Wait for Dusk dd-5

by Jocelynn Drake

  “Mira, you can’t mean . . .” Valerio started, but his voice faded off. Even as we sat in Budapest, a long distance from Venice, it still didn’t feel safe to say the words out loud.

  “I do and I will. It’s the only reason that Jabari allowed me to join the coven in the first place. It’s time I fulfilled my purpose so I can move on with my life,” I grumbled, staring at the sparkling glass-covered floor before me.

  “If you fulfill your purpose, then what reason will Jabari have to keep you around?” Danaus asked softly from the far side of the room.

  “None,” I whispered, then shook my head. “I’ll deal with that problem when the time comes.” Though I had a feeling I would have to deal with it sooner if Nick had any say in the matter. My time was running out. Soon I would have to deal with two coven Elders, not just one.

  “What about the naturi?” Stefan inquired, drawing my gaze back to his face. The nightwalker leaned against the wall with his hands shoved into his pockets, looking very content with my plans. If I took on Macaire directly, there was a very good chance that a seat was going to open up on the coven. He honestly didn’t care if it was mine or Macaire’s. It was a win-win situation for him.

  “They were just a red herring,” Valerio said, his lips twisting around the words. He had been nearly killed by something that wasn’t important in the grander scheme of things.

  “Yes, it was either just luck or coincidence that Rowe happened to be in Budapest at the same time.” I shrugged. “I hadn’t seen any sign of the bastard since Peru.”

  “Or there’s a chance that Macaire is still in contact with the naturi,” Danaus said, “plotting new plots that would mean your eventual death.”

  “Macaire is plotting with the naturi?” Valerio nearly came off the sofa.

  I inwardly cringed, wishing I could throw something at Danaus. I really wasn’t in the mood to get into this with Stefan and Valerio. Neither knew that members of the coven had conspired with the naturi at one time to bring about the end of Our Liege.

  “He did at one time,” I muttered. “We don’t know if he still is. I thought I had killed his contact, and I find it hard to believe that Rowe would cooperate with any nightwalker.”

  “He might if it means getting his hands on you,” Danaus countered, sending a shiver down my spine.

  “It doesn’t matter. I plan to clean up this mess.”

  “Tonight?” Valerio asked.

  “No. I need you in peak fighting form. I will need everyone’s help to take down not only Veyron but Odelia and Clarion as well. We’re cleaning out Budapest before we return to Venice.”

  “Will you ever return?” Stefan inquired. “You are the keeper, after all.”

  “Keeper,” I grumbled. “I never wanted to be keeper of this city.”

  “It’s not that bad a city. Once you clean out the rabble, of course,” Danaus added, surprising me.

  I leaned my head into my hand with my elbow resting on the arm of the chair. “I just want to go home at this point. I’ll come back to Budapest eventually. It’s not like we’re going to be leaving behind any power players. The shifters are dead, and there aren’t any old nightwalkers here.”

  “That’s just the problem, Mira,” Stefan spoke up. “You’re leaving behind a power vacuum. Anyone will be able to move into this domain and take over.”

  “What? You want it? Take it!” I dropped my hand and glared at Valerio. “Or you. It’s closest to your domain. You take it.”

  “I don’t have a domain,” Valerio said smugly.

  I slammed my fist against the arm of the chair, causing the wood to creak. “Then man up and claim one finally!”

  Valerio just smiled at me, enjoying my evident frustration. I didn’t want Budapest. It was a gorgeous city and I had no doubt that I might actually enjoy it once Veyron and the others were cleared out. However, my mind kept drifting back to my sweet Savannah. I had left Tristan and too many others unguarded. I needed to get back there before something horrible happened.

  “If nothing is going to be done tonight,” Valerio said, pushing slowly to his feet, “then we should pull back to Vienna, where it’s safer.”

  “We need to be at our strongest if we’re going to take them on,” I added, rising as well.

  “Veyron got you worried?” Danaus asked.

  I shook my head as I carefully picked my way over to the bedroom. “Clarion. You never know what warlocks are capable of until they have already cast the spell.”

  Danaus and I quickly packed our bags. Then Stefan placed an arm across my shoulders, while Valerio put his hand on Danaus’s arm. In a blink of an eye we were whisked across vast empty miles to Valerio’s private apartments in downtown Vienna.

  Stefan released me once he was sure I was steady on my feet. He walked into the living room and relaxed across a chaise lounge. Valerio and Danaus appeared beside me a second later. The hunter frowned and shook his head as if to clear it of the cobwebs, while Valerio came over and picked up my bag so he could personally escort me to a room that I would use for changing. I would be sleeping in a more secure and private chamber with him and Stefan when the sun finally started to rise in the sky.

  “It seems that you and Danaus have reconciled your differences,” Valerio murmured when we were alone in the other room. He placed my bag down on the bed and leaned against one of the four wooden posters with his arms crossed over his chest.

  “We’re trying to make this work,” I admitted, though I was reluctant to speak about it. Valerio and I had a past together that stretched across several centuries. I’d taken different lovers during the times when we were apart, and he had not batted an eye at it. Why had he taken a sudden interest now? “What’s your concern?”

  Valerio smiled at me and extended one hand. I took it, allowing him to raise it to his lips and brush a kiss across the knuckles. “You are my concern. You are always my concern.”

  “You’re also full of shit. What’s your sudden interest?” I snapped. I tugged at my hand, but he refused to release me.

  “A powerful nightwalker hunter has obviously won the heart of one of the most powerful nightwalkers in the world. Certainly that should raise a concern or two among the masses.”

  “Shouldn’t you also consider that one of the most powerful nightwalkers in the world has potentially won the heart of a powerful nightwalker hunter? Wouldn’t that benefit us?” I countered.

  “Have you, now?”

  “If not now, then soon I think,” I said with a small smile. “He has stopped hunting us at random. Directed execution is not out of the question for him. He would be protecting the humans, and protecting my interests as well.”

  Valerio chuckled at me as he leaned down and pressed a kiss to my cheek. “You make it sound as if you planned this.”

  “Hmmm . . . wouldn’t that be marvelous,” I purred, and then grew serious. “I have plans for Danaus, but they have nothing to do with the coven or the naturi or anything of this world.”

  “And what plans would those be?”

  “Going home to Savannah and letting the world forget about us.”

  “Ahh . . . mi amor , I don’t think that will ever be possible.”

  “You’re probably right, but we have to try. Even if it’s only for a little while.”

  A knock at the door pulled us apart. I turned to find Danaus standing in the hall with his bag slung over his shoulder and his coat folded over his other arm. “Is this a private party?”

  “No, we were discussing plans after we are done with Budapest and Venice,” I replied, forcing a smile upon my lips.

  “Savannah,” he said with a sigh. Home, I heard whispered through his brain. He then turned his full attention to Valerio. “Does Clarion know where you reside in Vienna?”

  “No, I don’t believe so,” Valerio replied. “No one has seen me come or go from this particular residence. The few times I saw Clarion in Vienna it was in some very public locations. He should not bother us here.” />
  “Can Veyron or Odelia track me like the naturi can?” he asked, turning his attention to me.

  “No. They found us at the hotel because I made no secret of where we were staying. We did not try to hide our movements within the city. We were easily followed, I have no doubt. They may guess that we have left the city with Valerio and Stefan, but they are more likely to believe that we have pulled back to Venice rather than Vienna.”

  “It may not be safe for me to stay here with you during the day.” Danaus frowned down at me, tightening one hand on the strap of his bag. “I could go stay in a nearby hotel so you don’t have to worry about Clarion getting close during the day.”

  I walked over and laid my hand against his cheek. I could spend a lifetime touching him. “If I know Valerio, we will not exactly be here during the daylight hours. He has some secret den tucked away for us to sleep in, which will be safe. You will have the run of the house until sunset.”

  “You’ll be safe?”

  “Completely.”

  I could feel the tension ease from his shoulders. The naturi were able to get to me in the past because they had been able to track him, following him until he finally met up with me. It was trick I was sure Rowe found handy more than once during our association.

  “Well, if that’s all for the evening, I must go feed,” Valerio said in a louder than necessary voice to remind us that we weren’t alone. I rolled my eyes, but I was still smiling when I turned to look at my old friend. “Feed well, but be back well before sunrise. We have to plan tomorrow’s attack.”

  “Mmmm . . . sounds like fun.” Then he disappeared completely.

  Yes, the time had come for us to finally be on the offensive. I was done running and chasing my tail. The naturi were out of the way. The lycanthropes were dead. It was time to clean out the rest of the house, and Veyron was on the top of my list for Budapest. I had little doubt that Macaire had pulled back to Venice following the death of Ferko and Odelia. I would deal with the Elder in Venice.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  The silence was suffocating. I stared up the lonely street interspersed with trees gnarled and twisted by time. Without the presence of the naturi, the wind had gone still, leaving the tree branches standing like silent sentinels in the thick darkness. A fresh powder of snow coated the ground, struggling to glisten in the thin light that poured from the moon as it peeked from behind massive clouds.

  The earth was holding its breath, waiting for the outcome of yet another battle. But then so was I. Each time I walked into a fight, I weighed the strengths and weaknesses of my opponents. I weighed the strengths and weaknesses of my allies. I played the odds in my head, and too often I came up as the long shot. It was getting old.

  Among my kind, being the Fire Starter meant something. With a thought and a casual wave of my hand, I could wipe out an army of nightwalkers. When I faced the naturi, they needed to bring forth only a light clan member to counter my unique ability. A bori merely needed to extend its powers and I was under its immediate control. And a warlock . . . a warlock could counter my powers with a quick spell, leaving me nothing more than another bloodsucker with an attitude problem. In this fight, Valerio and Stefan had the true advantage, with their ability to appear and disappear at will. Sure, the power took its toll on their strength, but the battle wouldn’t last more than a few minutes before one side was decimated.

  Despite my place on the coven, it only made sense that I go in as bait. I was the ultimate target of Veyron and the others, at Macaire’s request. I was also the youngest and the weakest of our quartet. Danaus was not thrilled with the decision, but he said nothing when Stefan took me to the end of Veyron’s street and left me. I could feel Danaus as a ghost in my thoughts, along with Valerio. Both men were waiting for the first sign from me that it was time for them to appear.

  My footsteps echoed off the concrete, the sound bouncing off the flat front of the homes and flying off into the nothingness. I resisted the urge to nervously check all my weapons once again. I was well-armed with a short sword across my back and an assortment of knives around my body. To Danaus’s dismay, I didn’t bring a gun with me. Guns were ineffective against nightwalkers, and I didn’t think Clarion would allow me to catch him off guard with a spray of bullets.

  In truth, I wasn’t sure how we were going to kill Clarion. We would try to stop him if he decided to flee, but I wasn’t sure if Valerio and Stefan could follow him if he did. I wasn’t sure what the warlock was capable of, but I had a feeling he could cast some of the most basic shield spells to block our weapons and attacks. My only hope was that he didn’t know how to control fire, but I wasn’t counting on it. If Clarion was going to survive this ordeal, he would have taken the time to learn how to manipulate fire.

  I paused at the edge of Veyron’s yard and sent my powers flowing out from my body so they swept over the ancient structure. A single candle burned in the front window, while the rest of the massive house was dark. Inside, I sensed close to a dozen nightwalkers and a handful of humans. These humans would be heavily armed with guns that could blow apart the brain. That was the only way to kill a nightwalker with a gun—destroy the brain or heart so completely that it couldn’t grow back. I would need to take out these humans before Danaus and the others stepped foot in the building.

  Within their midst was a single powerful magic user. It would be Clarion, who was waiting for us. I could sense him over the aged Veyron and his companion Odelia. Clarion was the true danger here, not the nightwalkers or the humans with their weapons. Unfortunately, I had no idea how to defeat him.

  I raised both of my hands out to my sides. Summoning up my powers, I directed them at the house, attempting to set the building on fire. It would have been easy if I could just burn the entire structure and everyone inside all at once. It would all be done in one quick and easy move, and I wouldn’t have to worry about putting my companions in danger. But nothing is ever easy.

  Electric energy filled the air around the house, sizzling like a lightning bolt looking for a metal pole. The energy dampened my own powers, keeping me from burning the house to the ground. I wasn’t particularly surprised. It was a simple spell, one I had known for centuries and used in Peru to protect us from the naturi while we slept at the foot of the Machu Picchu ruins. I knew Clarion wasn’t going to make it easy for me, but I had to at least try.

  Dropping my hands back to my side, I could feel Valerio chuckling in the back of my brain as I walked toward the house. He could read my thoughts, hear as I cursed the warlock for making this more difficult than it truly had to be. But those fragments of laughter quickly grew still as I stepped to the front door and pushed it open easily.

  Darkness waited for me as I stepped across the threshold. Leaves and snow had blown into the open doorway, as if the house had been abandoned for years instead of just a few hours. Standing in the hallway, I waved my right hand, sending my power out, seeking candles, but no lights sprang to life. With a low hiss, I summoned up my powers again, this time attempting a small fireball that would hover just in front of me. Again nothing happened. Not only had Clarion cast a protective spell on the house itself, but he had found a way to dampen all fire. My ability was useless as long as the warlock lived.

  Dropping my hand back to my side, I clenched my teeth and continued to walk through the house, weaving through room after room. The furniture was overturned and valuable knickknacks and paintings were now missing. The house had been ransacked in anticipation of my arrival. My guess was that Veyron was expecting to live through this fight but didn’t believe that his residence would survive. He was planning ahead, but he wasn’t planning well. If he was truly smart, he would have run and never shown his face in Europe again.

  As I turned a corner to go through what appeared to be the dining room, gunfire opened up. Running across the hardwood floor, I dropped to my knees as I turned, sliding across the floor as I pulled a pair of knives from my side. Despite the heavy darkness in the room,
I picked out my two assailants and flung my knives at them. One screamed as the knife buried up to the hilt in his arm, while the other man simply gurgled as the blade found his throat. He fell back, choking on his own blood, while the other man stumbled backward. He pressed his wounded arm to his stomach as he tried to awkwardly fire the gun with his left hand. He squeezed off several shots with the automatic weapon, sending two bullets clean through me before I finally reached him and snapped his neck.

  Are you all right? Danaus instantly demanded as pain flashed through my frame.

  Fine, I growled in return. My shoulder and leg burned but I could feel the holes already closing. I wouldn’t lose much blood, and the pain was only a minor distraction. Bending down, I pulled the knives out of my two victims and wiped them off on their clothes before returning them to their sheaths.

  The house was as quiet as a mausoleum now that the gunfire had stopped. I went completely still, straining to hear something. Above me, I heard the ever so faint creak of floorboards under the weight of heavy boots. There was the occasional deep breath and the slight sound of rapid heartbeats pounding away in anticipation. I sent my powers out from my body again. The humans were on the top floors, while the nightwalkers were in the basement. Clarion was completely missing. I could only guess that he was cloaking himself, but I had no doubt he was waiting for me in the basement with Veyron.

  If I went directly after my prey, I would have a horde of humans with automatic weapons at my back. I needed to clear out the upper floor first before I went after Veyron and the others. Of course, I didn’t trust this setup at all. I knew that Veyron, Odelia, and Clarion cared nothing about sacrificing a few humans if it meant destroying me.

  I relayed my plan to Valerio and Danaus, and neither of the two men liked it. They demanded that they be allowed to assist me, but I told them to hold back. If I could pick off each human without risking more lives than necessary, then I planned to proceed in that manner. They would be taking on enough risk when they went up against Clarion.