Authors: Jocelynn Drake
I turned to look at LaVina, who was watching Mira intently. I had no way of winning this argument with Mira. She was being completely irrational, and in truth, I couldn’t completely fault her. The naturi had grabbed her once already in her long lifetime and subjected her to two weeks of endless torture in an effort to break her will and use her as a weapon. But her plan was flawed. “How do we get her to sleep again?” I demanded, looking up at LaVina.
“No! I can’t!” Mira argued, but I kept my eyes locked on the old witch.
After a moment, she shrugged. “Just get her to drink from someone other than this warlock. The fresh infusion of blood should dilute the power of the warlock’s, forcing her to sleep again when the sun rises,” LaVina replied.
“I won’t do it, Danaus.”
I looked back down at Mira to find her sitting on her heels, her arms folded over her stomach as if she were trying to guard herself against me. She was frowning at me, but there was no missing the desperation in her eyes. I felt trapped.
“Ryan is using you,” I said, trying to find the best way to build my argument. “He’s locking you to his side. Soon, he will be force you to do horrible things in order to get at his blood. You’re stronger than this.”
“Do you think I don’t know this?” she snapped, lowering her eyes to the dirt floor. “My leash has enough owners. I don’t need another. At least, not one of my own making. But I’ll also do whatever it takes to survive. I’ll not let the naturi have me again.”
“This route risks the lives of others,” I said. Taking a step forward, I knelt before Mira, cupping her face in my hands. Her skin was cool and almost waxy to the touch, as if the life had already seeped out of her. “You could have killed Tristan tonight if I had not arrived when I did. If you go much longer without sleep, someone will die at your hands. Are you willing to risk Tristan’s life? Or Gabriel’s? Or mine for that matter?” I had thrown in the last as a joke, hoping to bring a smile to her lips. Instead, she raised her right hand and laid it against mine as she shook her head.
“No,” she whispered.
Her fear was a palpable thing in the room, seeming to form a cocoon around us. Lily and LaVina slipped away, and for a brief period of time, it felt as if I were finally alone in the world with Mira. The naturi were gone. The bori were a distant memory. The coven was just a bad dream. I rubbed my thumbs over her high cheekbones, wiping away a stray tear.
What am I to do?
she asked, using the mental path we had trod so many times before it had begun to feel like a lover’s familiar caress.
Tonight, you’re going to hunt and then you will sleep safely through the day with me watching over you,
I replied, using the same mental touch.
Mira’s head snapped up so that she could look me in the eye, surprise and hope filling her expression. I stared at her pale parted lips, wishing I could see another wry smile dance there.
You will?
she demanded.
I will protect you until you can protect yourself,
I confirmed.
Tonight?
For as long as you need me.
Mira turned her face and pressed a kiss into the palm of my left hand, then looked back at me. “All right. I’ll feed from a human and sleep tonight,” she said.
“It’s about time.” I sighed. A part of me was stunned that I was advocating for a nightwalker to feed. But then, I had seen and felt the chaos that ensued when she did not. It was safer for all those involved if Mira remained on her diet of human blood.
Pushing to my feet, I took Mira’s hand and helped her up as well. I turned to find LaVina leaning against the bench, watching us with a thoughtful frown. “Thank you for your help,” I said.
The old witch snorted and waved off my comment. “Didn’t need me. I wasn’t of much help. You just needed to know how to put some sense into that one,” she said, jerking her head toward Mira.
“Why have I never met you?” Mira inquired as I started to walk toward the stairs. It seemed as if every muscle in my body tensed at that exact moment. Mira was having one of her moments of clarity and it was not exactly the best time. I was hoping to escape LaVina’s place before she started thinking about it too deeply.
“I don’t come into the city much and that is where your domain is,” LaVina replied.
“Mira, we should be going. It’s getting late and Lily’s tired,” I interjected, but the nightwalker didn’t even look over at me. She just continued to stare at the witch.
“And yet, Danaus knows you. Are you a part of Themis?”
“His silly organization of so-called researchers? Bah! Bunch of utter nonsense,” LaVina replied, leaving me straining not to roll my eyes. “The boy came into town last summer looking for you. I pointed him in the right direction.”
I moved to grab Mira’s shoulder to stop her from lunging at the old witch, but I stopped sharp when Mira simply smiled at LaVina. A broad grin grew across her face and laughter seemed to twinkle in her eyes. She was actually amused by the witch’s bold honesty.
“You wanted him to kill me?” Mira inquired.
LaVina gave an unlady-like snort and pushed away from the bench, but didn’t take a step toward us. “As if I thought for a second that he would do such a thing.”
Mira gave a soft chuckle and shook her head as she turned back toward the stairs. “Watch yourself, witch,” Mira said under her breath.
“You too, vampire,” LaVina replied.
The car ride back into the city was quiet, with Mira seated in the front seat beside me, while Lily sat in the back. We returned to Mira’s house to find Gabriel and his silent companion waiting for us to return.
“Danaus, this is my new bodyguard, Matsui.” Mira introduced the Asian man from earlier as we paused in the kitchen beside the breakfast nook.
I nodded to the Asian man and then turned my attention back to the nightwalker. I was going to hold her to her promise to feed tonight, even if it meant that I had to accompany her on her hunt. “What’s your plan? Do you need me to go with you?” I demanded.
“No,” Mira said, shaking her head. “Gabriel will help me tonight. It’s the safest option. I would never do anything to harm him.”
“Mira?” Gabriel said, placing his hand on the nightwalker’s arm. “What’s going on?”
“I need to feed. I need to finally sleep and I can only do that if I drink from a human,” Mira said, placing her hand on his. “Will you help me?”
“Happily.”
“Mira, what about Lily? I promised that I would protect her as well,” I said before the nightwalker could leave the room with her warm meal.
“I guess we’re having a sleepover then,” Mira said, cocking her head slightly to the side as she looked down at Lily. The teenager looked skeptical, but wisely kept her comments to herself. “This is the safest place in the city. Danaus will be with me during the day, but Gabriel and Matsui will be there to protect you. They will get you whatever you need during the day. Tomorrow night, we’ll see about getting you some new clothes and settled in the town house with Danaus.”
“What do you mean, ‘settled’?” she asked.
Mira arched one eyebrow at the young girl and crossed her arms over her chest. “Daniel left a message for me. Said a runaway saw the killer. I’m assuming that you’re the runaway. You’ve now fallen in with us, which means you’re here to stay for a while. As such, you’re going to need clothes and some other basic necessities of life. We’ll see to that tomorrow.”
“I’m staying with you and Danaus?” Lily asked, her mouth falling open in shock.
“You are if you can tolerate being around a pompous vampire hunter and a bunch of vampires,” Mira said.
“That’s so awesome!” Lily cried, launching herself at the nightwalker. I made a grab for her but missed. Lily wrapped her arms around Mira in a quick hug that caught the nightwalker completely off guard. “You guys are great. I’d love to stay with you. You’re the only ones that don’t make me feel like some freak.”
“You’re not a freak,” I said, putting my hand on her shoulder as she came to stand beside me again.
“Why would we think you’re a freak?” Mira asked, her brow furrowing as she looked from Lily to me.
“I can see auras. Didn’t he tell you?” Lily suddenly seemed to shrink in on herself. She took a step backward, starting to partially hide herself behind me.
“No, that only makes you more valuable,” Mira said, with a shrug of her shoulders. “Go upstairs and find a room to sleep in. Danaus will inspect it while I grab a bite.”
Frowning, I followed Lily up the stairs. We peeked into five different bedrooms before she finally chose one with soft yellow paint and a striped comforter on the queen-sized bed. I didn’t like where this was going. Mira was making the assumption that we would be keeping Lily indefinitely. While I had to admit that I hadn’t made any specific plans for the child after we finally managed to catch Abigail Bradford’s killer, I didn’t see how it would be possible for us to raise her. I had to return to London and Mira…Mira was a nightwalker. She couldn’t properly raise a child. In the end, Lily needed to be turned over to the authorities once we were sure that she was safe.
While Lily kicked off her shoes and hopped onto the bed, I walked over and quickly checked the windows, making sure they were shut and properly sealed. All the security measures that lined the interior of this house were properly in place. Mira was right. This house had to be one of the safest places in all of the city.
I shoved my hands into my pockets as I walked back over to the bedroom door. “It looks like there’s some pizza down in the kitchen if you’re hungry,” I said, turning and leaning my shoulder against the wooden doorjamb. “Gabriel will make sure that you have something for breakfast and lunch.”
Lily pushed up from where she had been lying in the middle of a pile of pillows and sat in the center of the bed. “You’re not going to be around?”
“I haven’t seen it yet, but I imagine that Mira sleeps in a sealed room for her protection. I’m either going to be sealed in the room or guarding the door from the outside. I won’t be able to hang out tomorrow. I’m sorry.”
Lily dropped her eyes to her hands in her lap, causing her dark hair to fall around her face. “These naturi she talked about…” she said in a low voice. “They hurt her?”
“Yes,” I sighed. “A long time ago, they did some very horrible things to her, things she can never forget. She needs to feel safe. At least for one day.”
“And you trust Gabriel and Matsui?” she said, lifting her head to look at me with a sharp, focused gaze.
“I don’t know Matsui, but I know Gabriel and I trust him,” I admitted, hoping that she wouldn’t use this as a new excuse to run. I couldn’t be in two places at once and Mira needed me. Unfortunately, if it came down to it, I wasn’t sure that Mira had the strength and control she would need to hypnotize Lily into sleeping through the day the same way she had with Shelly when we were in Peru. If I was stuck, I could always see if Tristan could do it. “Gabriel has done a very good job of protecting Mira, and he will do whatever it takes to keep you safe tomorrow.”
“All right,” Lily said, with a nod. “She got a TV around this place?”
“I have no doubt that she’s got one somewhere,” I said, fighting back a grin. “Just don’t go nosing into Tristan’s stuff unless he says you can. I’d rather not worry about a vampire taking a nip at you because you ventured into his territory.”
“Are they really territorial?” Lily asked.
“Can be.”
“Have you been hunting vampires a long time?”
“Yes, a very long time.”
“And now you’re friends with them?” she pressed. I had to crush the smile that was trying to push onto my lips, her curiosity was so amusing.
“Not really,” I hedged, pushing away from the doorjamb to stand with my legs spread. “We just have to work together on occasions to solve some bigger problems.”
“And when it’s solved, will you go back to hunting them?” she demanded.
“I don’t know. Probably.”
She shook her head at me, a frown crinkling in the corners of her eyes.
“It’s nothing that you need to worry about,” I said, wishing I could take away the concerned look on her face.
“But if you and Mira go back to being enemies, it means that I won’t get to see you both. It means that you won’t let me hang out with Tristan anymore. If Gabriel’s Mira’s bodyguard, then I probably won’t see him again,” she listed as her fears grew.
“It’s nothing you need to worry about,” I repeated, one corner of my mouth quirking in a smile. “We’ll work it all out in a few days. I think we all have bigger things to worry about. Go downstairs and get something to eat. I need to check on Gabriel and Mira.”
Lily still had a worried look on her face as she bounced off the bed and thundered down the stairs to the kitchen. I followed behind her at a slower pace, trying not to think about her questions. What were we going to do after this was all over? It was something that I had never had time to think about when I was involved with Mira before. Tomorrow was something we were never sure we were going to have, so such thoughts were never contemplated.
Now I wasn’t sure what I was going to do. I knew my time with Themis was done. I had watched Ryan use and destroy people over the long years and had never done anything about it. I could no longer turn a blind eye to his actions. It was time to move on.
And in truth, I didn’t think I had learned as much about nightwalkers as I would have hoped while I was at Themis. My short time with Mira had taught me that I was wrong about a lot of things, important things that could have easily decided whether a creature lived or died. It was time for me to move on. I had been with Themis for more than a couple of centuries, the longest I had ever bothered to stay in any one place. I had been a part of that institution before Ryan’s arrival and now I felt that it was time for me to leave. I just didn’t know where I would go next.
I followed Lily down the stairs and wandered into the kitchen to find Gabriel sitting at the table next to Lily and Matsui. The teenager was already halfway through her first slice of pizza while hammering Matsui with questions about vampires in Japan. Gabriel sat back in his chair, looking a little paler, but none the worse for wear.