“Tipping the scales on the coven in the wrong direction, am I?” I mocked. The only reason Jabari had supported my ascension to the coven was because he saw me as a puppet he could easily wield, thus giving him two seats on the coven instead of just the one.
“You always had to know that your life span was limited,” Jabari taunted. “Hated by one and all in the nightwalker community. Hunted by the Ancients. And once it was known that I would no longer be willing to protect you, it was only a matter of time before others came hunting for you. The ultimate prize.”
“But none of them have been successful, and now you’ve been forced to do your own ugly work,” I said with a growing smile. “Only problem being, I’m stronger than you anticipated and now you can’t finish the job.”
Jabari gave a slight shrug of his shoulders, but by the tension that slipped across his face, I could tell he was still in pain. “A minor setback. You seemed to have acquired a new guardian of sorts.”
It was a struggle to maintain my nonchalant tone when a part of me longed to smash his face into the glass table between us. “Yes, I’ve found another to pull my strings. Of course, the difference between you and him is the fact that he’s trying to make me stronger, while you’re only concerned with how I can be used by you.”
Jabari and I had too much history for both of us to remain living. Nick was right—my creator was a threat to everything I was attempting to do to save both the nightwalker and human races. Jabari’s only concern was himself and how he could increase his own powers, which was accomplished only through manipulating me.
“And I’m guessing that your master’s first command is to get rid of me,” Jabari replied blandly, as if this were all a big joke.
“Actually, that’s his second command.” My sneer seemed to take some of the laughter from his expression. “His first command was to learn how to control both you and Danaus. Now we’ve moved on to the next stage.”
“And you think you’re capable of succeeding?”
“Quite confident.”
Jabari glared at me with cold black eyes. I met his unblinking gaze steadily, mindful that Nick offered up a worse hell than Jabari could even imagine.
To my surprise, I blinked first despite my growing hatred for the monster that sat across from me. No matter how much I despised him or how much he threatened all my plans, I still had need of him for one last task.
“However, I’m willing to grant you a temporary reprieve,” I ventured slowly.
“Already bucking against your new master? You won’t last long that way,” he growled. A faint glow gave his eyes an almost golden tint.
“No, I’m willing to take this chance because I’m aiming for something greater than either of you two bastards.” I clenched my fist at my side, but managed to keep my voice low and even as I continued. “War is coming.”
“It seems I’ve heard this speech before,” Jabari interrupted.
“Yes, it’s been nearly a year and nothing has really changed in our world.” There were a hundred accusations waiting on the tip of my tongue to explode. If he had only sent more nightwalkers to Machu Picchu months ago, we would not have found ourselves in the current mess against Aurora. If he had been more honest and forthright with me sooner, I might have been better prepared to deal with Rowe and the other naturi, instead of blindly believing along with the rest of my race that the naturi were near extinction and content to live out an isolated existence.
But I swallowed those words, choosing to focus on the imminent problem rather than dwelling on the past. “A war is coming between Cynnia and Aurora. If we’re not careful, the war will bring about the Great Awakening. Aurora does not care who will get killed as long as she wins. And if she does win, she will continue her campaign to rid the world of humans, which is naturally not to our benefit.”
“So you’re asking for the nightwalkers to take a side in this matter,” Jabari said with a slight incline of his head.
In response, I gave a light chuckle. “A choice has already been made. The nightwalkers of Savannah, and any other nightwalkers I can summon, will be fighting alongside Cynnia and her army,” I informed him. “Cynnia seeks a truce between the races so her people can resume the peaceful, isolated life they once led before Rowe went on his crusade to set the naturi free. Cynnia plans to kill Aurora and take the throne. I will be there to help her destroy her older sister.”
“You want to get in the middle of a blood feud between a pair of naturi? Let them fight it out and then just kill the survivor,” Jabari said with a dismissive wave of his hand.
“It’s far worse than that. The Daylight Coalition has become aware of certain lycanthropes and nightwalkers within the immediate area, as well as in other regions around the country. The humans have begun to actively hunt us. From my understanding, we’ve struck out and destroyed their Atlanta headquarters, but we need to make another strike against their group, gather more information on exactly how much they know about us and our identities.”
“It seems as if everything has been decided. What could you possibly need me for?”
“I want you to arrange a meeting with Our Liege. I have something of great importance to discuss with him,” I started with a certain amount of glee. I was reducing this powerful nightwalker and Elder of the coven to nothing more than messenger boy, and I loved it. “He needs to know that the Great Awakening is looming on the horizon along with other greater problems if something is not done. Our people need to know what lies ahead of them so they can prepare any way possible.”
“Times have changed if I am to be running errands for you now.” Jabari folded his arms over his chest.
“Yes, it was not quite so long ago that you were sending me to one distant location after another with little explanation and no hope of success. Well, your odds are slightly better. I’m sure you can also dig up Our Liege if you really wanted.”
“If you survive this disaster that you’re planning, I’m confident you will have his full attention. Of course, that’s assuming you get past me tonight.”
Frowning, I lowered my gaze on the old nightwalker and clenched my muscles as I prepared for the attack. “Don’t fight me tonight. I have plans for you and really would prefer not to kill you now.”
I wasn’t surprised when Jabari disappeared before my eyes. I had expected as much from him. It was a scare tactic, but after facing Nick earlier in the evening, it was going to take a little more than that to get the adrenaline pouring through my veins. Reaching out to grasp hold of the powers that flowed around me, I instantly sensed Jabari hovering close by, waiting to strike. I slid out of the booth while wrapping Jabari’s powers around my fist. I jerked him back into existence before me and slammed both my fists into his chest as he reappeared, sending him flailing across the room until he finally hit the far wall of the nightclub.
“We don’t have to do this now,” I said, brushing my hands off. “We can wait to kill each other until after Aurora is dead.”
“I would much rather kill you now,” Jabari said in a low voice that seemed to creep across the dimly lit expanse separating us.
“I’m sure you would.” I was preparing to summon up more energy to attack Jabari when the nightwalker sent his own powers rushing through my frame. A surprised scream was ripped from my throat as the pain overtook me. He held me locked in standing position with my arms thrown helpless out to my sides, leaving my heart vulnerable for the plucking if he decided to do so.
Do you want my help? Over the pain, I could feel Danaus’s powers brushing against me, waiting to push their way in so he could force Jabari out of me. But Jabari had spent most of my life as my puppet master, and I was going to defeat him on my own terms at last without the aid of the hunter.
Not right now. Thanks for the offer, I replied, forcing the words out as if through clenched teeth. I’ll handle this myself.
Digging deep inside, I grabbed hold of Jabari’s powers as they seeped through every limb and organ of my b
ody and started to push them out again. His powers were no different than those I had learned to wield under Nick’s gentle tutelage. I could feel Jabari pushing back at me, forcing more energy into my frame until I was sure I would soon be torn into a million pieces. Clenching my teeth to stop another scream of pain, I finally succeeded in pushing his presence out of my body and mind for the first time by myself.
“Enough!” I shouted. Exhilarated and furious, I summoned up my powers again and threw Jabari back against the wall. “Enough games from you.” I took one step forward and disappeared, only to reappear again directly in front of him. Reaching back, I pounded my fist into his left jaw.
Lifting his right hand, he raked his long sharp nails across my face in a single, brutal swipe that left behind four long scratches. I stumbled back a step, putting some distance between us as I blinked away the blood dripping into my eyes. Jabari immediately came at me, grabbing the front of my shirt and throwing me across the room. I crashed to the floor in a clatter of tables and chairs.
As I pushed back to my feet, I grabbed one chair and ripped two wooden legs off. They weren’t quite the eskrima sticks Danaus had used earlier in our sparing session, but they would do for now. With weapons in hand, I approached Jabari again, knowing full well that his fighting style was more hand-to-hand combat and swords. I was hoping to have a slight edge over the Ancient, considering all the fighting styles I had studied over the years and honed more recently with Danaus at my side.
Staying in constant motion, I landed several sharp hits to his body and head with one of the sticks while blocking his attempts to strike at me with the other stick. We circled each other, both bleeding lightly from a variety of wounds, but nothing that was strong enough to end this stalemate as we moved like tigers looking for an opening.
“Come on, Mira,” Jabari said in a low, ragged voice. “Just burn me. You know you want to.”
“Not this time.” I laughed as I hit him on the back of the head, then slid out of his reach as he attempted to retaliate. “I want to take you down with my bare hands.” Besides, the old nightwalker knew I would need to pause for a second to conjure up enough power to nail him to the wall with flames. He was looking for that opening to plunge his hand through my chest and take me out first. If I kept moving, it was harder for him to strike at me.
Unfortunately, Jabari had other tricks up his sleeve. Sliding backward out of my immediate reach with the sticks, the nightwalker plunged his power back into my frame. My feet turned to lead and I stumbled so I was kneeling before him. My hands remained tightly wrapped around the sticks but I couldn’t lift my arms.
Jabari’s dark laughter swirled around the room, brushing against me as I struggled to push him out of my body once again. He had his claws sunk deep this time, and it felt as if he was tearing away at my organs and muscles.
“I have you this time, my desert blossom,” he gloated. “It seems our relationship is finally at an end. It has been . . . amusing.” He made a fist and pulled it back to plunge it into my chest. My stomach twisted as my eyes locked on that fist, knowing that any second it was going to be deep within my chest cavity before his fingers wrapped around my motionless heart.
“I’m not through with you yet,” I snarled through clenched teeth. Gathering what powers swirled around me, including Danaus’s seductive strength, I shoved the energy against Jabari. His feet slid across the smooth floor until he was pinned against the wall. Freeing myself of his hold, I plunged my own powers into his body, holding him completely still. At the same time, I lifted to my feet as if pulled up by a pair of invisible wings.
Gliding inches above the ground toward him, I raised one of the chair legs I was still holding and plunged it into his chest, purposefully missing his heart. Jabari screamed in pain and rage as he fought my hold. The great Elder no longer held terrible fear over me. That was Nick’s job now. I had finally taken back a part of my life, if only to hand that part over to another.
“Now, as I was saying,” I started when Jabari stopped screaming. He was growing weak from the blood loss and had gone completely still, no longer pushing against the powers that kept him completely immobile. “You will travel with Danaus and me to Venice. The night is young enough here that the dawn should not have risen over the city just yet. Danaus and I will speak with Our Liege. And then you will step down from the coven. If you are there when I return to Venice, I will finish what I started here.” To punctuate my point, I jerked the stick in his chest so it scraped against his heart, wringing another scream of pain of out him.
Soft footsteps drew my attention for a second. I glanced over my shoulder to find Danaus standing close to me, waiting for my next move. With a weak smile that I hoped was somewhat reassuring, I threaded my sticky, blood-covered fingers through his while I tightly grasped Jabari’s shoulder. I nearly closed my eyes as I delved deeply into Jabari’s mind, pulling forth an image of the Main Hall that was home to the coven. I could disappear and reappear over short distances, but I had never attempted anything quite so far as jumping from Savannah to Venice in a single motion. I needed Jabari’s crystal clear memories to aid me.
Unfortunately, with those memories came a wealth of hatred that churned and seethed around me. During the long century that I had spent at Jabari’s side in my youth, I had only sensed feelings of warmth and love from him. I’d been convinced that he cared only for my well-being and that I was fully aware of my importance within the nightwalker nation. I had no memory of his experiments to learn how to control me. I could not help but wonder if he had also hid this deep well of hatred from me as well.
It was hard to hate him with the same vehemence. He was my father, my mentor, my creator. He had been a guiding light and a pair of strong arms when the world became too overwhelming for a creature that struggled to understand her own powers.
But I had to hate him, because if I didn’t, it would get me killed.
We reappeared in the Main Hall with its expanse of black marble floor and raised dais. The four golden chairs of the coven Elders shone brightly in the overhead candlelight. All were currently empty as dawn was quickly approaching. If Stefan and Elizabeth were in residence in Venice, both would be in the catacombs below, unaware of what was happening just a few floors above them.
As soon as I felt the floor firmly below my feet, I released Danaus’s hand and gave Jabari’s shoulder a shove away from me. The Ancient stumbled backward until he finally fell on his backside. The shaft of wood still protruded from his chest, while his shirt was soaked with his blood. If I left him as he was, there was a good chance he would die during the day and not awaken the next night because of the continuous blood loss. I wasn’t willing to take that chance.
Stalking him, I smiled wide as he pushed backward, trying to escape. My eyes glowed brightly and the blood lust was on me. I needed this. I knew that I’d promised him a reprieve, but I also knew that I had been lying the moment the words left my tongue.
“Mira!” he screamed. Despite the immense pain he had to have been in, I felt his powers surge toward me in an attempt to control my actions, but I was wholly focused now. There was no penetrating my defenses as before. I brushed his attempts aside like swatting an annoying fly. Dropping suddenly to my knees, I jerked the stick out of his chest and immediately plunged it through his throat, limiting his cries to a low gurgling. Using the hole I had created in his chest, I reached inside and easily plucked out his heart. Jabari’s body went instantly limp before me. At long last the Ancient was dead and could no longer haunt me or threaten those I loved.
Clutching his heart tightly in one hand, I grabbed the shoulder of his shirt while I stood. I dragged him across the shining floor, leaving a smear of dark black blood. I placed the heart on my seat and left the body at the foot of the stairs before my chair. In the event that I wasn’t around the next day to speak with members of the coven, the Elders and their lackeys would all know who had finally disposed of Jabari.
As I stepped away from
the body, relief hit me like a runaway train, leaving me weak in the knees. Danaus laid his large hands on my shoulders and squeezed gently, holding me steady so I wouldn’t fall to the blood-covered ground. As it was, my clothes were already splattered with it, and blood was smeared across my arms and face. I was grateful that he’d respected my wishes to face Jabari alone. It was only fitting that I fought this demon alone at long last. It was the only way I could finally purge my fear of him.
In the end, I finally saw Jabari as he truly was: an extremely old nightwalker afraid of the bright future that lay before him. He was no longer concerned about himself and how to best protect his interests. And I had finally become too powerful for him to control. I was only useful to him as a puppet and a frightened fledgling.
“Are you all right?” Danaus demanded. It was only when his hands slid down from my shoulders to grasp my hands that I realized they were violently trembling. A shiver wracked my body as I dragged in a deep breath and slowly released it. As the air escaped my useless lungs, the power I had been holding onto also escaped me, seeping back down into the earth and swirling once again around the creatures it emanated from. Danaus’s powers hugged close to my shaking frame, like a warm blanket pulled around me. He was there now, when the battle was over, to ease my wounded psyche and protect me as I licked my wounds.
“I’ll be fine,” I murmured in a low voice.
“I thought you planned to let him live,” Danaus said, sounding more than a little surprised.
A small smile tweaked the corners of my mouth. “Yeah, well, I decided that I could most likely accomplish everything I needed to without his assistance. Besides, the monster had already lived long past his usefulness.”
Danaus smirked on me in return. “I could have told you that months ago.”
“Thank you, smartass.” Leaning against his chest, I raised my face up to his, and he met my lips with a melting kiss that succeeded in wiping away the last of the fatigue and confusion in my brain. As I reluctantly broke off the kiss due to the rising of the sun, I rested my head against his chest, letting the sound of his beating heart rumble through my frame.
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