“Show him in,” I called, quickly pushing to my feet. I had sensed the approach of the bouncer and knew he would come to that room for only one reason—my invited guest had arrived.
“Use your best judgment.” By the finality in my tone, Knox knew he was being dismissed. The blond vampire nodded once and then left the room as Barrett Rainer entered.
Given his broad shoulders and somewhat stocky build, it was no surprise that Barrett Rainer was a werewolf. The man was more than 250 pounds of pure muscle, but he moved with a subtle grace, dancing between animal and man. What was surprising to most was that he was the head of one of the most powerful packs in the country. The Savannah pack wasn’t the largest—that honor belonged to a pack in Montana—but its members had been carefully bred, trained, and in some cases selected for their strength, speed, and intelligence.
And at the top of the heap was Barrett Rainer with his burnished gold hair and copper-colored eyes. Like his predecessors, Barrett had been groomed since birth to assume his current role. Of course, the Savannah pack was unusual in that since its very beginning, it had always been run by a member of the Rainer family.
It was this steady consistency over the years that had enabled me to strengthen the relations with the lycanthropes in the area. In most cases, nightwalkers and shapeshifters didn’t generally play well together, as each side attempted to carve out a territory of its own. Only through steady negotiations with Barrett, his father, and his grandfather had I been able to work out a stable peace. That’s not to say we didn’t have our occasional scuffle, but at least it wasn’t the secret wars and strained truces found in other regions around the world.
Barrett dragged his stubby fingers through his short hair, leaving it standing on end and slightly disheveled. He wore a gray suit, but his tie was missing and the top two buttons of his shirt were undone. It was nearly two in the morning. Judging by how quickly he had gotten there, I was willing to guess I’d caught him as he was leaving his restaurant, Bella Luna, on the other side of town.
“You look like hell,” he said after Knox shut the door, leaving us alone.
“Nice of you to notice,” I replied with a smirk. “You’re looking a little ragged as well.”
“It was summer high moon a few nights ago. We’re all still trying to bounce back.” Barrett gave a little shrug, but even that motion seemed somewhat stiff and slow.
I wasn’t particularly clear on the details, but summer high moon was the full moon that fell between midsummer and autumn harvest, and tended to pack a little extra punch for all the lunar shapeshifters such as werewolves. From what I understood, it was a three-night frenzy of hunting, fighting, and sex. I used to tease Barrett that nightwalkers didn’t need the moon to tell them when to have an orgy, we were always ready. However, I didn’t feel like joking tonight. I needed the pack at peak strength.
“How’s the family?”
“Sated,” he said, his voice sounding heavy as he rubbed the bridge of his nose. “What’s going on, Mira? You generally don’t feel the need to check on the shifters at two in the morning.”
“Several humans were murdered at the Docks tonight. The club was partially burned before I arrived,” I began, carefully weighing each word. Barrett said nothing as he nodded, but I listened to him draw in a deep breath. He abruptly halted in the midst of drawing in air, his thick brows snapping together over his nose. He quickly released the breath and drew in another, scenting the air, but confusion was still written across his face. He smelled Nerian on me but couldn’t identify the scent. I doubted if his father could have. There were so few naturi left, and it had been years since the last one was seen in the area.
I paused, not even wanting to breathe the word that could potentially shatter his world, but I had no choice. I had brought him here so he could at least try to protect his people. “The naturi struck—”
“That’s what I smell!” he snarled. His nose crinkled, Barrett took two steps toward me. His wide eyes glowed slightly as they swept over me, his hands were open at his sides, with fingers curled like claws. “You reek of naturi.”
“A hunter is in town. He gave…he gave me a naturi from my past.” I paused again, licking my lips. I mentally sorted through the intimate details of my captivity at the hands of the naturi, trying to decide if there was anything that he needed to know. “That naturi is dead, but there are at least two others searching for him or the hunter. They are the ones that struck at the Docks.”
Barrett paced away from me to the opposite wall, the heels of his palms pressed to his temples as if he were suffering from an intense migraine. “Mira.” My name escaped him in a low growl.
“Do you have an emergency plan?” I asked, trying to keep my voice calm.
Barrett whipped around to face me “An emergency plan?” he repeated. “That’s like me asking if you’ve got an emergency plan for a day when the sun refuses to set. Of course not! I don’t know of any pack that has faced the naturi. Hell, I only know of them because of you and my great-grandfather.”
I could feel the anger rising in him, but he fought back the panic and won. To the naturi, the lycanthropes were little more than slaves, foot soldiers in their war against the bori and mankind. Trapped between animal and man, the lycans had no choice but to answer the call of the naturi and obey.
“Pull your pack together, hold them, and make them fight this. I—I have to leave town for a little while.”
“You’re leaving now? This is your domain! The vampires are the only ones who can fight the naturi,” Barrett shouted as he closed the distance between us with a few long strides. I barely resisted the urge to put my hand on his chest to keep a semicomfortable distance between us. I didn’t want to feel crowded. My nerves were already frazzled from Danaus and the naturi; an irate werewolf didn’t exactly put me at ease.
“I have to stop this from growing worse, and I can’t do that here,” I snapped. I didn’t want to leave. I didn’t want to leave my people seemingly defenseless. Unfortunately, I’d heard nothing from the Coven regarding Danaus. I couldn’t sit there on my hands, waiting for them to send word regarding the naturi. What’s more, I was not only one of our strongest fighters, but I also had experience dealing with the naturi. I knew I would be of more use in the Old World than in the New. I had to leave.
“Worse?” Barrett said.
The left corner of my mouth twitched as my eyes darted away from his direct gaze. I didn’t know what the lycans knew of the seal or what happened at Machu Picchu so many years ago, but it was a rule that nightwalkers didn’t speak of it to anyone outside our species. We might have all been on the same side when it came to the naturi, but nightwalkers by their very nature were all about power, and information was the richest form of power. We didn’t tell others more than they absolutely had to know. And regardless of how much I respected and trusted Barrett, I couldn’t fight six hundred years of conditioning.
“There are trying to return,” I quickly said. “I’ll tell you more when I know more.”
My only warning was a low growl that rumbled deep in his chest before his right hand swiped across my midsection, his fingernails replaced with long black talons. I jumped backward, my shoulders slamming into the wall behind me. While I was fast, the wall kept me from escaping him. Four furrows slashed across my ribs and down my stomach. My leather halter top kept the cuts from running too deep, but my stomach had been completely bare.
Before I could slam Barrett with a few blistering comments, I saw him stare at his trembling hand, now flecked with my blood, and then turn confused eyes up to my face.
“I’m s-sorry, Mira. I—I don’t know what happened,” he said, his voice low and rough. He blinked once, his eyes glowed a deep copper, and then he blinked a second time, erasing the glow. A knot twisted in my stomach.
“Barrett?” A part of me wanted to reach out and lay my hand on his shoulder, but my body was still pressed against the wall as I balanced on the tips of my toes, struggling for
those few extra centimeters of space. It didn’t feel safe to move.
“I—I think they’re here.” And then his eyes glowed again. The naturi were here and they had Barrett, the Alpha for the Savannah pack, under their control.
“Shit!” I hissed between clenched teeth.
As he reached back with his right hand to take another swipe at me, I jumped forward, throwing all my weight into his left shoulder. I knocked us both to the floor, but quickly rolled to my feet. I squared off against him, putting my back to the only door in the room. Barrett returned to his feet and crouched in an aggressive stance. Beside his glowing eyes, his face was completely expressionless. He had no idea what he was doing. He would destroy me because that was the command implanted in his head, regardless of what he felt about me.
“Barrett, can you hear me? You have to fight this,” I said in a hard voice, while I scrambled for a way to subdue him without hurting him too much. Other than the fact that I didn’t just kill for the sake of killing, I needed him alive to help preserve the local pack.
In the main room, faint sounds of fighting drifted to me. Quickly sifting through my memory, I could recall seeing only two werewolves in the bar when I walked through, not counting the bouncer at the front door. I could only hope that Barrett had not brought more when he arrived. Unfortunately, I couldn’t afford to divide my attention between scanning the area and watching him. I would have worry about it after I managed to take care of the Alpha.
My gaze darted around the room, taking in a quick inventory. Leather sofa, chair with ottoman, floor lamp, two end tables, two iron wall sconces. I didn’t have a lot of choices. I needed to knock his ass out so I could settle the main room and take out the naturi.
Barrett lunged at me with a snarl, both hands now tipped with long claws. I sidestepped him, ducking under his outstretched hands. As he passed me, I kicked out with my right leg, knocking him into the wall. I needed some distance between us. Barrett wouldn’t shift. It would take too long and it would give me a chance to attack. But it wasn’t as if human form would leave him at a disadvantage. He was extremely fast and strong.
He pushed off the wall and threw himself into me. I was a half second too slow. We fell to the floor in a tangled heap, his elongated teeth instantly clamping onto my throat. I felt his teeth sink in, sending pain screaming through my frame. Yelling, I jerked my left arm free from beneath his body and punched him in the side. At least three ribs snapped beneath my fist, but I held back enough to keep from punching straight into his chest. He groaned, but clamped down harder, teeth sinking deeper into my throat.
My vision swam. I reached back and hit Barrett again, but this time I hammered his kidney. He yelped, finally releasing my throat. With a soft gurgle, I shoved him off me, sending him skidding a foot across the floor. Tapping down a fresh swell of pain, I pushed to my feet and grabbed him by the lapels of his jacket. His handsome face was covered in my blood and his eyes radiated with an eerie copper light. His large hand clamped on my wrists, threatening to snap them, but I didn’t give him a chance. I slammed him into the wall, trying to knock him out.
It didn’t work. Either his head was too thick or his lycanthropy made him too strong. I pulled him back and slammed him into the wall again, partially pushing him through the wooden studs. A third time left him dazed but conscious.
Dropping him to the floor, I grabbed an iron sconce off the floor and clocked him on the back of the head. He collapsed like a sack of dead fish. Blood immediately began to ooze from his scalp and trickle down his temple. I had cracked his skull, but I could hear his heartbeat. He would live.
Gritting my teeth, I took a step away from him, still clutching the sconce. Blood was still leaking from the wound at my throat that was struggling to close. A low roar had begun in my chest and was echoing through my brain. It wanted blood. It wanted Barrett’s blood, and it would only be satisfied when I’d finished draining him dry.
I took another backward step. It took everything within me to turn my back on him and walk to the door. The blood lust was lit and would only be satisfied when I finally made a kill, or at the very least, fed deeply.
Slowly opening the door, I peeked out into the main room. Chaos ruled. Curtains were shredded, tables overturned, and I could see at least five dead bodies. I immediately identified two of them as nightwalkers. Blocking the entrance were two naturi. Why were they there? Danaus wasn’t here.
The quickest way to end this struggle was to take out the naturi. They were the greatest threat. Reaching out with my power, I quickly located Knox but hesitated making my presence known. He was fighting a werewolf. I could feel his building anger, but a cool, underlying logic still guided his thoughts.
Please, don’t kill them, I whispered in his thoughts.
Thank God! Knox sighed back, relieved to find that I was still alive. Barrett—
The naturi. Kill the naturi and the werewolves will stop, I directed.
Tried that. Irritation filled the comment. They’ve killed Roland and Adam.
I’ve got it. Keep the lycans off my back.
I silently walked the last couple of steps down the hall to stand on the edge of the main room. And the battle instantly shifted. The two naturi saw me and smiled. One of them was obviously from the animal clan. He had the same wide bone structure to his face as Nerian and dark, shaggy hair. With a wave of his hand, the four lycans I could see on the dance floor looked over at me. At once, they all attempted to disengage from their opponents so they could come after me.
Unconsciously, I took a step backward, my mouth falling open. The naturi had come after me. Not Nerian. Not Danaus. They were looking for me.
Before the lycans could move more than a couple steps, the vampires surged, bringing them down. Sickly sounds of tearing flesh and breaking bones barely rose above the earth-shattering screams of pain. Knox was willing to follow my orders up to a point. He had directed the others to keep the lycanthropes busy, but as soon as it became apparent that I was the main target, the order had changed to protect me at any cost. The four werewolves were dead, outnumbered and overwhelmed.
Swallowing a scream of frustration, I conjured up a fireball in my left hand and hurled it at the two naturi who were slowly approaching. It never reached them. One of them gracefully lifted one hand. The fireball flowed to him and then disappeared. I looked carefully at him for the first time. Tall and thin like a delicate willow, his skin was snowy white and his hair fell about him in silken waves of gold. If the sun could ever cry a tear, he would have been formed from it. He was from the light clan, and I knew I was seriously screwed. I wouldn’t be able to use my ability to conjure fire as a weapon against them as long as he stood.
I smiled. He would just have to stop standing.
“I’ve already killed Nerian tonight,” I called to them from across the dance floor. There was no missing the laughter in my tone. “We’ve killed your poor foot soldiers. This will be your one chance to leave my domain while you can still walk out of here.” As I spoke, I conjured another fireball in my left hand.
Once again the naturi from the light clan captured the fireball, protecting them both. “You’re mistaken, Fire Starter. This is your one chance,” he replied. His voice was light and warm, like the early morning rays from the summer sun. “Come with us now, and we won’t destroy every vampire in your domain.”
My smile faded. Bright fireballs consumed both my hands this time. Quickly, I launched them both at the naturi from the light clan. With a wave of his hand, he easily dispersed the fire, but it did nothing to stop the iron sconce that had been engulfed in the second fireball. The heavy piece of iron struck him in the middle of his chest, throwing him backward as it embedded itself. I had no doubt that he was dead the moment his lithe body slammed into the wall.
The remaining naturi growled at me for only a second before darting out the open front door. Without the added defense of someone from the light clan, he didn’t stand a chance against fifty nightwalker
s and the Fire Starter. It had been the only way the naturi could hold me during the first week. With a member of the light clan constantly hovering in my shadow, I’d been unable to use my ability against them. By the second week I was too weak to even light a candle.
Now, with the threat finally gone, I took a step onto the dance floor and surveyed the damage. I tried to shove both my hands through my hair but stopped when I encountered the dried blood left from Nerian. My body trembled in pain, exhaustion, and blood loss. But the faces of the nightwalkers watching me were worse. Haunted, confused, and frightened, many clung to each other or knelt beside the dead. The two nightwalkers I could identify as Roland and Adam had gaping holes dominating their chests where their hearts once were. Two more bodies lay in awkward positions on the ground, headless.
The bodies of the four werewolves were badly mangled and covered with blood. No one stood next to them. The lines were already being drawn, but they were the wrong lines.
“Mira?”
My head jerked up to find Knox standing next to me. His navy shirt had been ripped in several places and there were several superficial wounds healing on his arms and chest.
“What’s the count?” I murmured, my gaze returning to the bloody scene before me.
“Six nightwalkers and five lycans, unless Barrett is—”
“No,” I said sharply, then drew in a deep breath, softening my voice. “No, he’ll recover.”
“Why?” I heard someone whisper in a broken voice.
I lurched into action, my heels clicking ominously on the cold tile floor. “You know why they did this, don’t you?” I demanded. My gaze slowly swept over the assembled mass, making sure that I briefly held the stare of every nightwalker. “They had no choice! That was the naturi,” I said, pointing over my shoulder toward the dead naturi. “Certain naturi can control the lycans. The lycans have no choice but to obey the naturi when they are close. This is not their fault.”
“But how do you stop this?” a female asked in a tremulous voice.
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