Dear readers: Here is the original first four chapters of Pray for Dawn. Also, here is the copy under the original title DEMONS AND DAUGHTERS By Jocelynn Drake Chapter 1 Ghoul duty. The doors had been pried open, and the naturi had poured in. We stood balanced on the piercing edge of war. And I sat in a dark, empty cemetery hunting a ghoul. Was there anything more humiliating? Doubtful. And if there was, I imagine it will be only a matter of time before I discovered it. Not even three months had passed since the disaster at Machu Picchu. Then, I had been a vampire hunter. In fact, I had been called The Hunter, along with other less charitable names given to me by the nightwalkers. I was a dark shadow that glided through the night, cutting down monsters before they could kill another. Or worse, corrupt. Yet, my reputation was destroyed the moment I first caught sight of Mira. If I had been smart, I would have gone with my first instinct and cut her heart out, but I had been lured from my chosen path by a pair of lavender eyes and a haunting smile. She was the walking embodiment of trouble. She wore it like a velvet mantle draped over her slim shoulders. At times, I’m sure she truly reveled in the chaos that she left in her wake. But at the end of it all, after surviving the attack in London, the betrayal in Venice, and the final slaughter at Machu Picchu, I think that we both just wanted it to be done, whether that meant with our lives or not. We did survive and the damage was done. Ryan, the leader of the research society simply known as Themis, took me off of vampire duty. Not only had I aided the vampires in their effort to keep the naturi from entering our world, but I had also defended several nightwalkers on a number of occasions during my nights with Mira. It wasn’t exactly the best way to maintain my reputation as a ruthless slayer of vampires. The warlock understood that there were extenuating circumstances, but there were some things that had yet to be explained to my Themis brethren and it was easier for everyone if I avoided nightwalkers for a while. I bit off a sigh of frustration and relaxed, trying to ignore the tree bark biting into my back through my thick leather coat. Dead shriveled leaves swirled briefly around my feet in the chilled autumn breeze before moving on to skip among the crumbling gray headstones that dotted the old cemetery. It was already an hour after midnight and I had yet to see anything that would indicate a ghoul was lurking in the region. Many confused the idea of a ghoul with that of a zombie. At one time, a zombie had been a human, but after death, the body was raised by a necromancer. A zombie has no soul and very little thought beyond the need to complete whatever task the necromancer has put in the creature’s decaying mind. A ghoul, on the other hand, was a malevolent spirit with the ability to shapeshift into whatever thought crossed its victim’s mind. Ghouls stuck close to woods, lonely paths, and on occasion, old graveyards if they were particularly desperate for prey. This one, for some strange reason, chose a large cemetery in the center of Savannah. Roughly three days ago, I had been sent by Ryan to investigate a series of murders that had occurred near the cemetery. The first two had actually been reported as a pair of separate disappearances of some joggers that ran past the cemetery every night near midnight. A week after the first two disappearances, a third jogger vanished… sort of. The next day a groundskeeper for the cemetery found an ear, a pancreas, and a couple of fingers. All had belonged to the third jogger and possessed teeth marks. Naturally, there were no normal predators near the city that could prey on a grown man, let alone eat all but a few select pieces. The news quickly caught the attention of Themis and resulted in me sitting on the cold, damp ground. All in all, ghouls couldn’t maintain a physical form for long and weren’t known for preying on human flesh. They were more interested in a creature’s soul energy. It made both Ryan and me doubt that it truly was a ghoul lingering about. But then we were also at a loss for what could be lurking in an old cemetery. So, the warlock loaded me up with charms and a few magic wards against ghouls as a precautionary measure. I had spent the past two days walking every inch of the cemetery, searching for any sign of where a creature may be hiding during the daylight hours. Here and there around the cemetery I could find signs of where something had dragged its meal through the graveyard and feasted, then nothing. It was as if it had vanished into thin air with the remains of the body. There wasn’t much to go on. I hadn’t had much experience dealing with ghouls. Not exactly my area of expertise, but I was sure that I could handle it. Seated on the ground with my knees bent before me, I rest my empty hands on my knees and slowly drew in another deep breath while I reached deep within myself. After nearly two thousands years of walking the earth, tapping the power that was woven into the very threads of my soul was almost like relaxing a muscle. Being half-bori was a curse I could do without, but when it came to hunting vampires, I needed every ounce of the power, strength, and speed it gave me just to survive. Exhaling, I stretched out my senses so that my powers washed over the earth like a wave rushing back out to sea. I could feel everything moving in the cemetery. There wasn’t much scurrying about and so far nothing beyond the usual assortment of nocturnal animals. Any human nearby was either in a car or safely ensconced in his or her home, oblivious to the fact that a nightmare was lurking somewhere in their little neighborhood. Leaning my head back against the tree, I closed my eyes and drew in a slow, cleansing breath through my nose, drawing my powers back into my body. The wind abruptly shifted direction and on it was the faint scent of lilac. The muscles in my neck and shoulders instantly tensed and I threw my powers out from my body, reaching well beyond the limits of the graveyard. I waited, my breath frozen in my lungs, but it wasn’t her. I drew in another breath and the scent of lilacs faded, wilting somewhat. The wind had managed to pick up the last sprig from a bush in one of the nearby yards. The tension eased from my shoulders and I leaned my head back against the tree again as I close my eyes. The scent would be forever linked to Mira no matter how much time passed. That delicate fragrance somehow breathed from her pores and danced about her regardless of whether she was fresh from the shower or covered in the blood and sweat of her enemy. The silence crept into my bones and I honestly couldn’t decide whether I was relieved or disappointed that she had yet to appear. I had been in her city for more than three days. I couldn’t sense her, but I was sure she knew I was in town. Savannah was her domain, and as its Keeper she would know when any strong magic user entered the city. A part of me argued that I wanted answers to the mountain of questions we had left hanging in the air when we parted. When I last saw her, she had been lying on the cold earth deep in a cave in Peru, the rising dawn claiming her, draining her of consciousness. We had closed the doors between our world and that the naturi, and for her troubles, she had been nearly killed by Rowe and left for dead by her own kin Jabari. I wanted to know what had happened. Was she being hunted by the rulers of her kind? What of the naturi? Had they made another attempt on her life or was the truce that Cynnia so badly wanted still holding? But deep in my mind, I knew that it was more than that. I wanted to hear her laugh and see that self-satisfied smirk cross her lips when she looked at me. I needed to watch her throw herself into any situation with a sort of reckless abandon, trusting in her own resourcefulness to save her neck. The vast majority of the time that I was near her I was fighting the overwhelming urge to strangle her. Yet even then, I was feeling something. When I was near Mira, I felt alive. Find her. The voice echoed through my head with a searing urgency that caused my heart to start pounding within my chest. I jerked upright, my eyes flying open as I searched the graveyard, but I was still alone. There was a strange energy in the air, cold and biting, causing my shoulders to stiffen and my teeth to slightly chatter. I strained, listening to hear the voice again but that had soaked into those two words. I suddenly felt as if finding Mira was the most important thing I could do. But I shrugged off the feeling and sat back against the tree. If Mira had proven anything, it was that she could take care of herself. Ryan was wrong about her, though. The golden-eyed warlock has spent too many years dealing with power-hungry vampires and greedy magic users. Mira had tremendous power, but she wasn’t like them. After spending more than days than I cared to count in her company, I knew that she had no grand schemes for her kind. She didn’t want to climb to the top of the heap and rule vampires and humans with mixture of fear and violence. Mira just wanted to fade into oblivion and enjoy the quiet pleasures she could find in her territory. Unfortunately for me, Mira wasn’t the only thing that head of Themis had wrong. That I learned when the silence of the night was broken by the sound of large wings being thrown open. In the next second, I felt the distinct presence of a naturi somewhere behind my left shoulder. I had been so lost in my thoughts that I hadn’t noticed its approach. Gritting my teeth, I rolled to my left and regained my feet in a crouched position. I swept the area with both my powers and my eyes, trying to locate the creature. The only sound that could be heard was the harsh rattle of dry leaves and the scrape of bare branches as wind rushed through the graveyard. Turning slowly, my eyes caught on the dark gray statue that rest on one of the small mausoleums. And then it moved, its wings twitching slightly as another gust of wind rushed around us. I jerked back a step, narrowing my eyes. It was an air guardian. My mind rebelled at the thought, frantic to convince me that my eyes were lying. Mira and I had encountered the massive creatures during our ascent to the top of Machu Picchu months ago, but I had never expected to see one here in Savannah so close to civilization. The air guardian as Cynnia called it possessed enormous leather wings that resembled bat wings. Their powerful arms and legs were tipped with long, sharp talons. A pair of fang protruded from under its fat bottom lip and pressed against its upper lip, reminding me vaguely of a bulldog. Instead of a flesh-eating ghoul, I managed to land my hands on a pissed off air guardian. I didn’t even know if there really was a ghoul stirring up the spirits in the graveyard. Right now, my hands were full with the naturi. Reaching back with my right hand, I slowly withdrew my broadsword from its scabbard on my back. At the same time, the naturi stretched out its wings and let out an ear-piercing screech that sent a shiver down my spine. Its yellow eyes glowed in the darkness, narrowed to cold, slender slits. It knew I had come to hunt it. The sword had barely cleared its sheath when the monster launched itself from the apex of the mausoleum toward me. It pulled up just shy of my sword’s reach, opening its wings to catch the wind and lift it higher. I turned, my eyes following it as it wheeled in the air. It took only another few seconds before it pulled in its wings and dove for me. I crouched slightly, my legs braces apart as I waited for it to draw closer. Just before reaching me, the naturi let out another cry, its powerful left arm swiping at my chest. I drew my sword down and across. At the same time, I turned my body to the side so that it had less of a target. We both missed. Behind me I heard the distinct sound of earth and rock being thrown up into the air as the monster hit the ground. Spinning, I found the creature was down on the ground just a couple of yards away from me, balanced on all fours, its large leathery wings pulled tightly against its body. The muscles in my arms tensed painfully, as I gripped the sword in my right hand. A light sheen of sweat had begun to cover my arms and back despite the cold. The air was thick with the smell of naturi magic. When at Machu Picchu, we had never seen the air guardian use any kind of magic. It had been used as a type of flying horse for earth clan naturi. But I was beginning to wonder if the cries and the thick scent of magic in the area was a type of warning and cry for help should any other naturi be in area. However, I wasn’t overly concerned. Even though my focus was entirely on my prey, I could sense that there was no other naturi in the area to come to its rescue. Unfortunately, I did pick up the faint presence of a nightwalker closing in. If I was lucky I would be able to dispatch this creature before I had to deal with the vampire. The creature ran at me and jumped, aiming for my chest, the talons on its hands extended. I moved my sword to plunge it into his chest, but at the last second, the monster opened its wings, catching the wind so that it stopped up sharp. Landing easily on its feet, it turned, using its long tail to knock me from my feet. I landed on my back with heavy thud, the air exploding from my lungs. Rolling instantly away from my prey, I struggled to suck in a lungful of air. I was more concerned about the naturi ripping out my throat than trying to catch my breath. The creature missed my throat, but tore through my heavy leather coat and cotton shirt to dig three deep furrows in my arms. The pain slashed through my body, momentarily lighting up the darkness. I rolled to my feet, but the creature had disappeared. The muscles in my shoulders painfully tensed and my left upper arm throbbed as blood soaked into my shirt. Stretching out my senses, I found that the naturi had taken back to the air. I looked up in time to see the monster drop from a tree above my head and land on my chest, knocking the sword from my hand. I fell, sliding on my back across ground until my shoulder slammed into a tombstone. I put my hands up on the creature’s chest, pushing back in an attempt to keep from ripping me apart. Its mouth was open, revealing a set of long, sharp fangs ready to tear me into nice, bite-sized pieces. I had to use all of my strength to keep some distance between us so that it wouldn’t kill me. There was no spare moment to grab for another weapon. Digging my heels into the ground, I was preparing to give one last shove with all of my strength when I caught a blur of movement. In the next second, the naturi had been knocked off me and was rolling across the graveyard, breaking through tombstones. I pushed to my feet as the two combatants separated.
The naturi ran to the nearest tree and climbed up, its talons tearing into the bark. I looked over to find Tristan rising gracefully to his feet, brushing dirt off of his dark-colored slacks. The vampire instantly looked composed as if he hadn’t just been wrestling with a fairy-tale monster. “You looked like you could use a hand,” Tristan said, one corner of his mouth lifting into a half smile. “I was just taking a break.” I looked away from the dark-haired vampire and back to the naturi as it watched us from its perch half-way up the live oak. The tree still had most of its leaves, but the large creature was easy to spot. “Just out of curiosity, what the devil is that thing?” he pleasantly inquired when he was done brushing off the accumulation of dirt from his hands. “Air guardian.” “Naturi.” The sound escaped his throat as a harsh expelling of air, sounding more threatening that any noise the naturi had yet to make. Out of the corner of my eye, I found Tristan crouching slightly, ready for the attack. His pale blue eyes glowed in the darkness. At that moment, I couldn’t decide which the greater threat was; the naturi or an enraged vampire. Nightwalkers held no love for hunters, but we seemed to be viewed with a mocking tolerance. Most hunters were still human and fragile. On the other hand, the naturi were infinitely more dangerous and knew no mercy. The hatred between the two races ran long and deep. The naturi had also killed Tristan’s beloved maker. In a stunning blur of motion, Tristan ran to the tree and easily jumped to the branch the naturi rested on. The pair wrestled briefly before falling back to the earth. The naturi tossed Tristan off of him, as I lurched forward and sliced through the creature’s right wing, keeping it grounded. With its right arm, it swiped at me. Sidestepping the talons, I took the opening, plunging my sword into its chest. The creature let out a blood-curdling scream, jerking backward. The naturi crawled a few feet away, one hand pressed to its heart in an attempt to hold the blood in. Collapsing in a heap, I watched the monster take a handful of wheezing breaths before finally falling still. “Take off its head.” Tristan’s chilled voice floated across the cemetery to me. I looked over to find the nightwalker crouched on the ground, his glowing eyes staring at the monster’s empty husk. The naturi was dead. I could no longer sense it, its soul having already fled this world for the next, but understood his need to remove any and all doubt. Nodding, I walked over and cut the monster’s head off with a single blow of my sword. It rolled a couple feet away and settled next to one of the broken tombstones. One less naturi walked the earth. I just hoped I found what had been haunting this graveyard these past weeks. Chapter 2 Tristan stood straight, running a hand absently over the front of his shirt as if brushing off some dirt, but his eyes were still locked on the naturi. He appeared shaken by the monster, though his face was completely expressionless. Six months ago, the naturi were rarely seen in this world and never in a heavily populated area. They couldn’t risk being seen. The cities were strictly the domain of humans, vampires, and a handful of other creatures that could easily blend in. “Are you going to destroy the body?” Tristan inquired, his voice having a far off quality. I nodded, pulling a small bottle of lighter fluid out of my coat pocket, I thoroughly sprayed the body of the naturi then kicked its head back over to the body so that it would burn as well. Protecting it from a gust of wind for a second, I dropped a lit match onto the air guardian and stepped back as it went up in a whoosh of flames. I was relieved by the fact that we were deep within the cemetery that no one would notice that dancing flames from the road. Looking up, I noticed that Tristan had taken several steps away from the burning corpse, his eyes on the matches in one hand rather than the sword that I was still clutching in my right hand. There was only a shadow of anxiety hanging around his features as he watched me, but then I think that would have been there regardless of whether a hunter was holding the matches or a six-year-old little girl with gold curls. Fire was one of the quickest ways to kill a nightwalker. I never took my eyes off him as I threw the bottle of lighter fluid and the pack of matches into the fire as well. Some of the tension flowed out of his shoulders and I noticed him move his head slightly as if the stiffness had suddenly left his neck. It was a little insulting that he didn’t show any kind of fear or anxiety about the fact that I was standing there with him. Sure, he had helped dispose of the naturi, but I was still a hunter. Normally, I would have taken his heart as well just for good measure. Six months ago, my philosophy was that the only good vampire was a decapitated one. But now there was that new kernel of doubt and it was Mira’s fault. Of course, it was also Tristan that I was dealing with. According to Mira, the vampire was roughly a century in age, putting him at something of a teenager in the realm of his kind. She had also implied on more than one occasion that he was still young and ignorant of the ways of his kind despite his years. His maker had kept him dependent upon her. But Sadira was dead now and Tristan belonged to Mira. I put my sword back in the scabbard on my back. “What are you doing here?” Tristan wasn’t a threat to me. If he was, he would have let the naturi work me over a little bit more. The vampire looked over at me, blinking a couple of times as if I had pulled him from dark thoughts. The glow in his blue eyes faded and a mischievous smile drifted across his lips. “Like I said before, it looked like you could use a hand,” he replied, his usual easy-going manner swimming back to the forefront. Tristan was slender with brown hair and youthful appearance. His voice was somewhat soft, with a hint of a French accent that he had never managed to shed over the years. I nodded and walked over to the tree I had been sitting under only moments before being attacked. Settling back on the ground, I stretched my legs out in front of me. The throbbing in my arm had stopped and the wound was beginning to close. Being half-bori sped up the healing process, but from what I could tell I still didn’t heal as fast as most vampires. “Have you seen any other naturi in the city?” I asked, abruptly changing the subject. Tristan shook his head, crossing his arms over his chest. “No, that was the first. But…” he started, but faded off before he finished his thought. “What?” The brown-haired nightwalker stared unblinking at me for a long time. “Do you still hunt my kind?” “Tristan.” His name escaped me as a warning growl. I didn’t have a ready answer for him anymore. “Months ago you aided us in stopping the naturi. Tonight you hunted a naturi, but before that you hunted my kind for centuries. Are you my enemy?” he demanded, his voice carrying his evident confusion and frustration. “I can’t answer that.” I sagged against the tree. I ran one hand through my tangled, sweaty hair, pushing it back from my eyes. A heady mix of fatigue and relief was starting to sink into my limbs. All I wanted was a hot shower and some sleep in a soft bed. “Why?” “Because it’s not that clear cut,” I snapped. “At the moment, no, I’m not your enemy. If you wake up one night and decide to go on some killing spree, then yes, I will be there to cut your head off. My job is to protect mankind, not vampires.” “And if a human is attacking a vampire.... Who would you protect then?” I snorted softly at the question. “I’ve never heard a vampire express fear regarding a human.” “Never at night.” A cold, humorless smile crept across his handsome face. “But you would be fearful too if you lay completely vulnerable during the day.” My right hand dropped from my hair to lay limp on the ground next to me and I looked away from my bloodsucking companion. I knew all too well what it was like to lay vulnerable during the daylight hours. While in Peru, I had been forced into a sleep spell during the daylight hours to protect me from another spell that had been cast to protect us all from the horde of naturi that were waiting to kill us all the moment the sun rose. I had been the most terrifying and frustrating moment of my entire existence. I would never repeat such vulnerability again. The memory drifted away, leaving a foul taste in the back of my throat as I turned my attention back to the Tristan and his worries. There was something on his mind that he wasn’t telling me. “Why these questions? What’s going on?” “I don’t want to tell you something so that you can hurt my kind. I don’t want you to hurt her,” he murmured, his voice almost being carried off by the wind before I could catch those few forlorn words. There was no question as to who the “her” was. His first concern would always be for Mira. “My fight is not with your kind at the moment. I think we all have bigger things to worry about with so many of the naturi on the loose.” “And that is the problem. That … thing is the first I have seen in this city,” he said, motioning with his head toward the smoldering corpse that lay on the ground a few feet away. “But I have heard whispered things among my kind during the past couple of months. Strange things are going on. There has been an increase in the deaths of my kind, strange deaths and disappearances. These deaths are not caused by the human hunters. There has also been an increase in the deaths and disappearances of humans around the world, particularly in many of the rural regions of the world. It hasn’t been enough to catch the attention of the humans, but we’ve noticed.” “The naturi.” The two words left me as little more than a tired, breath of air. “My kind is changing. We’re fearful and angry for the first time in a very long time. Around the world, more families are springing up where once many struck out and basked in their independence. Most don’t hunt alone now and rarely venture far from the congested cities.” This was bad. The arrival of the naturi had created a powder keg of the vampires. One bad situation and it would explode, revealing this dark and secret world to mankind. “What has the Coven said?” “Nothing.” Tristan stiffly answered, standing the same boneless manner that separated nightwalkers from the rest of the world. It was unsettling no matter how many times I saw it. It was a quick and simple reminder that there was nothing human about these creatures anymore. His expression was completely closed and dead like that of a statue. Tristan held no love for the Coven. I don’t know what happened in Venice months ago, but it had changed something in the nightwalker, leaving a cold, hard knot somewhere in his soul. “And Mira?” Tristan looked away from me, a frown marring his handsome face. He stared down at black dress shoes as if he couldn’t face the question. “The change is worse in her,” he whispered. He returned his gaze back to my face, his fears finally reflected in his wide blue eyes. For a moment, he looked like the lost young man I’m sure Mira saw when she took him under her protective wing. “What happened in Machu Picchu? She awakens every night screaming. She is sullen and reserved. She speaks to no one. She leaves her home as soon as she awakens at night and does not return until nearly dawn.” “Has she been contacted by the Coven?” I asked. Months ago, Mira had claimed the open seat on the Coven in an act of desperation. The only one pleased with this development was Jabari, but that was only because the bastard could control her. That still left two other members of the nightwalker Coven that would rather see her dead than sitting among them. That also didn’t include a few other nightwalkers who would have rather grabbed the open seat than see it go to the Fire Starter. “I don’t think so. The Coven has been silent since Machu Picchu.” I unconsciously flexed my right hand beside me. I didn’t know what was going on with all the other races since the arrival of the naturi. I knew that no one was particularly happy about it. Since Machu Picchu, Ryan had been meeting with leaders from the warlock, witch, and lycanthrope communities almost daily. It was his job to deal with that mess. I was just a mercenary. “Mira’s tough,” I said, pushing to my feet. “She’s been through worse. She’ll get through this.” I turned and started to walk toward the entrance of the cemetery. If I was lucky, I could catch a few hours of sleep and be on an early flight back to London. I had been away from the Compound for nearly a month on one job after another. It’d be nice to spend at least one night in my own bed before heading to my next mission. “Have you seen her?” Tristan called before I could get more than a couple yards away from him. I stopped sharply, and half turned to look at the nightwalker over my shoulder. He hadn’t moved from where I had left him standing, his hands balled into fists at his side. “What do you mean?” I slowly asked, trying ignoring the jerky rhythm of my heart. “She’s gone. She disappeared nearly a week ago.” “Have you contacted Charlotte? Maybe she had some Coven business to take care of,” I replied, trying to shoot for the easiest answer. Charlotte Godwin was a human assistant that took care of all of Mira’s financial and travel needs. I had met the young woman once and was surprised to find that she was completely oblivious to the fact that Mira was a vampire. “Ms. Godwin has not heard from her.” “Knox?” “He hasn’t seen her.” “What about Gabriel?” “He hasn’t heard from her either.” A knot of worry suddenly twisted in my stomach. Mira didn’t travel anywhere without her bodyguard. It would have left her extremely vulnerable during the day; something she would not risk. “Aren’t you able to sense her? She’s your Mistress. Don’t you have some kind of connection?” I don’t think I even blinked. One second Tristan was standing a couple yards away and in the next his nose was nearly touching mine, his fists twisted up in my jacket. “Don’t you think I’ve tried,” he snarled at me through clenched teeth, his eyes narrowed to thin little slits. “She’s nowhere to be found.” The most unsettling thing at that moment was not being held by an angry vampire, but it was the fact that I wasn’t at all fearful or anxious. It’s not that Tristan wasn’t dangerous. He was as dangerous as any other vampire I had encountered. It was just that some part of me knew that Tristan wouldn’t hurt me. He was scared and worried about Mira. “I haven’t seen her, Tristan,” I said, my voice calm and even. I couldn’t blame him for his fears. If he couldn’t sense her, it either meant she was dead or that she was being held by someone who was able to hide her from him. Neither boded well for Mira’s safety. She would never have abandoned Tristan. It would have left him vulnerable. She would have left instructions behind for someone to watch over her domain. Slowly, Tristan relaxed his grip on my jacket, letting his hands fall limp at his sides. He didn’t move away from me, though, as if he had suddenly become oblivious to my existence, lost in his own worries for his mistress. While it was her job to protect him, he also saw it as his job to keep her safe as well. “Have you contacted any others? Maybe another of your kind has seen her,” I suggested. “I am afraid to. It may cause … problems if they knew she was missing,” he said haltingly. I couldn’t blame him. Among her own kind, Mira was greatly feared and equally disliked. If they thought she was dead or dying, there was a good chance they would move to take advantage of the situation. “Mira will turn up. She just needed some time alone. Machu Picchu was … difficult.” I said the words I thought would reassure him, but I don’t think even I believed them. If Mira was missing and in danger, it was because the Coven had gotten a hold of her or the naturi. In either situation, the outcome was not likely to be good. “Would you tell me if you had killed her?” Tristan’s brows met over the bridge of his nose as his eyes drifted back to meet my gaze. He didn’t try to mesmerize me or compel me to answer. I didn’t know whether it was out of respect, or if he simply knew that it wouldn’t work on me. “I swear to you, I haven’t seen her since Machu Picchu.” “But would you tell me?” “Yeah, I would,” I said, unable to stop the half smile that formed. A weak smile briefly flitted across his lips as he stared at me. “She once said that you owed her a dance.” “I’m still waiting for her to come collect,” I said with a nod. It had become a type of running joke between us. Somehow Mira had become my greatest challenge, my white whale. Months ago we had been forced to work together, promising that when it was all over we would return to the dirty business of trying to kill each other. - Back to Top -
“I’m on my way back to the Compound,” I said, trying to think of something that may help to ease his concerns. “I’ll ask Ryan if he has heard anything. Call me there tomorrow night and I’ll tell you everything I discover.” “Thanks,” he said with a bow of his head. The nightwalker silently turned on heel and disappeared into the deep shadows of the graveyard. I stared after him, watching him for as long as possible. Under Mira’s guidance, I had a feeling that Tristan could one day be a force to be reckoned with. But for now, he was still a boy with more powers than he understood. Unfortunately, without Mira around to watch out for him, he was a danger to both himself and anything he encountered. I prayed Mira was still alive for his sake. Otherwise, I’d be waiting in the shadows to cut out his heart. Chapter 3 I was going to leave. I was going to grab my bag and hop on the first charter back to London. Mira could take care of herself. She was more than six hundred years old. Helpless vampires didn’t live that long. But instead I locked my sword and assortment of knives in the trunk of my rental car after parking it in the large garage near the center of the city. Plunging my fists in the pockets of my heavy leather duster, I trudged across Johnson Square. There were only a couple people that might have been in contact with Mira that I could question without raising too much of an alarm. Naturally, talking to the nightwalkers was out of the question, but Mira’s personal assistant and financial manager Charlotte Godwin might know something. My introduction to the young woman had been brief. She had been in the limo in a desperate attempt to have a few words with her employer before being deposited at her office as Mira and I prepared to leave for Egypt. The slim brunette appeared to be in her mid-30s, and determined to prove herself capable to take on the whole financial world. Her office occupied one of the newer buildings that lined Bay Street, just a block away from River Street and the Savannah River. Before heading to her office, I strolled a couple of blocks to a local bakery. With a cup of black coffee and a couple of plain bagels in hand, I wandered back to Johnson Square. It had been a mild autumn from what I could catch on the local news stations, but winter was close on the horizon. However, the small fountains at east and west sides of the square were still sending up a delicate spray of water. The sun was just beginning to creep toward the horizon and the streets were humming with activity as people rushed off to their jobs. It was too early for the tourist trolley cars to begin their rounds and most of the pedestrians were actual occupants of the city headed toward their jobs before the tourists rousted from their comfortable hotel beds. While winter may only be a week away, tourist season in Savannah didn’t slow much. The winters were mild in the city and it was a nice place to play for those taking a break from the nearby Hilton Head. Seated on one of the benches that dotted the cold, tree-shrouded plaza, I sipped my bland, unappealing coffee and picked at one of the bagels. The air was quiet as reality hovered for a breath between two worlds. Around me, I could feel the scattering of young vampires that inhabited the bowels of downtown winking out of existence as they lay down for their daily slumber. At the same time, the air grew more cluttered with human movement; their thoughts, voices, and desires crowding in until I sucked in a ragged breath through my clenched teeth in an attempt to clear my own thoughts. There were others out there as well; lycanthropes and magic users of varying skill. At first, I had preferred the daylight and the steady drum of humanity as it marched onward. I dreaded the night when I knew the vampires would awaken. I could sense the young ones with little effort. Their thoughts and emotions were more liquid, smoothly flowing from one thing to another like an endless river. I could sense their ravenous hunger until it filled my own thoughts like a red haze. The nightwalkers seemed to call out to me like shining beacons in the darkness. As the centuries wore on, I slowly came to prefer the quiet embrace of the night and the unbroken peace from humanity. I found ways to blot out the soothing siren call of the young vampires. Now I find myself clinging to that frozen second between the night and the breaking dawn when both worlds pause for a heartbeat. But time pushes on and I find ways to keep moving in both worlds, though I don’t feel as if I belong to either. Shaking my head to clear it of these grim thoughts, I pushed to my feet and threw down the last of my coffee. It was wretched stuff, but the warmth and caffeine would buy me a little more time before fatigue settled into my bones, demanding that I finally catch a few hours of sleep. Handing off my bag with my untouched bagel to a homeless man settled in a shadowy corner of the square, I wandered down the streets for another hour, only vaguely aware of my surroundings. The vampires had all gone to ground for the day; not that I was really concerned about one attacking. In fact, it seemed as if they had gone out of their way to avoid me since I arrived in Savannah. Tristan had been the first one I had set eyes on. I don’t know whether it was the result of a command issued by Mira, or just a general consensus that I was to be avoided. It didn’t matter. I preferred to not deal with them. I didn’t know where I stood anymore when it came to nightwalkers. Mira had called into question so many of the things that I had once believed to be true. But for now, she had to live. Mira was the only weapon we had that could successfully hold the naturi at bay. She helped to keep the curtain drawn between our world and that of the humans. I had no doubt that the naturi would like it if the humans suddenly discovered that some of the creatures that filled their nightmares actually lived and walked the streets beside them. If humans had to choose between the myth of the elf and the bloodsucking vampire, they’d prefer the lies the naturi told them over the parasitic beauty of the nightwalker. What the humans wouldn’t consider would be that the nightwalkers needed them for survival, the naturi did not. At roughly eight-thirty, I wandered down along Bay Street toward the building that held Charlotte’s offices. The sun had been up for more than a half hour and was steadily working to burn off the chill from the previous night. It was still early, but I had a feeling that Charlotte was the type to start her day early and work late into the night. The woman seemed ambitious, hungry to prove herself capable of taking on any of the corporate giants that flanked her in their shiny downtown offices. She just had no idea that her employer had no interest in her ambitious goals or her need to climb to the top of the corporate ladder. I slipped silently into the office building, gliding across the polished marble floors to the office directory beside the bank of silver elevators. It wasn’t hard to figure out that Charlotte Godwin most likely headed up a company called The Twilight Foundation. Not exactly subtle, but that was Mira, hiding out in the open. It amused her. I arrived at the pair of glass doors to The Twilight Foundation just as the receptionist was unlocking them for the day. She was a thin young woman with short blond hair. She paused as she pulled her key out of the door and stared at me with wide brown eyes, obviously surprised to see someone like me wandering around the tenth floor of a downtown office building. While I didn’t look like a bum off the street, I wasn’t dressed in the typical Brooks Brothers suit either. Under my newly torn leather duster, I wore a pair of jeans that now held grass stains from the previous night’s fight and a black turtleneck against the cold night air. The young woman stiffened when she realized that I was heading toward the office. “Can I help you?” she cheerfully inquired when I stopped in front of her. She remained standing in the doorway, her right hand gripping the handle of one of the doors so tightly that her knuckles were turning white. “Is Ms. Godwin in yet? I need to speak with her regarding an urgent matter,” I replied. The woman blinked at me in surprise for a moment before regaining her composure. I doubt she expected me to actually know of her employer. “I’m sorry, Mr …” “Smith. Danaus Smith,” I supplied, recalling the surname Mira had been kind enough to use in front of Charlotte months ago. “I’m sorry, Mr. Smith, but Ms. Godwin has not arrived yet. Do you have an appointment?” she continued. “No, I don’t. Mira spoke of Charlotte on a number of occasions and I need Ms. Godwin’s assistance on an urgent matter,” I said, trying my best to soften my voice and expression to something that might look a little less threatening. It wasn’t the easiest of tasks considering that I towered over the petit woman by more than foot. However, I think it was Mira’s name that finally captured the young woman’s full attention. “Forgive me, Mr. Smith,” she stammered, jumping to hold the door open for me so that I could enter the silent office. “I didn’t know that you were an associate of Ms. Jones,” she continued as I stepped past her. The lobby was decorated in dark woods and shining brass. Behind the receptionist’s station was a large wall of windows looking out onto the river. “As I said, Ms. Godwin has not arrived yet, but she is due in at any moment. Is there something I can get you while you wait?” “No, thank you,” I said, taking a seat in one of the hunter green chairs off to the side of the lobby, carefully out of the direct line of sight of the front doors. I didn’t know what Charlotte’s reaction to seeing me again would be and I would rather have in already in the lobby before I surprised her. Further down the hall I could hear other employees moving about their offices, starting yet another day. The young receptionist quietly went about her morning duties of checking the messages and booting up her computer. I stared out the window behind her, but I could feel her looking up at me on occasion. I had no doubt that I didn’t fit the other clients that passed through the front doors on a daily basis. Luckily, I had to wait only another fifteen minutes before Charlotte finally swept through the double glass doors, her leather briefcase in hand. She wore a light gray trench coat over her navy business suit and her dark brown hair was pulled back to reveal her pretty oval face and large hazel eyes. “Good morning, Amanda,” she said. Her voice was pleasant, but brisk. Yet, her smile froze on her face as her eyes swept over the lobby and halted abruptly on me. I smoothly pushed to my feet, but didn’t move to approach her. Her whole body had stiffened at the sight of me and I didn’t need her to close down against me before I even had a chance to speak. “It’s good to see you again, Ms. Godwin,” I said, again trying to keep my deep voice pleasant and gentle. “We met briefly a few months ago when I accompanied Mira to Egypt.” “Yes,” Charlotte slowly began with a nod of her head. “I recall it. Mr. Smith, correct?” I noticed that she didn’t offer to shake my hand, but she could also be remembering that I refused to shake her hand the first time we met. Of course, at that time, I had been surprised by the fact that she was in the limo and was still off-balance by Mira’s somewhat erratic behavior. It had not been one of my smoothest moments. “Correct,” I nodded. “I was hoping that I might have a few moments of your time to discuss an urgent matter.” “I’m sorry, but I already have several meetings scheduled for this morning and I’m quite busy. If you’ll make an appointment with Amanda, I should be able to free up some time later in the week,” she crisply said, her hand tightening on the handle of her briefcase so that the leather softly creaked. “I’m sorry, but I’m afraid that won’t be possible. I’m flying out this afternoon and this is a rather important matter regarding your employer.” This time the softness was gone from my voice. “This will take only a couple of minutes.” Charlotte hesitated, weighing me through narrowed eyes. I had entered her domain where she ruled as queen bee. The only person that she jumped for was Mira and all I had in my favor was that she did not know the details of my relationship with Mira. Charlotte knew that I had traveled with Mira on a number of occasions last summer. To her, I could be Mira’s business partner or lover. “Very well,” Charlotte conceded in a low voice. “Hold my calls,” she said to Amanda as she turned toward the only set of doors to the right of the lobby. I followed behind Charlotte as we entered her office and shut the doors behind me as she hung up her trench coat in a small closet. The office was large with one wall covered in floor-to-ceiling windows looking out toward the river and gleaming white City Hall building. The morning sky beyond was a crisp, clear blue that held the promise of cool, fall day. On the left side of the room was long table of dark mahogany surrounded by chairs. On the other side of the room was a large desk of the same color wood with a pair of chairs arranged before it. The desk was situated in the room so that Charlotte’s back would be to the view of the river. It was a shame. She didn’t seem the type to spend a few minutes of her day watching the barges chugging up the river, lost in thought. “Now, what can I do for you, Mr. Smith?” Charlotte inquired politely as she walked over to her desk. “Have you spoken to Mira recently?” Charlotte paused in the act of sitting down and stared at me with her brows bunched over her slender nose. “I have come seeking information.” I stated, stepping closer to the desk. My heavy footsteps were muffled by the thick, cream-colored carpet. “I’m sorry, Mr. Smith, but I cannot give you any kind of information regarding Ms. Jones,” she briskly said, sitting back in her chair and folding her hands in her lap. “I am concerned about Mira’s welfare.” I pressed on, unwilling to be pushed aside so easily. I didn’t need a vampire power struggle in Savannah while the naturi waited in the shadows. The city needed to have its Keeper back. “Have you spoken to her since she returned from Peru?” “Yes. Several times.” “Have you scheduled any flights for her? Did you help her leave town?” “I cannot supply you with that kind of information. It is my job to protect Ms. Jones’s privacy,” she continued. She sat forward in her chair and placed her hands on the top of the desk. “It is your job to manage Mira’s money and it is Garbriel’s job to see to her safety,” I coldly said. “And right now, Gabriel is not with her so it is my job to make sure that nothing has happened to her.” “Are you insinuating that someone is threatening Ms. Jones?” Charlotte demanded. “No, I just want to know where she is. I ran into her … ward last night and he is concerned,” I hedged, unsure of what to call Tristan or if I should even bring him up. “You know of Mr. Aridas?” Charlotte’s voice dipped lower toward a whisper as she sat back in her chair. “Who?” Now I was confused. “You just said you ran into her ward.” “Yes. Tristan is concerned for her.” “I have yet to meet him,” Charlotte said, intently watching me. She fell silent, seeming to be lost in her own thoughts. Through the windows behind her I could hear the soft whoosh of traffic as it flowed through the street and sped down the nearby expressway. “When was the last time you spoke with Mira?” I asked, taking a couple steps closer to her desk. “A few weeks ago. She called to confirm that the paperwork that she requested had been completed,” Charlotte replied. “A month after her return from Peru she requested a meeting one evening in the office. She’s never been to the office.” I nodded when she paused for emphasis. I could understand why Charlotte suddenly looked so uneasy. Her employer was acting very strange and she needed to talk to someone who might finally be able to explain away her fears. “She wanted me to set up a trust for a young man named Tristan Aridas that she had taken in as her ward. A very large trust. She also had me moving a great deal of her money to new, foreign accounts and new corporations. Nothing illegal, of course,” she quickly interjected. “I know. Mira would never be involved in anything illegal,” I agreed, attempting to soothe Charlotte’s fears. She was a respectable businesswoman that was engaged in only legal kinds of speculation and investment. She would never lower herself to doing anything illegal. Of course, Charlotte had no idea that her employer was a vampire and that most of the people that she handled money for were also vampires. The young woman’s eyes drifted down to the top of her desk, her lips pulled down in a faint frown. “When I asked her why, she didn’t answer. She just told me to have it all done as quickly as possible. She contacted me again to make sure that it was all completed.” Charlotte looked back up at me again, her expression growing even grimmer. “What is going on?” “I don’t know. She didn’t have you schedule any trips for her out of town?” “No. Is she in danger?” “I don’t know,” I said with a shake of my head. “Do you know of a woman by the name of Alexandra Brooks?” Alex was my last hope. “Yes, Ms. Jones has spoken of her a few times.” Her expression grew even more guarded as she stared up at me. “Do you have her phone number?” “Mr. Smith, I cannot give you her number,” Charlotte said, sitting up in her chair. Her tone had grown cold as she pushed aside her fears and tried to take control of the conversation once again. “Look, I’m just trying to make sure that Mira is safe and Alex is the only other person that I can think of who might know where she is.” Leaning forward, I gripped the front edge of her desk with both hands. “I think that it is in your best interest for me see to Mira’s well-being.” Charlotte glared at me for several second, simmering in her evident frustration. “Fine!” She turned in her chair and pulled her planner out of her briefcase. “I don’t have time for this,” she muttered irritably as she flipped through the addresses to Alex’s name. She quickly wrote out the phone number on a Post-It note and handed it to me. “Thank you for your assistance, Ms. Godwin,” I said with a nod of my head as I backed away from her desk. “I’ll be sure to tell Mira of your helpfulness when I find her.” I quickly turned on heel and strode out of the office before Charlotte could throw her leather-bound planner at me. She had confided in me, trusting that I would supply her with information as well. Unfortunately, there was really nothing that I could tell her. I briefly nodded to the secretary as I left the office and went through the door to the stairs. I hated elevators. I’ve always hated elevators. I’ll ride them when I have little choice, but I avoid it when I can. There something about riding a steel coffin several thousand feet in the air that doesn’t sit well with me. As I walked down the stairs, I pulled my cell phone out of my back pocket and dialed Alex’s number. The cell phone was another new adjustment for me, but I figured if Mira could adapt to such a technical creation, so could I. As the phone rang, I thought that the hard part of my day was over. I would talk to Alex, get a little information, and then fly home again. I was wrong, painfully so. Chapter 4 Alexandra Brooks was an alpha for the werewolf pack in Portland, Oregon. I had met her while I was in Venice with Mira last summer. She was an attractive African-American woman who was confident in who she was and what she wanted. She also took her new role as pack leader very seriously. I didn’t know much about her friendship with Mira beyond the fact that Alex had no problem with Mira being a vampire. What’s more, Mira seemed to care a great deal for Alex, considering that she had taken certain steps to make sure that the werewolf was protected from the vampire Coven. The phone rang four times before someone picked up the receiver. I paused on the landing to the second floor, waiting for someone to speak. I didn’t get the greeting I had been expecting. “Someone better be dead or dying,” groaned a gravelly voice across the distance. I had forgotten about the time difference. It would have been just before six in the morning in Portland and I had obviously woken Alex up. Biting back a curse, I plunged ahead. It was too late to hang up and try again later. “Is this Alexandra Brooks?” I asked. “Yeah. Who is this?” snapped the groggy voice on the other end. “This is Danaus,” I said, but was met with only silence. “We met a few months ago in Venice. I-” “The hunter,” she growled. The noise rumbled from her throat and through the phone with enough of a threat that I had to fight back a shiver. I could hear the bed creak in the background as Alex started to move. A man’s gruff voice briefly interrupted our conversation. Alex mutter something to him, as I continued down the stairs, waiting for her to return her attention to me. “What have you done to Mira?” she demanded over the sound of a door shutting. “If I find that you’ve harmed one hair on her head, I swear I’m going to hunt you down and tear your throat out with my teeth.” Well, that answered my question. Alex hadn’t seen Mira, but I now had to calm down an angry werewolf. “I haven’t touched Mira,” I said, drudging up the last dregs of my patience. “Why should I believe you? You’re a vampire hunter. It’s what you do. Where’s Mira?” “That’s why I’m calling. No one knows where Mira is. I thought you might know,” I replied, pausing again on the landing just before the first floor. There was a long silence as Alex weighed my words. I could hear her breathing over the phone and I had a feeling that she was pacing. “Why are you looking for her?” Alex’s words had slowed and she suddenly seemed very cautious. “I want to make sure that she’s safe.” I bit out each word through my clenched teeth. Why was it such a shock that I was looking for Mira for a reason other than to cut her heart out? I had had less trouble finding her when I was trying to kill her. “Look, I don’t have to tell you anything. Mira likes her privacy.” Her tone had completely changed, taking on one of condescension. “Alex, this isn’t a joke.” My grip tightened on the phone until the plastic creaked. I relaxed my hold, preferring not to break the device after having it for less than two months. It had taken James too long to teach me how to program this one. “Just because you’re sleeping with her doesn’t mean that you need to know her whereabouts all the time. She’s probably just needed a break from things. She’ll show up again.” I jerked the phone away from my ear and stared at in dumbfounded shock. Did she just say what I thought she said? Sleeping with Mira? Where in all that was holy did she get that idea? I shook my head and returned the phone to my ear, forcing myself to push ahead. “Where would you get such an idea?” I demanded, struggling to keep from yelling into the little piece of plastic pressed to my ear. “I’m not sleeping with Mira.” “You’re not?” she asked, her voice jumping slightly higher in her evident surprise. “No, I’m not.” I was, however, slowly losing my mind. This was all Mira’s fault. The vampire drove me closer to the edge of sanity the longer I knew her and this time she wasn’t even present to enjoy my frustration. “Eh, it’s only a matter of time,” she lightly said. I could almost see her shrug at me across the distance. “Why in the world would you think such a thing? Didn’t you just accuse me of hurting her a minute ago?” I demanded. I felt like I was getting sucked down into a spiraling whirlpool, the world suddenly spinning out of control around me. I leaned forward and pressed my forehead against the cool, concrete wall in front of me. I closed my eyes and struggled for control. “Are you trying to hurt her?” “No.” “Well, if you’re not hunting her, then the only reason I can think of for you to be looking for her is because you’ve become one of her lovers. Most of the men that stay around her for any length of time end up in her bed. Why should you be any different?” “I’m not sleeping with her nor will I ever sleep with her!” I shouted before I could grab control of my rising anger. I only spoke again when I was in control of my tone once again. “I ran into Tristan last night and he said that she’s missing.” “Who the hell is Tristan?” Alex snapped. Now she was starting to sound frustrated. “Her ward.” I doubt that was the word vampires would use, but I was a little short on vampires at the moment to give me the correct terminology. I was making due as best I could. “What? When did she start a family? What the hell is going on?” “I don’t know!” I shouted into the phone, which only echoed up the empty stairwell through more than ten floors. I pushed away from the wall and finished descending the stairs. I jerked open the door and strode through the main lobby of the building. “I don’t know what is going on. Mira adopted Tristan while she was in Venice. It was a snap decision. If you want more information, I suggest talking to her yourself. In the meantime, I just want to be able to tell him that she’s safe. Unfortunately, I can’t. Neither Charlotte nor Gabriel has seen her. You’re the only other person I can think of who might know something.” There was a long silence and I could no longer hear Alex breathing in the phone. I paused a few feet away from the main doors. I didn’t want to go outside where it might be more difficult to hear her, but I couldn’t stay here much longer without people overhearing my conversation. “She doesn’t go anywhere without Gabriel.” Her words drifted to me in a rough, breathless whisper. “I’m coming to Savannah. I can be there by this evening.” Her voice was gaining strength as she finally decided to take some action. “Why?” “I know more people there. I can ask around, talk to the pack leader. I might be able to dig up something.” “No,” I said, shoving my free hand through my hair. My fingers were quickly halted by a snarl of tangles. I was still a mess from the previous evening. “Right now the city is quiet. If you come here and start asking questions, it will get out that she’s missing or that something has happened to her.” “And things could get out of control,” she softly finished. We both knew that Mira ruled the city on fear and power. If the other vampires thought she was gone or dead, it could mean a struggle for power. It could also put Tristan in danger. “I can’t just sit here and hope that she’s okay.” “Do you know her cell phone number?” I asked. “Yeah.” “Try calling her. Leave a message telling her to contact Tristan.” “And if she’s in trouble? It’s not like she’s going to answer her cell,” Alex countered irritably. “I know someone else that might be able to track her down. I’ll find her,” I said, trying to sound confident. “You said yourself that she probably just needed a break from things.” “Yeah, but how do you know that the naturi haven’t gotten a hold of her?” “Because we both know that they wouldn’t stand a chance against her.” “Unless it was during the day,” she said, as if reading my mind. “If they had found her during the day, we would have a body.” My voice dropped to a whisper to make sure that no one passing through the lobby could hear me. I had already gotten more than a few lingering looks from people as they walked by me. “They would have staked her. They wouldn’t have taken the chance of trying to capture her.” I didn’t totally believe what I was saying, but the logic behind it was sound. I was beginning to wonder if the naturi would risk trying to capture her again. Of course, I doubted Rowe was acting rationally where Mira was concerned, and he may be content to re-capture her. “And the Coven?” I knew what she was asking. How did I know that one of the Coven Elders hadn’t grabbed her? If I had to choose, I’d say that Mira was better off with the naturi because at least that would most likely have been a quick death. Then again, she had already been tortured once by the naturi. What was to stop them from trying it again? “I don’t know what has happened to her, Alex. I’m trying to find out. I’ll call you if I hear anything,” I said, swallowing a sigh. “You have forty-eight hours and then I’m flying into Savannah,” she said grimly. “You’ll hear from me,” I promised, then hung up the phone. Shoving the phone back into my pocket, I bit back a long, colorful string of curses and launched myself back out onto the street. With my hands in my pockets and my head down, I started to walk back to my car. This whole thing was just getting worse and worse. I didn’t know any more than when I started and now Alex was upset. If she came to Savannah, there was a good chance that she would only make things worse. If fate felt any pity for me, Alex would be able to reach Mira on her cell phone, but I wasn’t holding my breath. Of course, I knew I had a whole new set of problems when I looked up to find Nicolai Gromenko standing on the sidewalk before me, flanked by a pair of large men I was willing to guess were werewolves. No one looked happy to see me. Damn it. Where the hell was Mira?
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