Dayhunter Read online

  Struggling to tear my eyes off the creature with the stringy gray hair, I looked up at the Coven and said, “Just send out Nicolai, and we’ll be on our way.”

  “We cannot,” Macaire said. “We have other plans for him.”

  “Time to change your plans.” I smiled, slipping my dagger from my waist. I reached my free left hand behind me to the hunter, who took it. “Or Danaus and I turn anything that stinks of naturi into ash. Send out the wolf.”

  Chaos erupted. The first harpy launched herself into the air with amazing speed and grace, disappearing among the flags hanging above. Again their voices swelled as they discussed something in their own language that I couldn’t quite make out. They either didn’t care for being threatened or had just figured out that the wolf I demanded was their soon-to-be sacrifice.

  As I lifted my eyes to try to locate the three naturi that clung to the ceiling like overgrown bats, my brain filled with pain. At first Jabari had been the only presence pushing against my thoughts, but Danaus quickly shoved his way inside. Energy from both creatures surged through my frame, battling for dominance. The hunter was winning the battle, but I had a feeling it was only because he actually had physical contact with me, gripping my hand, while Jabari still sat several feet away on the dais. My scream shattered the air as the pain buckled my knees beneath me. I was only vaguely aware of the sound of my knife hitting the marble floor at the same time my knees came in contact with the cool stone.

  My bones felt as if they were being ground into dust as Jabari and Danaus fought for control. Danaus still held my hand, and I tried to pull it free in a blind effort to stop the pain. Of course, if he released me, there was a chance that Jabari would win control and the hunter would die. There were no voices in my head this time. Just raw, angry power. I screamed again, wishing there was a way I could push them both out of my head, but there was nothing to grab onto, nothing to push against. They were both everywhere at once, separate but nearly indistinguishable in the various shades of pain they caused.

  When I was sure I could take no more, Danaus finally won the battle, ejecting Jabari from my thoughts. Unfortunately, there was too much energy flowing in my painfully tense frame. I couldn’t let it go. A ring of fire nearly twelve feet in diameter instantly burst into existence. The flames crackled for a second in bright yellow and orange before settling into a silent pale blue. No one had put the need to create fire in my brain, it just happened.

  But the ring of eight-foot flames wasn’t all that ignited. Candlelight around the room flared, the little tongues of fire stretching and elongating until they seemed to take on a life of their own. Two of the flags burst into flames overhead, shoving aside more of the darkness that cowered in the room. One of the chairs that survived last night’s fight also burst into flames, crackling and popping with a growl that seemed to mimic the same anger burning through my soul. The flames were soothing despite the fact that Danaus skulked around in my brain as if he owned it, seeming to wait for Jabari to attack again.

  Instead the attack came from above. I heard the near-silent flap of leathery wings only seconds before I was jerked backward. Danaus’s hand was pulled from my grip as he was lifted from his feet. Twisting from where I sat on the floor, I saw two of the harpies lift him into the air, their taloned feet digging into his broad shoulders. The closer he moved to the ceiling, the weaker his presence grew in my thoughts, allowing Jabari to muscle his way in again.

  Desperate, I tried to throw up mental barriers, not caring who was being pushed out. With both hands planted on the floor in front of me, I gritted my teeth and pushed against anything I was sure wasn’t my own thought, but even that distinction was growing fuzzy. A snarl rippled up from my throat as I barely suppressed the urge to hurl fireballs at the harpies, but I couldn’t risk it. There was a good chance I would hit Danaus as well.

  Mira… Jabari’s voice in my head was light and taunting as I kneeled on the floor. It wasn’t strong yet, but he had the power to wear me down.

  Give me Nicolai and call off the harpies. My demand sounded ragged and breathless even to me as I shoved the thought back at Jabari, wishing I could make him choke on it.

  Let them have their fun. I could easily envision the shrug of his narrow shoulders as he sent me that thought. There was laughter woven around every word that danced through my brain. Besides, don’t you think you’ve collected enough pets you cannot protect?

  It dawned on me then that his thoughts were devoid of the anger or frustration he had shown just moments ago when we were speaking. Damn him! He had manipulated me. He knew I would come for Nicolai, but what was his goal? Danaus’s death? Mine? Or was he manipulating me into killing the naturi for him? I didn’t understand his game.

  This deal with the naturi can’t be allowed, I told him.

  Stealing Nicolai won’t stop it, he admitted

  Will it help? I waited for his answer. After everything that had happened, I felt as if I was extending a desperate hand to him, begging for his help after he had manipulated me into this position in the first place. I hated what he could do to me, and I hated him more because I needed him.

  They will fear you more, he finally said.

  Overhead, a woman’s voice sliced through the silence in a heart-shattering scream. Another voice was raised in pain a second later, followed by the sound of ripping cloth. I looked up in time to see Danaus fall to the floor. He landed as lightly as a cat, his knife in hand, stained with black-looking blood. One of the flags fluttered to the ground behind him, torn from where he had grabbed it in an attempt to slow his fall.

  If you fight with Danaus for control over me again, it will destroy what little is left of my mind and potentially my body. That cannot help your goal. I sent the thought lashing out at Jabari as Danaus approached. Hand over Nicolai and we will leave. I had only seconds to get Jabari to acquiesce. The ring of fire wouldn’t stop Danaus from returning to my side. If the hunter touched me again, I knew I wouldn’t survive it. My arms were trembling and my stomach felt as if it had been flipped inside out and dipped in acid.

  We’re close.

  I wanted to asked what he meant by that, but there wasn’t time. In truth, it didn’t matter if I understood. I was just the weapon, not the warrior.

  “Enough!” Jabari roared, surging to his feet. What seemed like a child crying in pain was the only sound in the room. Apparently, Danaus had done some serious damage to one of the harpies. There was a brief scraping and clacking of claws on stone and then the crying grew softer and fainter.

  I hesitantly lowered the flames so they were only a couple feet high and surrounded me more tightly, in a circle with a diameter of only a few feet. Danaus stopped a couple feet away from me outside the flames, his knife still in hand, as we waited to hear what Jabari had to say.

  “Kill her, Jabari,” Macaire ordered. His arms shook from where he tightly held the arms of the chair, barely managing to keep his seat. A horrid green light glowed in his eyes, burrowing into me through the flickering flames.

  A deep chuckle rumbled from Jabari and a cold smile slithered across his lean, hard features. I had seen that expression once before. The warm, compassionate veneer had been stripped away at the Themis Compound when he told me I was the weapon wielded by the triad to stop the naturi. At least this time his icy amusement was directed at Macaire and not at me.

  “You’ve cried for her death since the second she was reborn.”

  Jabari’s words slithered like a poisonous snake into my ears and through the cells of my brain, sending an uncontrollable shiver through my exhausted body. He had switched to our language; the first language spoken by nightwalkers, which was written in our very blood. There was no learning it. A vampire was reborn fluent and afraid. No one spoke it without a good reason. Jabari most likely had something to say he didn’t want the naturi to understand.

  “If you wish her dead, you must dirty your hands, because I’m not through with her,” Jabari continued, gracefully sit
ting back down in his chair. “But remember last night’s bloodbath. She’s not without her own skills. And beside her stands an experienced hunter of our kind.”

  “It sounds as if you are afraid to attack her,” Macaire taunted, also using the same language. It didn’t roll from his tongue with the same elegance, and I wondered if it was because he was afraid of me and Jabari.

  “No.”

  And that was all he had to say. Jabari could destroy me without raising a finger and we all knew it. There was no fear, no hesitance. He would kill me when he was done using me.

  “But she means to take your pet from you,” Macaire said. There was no missing the desperation that colored each word. He wouldn’t be able to convince Jabari to do anything he didn’t want to do. If Macaire wanted me dead, he was going to have to do something about it himself.

  “He was lost to me regardless of the outcome,” Jabari said with an indifferent shrug. He had sent Nicolai knowing I would either kill him or claim him. Damn Jabari. After living with me for roughly a century, he had come to know me far too well.

  With a wave of his hand, one of the side doors slammed open, banging against the wall. Nicolai stepped into the room, his eyes quickly taking in all the players. The handsome werewolf was wary, but exhaustion was starting to take its toll on him. His copperish-brown eyes were underlined with dark shadows and there was a day’s growth of whiskers on his jaw and chin. He stood near the dais, not far from Jabari, struggling to stare blankly straight ahead. However, he could either sense or hear the harpies overhead, his eyes occasionally darting toward the dark shadows near the ceiling.

  There was only the soft drip of blood leaking from one of the harpies as it hit the marble floor. Nicolai’s and Danaus’s heartbeats thundered in my head as I suddenly became aware of my growing hunger. My fight with Jabari and the other nightwalkers during the past two nights had pushed me too far and I needed to feed again.

  Reluctantly, I doused the last of the flames, but remained kneeling on the floor, conserving the last of my energy should I need it to escape this nightmare.

  “If you can protect him, you may have him,” Jabari conceded. There was no missing the condescension in his tone. I’d already failed to protect Tristan and he certainly didn’t believe I would be able to protect Nicolai when the Elder chose to attack him.

  Pushing to my feet, I was surprised when I didn’t sway once I was standing again, despite the fact that my thoughts were coated in a thick layer of fog and pain and my body screamed at every movement. If there had been an ounce of blood left within my frame, it seemed I would have heaved it onto the floor. I wanted to curl into a little ball and pray for the dawn to wipe away my mind. Instead I squared my shoulders and nodded. We both knew that without rising from his chair, Jabari had beaten me because he had the ability to control me. I was getting Nicolai because it was what Jabari wanted, not because I had won.

  He smiled widely at me, revealing a glimpse of white fangs, and motioned with a couple of fingers for Nicolai to walk over to me. The lycan’s eyes darted from the Elder to me in confusion and shock before taking a couple slow, hesitant steps toward me. My muscles tensed, waiting for one of the Coven to lurch forward and attack the werewolf, but none of the three even flinched. However, understanding finally dawned on the naturi that clung to the ceiling. There was a quick flap of damp, fleshy wings as they watched Nicolai stand near me.

  “What is this, nightwalker?” exclaimed one of the harpies in melodious outrage.

  “The lycan was not part of the original agreement,” Jabari said in a harsh voice that made me flinch.

  “No!” The screech reverberated through the room as one of the harpies swooped down from the ceiling, her taloned feet extended to grab the werewolf up by the shoulders. Without hesitation, I launched a fireball at the attacking monster at the same time an invisible hand slammed into the creature, crushing it against the far wall. The harpy screamed and pushed off from the wall, returning to the relative safety of the shadows that huddled in the corners of the ceiling. I didn’t have to look up at the dais to know that Jabari had protected Nicolai. He hadn’t been sure I had the energy to do it after my scuffle with him.

  Turning to look at a scratched and bloody Danaus, I bit out an order, “Get him out of here.” The hunter was smart enough not to argue with me. He knew I was running on empty. I couldn’t keep fighting off the harpies all night and still hold my own against the Coven. Danaus grabbed a stunned Nicolai by the shoulder and pulled him out the door, his eyes continuously moving from the dais to the ceiling, expecting another attack.

  If anything, the fact that Danaus and I were walking out with Nicolai indicated that the Coven still needed us alive for whatever dark plan they had in mind. So far I had not stepped too far out of line. Furthermore, I had potentially completed a task that Jabari always meant for me to accomplish. Bastard. I would have preferred to find out what the Coven was planning with the naturi, but felt lucky to be walking out at all. There was still a little time left to discover the Elders’ plans.

  My gaze returned to the dais and the Elders, who were each plotting my demise in their own special way, I was sure. Macaire was expressionless as he stared at me, but there was no hiding his white knuckles or tensed frame. He was less than pleased with both me and Jabari. Only at this point he wasn’t sure which of us would be easiest to kill. Besides, I was still willing to bet that he wanted to meet with me. Macaire was the type to mentally manipulate you; try to win you over with “logic” and lots of seductive promises. He wasn’t willing to get his hands dirty the same way Jabari was.

  Elizabeth had been silent through this whole affair, which made me more nervous than when I considered Macaire. I could guess Macaire’s and Jabari’s motive, but I didn’t know whose side she was on or if she had her own goal. All in all, I had no doubt she would rather see me staked out in the sun than standing in the Great Hall again.

  At last my gaze settled on Jabari, who was watching me with amusement dancing in his dark eyes. I bowed my head to him, no longer wishing to know his schemes that involved me and no little amount of pain. I was about to turn and stride out of the room when my eyes caught on the empty chair at Jabari’s right hand. Tabor’s chair. A seat on the Coven. But to be a member of the Coven would mean being Jabari’s puppet. At one time I would have followed the Elder’s wishes simply because I believed in him. Now I would do it because I had no choice.

  My gaze stumbled back to Jabari, to find him grinning broadly at me, guessing my thoughts. He would welcome me onto the Coven with open arms, as it solidified his power over the other two members. I smiled back at him before turning on my left heel and stiffly leaving the Great Hall. My heart would be in the hunter’s hand before I took a seat on the Coven.

  EIGHTEEN

  Pulling the heavy doors closed behind me, I paused at the top of the old granite stairs and tipped my head up toward the stars that winked at me as if enjoying some great cosmic joke. The air was warm and moist, and the wind had begun to stir, whispering dark promises of a summer squall that would leave San Marco Piazza under a foot of water. The flood was usually reserved for later in the season, but was not unheard of during late July.

  It was only standing in the summer air that I realized I was cold. The chill that had bit at my limbs finally began to permeate the aches and throbbing pains that dominated my consciousness. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d fed. Had it been while I was in London? It seemed all so long ago, but only a couple of nights had passed. Despite that, I needed to feed again, and soon.

  With a frown, I started to descend the stairs when my knees decided to no longer obey my wishes. My legs were made of seaweed and completely useless. I reached out to catch myself, briefly wondering if my arms would even work, when I found myself in Danaus’s strong arms. I didn’t see him move. In fact I hadn’t been aware of him being so close, but I didn’t care. I had enough to worry about.

  Danaus carefully wrapped my left arm around
his shoulders then swept me wordlessly up in his arms. His stride was steady and unhurried as he headed back to the boat. My eyes drifted closed as his warmth wrapped around me, helping to erase some of the aches and pains that filled my body. Beside us I heard Nicolai walking to Danaus’s right.

  “My hero,” I murmured in a low voice, resting my head against Danaus’s shoulder. He snorted in disgust, earning a breathless chuckle from me. I had no doubt he would have loved to drop me on my ass right there and let me crawl to the boat, but it wouldn’t get us off this wretched island any faster.

  “Was it worth it?” he asked. I could feel his turmoil and worry beating against me as if they were my own emotions. Our connection was still strong from earlier and I didn’t have the spare energy to try to put up any mental walls to keep him out, not that it would have done me much good. Danaus and Jabari could waltz in whenever they pleased.

  “Yes,” I sighed. My right hand slid down from his shoulder to his chest, and I could feel his heartbeat beneath my palm. “We know the Coven is not of one mind about its plans and that Our Liege knows nothing of the Elders’ plans. We also know that Jabari will keep us alive until after we’ve destroyed whatever they’re cooking up with the naturi. At least he wants to keep the door closed.”

  “Unless you’re wrong about Jabari,” Danaus interjected.

  “Thank you for that happy thought,” I grumbled, cracking open one eye to look up at him. It wouldn’t be the first time I had been horribly wrong about Jabari and paid a high price for it.