Encased in the diamondlike structure was a woman with thick brown hair and dark skin. She appeared thin and frail, with her head leaning against the side of the crystal as if she were trapped in a deep sleep. I stared at her a moment, her appearance reminding me too much of the dark-haired Inca women who had been sacrificed for the amusement of the naturi so many centuries ago at the ruins of Machu Picchu. But she wasn’t an Inca woman. She was the goddess; the creator goddess of all things great and small. And she was dying.
“Give me your sword,” I commanded, holding out my right hand, not caring who gave up their weapon. As soon as I felt the heavy weight against my palm, I wrapped my fingers around it and raised it above my head as I stepped forward. I was prepared to pound against the crystal until the end of the world wrapped around us, but to my surprise, a chunk of the crystal broke off with the first hit. In her weakness, her own cage had become fragile. Her last bit of protection had been the vines. A second blow to the crystal created an opening large enough for her limp body to slide through. Danaus immediately stepped forward and caught her before she could hit the ground.
I slid the sword he had handed me back into the sheath strapped to his back. When I looked at his face, I saw a tear roll down his cheek as he stared down at the woman cradled gently like a child in his strong arms. She was exquisitely beautiful and immensely frail. Her chest barely rose and fell with each breath, and I could barely make out her heartbeat.
“Adio, can you get Danaus to the doorway the same way I got us here?” I asked, slowly dragging my gaze from my lover’s heartbroken expression.
“Yes, it shouldn’t be a problem,” the nightwalker said, taking a step closer to Danaus so he could lay a hand on his shoulder.
“Danaus, get her to the clearing with the tree and lay her flat on the ground,” I said. “The connection with earth should help rejuvenate her.” He merely nodded, unable to break his gaze from the woman’s face. “You are to stay at her side no matter what. Protect her with your life. Promise me.”
“I promise,” he whispered.
A dark, ominous voice rumbled across the plains. “Mira!” Nick was nearly upon us.
The sound of Nick’s voice was enough to suddenly snap Danaus out of his trancelike state. He looked up at me with narrowed eyes as he realized what kind of corner I had backed him into. He had promised to watch over the goddess and so would not be able to help me in my fight against Nick. He was trapped.
“Go now!” I screamed, backing away from my two companions. Danaus gripped me with one last desperate look, and then he and Adio were gone from my sight. I could feel Nick approaching with lightning speed, but I turned my back and approached the crystal chamber that had held the dying goddess.
“Stop!” Nick commanded as soon as I laid my left hand on the edge of the opening to the crystal. “What lunacy do you have cooked up now, my little daughter?” There was a desperation to his voice I had never heard before, causing his usual calm to splinter. I glanced over my shoulder to find him standing just a few feet away. He was back to the appearance I had briefly seen upon our first meeting, with his wild red hair and lavender eyes. It was as close to human that this god of chaos could come, and it only succeeded in solidifying my link to this creature in my mind.
“The goddess that inhabited this world is dying because of her lack of contact with the earth and her mate. If this world falls, then so will the cage that hold the bori,” I argued. “The world has been shaken enough by the presence of the naturi. They cannot survive the arrival of the bori as well.”
The bori were the natural enemy of the naturi. Creatures that drew their powers from the souls of living creatures, they had no bodies of their own, but succeeded in tricking humans into becoming hosts for them. They shapeshifted into various creatures, tempting the weak and the vulnerable with promises and desperate pleas. Where the naturi wanted to destroy mankind and save the world, the bori were determined to enslave mankind and destroy the Earth.
“What could you possibly hope to accomplish by entering this world and taking out the goddess?” Nick demanded, smoothing out his voice in an attempt to sound reasonable.
“She was dying. Someone needs to replace her,” I said, grasping the other side of the crystal case before placing my foot on one of the vines closest to the entrance.
“Mira, my dear, you’re not a goddess. You can’t replace her. You’re simply not strong enough.”
“I can try.”
“I don’t think so,” Nick hissed. A heavy blast of energy slammed into my chest, ripping the crystal out of my grasp as I was thrown several yards across the field. I hit the ground with my back and rolled several feet before finally hitting the side of a tree. Gritting my teeth, I pushed off the tree and regained my feet so I was once again facing my father. He immediately wrapped his energy around me again, and I had a feeling he intended to drag us both out of the naturi world, but I wouldn’t allow it. Summoning up my own powers, which he had taught me to use, I pushed off his grasp, shoving the energy back at him with enough force that he stumbled a step backward.
“I’m not allowing this place to falter any further,” I bit out as I wrapped more energy around my hands.
“The naturi and the bori are no longer your concern. Your only thought should be pleasing me,” Nick said with an evil grin.
“You’ve been accommodated enough, I believe.” With the energy spiraling around me, I commanded one of the vines to wrap around Nick, but the bastard suddenly disappeared from sight. I shifted my focus to grab him back, but he reappeared before I could grasp him. His fist slammed into my jaw, snapping my head around as I slammed into the ground again. His punishment didn’t stop there. He kicked me several times in the ribs, breaking more than one before he reached down to wrap his fist in a length of my hair.
“You’re coming home, child,” he snarled, his foul breath dancing under my nose.
“I think the lady prefers to stay,” announced an unexpected voice seconds before Nick was pulled away from me. I twisted around to see the god of chaos hurtling through the air until he slammed into the side of the vines still wrapped around the crystal chamber. Adio knelt beside me, gingerly helping me back to my feet.
“You shouldn’t be here,” I grumbled as I pulled my arm free of his assistance.
“I can help.”
“Where’s Danaus?”
“Where he promised to be.”
A weak smile lifted one corner of my lips. “I can’t keep the door open much longer. I have to focus on Nick.”
“We understand. Danaus told me to tell you that ‘he will be your Rowe,’ whatever that means.”
Tears welled up in my eyes as I quickly looked away from Our Liege and turned my attention back to my father. I knew what it meant. Danaus intended to spend the rest of his life fighting to find a way to open the doors to the naturi world again to set me free, just as Rowe had in an effort to free his queen, Aurora. I could ask for no greater gift.
“Son of the dawn?” Nick said as he stood, brushing himself off. “I don’t know what you think you’re doing here, but this is a family affair.”
“As head of the nightwalkers, this is now a nightwalker affair. If Mira wishes to enter the chamber and hold this world together, there is nothing I can do but help her,” Adio said in an easygoing manner that was more than a little frightening to hear. For a moment I was convinced that Adio would have been content to have either or both of us trapped in this world, he only lacked the ability to close the doors again.
To prove his point, Adio waved one of his hands toward me and I floated off my feet toward the crystal chamber. My stomach twisted into a knot as I approached the tiny prison, but I didn’t hesitate to grab the sides and try to pull myself in. At the same moment, Nick screamed in frustration and used his own powers to pull me away, once again slamming me to the ground. However, this time Adio was there to soften the blow.
Rolling to my feet, I grabbed as much energy as my body would ho
ld and threw it at Nick. I could only guess that Adio felt what I was doing because he mimicked my move, succeeding in shoving the god back until he was pinned against the vines. With my left hand, I tore a limb off a nearby tree and bashed Nick in the face with it, hoping to disorient him.
The god crumpled to his knees, shaking his bleeding head. I seized the opportunity and ran for the crystal chamber once again. “Get ready to close it!” I screamed at Adio.
Getting my hands on the edges of the chamber, I pulled myself in and was immediately encased in the feeling of something draining away my energy like a great suction pump. My eyelids flickered for a moment as I tried to focus over the disorienting feeling. Nick bellowed and lunged at me, his foot stepping onto the edge of the chamber at the same time his hand grabbed my arm to pull me out.
Clenching my teeth against my growing lethargy, I grabbed both of Nick’s arms and pulled him into the chamber while I slid around to the opening. He screamed, but the sound was cut off as I released one of his arms long enough to smash my fist into his nose. Nick released me to cover his broken nose, allowing me the chance to fall out of the opening. My legs scraped against large chunks of crystal as they rushed back into place to cover the opening. If I had hesitated a second longer, Adio would have closed us both in the chamber together.
I lay on my back for a second, trying to get my head to stop spinning while energy seeped back into my frame. I could feel the door to this world starting to close as I weakened. We needed to get out of there.
“Mira, help me!” Adio cried, drawing my attention back to him and the crystal chamber. I looked up to find Nick pounding against the crystal with both of his fists, screaming at me, while Adio used his own powers to mend the broken bits. I added my own energy, sealing my father away.
After a couple seconds I noticed that the chamber seemed to grow stronger and thicker as it absorbed his powers. I looked around the world to find that the leaves on trees were quickly growing black and falling off, while the ground split open and spouts of fire shot up. While the great creator goddess had created a second earth with her powers, the god of chaos was creating a world much more akin to the human idea of Hell.
“I think it would be a good time to beat a hasty retreat,” Adio said, grabbing my elbow. While I gathered up all the energy I had to focus on keeping the door open, Adio teleported us from the crystal chamber to the doorway, which was quickly closing. I pushed Adio through the opening and then dove through myself, landing in a heap on top of him. I summoned up enough energy to roll over Our Liege and lie on my back in the grass, letting the energy from the earth seep back into the frame as I closed my eyes.
“You seemed a little eager to close up that chamber,” I criticized, opening my eyes to find him sitting next to me, staring down at my scratched and bloody face. A smirk twisted his full lips.
“While the thought of locking you both away and out of my hair was tempting, I feared that if you were locked away, I would not be able to escape that world myself,” he admitted.
“Oh, yeah, I would have definitely kept you trapped if I was to be locked for eternity in a crystal chamber with Nick,” I said with a soft chuckle.
Adio smiled down at me. “The great trickster god tricked by his own daughter. It seems fitting.”
“I just hope it holds for a few millennia,” I grumbled. With muscles protesting, I pushed into a seated position and looked around the empty plaza. The stars still twinkled above and a steady wind swept across the silent ruins. The world seemed untouched by the feat we had accomplished, which was exactly as I hoped it would be.
Adio pushed to his feet and offered me his hand. “Come on. There is someone who is waiting for you.”
We walked across the plaza and down to the small clearing that held the only tree that grew in the ruins of Machu Picchu. Danaus knelt beside the figure that lay in the grass beneath the tree, but I noticed that his eyes were not on her, but staring in our direction, anxious and fearful. His shoulders slumped as we came into view and his head bowed as I heard a heavy sigh slip past his parted lips.
Standing over the goddess, I noticed that her heartbeat seemed a little stronger than before, and her breathing was deeper and more even. To my surprise, her eyelids fluttered and opened, pinning me with an intense stare. I fell into those brown eyes, losing all sense of time and place. Machu Picchu slipped away along with the rest of the world. There was just the swirl of energy that had taken on a variety of colors and shades as they danced around me and the goddess. Not only was she alive, but she was growing stronger with each passing second.
Fear trembled through me, but I didn’t question the choice I had made. The great creator goddess had to be a more benevolent force for the earth than the god of chaos. My only concern was that I might have separated her even farther from her mate, who was still trapped with the bori.
And then she smiled at me. The world came back into focus, and I watched as she sank into the earth as if returning back to the womb of her own birth. The earth closed in around her so that there was no mark left of her ever being present. There was nothing left but a new layer of energy dancing in the air, caressing my flesh, taking the place of Nick’s cold touch.
“She’s gone,” Danaus murmured, rising to his feet.
I extended my hand to him and he tightly clasped it in his large one. “She’s home.”
“I think it’s time we did that as well,” Danaus said as he pulled me closer.
Wincing, I raised my hand to shield my eyes. “We can’t.” The sky around us was quickly turning from dark blue to slate gray as the sun rose in the east. By now the sun would already be up in Savannah, and I could not even begin to guess at what might be a suitable hiding place in the city at the moment.
“Allow me,” Adio said, placing a hand on both our shoulders. In the blink of an eye we were enveloped in darkness, only to reappear less than a second later. The ground shifted beneath my feet and the air was considerably warmer than the mountains of Peru. “Consider this a belated honeymoon,” Adio added, and then quickly disappeared again.
Danaus stood close beside me, one arm wrapped around my waist as we gazed over at our new surroundings. We stood on a white beach just at the shoreline. The air was silent except for the sound of the waves lapping against the shore, while lights lit tall buildings in the distance. At the edge of the beach was a well-lit road lined with swaying palm trees. The thick scent of flowers filled the air.
“Where are we? He had to have taken us west,” Danaus murmured.
It took only another second for it to dawn on me, as I thought about what Adio had said just before he disappeared. He had taken us to one of the honeymoon capitals of the world. “We’re in Hawaii,” I said, laughing as I leaned into Danaus. I wrapped both my arms around his waist and held him tightly. He was alive and safe. We both were. Aurora was dead and Nick was in permanent exile. For once, we were both safe and free. The world had become a vastly different place overnight, but it was a world we could attempt to live in, not a world under the shadow of Aurora and my father.
With a low chuckle, Danaus swept one arm under my legs and carried me out into the surf before dropping down to dunk us both underwater. We came up together, sputtering and laughing in the warm water.
“What was that for?” I cried.
“That was for your stupid promise! I could have helped—”
I placed my hand against his cheek as my feet searched for a bottom in the ocean. “And you could have been trapped in there with Nick and me. I didn’t want that for you. Never. I wanted you to go on living.”
Danaus reached up and moved some wet hair away from my eyes. “I would have never stopped searching for a way to get to you.”
“And I would have waited for you to come,” I whispered, my lips brushing against his.
Danaus closed the last few centimeters between us and kissed me as we bobbed weightless in the surf. His arms wrapped around my body and I could taste his love for me as it w
ashed away the last memories of the past few nights. Together we had faced impossible odds again and again, and each time we came out alive and in each other’s arms. With Danaus, the world held no horrors for me now.
Slowly breaking off the kiss, Danaus rubbed the tip of his nose against mine before loosening one arm so he could slowly paddle back toward the shore. “I say we find a quiet hotel where we can forget about the naturi and the Great Awakening for a few weeks.”
“That sounds like the best idea I’ve heard in months.”
“You think you can stand to be alone with me for a while with no impending danger?”
Wrapping my arms around his neck, I let him carry me out of the water and back onto dry land. A deep sense of peace seeped into the marrow of my bones as he pressed a kiss to my forehead. “Together, as God intended.”
Acknowledgments
Each book proves to be its own special challenge, no matter how much you think you’ve learned from the previous books. As a result, I would like to give a special thanks to my friend Robert for giving me a quick lesson on sparring to help improve Mira and Danaus’s combat skills. In addition, I would like to thank my amazing editor Diana Gill for pushing me to be a stronger writer. I would also like to thank my wonderful agent Jennifer Schober for constantly checking on me to make sure that I was happy, healthy, and somewhat sane.
About the Author
By day, JOCELYNN DRAKE is a clean-cut financial analyst writer, but in her free time she writes about a dark underworld where vampires rule. The bestselling author of Nightwalker, Dayhunter, Dawnbreaker, Pray for Dawn, and Wait for Dusk, she lives in Kentucky. Visit her website at www.jocelynndrake.com.
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