Jocelynn Drake - Dawnbreaker

“Agreed.” Stefan rose as well and walked over to the nearly invisible bubble that hung in the air—a white mist that swirled and swam in an oval shape in the center of the basement; the souls of the dead.

Taking a deep breath, we both reached out a hand and ran our nails over the sensitive bubble, like a cat scratching the furniture. There was an audible pop, and a cool breeze swept through the stagnant basement as the souls of the dead finally ran free. I felt them push through and around me, carrying with them fear and anger and, for a rare few, relief.

Energy burned in my chest, filling me so that all the remaining aches, hunger pangs, and tendrils of fatigue were washed away. I looked up to find Stefan’s blue eyes burning with a bright light. His head fell back as he drank in the power coming from the souls of the dead. He reveled in the power, while I felt only a tremble of fear. While the energy filled me, it felt as if a mark had been permanently tattooed onto my soul, a mark calling out to the bori to come and find me. Stefan believed there were no bori left to threaten us, but I knew better.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the blue dome that covered Danaus shiver, but then nothing more. Something ominous twisted in my stomach as I slowly walked over to the hunter. He had not moved an inch from where I had left him the moment the sleep spell took hold. His hair hung down around his face, and his chin rested against his chest, rising evenly with each deep breath. He was still asleep. But something was wrong.

“Is everyone awake?” I asked, glancing over my shoulder at Stefan as I continued to face the hunter.

“Yes. Why?”

“Have them go upstairs or outside. Check the area for any living naturi. See how far they got into the lodge before the Stain finally claimed them. I will wake these three.”

“Why—”

“Just do it!” I shouted, including everyone in the vicinity, as well as Stefan, not caring how irrational I sounded. “Secure the area!”

There was a faint scurry of sound as the nightwalkers in the basement rushed to do my bidding. I might not have been well liked among my kind, but I was a member of the Coven and an able killer. They would follow and obey me out of fear.

I waited until I was totally alone in the basement before forcing myself to take those final few steps over to where Danaus slept against the wall. When I had chosen this path, I was afraid he wouldn’t survive the day, that the sleep spell would not be enough to protect him from the Stain. Now I was afraid to awaken him, fearful of how the Stain might affect the bori part of his soul.

With the toe of my shoe, I smeared the pale blue chalk line that surrounded the hunter, popping the blue bubble that had protected him during the day. For a moment I thought everything was going to be okay. Danaus drew in a slow, deep breath, completely filling his lungs with air as he awoke from his deep slumber.

“Time to get up, sleepyhead,” I forced myself to say in a lighthearted voice, still waiting anxiously to see that everything was truly all right.

But it wasn’t. His second breath wasn’t a breath of air at all. He had caught the scent of something and now he was sniffing for it. Suddenly, the hunter’s head snapped up and his blue eyes glowed at me in the darkness. They had never glowed before. I took a couple steps back, away from him, but it was too late.

Pressing both hands against the wall, he launched himself at me. I never saw him get to his feet. In the blink of an eye he was across the room, one massive hand wrapped around my throat while the other hand was pressed to my chest as he held me pinned against the wall.

“I can smell them,” he growled in a low, grating voice. He lowered his head so his nose was nearly between my breasts. “You’ve been killing naturi. Lots and lots of naturi.”

“Danaus—” I tried to cry out, but his hand continued to squeeze my throat, making it difficult to talk.

“You’ve been killing humans too,” he continued. He lifted his face so he was looking at me again. There was no recognition in his gaze, as if he wasn’t seeing me, and I don’t think he truly was. The bori inside of Danaus was attracted to the Stain that now shone so brightly on my soul. “Call them back for me before they wander off too far.”

He pressed his hand harder against my chest, and I could feel an energy press through me, pulling all the souls that had escaped the bubble back in toward my body. Back toward Danaus and the bori that possessed a part of his soul.

A scream was lodged in my throat as I clawed at the hand pressed against my chest, but it wouldn’t budge. The souls came slipping back into me one after another, and then into Danaus, where dark energy gathered and grew.

“Stefan!” I shouted both with my voice and my mind. I pushed and shoved against Danaus, but the hunter was suddenly stronger than me. He wouldn’t budge from where he held me pinned to the wall. He was out of control and hungry for the power we had set loose.

I never heard Stefan approach, but he was suddenly there beside me. He wretched Danaus loose, throwing him to the opposite side of the tiny room, the hunter’s large foot narrowly missing Shelly’s head. The earth witch had yet to stir, and I was hoping she would stay that way until I got Danaus back under control, if that was at all possible.

“What’s going on?” Stefan demanded, but any other comment was quickly buried under the low growl that emanated from Danaus.

“You’ve been killing naturi too,” he said, an evil grin lifting the corners of his mouth. I had never seen that look on the hunter’s handsome face, and it sent a shiver of fear down my spine. What had I set loose? “My children, you have done good work, but we need to call the souls back to me.”

“Danaus, you have to fight this!”

“Fight what? What’s going on?” Stefan demanded, his bright gaze darting from me to the hunter.

I didn’t have time to answer, not that I knew what words to use even if I could have answered. Danaus reached out again, extending a hand toward my chest and Stefan’s. The pulling sensation returned, and I could feel the souls of the dead rushing through my back and out my chest, being drawn back toward Danaus. Through our connection, I could feel the power growing within him, the darkness spreading across his own beautiful soul like a pestilence.

With a growl, I smacked his hand away and pushed him back into the opposite wall. Stefan quickly joined me when it became obvious that I wouldn’t be able to hold the hunter in place. Danaus swung his fist at me, connecting with my jaw so that I was tossed to the ground like a rag doll. Stefan dodged the first blow, but a second connected with his stomach, sending the nightwalker to his knees before the hunter.

“Mira?” Stefan snarled.

“It’s not his fault,” I cried, slowly pushing back to my feet. My knees wobbled as the energy continued to pour through me, throwing me off balance. “It’s the result of the Stain.”

“The Stain shouldn’t affect him!” Stefan shouted, pushing to his feet as well. We both attacked Danaus at the same time, throwing him back against the wall, pinning his arms beside his head. “It shouldn’t affect him unless…”

I didn’t look over at Stefan. I couldn’t. I had no doubt that I would see horror shining in his brilliant blue eyes. He knew now that somehow Danaus was linked to the bori and that I had known before we even cast the spell.

For now, I ignored the nightwalker and turned my full attention to the hunter, struggling before me.

Danaus! Listen to me! You have to fight this! I shouted in his brain, since I no longer had a chance of reaching him with my voice.

Mira? His voice came to me from a distance, sounding confused.