Authors: Jocelynn Drake
Mira had promised to meet me outside of Abigail Bradford’s apartment, but a part of me wouldn’t be surprised if she didn’t show. She had been through enough. And in truth, this was my fight. I was beginning to fear that she would only be a target for Gaizka.
LaVina’s steady, critical voice drifted down to me from where she sat on a bench near the railing above Factors Walk. I had left her there weaving Savannah roses with dried palm leaves. “You’re late,” she grumbled.
“Sorry,” Mira snidely replied. “I stopped for a shower.”
I looked up the stairs behind my left shoulder to see the nightwalker coming down wearing her typical garb of black leather. Strapped to her waist and legs were an assortment of blades. Her black leather duster danced slightly as she moved, while her leather boots were nearly silent on the concrete-and-stone sidewalk. She was ready for battle.
“Did you hear from Lily?” she asked in softer tones when she reached the bottom step.
“Tristan called me just about an hour ago to say that she was safe and that they were at the Compound,” I replied, a half smile tugging at one corner of my mouth.
Mira nodded. “Tristan called before I left the house. Said he was going to stay on for a few days to make sure that she’s settled properly.”
“It’ll give us time to get things settled here,” I said.
Mira nodded, her lips pressed into a hard, thin line as she clenched her jaw. On the exterior, she was all cold rage and immoveable hatred, but I could sense the undercurrent of fear rippling through her. I reached up and moved a strand of hair that had blown in front of her eyes. I let my fingers stray across her cool cheek, cupping her face. For a moment, I regretted every chance I’d had to kiss her but didn’t. I wanted to tell her to walk away. I wanted to tell her to get on a plane and fly as far from me as possible, but my throat closed up and I couldn’t utter a sound.
To my surprise, Mira smiled at me before turning her face to press a kiss to the palm of my hand. “I want to be here. It’s where I belong,” she said. I shouldn’t have been surprised. When we were close, we were constant ghosts in each other’s minds.
I tightened my grip on her face and started to pull her close when the sound of approaching footsteps echoed off the high stone walls of the surrounding buildings. I hesitated then slowly released her, letting my hands fall back to my sides. Mira placed her hands on either side of my face and pulled me close, pressing her cool lips against mine in a kiss that left me drowning. But the touch was over almost as quickly as it had begun, as she stepped away from me, turning her attention to our newest companion.
Mira’s shoulders slumped with relief, but a frown still marred her lips as she looked at the newcomer. I turned to find Emma Rose, the young lady who worked the trolley tours counter, coming up the hill to enter the wide alley.
“Emmy, you need to get out of here,” Mira stated. The nightwalker tried to step around me, but I grabbed her left elbow, jerking her to a sharp stop. Something was wrong here. Emma Rose couldn’t have known that Mira was up here and there was no way that the nightwalker would have told her friend where she was going to be when she was coming to meet a dangerous bori.
“What are you doing?” Mira demanded, trying to free her arm, but I refused to release her.
Sending my powers out from my body, I sensed the same energy I had felt at LaVina’s last night lingering in the air.
As Emma Rose turned the corner, stepping into the shadow cast by a building, a red glow faintly lit her narrow eyes while a dark smile grew on her attractive face. Gaizka had taken possession of Emma Rose’s body.
“No!” Mira screamed, finally jerking out of my grasp. She lurched forward a few steps before I got ahold of her arms again, keeping her from attacking the creature that had taken control of her friend. “Release her!” Mira cried in a choked voice, no longer struggling against my grasp.
“Or what?” chuckled a vaguely familiar voice, a mix of Emma Rose’s soft voice and Gaizka’s scratchy rasp. “You’ll burn me out of her?”
I drew Mira back several feet, drawing her deeper into the shadows that cloaked Factors Walk. Gaizka followed, moving around the building and out of the sight of anyone who might look up in our direction. The bori paused in front of the doorway that led up to Abigail Bradford’s apartment. Laying its hand on the door, the creature turned its head toward us and smiled. “Good memories,” Gaizka purred in Emma Rose’s voice. “It’s where it all started.”
“How?” I asked, my eyes lingering on Emma Rose.
“The girl?” Gaizka said, putting out Emma’s arms as if she were modeling a new dress. “She’s a good girl. When an angel appeared before her at prayer, she didn’t hesitate to accept my request for assistance.” As the bori spoke, a pair of white, sparkling wings rose out of Emma Rose’s back and a white glow spread all around her. But the illusion was gone almost as quickly as it had come, as if the bori didn’t have the strength to maintain it.
“Emmy is a devote Catholic,” Mira said, horrified. “She wouldn’t have questioned…”
“What a pity,” Gaizka murmured. “Of course, I must confess that things have not gone how I would have hoped. I thought by now you both would have destroyed a few naturi for me.”
“We’re not going to help you any longer,” I said firmly, moving Mira behind me. “You’ll not win your freedom through us.”
“Are you willing to risk the lives of the people of Savannah on that stance?” Gaizka inquired, arching one brow at me while its grin grew wider.
“We won’t allow you to harm anyone,” I said, drawing a knife from my side. I couldn’t use a gun while we were within the city limits. The noise would only attract a crowd and draw the attention of the police. The last thing we needed was a crowd gathered so that the bori could easily begin its massacre of the city.
I stared at Emma Rose’s body, a lump growing in my throat. In order to stop Gaizka, I would have to kill her, something that sweet girl didn’t deserve. I could easily imagine her watching this scene unfold, screaming on the inside, terrified, and I was going to make it worse by attacking her. I truly wished she couldn’t feel the pain, but a part of me knew she would.
Gaizka threw back Emma Rose’s head and let loose a wild, joyous laugh while crossing her arms over her thin stomach. “I am the least of your concerns.”
At that second, I felt a shift in the power coursing through the alley as if a cold wind had slipped through me. I tightened my grip on my blade and prepared to step toward the bori when a sharp pain stabbed in my back, sending me to my knees. I cried out, nearly dropping my knife as I tried to reach back to find what had caused the excruciating pain. It shifted as I felt the blade being pulled from my back. I twisted around as best as I could to find Mira holding the knife in both hands, her fingers covered in my blood.
The nightwalker’s face was completely blank, yet her eyes were once again glowing an ominous red. Gaizka was not only inhabiting Emma Rose’s body, but had also taken control of Mira.
Gritting my teeth against the surge of pain, I rolled away from the nightwalker, putting myself directly between her and the bori. I pushed immediately to my feet, trying to ignore the flow of blood that was coursing down my spine. Mira had sliced through muscle and it felt like she had cut into one of my lungs as I struggled to catch my breath. The wound was healing, but it was only a matter of time before the nightwalker gave me a few more matching wounds until I was finally bled dry.
“Forcing me to kill Mira won’t get you any closer to freedom,” I snapped. “Without Mira, I can’t help you at all.” I circled to my right as Mira slowly approached me. The nightwalker still held the bloodstained knife in her hand. For now, Gaizka seemed content to allow us to slash at each other. It had not tapped into the nightwalker’s ability to control fire. I had no defense against such an attack…unless I used my own ability to boil Mira’s blood.
“Oh, my dear boy, you have no idea the many ways you can still help me.” Gaizka chuckled softly. “Mira’s not the only nightwalker that you can control. You’ve got bori energy flowing through your veins. I’m sure that, with a little practice, you can control any nightwalker you want.”
“But not the same way I can control Mira,” I bit out as I dodged a slash aimed at my throat. Mira reached down and grabbed a second blade from her side with her left hand. She slashed downward with the new knife, trying to draw the blade across my chest. I jerked out of the way, my heart thundering in my ears. I had to find a way to disarm her and knock her out so that the bori could no longer control her, removing her from danger. I didn’t want to kill her, but I wasn’t going to allow her to weaken me to the point where I had no choice but to abide by Gaizka’s wishes.
“True,” Gaizka purred softly. “Mira is the most efficient killer I’ve ever encountered, but if you won’t use her then we have no need for her. She is simply a distraction from the main task at hand.”
“So, you want me to kill her?” I asked, risking a glance over my shoulder at the bori.
“Yes,” Gaizka hissed. The red glow in Emma Rose’s eyes seemed to flare briefly before they returned to their normal glint. “And you won’t do such just because I command it, so you kill her or she kills you.”
“You won’t do it,” I said, lowering my knife to my side. I straightened from my defensive stance, facing Mira. The nightwalker seemed to pause for a moment and blink at me as if Gaizka had temporarily relinquished its hand on her. “You need me. You won’t kill me.”
“You do represent an eighteen-hundred-year investment, but I can make another like you. There are always more humans looking for a way to cheat death, gain massive strength and power. I’m immortal and very patient. I can wait,” Gaizka taunted.
Mira’s eyes returned to their former red glow just a second before she slashed at me again with the knife. I jumped backward, but the vampire was slightly faster, ripping the blade across my chest. My leather jacket took the brunt of the blow, but the tip of the blade raked across the opening in the jacket. It tore through my cotton shirt and cut a few millimeters deep into my flesh.
“No!” Mira cried out. The hand holding the knife trembled and she took a jerky half step backward.
“Mira! Obey me!” Gaizka commanded, raising its voice for the first time since stepping into the alley.
“Fight it, Mira!” I shouted.
“Can’t,” she groaned through clenched teeth just before bringing her blade down on me again. This time, I raised my own knife, blocking it from stabbing me in the heart. She seemed to be moving a little slower this time, as if she were finally fighting the bori. Beads of blood broke out on her forehead while a tear streaked down her cheek. Her body was trembling and her jaw was clenched. I had no doubt that she was fighting him with everything she had, but it wasn’t enough.
“LaVina!” I shouted, as I struggled to push Mira away from me. “I could really use your help right about now.”
“I can do nothing without Mira,” the old witch said from somewhere behind me. She sounded somewhat closer, indicating that she had most likely come down the stairs to the alleyway. “You’re going to need to free her.”
“I don’t see that happening, old woman,” Gaizka mocked. “The nightwalker is mine to control.”
“Danaus can do it,” she said confidently. “Talk to her, hunter. Reach for her.”
With a grunt, I finally pushed Mira away from me. Before she could move, I summoned up all my powers and quickly thrust into her mind. The nightwalker screamed and stumbled a couple steps backward, clutching her head with both hands still holding the knives.
Her mind was a gray swirling fog. At first, I couldn’t even locate her. There were none of her usual chaotic thoughts, no cacophonous mix of emotions pulling one way or another. Then I found the thin trail of pain that led to greater and greater amounts of pain until the world seemed to go entirely red. In the middle of it all, I found Mira’s thoughts huddled in a tight little ball.
Mira.
Oh, God, Danaus. Kill me now,
she moaned.
Help me fight this!
Can’t. Can’t keep fighting it. So much pain. So tired. Watch out!
I pulled away from her thoughts just enough that I was also aware of my external surroundings. The nightwalker lunged at me. But now that I was in her mind, I could also hear the command. I dodged a blow that was aimed to impale me while blocking the second knife, which was aimed at my face. Grabbing both of her wrists as best I could with a knife still gripped in my right hand, I held her still as I plunged back into her thoughts. I would not kill Mira. I wouldn’t allow the bori to force me into killing this woman, even if it meant risking my own life.
Help me fight this! Now!
I ordered. At the same time, I pushed with all my strength against the thickening fog and the hum of power that sizzled through her thin, shaking frame. I pushed it until I finally felt it start to ebb. I could feel Mira beside me in her thoughts. She was no longer struggling to break free of my grip on her arms, but was focusing the last of her energy. As I asserted my authority within Mira’s mind, both the nightwalker and Gaizka let out matching screams. Mira’s legs collapsed, wrenching her arms from my grasp, but I didn’t relent.
A powerful force knocked into me, throwing me into the nearby stone wall that lined Factors Walk. Releasing my hold on Mira, I turned my attention to the bori. Already in touch with my dark powers, I allowed them to easily flow from my body and seep into Emma Rose’s body. The young woman screamed in pain, her body twisting to the left and then to the right as if struggling to escape some unseen attacker. I raised the temperature of her blood as quickly as possible, trying to rush the end. I didn’t want to put her through this kind of pain, but I had no choice. I had to destroy the body Gaizka was using, hopefully forcing the bori to flee the area since I had already proven that I could eject it from Mira.
“No!” Mira screamed. However, I didn’t have enough time to react. The blade buried itself in my abdomen, nearly pinning me to the wall as it ripped through organs, muscles, and tissue. I looked up to see Mira staring at me, tears running down her face. The red glow was gone from her eyes, and for a moment I believed that she had stabbed me in an effort to stop me from killing Emma Rose. A choked sob rose from Mira’s throat as she threw out her right arm. Her friend was immediately engulfed in orange and yellow flames, lighting the entire alley in a massive fireball. Between our combined efforts, Emma Rose’s body was reduced to a pile of ash. Her friend was gone, but finally free of her captor.