Dayhunter (41 page)

“Why are you here?” I demanded, summoning up my anger again. I knew better than to believe his line that he was just checking up on us. I was surprised by his appearance, but I shouldn’t have been. The last time he had randomly appeared was at the Themis Compound, the night of the attack and the sacrifice at Stonehenge. “Afraid of missing out on another sacrifice?”

Jabari smiled this time, a dark and evil thing. “Just missed the last one.” The smile slithered from his face and he turned serious again. “You know why I’m here. It’s the same reason I commanded you to appear in Venice. The one place in the world where you could prove to be the greatest nuisance.”

“Because of the naturi in the Great Hall,” I said.

Jabari simply nodded, the smile returning to his lips.

My hands fell back to my sides and I leaned against the tomb that had served as my daytime bed. “Honestly, old friend, is what Macaire told me the truth? Just between you and me and the spiders.”

“I do not know, but I have found that it’s very rare for Macaire to speak the truth,” Jabari replied, matching my mocking tone.

“Has the Coven truly made a bargain with the naturi?”

“A small group within the naturi, yes,” Jabari corrected.

I bit on my lower lip for a second, trying to hold back a smile, as he carefully hedged. “They want us to kill Aurora.”

“That is correct.”

“And the Coven wants them to kill Our Liege.”

To this, Jabari said nothing, but he did nod once.

Yeah, I was the only nightwalker insane enough to actually say those words out loud. But then again, I had lots of people trying to kill me, what was one more? “And this is because he’s trying to move up the Great Awakening.”

Again Jabari nodded.

“This is ridiculous!” I shouted, barely resisting the urge to start pacing in the tiny crypt. “This is nothing more than Macaire’s power play. He has to know that allowing the door to open will bring about the Great Awakening. There will be no hiding a war with the naturi from the humans.”

“That is true, but it is proving to be effective. Tabor was vocally against the plan, threatening to go to Our Liege.”

“And he ended up dead,” I said, finishing the thought. “I’m assuming this is the reason no one has been able to sense you for the past several years.”

“I prefer my privacy, yes,” Jabari murmured, as if this was all a lighthearted game. He leaned against the wall opposite me, crossing one leg in front of the other. His dark skin allowed him to nearly blend into the darkness, giving the night an almost velvety texture where he stood.

“But I don’t understand.” I shoved one hand through my knotted and dirty hair in frustration. “Why drag me into this? Kill Macaire and end the bargain. You didn’t need me in Venice for that.”

“I needed you causing chaos in Venice, threatening to spread our secret and disrupting our meetings with the naturi. It strikes fear in them, and we need them to fear us. Besides, you should never underestimate Macaire. He has been on the Coven longer than me. He is harder to kill than you would think.”

“So I was brought to Venice to discover the secret?”

“With the hunter at your side, it was inevitable.”

“And Nicolai?”

“We offered him as a sacrifice.”

“So I was supposed to save him…”

“No, you were supposed to kill him, but everything still worked out in the end,” Jabari admitted with a shrug of his broad shoulders.

“What’s the next step in your master plan?” I demanded, my temper flaring. I had been used and manipulated since the moment I stepped off the plane in Venice. Jabari didn’t have to use his powers to control me. He could do just fine with me running around on my own, creating chaos wherever I went.

“The same plan that I am sure you have already cooked up with the hunter,” Jabari said, pushing off the wall. He slowly walked over to stand before me. Only a slender column of air separated us when he spoke again. “Kill the naturi called Rowe. Stop the sacrifice and protect the seal. We must make it clear to them that there is going to be no bargain between nightwalkers and naturi.”

“The naturi from Venice. The one in the hall. She’s here with Rowe,” I said, trying to swallow back my fear. My anger had slipped away and now there was just the cold chill of the crypt as I stood alone with one of my makers, and one of my greatest betrayers. Once again we found each other as allies when I knew it was only a matter of time before we would find ourselves on opposite sides of the battlefield.

“Then we kill her. If the harpies appear, we kill them as well.”

“Jabari, I—I…” I hesitated. I had some fears about our plan, but I didn’t want to volunteer my solution unless it was absolutely necessary. “Do you still mean to kill me?”

Lifting one hand, he cupped my cheek as he leaned forward and brushed his lips against my other cheek. His lips strayed down my jaw to my bare neck, sending a chill sweeping through my entire body. “My fragile desert blossom,” he murmured in my ear. “I want you dead in the worst way. But for now I have a use for you, so you live.”

That’s what I thought. I was trapped, surrounded by creatures that wanted me dead, but for now all seemed to have a use for me as some kind of weapon against the naturi. Except for Rowe. He wanted to use me as a weapon against the nightwalkers.

I bit back a sigh as Jabari stepped away from me. Our course was set. The big bad Ancient could make it sound easy all he wanted, but I knew the truth. When we walked back into the Minoan ruins that night, the naturi were going to throw everything they had at us to ensure that they completed the sacrifice. There was no way they were going to let us stop them a second time.

TWENTY-FIVE

R
yan and Danaus were waiting for us along the road to the Palace of Knossos. Both of them looked surprised to find Jabari walking beside me, but neither one asked about Hugo, which was probably the smartest course of action. His absence indicated that he either hadn’t made it through the day or was too weak to aid us tonight.

After last night’s freak storm, summer had returned to the island, leaving the air thick and heavy like a sweat-soaked blanket. The wind was silent, allowing any noise we made to travel easily to our intended prey. But I didn’t actually have much hope of sneaking up on them anyway.

As we walked along the side of the road, bits of gravel crunching beneath my feet, I completed my weapons check for the second time. The weapons Danaus gave me when we flew into Venice had been reorganized due to the unexpected arrival of James and Ryan. One of my guns now rested with James, whom I suspected was once again pouting alone in the hotel room. My sword had also been replaced with a pair of knives that rested in holsters strapped around my legs. I had more experience with close, hand-to-hand fighting, and my speed made me more lethal with a knife. The sword had been handed off to Danaus.

However, I still had one of the detested guns the hunter had given me. I pulled the Browning from where it rested at my lower back and ejected the magazine from the butt of the gun. The magazine wasn’t fully loaded.

“Here,” Danaus said, walking up beside me.

I looked down at the spare magazine he extended toward me. With a grunt, I accepted it, sliding it into my back left pocket. I hadn’t forgiven him. I wanted to spend several nights beating him senseless for what he’d done. A part of me also wanted to curl up into a ball and weep. But the naturi were gathering and I didn’t have time for either, so I accepted the bullets and kept walking.

“What’s the plan?” Ryan inquired from the rear of the line.

“Jabari,” I quickly said, hoping the nightwalker would happily step up into the lead. He was, after all, an Ancient and an Elder member of the Coven.

“This is your dance, Mira. You may lead. I am here only to fill in for the fallen nightwalkers,” Jabari called from behind me. I could almost hear his mocking laughter with each syllable.
Rat bastard.

I hesitated, resisting the urge to look over at Danaus. Had he told Ryan about the Coven deal with the naturi?

“We have to face the fact that it is very unlikely the human they have selected for the sacrifice will survive,” I slowly began. My stomach churned with each ugly word I uttered. “Even if we rescue this person, as long as he or she in the area of the palace, they can be used as the sacrifice. The only way to eliminate the risk is to eliminate all humans from the area.”

“You’re saying kill the human before the naturi get the chance?” Ryan said. There was no surprise or disgust in his tone. He had asked matter-of-factly, as if simply confirming what I’d said.

“Our main focus needs to be eliminating the naturi threat,” I replied, aware of Danaus and evading a direct response. “Jabari and I will focus on Rowe. We will need you and Danaus to keep the naturi off our backs.”

If anyone was planning to comment on my ultracrappy planning skills, they lost out on the opportunity because we had reached the edge of the palace. With the gun clenched in my right hand and a knife in my left, I moved onto the first step leading up to the palace and paused. There was no time for fear or anger now. It was time to just worry about killing Rowe and surviving the next hour or so.

The energy I had felt last night was nothing compared to what I felt beating against me now. Ryan had created a storm with the force to not only destroy all of Crete but also wipe out several of other islands in the region, and it hadn’t even dented the energy I now felt vibrating in the air. It pushed against my skin, determined to once again find entrance into my body. I couldn’t use my powers tonight. This energy would shred me.

“They’re here,” Danaus murmured.

My head jerked toward the hunter, forcing me from my dark thoughts. “How many?”

“About two dozen. Most are centered in the main clearing, but there are a few hanging back toward the south. Two more are in the air.”

Before shifting my weight to take the next step, I scanned the area as well, looking for the exact location where the human was being held. The naturi would wait until the night was near its peak, but they would be preparing the human. I was willing to guess that Rowe was hovering close to the human as well. But the naturi managed to surprise me again.

“Damn it,” I snarled in a low whisper. I stepped backward and lowered my gun.

“There are three,” Jabari said from behind me, stating what I’d just discovered. I walked a few feet away from the entrance to the ruins, flipping the safety of the gun back on in an effort to keep from putting a bullet in my foot in a moment of frustration. There were three humans at the center of the ruins. Not one. Three.

“Decoys?” Danaus asked, drawing my gaze to his face for a flash.

I looked away just as quickly, my eyes darting from Danaus to Ryan before finally settling on Jabari. “Yeah, maybe,” I softly said, holding the Elder’s eyes.

“And one of those decoys is James,” Ryan announced.

“What? How?” I gasped, feeling the need to point my gun at the warlock. Bringing the human along had always felt like packing live bait to me, and now the young man was caught.

“He was grabbed during the middle of the day,” Danaus answered. “He ran down to the corner store and never returned.”

I wanted to smack them both for letting James out of their sight. Hadn’t my own mistake with allowing Michael to get involved in a fight against the naturi taught them anything? Humans only ended up dead when the naturi and nightwalkers were involved.

We needed to hurry now. It had been night for more than an hour already. They could have started the process. While they might not complete the sacrifice until the peak of the night, the naturi could spend several hours in the ritual, removing the human’s various organs and burning them. They would keep James alive and conscious right up until the end. But we wouldn’t have any hope of saving him if they had already cut him open.

“New plan,” I announced, insanely hoping I could convince Danaus and Ryan to go along with my newest bout of insanity. “There are three humans but only one is the true sacrifice. I will go after Rowe and keep the bastard occupied. Danaus will focus on freeing James and getting him over to Ryan. Once Ryan has James, the two of them will return to Heraklion.”

“Mira, I think I can—” Ryan started, but I quickly cut him off.

“No, you can’t. You’re still a human, Mr. Warlock, and can be used as a sacrifice. Both you and James have to be away from the site. Jabari will focus on the other sacrifices. Ryan, I need you to hang back until James has been freed. If Rowe or any of the other naturi tap into the weather again, I need you to stop it.”

“Mira, that’s earth magic. Not my strong suit,” he argued.

“You have to try.” I flipped the safety off the gun again and took a step toward the entrance. “Do whatever you can to interfere with the spell. We’ll try to keep them away from you so you can work.”

Turning, I walked toward the entrance and up the stairs without looking back at anyone. I knew that none of the humans were decoys. Rowe wasn’t taking any chances. We had stopped him once, and now he was betting we wouldn’t be able to stop all three sacrifices.

As I reached the top of the stairs, a high-pitched screech rent the silence of the night. I cringed, lowering my head as if I expected the wrath of the heavens to fall on me at that second. Not quite. Two of the harpies from Venice had come to Knossos to help Rowe with the sacrifice. And we had obviously been spotted.

Sneaking around one of the remaining walls, a smile lifted my lips. The idea was to let me protect the seal and kill Rowe. The positive aspect to the plan was that I could kill every naturi that stood between him and me. I knew I would find a bright side somewhere within this nightmare.

We edged closer to the central courtyard. Only a handful of naturi stepped forward to harry us. With Jabari tagging along, they were quickly dispatched with little trouble before any of them could fire up their special powers. I wasn’t surprised. The main force of the naturi was pulled back to defend the sacrifices.

The wind suddenly picked up, shifting twice before it blew at my back, pushing me forward. Climbing over a low, broken wall that surrounded the courtyard, I tightened my grip on the knife and gun. Rowe stood a few yards away, legs spread and hands on his hips. He smiled at me. Behind him more than a dozen torches flickered and danced in the wind. Spread before us across the wide courtyard were the three humans; two men and one small child. They had been tied down, their bodies stretched out from east to west. Just like at Stonehenge not so long ago.