saw me as the enemy. Like she had said earlier, she saw me as one of them and was determined that I see myself the same way.
“Enough,” I gruffly said, sliding the dagger back into its sheath. The conversation was starting to grow uncomfortable and it would only result in my grabbing a second dagger. “What about the girl?”
“I don’t know much.” Tristan shrugged as Mira released her hold on him. “I stopped in the Dark Room more than a month ago. She was there with a group of others. They offered her and I accepted.”
“What do you mean ‘offered her’?” I was already feeling on edge. After the confusion of the First Communion, then the apartment, the morgue, and now this scene, I was ready to call it a night and start fresh tomorrow. Exhaustion was starting to coil in my shoulders, causing the muscles to throb and ache. The night was still young, but I felt the need to sit down and think about what was happening instead of just getting sucked deeper into the chaos that was Mira’s existence.
“Like a host offering you a bit of wine and cheese upon your arrival at their house,” Mira said lightly, as she strolled over to the far side of the gazebo. She turned and leaned her back against the ledge, crossing her left ankle over her right as she shoved her hands into her jean pockets. “The locals are curious about Tristan, I’m sure. They invited him over for a bit of light conversation. Sharing a pet is a polite gesture.”
“And she came to you willingly?” I asked, tearing my eyes from Mira to Tristan.
“Of course.”
“But that wasn’t the last time you saw her,” Mira prompted. There was no thread of anger or threat in her voice. “The mark on her arm was from you, but it wasn’t a month old.”
“Four nights ago,” he softly said. His eyes fell to his shoes as his right foot slid along the rough concrete. “I was passing through the club district. It was early and I hadn’t fed. She saw me. We talked for a while and she offered.” Tristan looked up, locking his wide eyes on Mira. “I tried to heal the wound, but she wouldn’t let me.”
“Who did she belong to?” I demanded, taking a step into the gazebo.
“Gregor. She was with Gregor’s group,” Tristan said. He shoved his hands into his pockets and walked over to lean back against one of the window arches near Mira.
“Gregor!” Mira cried, running one hand through her hair to push it back from her face. The nightwalker lurched to her feet, pacing toward me. “What possessed you to associate with that pack of mongrels?”
“Mira…” I sighed.
“Yeah, yeah,” she grumbled, waving me off as she turned and paced back to the opposite side of the gazebo. “New to town. Doesn’t know any better.”
“Can this vampire still be found at the Dark Room?” I asked, trying to get us back on track. I didn’t care about her personal opinion about the various vampire cliques within the area.
“Yes, but we can’t go there tonight,” Mira replied as she folded her arms over her middle.
“Why not?” I snapped. I felt like we weren’t getting anywhere, but Gregor might finally be able to give us some background information on this dead girl, and yet Mira was unwilling to track him down.
“He was at the gathering,” Mira said, pointedly frowning at Tristan for a second before looking back at me. “After that, I doubt he would go back to the Dark Room and I would rather handle this matter there. Besides, there are other matters that need to be taken care of before we approach him.”
The question was on the tip of my tongue, but I swallowed it. I truly doubted that she would give me a direct answer. “Then where to now?”
“The town house.” She sighed, her shoulders slumping. She put her hand in her jacket pocket, causing her keys to jangle softly. “I’ve had enough of you.” Mira turned to Tristan, who had moved deeper into the shadows. “Return home. We’ll talk more later.”
Mira swept past me, her keys jingling in her left hand as she walked toward the car. I looked back into the gazebo to find that Tristan had already soundlessly disappeared. I could only guess that he had gone through one of the large windows and was cutting across the shadowy plaza. Taking a deep breath, I reached out with my powers, stretching out across the square. Tristan was easy to spot, already on the other side of the plaza, deep within the shadows that lounged in the far corners of the park. The vampires I had sensed just a mile away had already departed.
Sunrise was still several hours away, but it seemed like Mira was calling a halt to tonight’s investigation. Was she tired? By her extreme paleness and the cold, waxy feel of her skin, I knew it had been a while since she had last fed. There was also the slight feeling of her hunger beating against me, but the feeling was still weak and thin, as if it had yet to gain any real strength. I knew she wouldn’t feed with me at hand, a fact that I was extremely grateful for. It was something I didn’t want to see or feel. But even if she did drop me off so she could feed, there were still too many hours left until she had to seek shelter. I didn’t trust her not to continue the investigation without me. Was she trying to protect her own kind from me, or maybe just Tristan?
I shifted my scan to the opposite edge of the park and froze, my breath becoming lodged behind an anxious knot in my throat.
“Mira!” I shouted, turning on my heel to look back at the Fire Starter. She paused and turned to face me, still playing with her keys. The light metallic jingle was the only noise in the air. “What’s up that hill?” I pointed toward the dark, winding road that disappeared around a sharp corner.
“The conservatory. Why?”
“Naturi.”
FIFTEEN
T
he Telfair Conservatory was a large structure made almost entirely of glass and steel, housing some of the rarest flowers and plants in the world. Except for a couple of streetlamps at the top and bottom of the block, the area was completely black. Large trees and palms rose up around the conservatory like prehistoric beasts in the night, guarding the structure and its secrets.
Mira parked her car in front of the enormous greenhouse and stuffed her keys deep into her pants pocket so they wouldn’t jingle as she walked. For the first time in Savannah tonight, she looked tense. Her hands were balled into tight fists at her side and her face was carefully wiped of all expression.
Of course, I wasn’t feeling much better. There were six members of the naturi somewhere in the large structure, and I couldn’t begin to guess why. Could it have something to do with Abigail? Or had they been sent by their queen, Aurora, to collect a specific flower or plant for a spell? If so, why here? The Telfair Conservatory couldn’t be the only hothouse to have what Aurora needed. Why willingly go into Mira’s known domain unless it was with the sole purpose of taking on the Fire Starter?
Unfortunately, I hadn’t a clue as to what we were facing. I could only sense the naturi; I couldn’t tell exactly which clan we were dealing with.
“Open the trunk,” I said when Mira started to walk away from the car. With brow furrowed, the vampire pulled her keys out of her pocket and pushed a button on the remote. The latch gave a muffled click and the trunk popped open.
Lifting the lid higher, I dug through my duffel bag. In the faint yellow illumination cast by the tiny trunk lights, I quickly inspected my Browning, checking to see that the magazine was still full. Slipping it back into the holster, I clipped it to my belt at the small of my back. I shed my jacket, tossing it in the trunk. The cold night air bit through my cotton turtleneck.
“Need anything?” I asked, looking up at Mira. The nightwalker glanced over her shoulder for a second at the looming glass building then moved to stand beside me at the trunk, a dark frown pulling at her lips. She opened her own bag and withdrew what looked to be the Glock I gave her months ago when we flew to Venice. With more ease than I had expected, she slipped the magazine from her gun, briefly glanced at the bullets, and then easily replaced it. When I first gave her the weapon, she had held it like a piece of rotting garbage. Apparently, her view of guns had changed. While I had never been overly fond of guns, they were very effective when attempting to dispatch the naturi. For that reason, I adapted.
Mira shoved the gun into her jacket pocket and softly shut the trunk. The vampire led me around the side of the conservatory to a side entrance. I pulled my wallet out of my back pocket and withdrew a pair of tools to pick the lock, a skill I had picked up during my travels to the Far East and refined upon my arrival in London, though I was still struggling with some of the more sophisticated burglar alarm systems. I was about to kneel down before the door, with its curved steel handle, when Mira put a hand on my shoulder stopping me. Stepping in front of me, she pulled her wallet from her back pocket. I snorted derisively when she withdrew a credit card and returned the wallet back to her pocket.
“You’re kidding, right?” I whispered.
“Nope,” she murmured. She carefully worked the credit card into the slim crevice between the door and the doorjamb. “The conservatory is run and funded heavily by the local pack. Only idiots with a serious death wish break in.”
Yeah, idiots like us.
I thought it, but didn’t say it. With Mira, it was always something.
After only a few seconds of shimmying the card, Mira had the door unlocked.
“You’ve done this before,” I said as she slipped the credit card back into her pocket.