Now I knew that no one would survive if Ryan was trusted.
“So why are you so desperate to become a nightwalker?” I asked in a smooth voice as I stepped around Adio’s chair to come face-to-face with the warlock.
“I’ve been Adio’s friend for a long time and a close planner on the committee regarding the Great Awakening,” Ryan replied with a nonchalant wave of his hand.
“As such, you must certainly know that those most likely to escape the ‘witch hunts,’ so to speak, will be the warlocks and witches. You won’t be thrust into the limelight. You will be able to easily hide from the frightened and enraged humans.”
“But there is no power in hiding,” he countered.
“There is survival,” Danaus interjected.
“I’ve spent more than three centuries surviving. I’m looking for a larger piece of the pie. The nightwalkers will be the real power players when the world changes following the Great Awakening, and I will be a part of it.”
“But surely Adio has explained to you that when you are reborn a nightwalker, you will come back weak. Sure, you will have more abilities than a human, but you’ll be little more than a plaything among your new brethren. You will have to acquire all new survival skills very quickly.”
Ryan lifted his chin while clenching his jaw. “Adio has sworn to stay by my side and aid my growth. Besides, there is always a chance that I will retain some of my powers as a warlock. That knowledge won’t slip away simply because I’ve become a nightwalker.”
“What about the elixir?” Danaus asked from the opposite side of the room. The hunter had silently slipped away from where he had been standing near me, and was now leaning against the far wall with his arms folded across his chest.
Ryan’s eyes flared for a moment while his lips pressed into a frown and he stared at the hunter. “You knew?” he bit out.
“Do you think I was going to willingly let you live under the same roof as those helpless Themis researchers if I didn’t know some of your secrets? I knew you were a few centuries old, but I had to be sure you wouldn’t use one of them to prolong your life.”
“What elixir?” I demanded, my gaze jumping from Danaus to Ryan.
Both men fell stubbornly silent for nearly a minute, so that all that could be heard was the crackle of the fire and the fast heart rates of the two living creatures in the room.
“It’s an elixir of life that my former master had created,” Ryan finally said, grinding out each word between his clenched teeth. “It prolonged the life of the drinker. Unfortunately, potions have never been my strong suit. I’ve never been able to properly replicate it and my supply has finally run out. My real age will start to catch up to me within the next few weeks.”
“So you’re becoming a nightwalker because you want to live longer,” I replied.
“Yes,” Ryan hissed, glaring at me. He hadn’t enjoyed revealing his own dirty little secret.
I leaned around to look at Adio. “You knew about this?”
“I did.”
I stood upright again so I was facing Ryan. “Wanting to live is a much better reason for becoming a nightwalker than simply wanting power. It will get you through the transformation when Death comes for you.”
The heat and anger left Ryan’s eyes for the first time, and he blinked at me, looking a little confused. I smiled at him as I took a step closer. “You have to really want this. I have to drain you to nearly the point of death, and he will know that you are hovering on the brink. Death will come for you and he will grab onto your soul. Only the strong—only those that truly want to live and be a nightwalker—survive the process. You can be given all the nightwalker blood in the world, but if you don’t have the will or the fight, you will not wake up again. Death wants you, but you have to want this more.”
“I want this,” Ryan said in a soft but firm voice.
I grinned. “I was hoping you’d say that.”
In a flash I had a handful of his soft white hair and had twisted it around my fist as I brought his neck down to me. No one had time to react. It was only after I sank my fangs deep into the man’s neck that I heard the strangled cries and shouts from both Adio and Danaus. Ryan grabbed my shoulders and instinctively tried to push away from me out of fear. The other times I had fed on him were slow and gentle, so he didn’t feel threatened by me. Now the gloves were off and he finally knew he was at my mercy. I was going to drain him to the point of death, and he had to rely on the protection of his friend Adio to make sure I didn’t let him cross over and die.
Wrapping my free arm around his waist, I dragged him away from the support of the back of Adio’s chair to an open space in the room where I could easily lay him on the ground when he finally grew weak. Behind me, I could hear both Danaus and Adio moving around the room, their footsteps heavy and anxious as they watched me, but I didn’t care. This was the first warm, full meal that I’d had in a long time.
Since taking up with Danaus, I had stretched out my feedings to less than once a week, and then they were quick little bites that could be grabbed in stolen moments when he was most unlikely to notice. He knew I was feeding, but I still did what I could to hide it from him. I didn’t want to cause him any more strain than I already did. We were still trying to figure out this relationship thing, and me drinking blood was still a comfort issue for him. I was willing to give Danaus all the time he needed to get adjusted to the idea. He was worth a little sacrifice.
However, the thought of draining Ryan nearly dry was just too enticing. His blood was deliciously sweet and packed an amazing punch of power that rolled through my body in enticing waves. I could feel my half-starved cells and organs finally filling up to the brim and overflowing with his blood. I was bathed in an energy that tingled throughout my body.
“Mira, you can’t do this! You can’t change him!” Danaus growled, grabbing my shoulder to pull me off of the warlock. I didn’t think. There was no thinking at that moment beyond that flood of blood. I reached back with my other hand and raked my long nails across his arm, causing him to suddenly jump back.
I know what I’m doing, I barely managed to send to Danaus above the red haze.
After another few minutes I heard Ryan’s heart start to significantly slow and start to stutter in his chest as his body struggled under the last of his blood. With a gasp, I lifted my head and licked my lips and teeth before lowering him to the ground. He lay motionless then, his breathing shallow and his face paler than it had been. His eyes were closed and he was unconscious, which is what I had been aiming for.
I stepped away from Ryan and turned so I could look over my shoulder at Adio, who was closely watching Ryan with a look of concern on his face. “Well, are you going to finish the job?” I asked.
Adio looked up at me a little stunned. “What?”
“You asked for my help. I drained him. Now you give him your blood. Make him your pet. I don’t need one.”
“I—I—I can’t,” he stuttered, shaking his head.
“The god thing?”
“Yes, I can’t risk it. I don’t know what my blood would do to him. I can’t risk . . .”
“Can’t risk him coming back too powerful,” I finished with a smirk. “And when you came to me, I seemed to be the right amount of power. A nightwalker that had a little something extra, but not like you. Unfortunately, until night, you didn’t know that I am like you. It was too late to talk Ryan out of his little plan.”
“Yes, but we can’t leave him like this. He’ll die.”
“There are worse things,” Danaus muttered, drawing Adio’s glare.
“I have a backup plan, but it requires a little discretion on your part,” I said to Adio. At that moment, I mentally reached out to an old friend who had been waiting in the wings for my signal. A second later Valerio appeared in the room, standing opposite me as we all looked down on Ryan’s struggling body. “Adio, this is my close and trusted friend, Valerio.”
Adio stiffly nodded, looking at
the nightwalker for a moment, undoubtedly sizing him up. Valerio merely smiled under the scrutiny, unmoved by the other nightwalker or the body on the floor that was slowly dying. He simply looked at me and smiled as he extended his hand toward me. I grasped it and allowed him to brush a kiss across my knuckles that brought a low growl from Danaus. A little jealousy was always a good thing in a relationship.
“You said you were in desperate need if my assistance, my dear,” Valerio said with his rich accent, which seemed to run fingers across my cheek.
“I am, my friend. This man here wants to be a nightwalker, but neither Adio nor I, for very . . . distinct reasons, can use our own blood. I was hoping you would be willing to provide me with a bit of your own blood.”
Valerio gave a little laugh before shaking his head. “I have no need for a new fledgling hanging on my coattails. No, thank you.”
“He won’t belong to you. He will never know you were ever here. He will belong exclusively to Adio.”
Valerio’s smile faded as he stared at me. “And what is wrong with your blood, my sweet Mira?”
“It’s my heritage. Ryan is a powerful warlock, and I fear that my blood may give him some added abilities when we would all prefer him to be just a little bit of chum. Cage the possible monster that he may become.” A seductive smile slipped across my lips and I stepped one foot over Ryan so I could lightly grasp one of Valerio’s arms. “I know you made Knox, and you did a fabulous job with him. Such purity and strength. Give me a creature similar to Knox in strength and leave Adio here to the job of raising him.”
Valerio gave me a fresh, knowing smile as he pressed a kiss to my forehead. “You shall have to try harder than that. I do not make nightwalkers on a whim. Will your blood create a monster?”
“No. It will give a potential monster the power to be a monster. Someone good at heart should not be affected so. Your blood will simply make him a weak nightwalker, which is what we all want.”
“Except him.”
“True.”
“Entice me, Mira,” he whispered in my ear. “Give me something that I truly want.”
I looked up at Valerio to find that he had been staring at Danaus the whole time he’d spoken to me. He was trying very hard to make the hunter jealous, make him act, so he could pretend to be offended and disappear in a huff. But for now, Danaus was as still as stone and I was grateful.
I reached up and placed my hand against Valerio’s cheek, turning his face so he was forced to look down at me. “One day you will come to me with a request. You will be desperate. It will be a request that I would under normal circumstances deny without thought. Make this nightwalker tonight, and I will be beholden to you for one request of your choosing.”
“Anything?”
“Anything,” I repeated, my gaze unwavering.
“Very well.”
Releasing Valerio, I stepped back away from him and walked over toward Danaus, who was glaring at Ryan on the floor. Valerio knelt down, placing his hand over the man’s chest. “He’s nearly dead now.”
“There’s still a little blood left for you to take. I didn’t drain him completely,” I argued.
Valerio merely shook his head a moment before biting Ryan on the opposite side of the throat. He drank only a little before healing the wound so the deception would be preserved. He then slashed his wrist and allowed his own blood to pour past Ryan’s parted lips. The warlock didn’t respond, but I hadn’t expected him to. He was deep in a coma and would remain there until the sun set the next night. If he was to become a nightwalker, we would only know it if he rose the next night. Valerio was forced to open the wound twice as it healed on its own before enough blood had been poured into Ryan’s body. I had only witnessed the making of another nightwalker a couple other times, and always swore I would never complete the act myself. It was a responsibility I didn’t want.
Valerio licked the remaining smear of blood from his wrist before rising to his feet and dusting off the knees of his slacks. He looked over at Adio for a moment and arched one dark brow. “Our Liege, I presume?”
“Correct,” Adio said, sounding a little surprised. But then, I knew better. Valerio knew more than he would ever admit and was wilier than should have been allowed to live. Yet, I loved him too much to try to kill him, and he was too entertaining to allow him to slip out of my life.
“A pleasure,” Valerio said with a slight bow from the waist. He then turned his attention to me and smiled. “An interesting flavor. One I’ve not run across with other warlocks.”
“Yes.” I smiled, resisting the urge to give him a hug of thanks. Danaus had endured enough and I could feel his anger simmering beside me like a pot beginning to bubble over. “Just as a warning. If you don’t feed again tonight, his blood will allow you to stay awake during the daylight hours, but you are still susceptible to the sun. Enjoy it for a day or two, then I would suggest some fresh blood.”
“Interesting,” he purred, then disappeared from sight.
With Valerio gone, I turned my attention back to Adio, who was now kneeling beside Ryan. I could hear now that his heartbeat was nearly nonexistent, and knew that in a few moments it would stop completely. It was all a matter of whether his soul remained hovering around the body. Otherwise it would never find its way back.
“I’m assuming you don’t need me any longer.”
“No, I will take care of matter from here,” Adio said in a distracted manner.
“And there will be no mention of Valerio?”
“And reveal to Ryan that he’s been double-crossed by us both? Of course not.”
“Thank you.”
“When will you need my help with Nick?” he asked without my need to prompt him, which was promising.
“Soon. I will be in contact. It shouldn’t be a problem now that we’ve been introduced.”
“True,” Adio admitted with a certain curl to his upper lip. “I’m sure I can also find you in Savannah.”
“Of course, but I will try to give you a couple nights with Ryan to get him adjusted before contacting you.”
“I would appreciate that.”
Ignoring Danaus’s glare, I wrapped my arms around the hunter’s waist and focused all my thoughts on my secret lair in the basement of my home. I had a feeling he was going to have a few loud words with me before the night was over.
Twenty-seven
A scream was ripped from me the second my feet touched the ground in the basement of my home. It felt as if my skull was being split into two while my soul was ripped from my chest. I hadn’t thought of the time difference when I shot across the ocean to the United States. It hadn’t been that late in Venice when we left, and the sun had yet to set in Savannah. The only thing keeping me awake at that moment was Ryan’s blood. Unfortunately, it was too much of a shock to my system for my nightwalker body to suddenly go from night to day, and my body was being torn between the demand for death and the power of the blood to keep me awake.
I felt Danaus’s hands grasp my shoulders as I crumpled to my knees on the concrete floor. The pain slowly ebbed and I felt as if I could think again. I blinked my eyes a couple of times and unclenched my fists in front of me.
“I’m okay,” I murmured after a minute. “I forgot to check. The sun is still up here.”
“I guess Ryan’s blood proved to be a rare benefit this time,” Danaus admitted.
I let the hunter help me back to my feet, but was disappointed when he suddenly released me and stepped away. “Kind of. Otherwise, when we reappeared, I would have been immediately dead for the next few hours.”
A tense silence filled the air as we watched each other. His expression was stern and he wasn’t meeting my gaze as he stood on the opposite side of the room with his hands in his pockets. “You need to feed,” he finally bit out.
“I’ll call Gabriel, but I would rather wait until sunset. It’s not far away and I don’t want to drop dead the second I get a little blood into my system. I want to fall asl
eep on my own terms.”
Danaus gave a little grunt as he opened the door and left the room. I could hear his footsteps trudging up the stairs as I pulled my cell phone out of my pocket. Gabriel, my trusted human bodyguard, was more than a little surprised to hear from me, but he was happy to lend his aid in my time of need. I closed the phone again and followed Danaus up the stairs to find him sitting in the growing darkness of the parlor.
“What part of the events that occurred tonight is bothering you?” I asked, taking the seat beside him.
“Most of it.”
“And the biggest irritation is . . . ?”
“Valerio.”
I bit back a smile as I wondered if jealousy was truly eating at him. “You know that Valerio was just flirting a bit to get under your skin. It was harmless.”
“But your promise wasn’t. I know you, Mira. You stick by your word. What if he asks you to kill me?”
“Then Valerio knows that I will kill myself in the same heartbeat that you drop dead. Valerio isn’t stupid. He knows that I love you and would never harm you without causing equal harm to myself. And he has too much use for me alive.”
“What if he asks for you to sleep with him?”
I couldn’t hold the laugh back that time. “Valerio wouldn’t waste a promise like that just to get me in his bed. He would prefer the challenge of seducing me if he truly wanted me to sleep with him. No, he will save that promise for a very special occasion. Please, don’t mistake his carefree demeanor. Valerio is an extremely intelligent strategist and manipulator. He will save that promise for a moment when he is finally backed into a corner and has no escape.”
Danaus didn’t look placated by my explanation. In fact, he looked even more concerned than when I started. And in truth, I was a little worried myself. Whatever Valerio set before me, I knew it would be an ugly task that I would naturally refuse at first glance, but I would have no choice. I feared it might finally come between Danaus and me, but I didn’t think it would be on a romantic level. No, I would have to sacrifice my honor and morals in order to fulfill this promise.
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