Authors: Jocelynn Drake
A flicker of blue caught the corner of my eye, drawing my aim to my right. I was too slow. The tiny dart plunged into my shoulder, digging deep into the muscle. The stab of pain was instantly followed by an intense burning that slithered down my right arm and under my shoulder blade. The liquid fire stole through my limb, sapping my strength so that I was forced to slip the Browning into my left hand. I squeezed the trigger, but the naturi darted away just in time. Sucking in a sharp breath, I jerked to the left as I sighted the naturi again, ignoring the faint breeze created by the dart that just missed my neck.
I fired the gun again. The naturi didn’t even have a chance to scream, as the nine millimeter bullet tore through its throat, nearly severing its head. The creature flopped down in a bed of ferns and didn’t regain the air.
With my back pressed against the rock wall, I scanned the area, the gun raised in my left hand. My right arm hung limp at my side, fire pumping through my veins. The poison’s darkness closed in around me, crowding my vision. The naturi had disappeared, possibly hoping that the poison would work its magic and allow them to pick me apart when I finally fell unconscious at their feet.
Fighting the urge to lower my gun in frustration and rub my aching eyes, I reached out with my powers to search the room. I didn’t expect to locate the last three. A window was broken. They had an easy escape route.
I definitely didn’t expect to sense one directly behind me. Swinging around, I took a step backward toward the bridge. My heart pounded in my chest, increasing the throbbing in my arm, but also washing away some of the lethargy that had crept into my frame. For now, I just needed some time to fight this poison that was burning through my system. My own supernatural healing would fight it off and finally overcome its effects. It just needed a little time.
Something large and dark suddenly flew at my head. As I ducked, I fired off a shot at the blue monster. My aim was off and I heard the bullet tear through wood. The local pack wasn’t going to be pleased in the morning. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw something flop and slap against the floor in a pale strip of moonlight. Looking down, I discovered what looked to be a gold and white koi. Great. The bastards were now throwing fish at me.
Gritting my teeth, I resumed my search of the room. I stepped toward the bridge, carefully avoiding the fish. The wood creaked and groaned under my weight. Another flash of blue darted out from behind a thick grouping of leaves. I lifted my gun, my finger putting pressure on the trigger as I tried to lead my target. Yet before I could squeeze the trigger, another fish was pitched at me in the darkness. This one looked to be the size of a large trout instead of the fist-sized koi I had encountered just moments ago. I tried to lift my right arm to block it, but it was slow to respond. Twisting, I felt a sharp stabbing pain biting into my left calf muscle.
With a curse on the tip of my tongue, I fell backward over the railing of the bridge into the water. The only positive was that I had the presence of mind to fire back at the naturi to my right before I hit the icy water. My back slammed into the rock floor, knocking the air from my lungs as my head went under the water. Despite being in a representation of the rain forest, the water that flowed through the room was ice cold. It seeped into my clothes and dug its sharp talons into my skin.
I shoved myself back to my feet, only to discover that the pool of water barely reached my knees. The falling water pounded the floor behind me, sending up a cool mist. My teeth were clenched in a desperate attempt to keep them from chattering as I scanned the area with both my eyes and my powers. There were only two naturi left. Apparently I had managed to get off a lucky shot before hitting the water.
Enough games. I was cold and wet. The pain in my arm and leg was throbbing, sending angry waves through my body. It was becoming a struggle to remain conscious as the poison flooded my systems and leaked into my brain. I had had less trouble with the damn naturi in Spain. Shoving the gun back in the holster at the small of my back, I stepped forward. With both hands on the railing, I slowly hauled myself over it and back onto the bridge.
The naturi chose that moment to attack, believing that I was helpless. Blue and orange glows shot from behind a tree and flew straight at me. Expelling a slow breath, I lifted my empty left hand and concentrated on the creatures about the size of a young child. At the same time, I reached down into the black shadowy core that existed deep in my chest. The hard ball of power roared with hellish joy as I touched it with my thoughts, summoning it. It flowed out, faster than the water falling behind me until it filled my entire frame. It blotted out the pain in my limbs and the chill that was eating away at my skin.
Suddenly, I could hear the naturi’s heartbeats, thudding faster than a hummingbird’s. I could hear the blood pumping through their nimble little bodies. I concentrated, struggling to control the rush of power that was swamping my brain. It wanted more than just these little naturi. The tiny creatures came to a sudden halt in midair, their voices raised in an ear-piercing scream before they fell back to the earth with a soft thud.
Lowering my hand, I reluctantly pushed the swell of power back down to the dark core. It shoved back with a frustrated roar in my head, demanding to be set free. It was intoxicating. A rush unlike any I had ever felt. But I would never let it rule me. Power such as that had only one purpose: to kill.
Slowly, the power drained from my limbs and I discovered I was trembling in my cold, wet clothes. I drew in a couple breaths through my nose, expelling them through my clenched teeth. Pushing away from the railing of the bridge, I walked over to where the last naturi had fallen. I couldn’t see it, but I could hear a faint pop and hiss of bubbling flesh. I had caused its blood to boil within its skin. I imagine its little heart had exploded or melted under the sudden intense heat.
A bori owned half of my soul. I could heal faster than normal humans, sense other creatures, and I didn’t age. But my true “gift” was my ability to cause another creature’s blood to boil. I was a bigger monster than Mira ever could be.
Leaning against the nearby wall, I drew in a steadying breath. My legs were like jelly and my arms were trembling. I was cold and exhausted. And I wasn’t alone. My only warning was the snapping of a branch. I didn’t have enough time before the naturi was on me. Slamming her small body into mine, she shoved a small blade deep into my stomach. I groaned as she pulled the knife free and held it to my throat, cutting through the thick fabric of the turtleneck to slice the tender flesh beneath there. I could smell her blood on the air and her arms trembled as she fought me.
I was a fool. I had managed to wound the naturi I shot before falling into the water, but I didn’t complete another scan of the area to be sure that I had actually killed her. She had been hiding in the shadows, waiting for me to relax so that she could finally strike.
“You may have killed my people, but you won’t leave here either,” she snarled. One of her hands bit into my shoulder, her nails digging through my shirt, while the other held the knife pressed against my throat. I gripped one wrist with both hands, fighting to keep the blade from digging deeper into my throat. She wasn’t that strong, but between the poison and the use of my powers, I was exhausted.
Gritting my teeth, I let my eyes fall shut as the knife edged another millimeter deeper into my flesh, hitting veins that released a fresh flow of blood. It didn’t take much to tap in to the powers that lingered just below the surface, demanding the life of this naturi. The release was like an explosion from my chest, causing me to cry out in surprise. I was too tired to keep it under tight control as usual. The naturi jerked as the energy swept through her in a flash, bringing her blood to an almost instant boil. She died so quickly she didn’t even have enough time to scream in pain.
I shoved her corpse off of me and collapsed to my knees, my breathing labored as stars spun before my eyes. The energy continued to flow from my soul, searching for other creatures to destroy. It was only a second before I sensed Mira close by. The monster within me chuckled with glee as it reached for her own energy. But instead of destroying her, I could feel it wanting to combine the two powers, creating an even bigger threat to the world.
“No!” I groaned, pressing both hands to the cold concrete walkway as I centered all of my attention on the powers that were running rampant from my body. I had never lost complete control like this. I was a danger to every living creature around me—human, nightwalker, or naturi. Race didn’t matter, only that the creature had a soul that I could possess.
Summoning up the last of the energy that I had within my trembling frame, I mentally wrapped my fingers around the power that was searching for its next victim and pulled it back into my body. I could feel it fighting me, jerking against my grasp. Muscles ached and my lungs burned as I stopped breathing for fear of losing my grip on the monster. After what felt like an eternity, I pulled the powers back into my body, tapping them back down into the core of my soul where none could reach it. For now, the world was a little safer from me.
SIXTEEN
I
clung to the sound of the rushing water as I lay on the ground in the darkness. My throat had stopped bleeding for the most part, as the thick cotton sweater had staunched most of the bleeding. The pain in my arm and leg had faded to a dull ache, falling behind the low roar in my chest. The monster inside me wanted out—demanded more blood than just one measly naturi. It wanted larger prey and more of them. I should never have tapped that power balled inside me. Leaning on my forearms with my head pressed against the walkway, my thoughts raced through a dozen scenarios that would have allowed me to safely dodge the naturi and draw my gun. But I hadn’t. Seconds earlier, not a single one of those options had been present in my thoughts.
But then again, there had been no conscious thought seconds ago. I’d given in to my anger and fear. Tapping that ready source of energy had been quick and easy. It also felt good, like unclenching a tensed muscle. The pain-melting warmth spread through my limbs and seemed to heat my very soul.
Of course, it all came with a price. I lay there now struggling to push it all back down and safely replace the lid. All the aches and pains were creeping back into my awareness. My cold, wet clothes stuck to my frame, making my teeth chatter. But I welcomed it. Anything to remind me that I was still human. Anything to separate me from the demon that had its claws in my soul.
With a shudder, I rose slowly to my feet and continued the rest of the way around the room, my left hand held out to my side so that it skimmed the rock wall. At the marble stairs that led back up to the main entrance of the conservatory, I paused. I scanned the rest of the building for naturi. Reaching out with this power was different from touching the one that seemed to be wrapped around my soul. This one was outside of me, alive in the air. It felt like I was temporarily removing a blindfold so I could look around. At one time, I had tried to maintain this awareness constantly, but it proved to be too exhausting and distracting.
A quick scan of the glass building revealed that I was alone except for Mira’s shadowy presence. I frowned as it suddenly dawned on me that she had never returned. She was not one to miss out on a chance to destroy some naturi. Something must have kept her, but I sensed no one else. Of course, that didn’t necessarily mean that she was alone. Older vampires could cloak their presence for a limited amount of time.
Pulling my knife from its sheath on my hip, I silently hurried up the stairs and across the main lobby to the other exhibit room. I peered through the screen door to find a large open area bathed in silver moonlight. There were no large trees in this room to cover the windows. Along the walls were undulating hills of flowers, and the soft trickle of water filled the air, indicating another small fountain. The center of the room was empty.
Slipping inside the room, my eye caught on a flicker of light off to my left, like dancing firelight. That was not a particularly good sign. Had she been threatened? I reached out mentally for Mira to tell her that I was coming, but was met with a brick wall. Mira had shut me out of her thoughts before, but it had always left an emotional imprint, an impression of her state of mind. This was just cold, unforgiving oblivion.
Dread knotted in my stomach and my hand tightened around the grip of my knife as I hurried toward the door of another room. Reaching for the handle, I froze, my heart giving a strange little lurch as I gazed through the window of the door. Mira sat on her knees in the middle of the room. She was doubled over with her forehead pressed to her legs and her hands covering her ears. A ring of yellow and orange flames rose up from the stone floor surrounding her. She was completely alone.
Jerking open the door, I stepped inside. I was hesitant to put up my knife even though I could neither see nor sense another creature. Had her attacker left just seconds before my arrival? My eyes carefully scanned the large, narrow room. Shadows lunged and danced in the firelight, but I could still easily pick out the nearly two dozen bonsai plants on wooden pedestals lining either wall.
I reached out again to touch her mind, but was met with the same impenetrable wall.
“Mira!” I shouted above the pop and crackle of the chest-high flames. Their heat cut into the chill that held my frame, stopping my teeth from chattering.
The vampire’s head suddenly jerked up. Her lavender eyes glowed with their own light. The flames jumped and roared, while several of the bonsai trees exploded into flames as if they were merely kindling in the face of a rampaging forest fire. Flowing to her feet with a surge of power, she reached down and quickly snatched up a pair of knives that were resting at her sides.
“Where did he go?” she demanded in a rough voice. Her hand clenched the knives so tightly they trembled.