Jocelynn Drake - Dawnbreaker

“I don’t know what we’ll see,” I said. “From what I’ve been able to gather, Aurora is a member of the light clan, while her consort Rowe is a member of the wind clan. So, I would assume most of the naturi on the mountain will be of the wind and light clans.”

Turning, I looked down at Cynnia, who continued to stare off into empty space, oblivious to anyone in the room. I knelt down in front of her and grabbed her left shoulder, giving her a hard shake.

“Cynnia!” I snapped. “What’s waiting for us on the mountain?” I demanded.

Her unfocused gaze finally moved to my face, her eyes slipping over my features for a moment before she finally recognized me. Her upper lip curled at me in disgust and she jerked her shoulder out from my grip. “Why should I help you? You killed them. You killed my people.”

“What choice did I have?” I growled. “They were going to come during the daylight hours and slaughter every last one of us. It was the only way to protect us, to protect you. Weren’t you the one telling me they thought you were a traitor and that they planned to kill you? Didn’t I save your life?”

“But why did so many have to die?” she demanded, tears slipping down her face. “Couldn’t you have done this some other way? Could you have at least warned them?”

“What? The blue-flame perimeter wasn’t enough of a warning that I wanted them to stay out of the lodge? Yes, Cynnia, I set a deadly trap to save our lives. But Rowe is the one that sent one naturi after another into the trap. He is the one that kept sending them even when it became obvious that the trap couldn’t be beaten. And when he was done, he decided to kill seven helpless tourists because he could. He killed the humans to get even with us!”

“But—”

“No!” I shouted at her. I leaned both my hands against the wall on either side of her head so she couldn’t escape me. “There are no ‘buts.’ Yes, I am a killer of naturi. I’ll kill however many naturi I have to, to protect what is mine, but what happened during the day— that was Rowe’s choice. Blame him for sacrificing the lives of your people.”

Shelly shifted nervously, drawing my attention away from the shivering naturi in front of me. “Why would he sacrifice that many?” she asked.

A smile drifted across my lips and I ran my tongue over my fangs as I looked over at Danaus and Stefan. “Because he’s desperate,” I said, slowly pushing to my feet again.

Stefan nodded, shoving his hands into the front pockets of his pants. “We need to get moving. They may have begun already.”

“Agreed,” I said, nodding. “Do you remember how to find the other entrance to the Incan Trail?”

“Yes.”

“Take half of the nightwalkers and humans up the Incan Trail.”

“And where will you be?” he demanded, taking a step closer to me.

“Danaus and I will take the other half up through the tourist entrance,” I replied.

“My task is to protect you. That is all.” Stefan stood a little straighter as he spoke, looking down his nose at me. If he thought trying to increase his physical presence would cow me, he was sorely mistaken.

“We have to attack them on two sides,” I countered. “Their goal will be to delay us until they can open the door and allow reinforcements through. You will take your group up the Incan Trail to the Main Gate. From there, head east and we will meet outside of the Temple of the Condor. Human sacrifices used to be conducted there.” I suppressed a shiver as memories of watching humans being slowly killed on a slab while their blood was captured in a basin swam to the forefront of my mind.

“Is that where they will open the gate?”

“I don’t know,” I admitted through clenched teeth. “My guess is that it will either be there, at the Sacred Plaza, or in the Main Plaza. I’ve scanned the area as best as I can from here. They have more than a dozen humans spread about the city, so I can’t be sure.”

“I will stay with you,” Stefan said with a shake of his head.

I stepped away from Cynnia, closing the distance between us. Behind Stefan, just over his right shoulder, I could see Danaus taking up position, but I knew he wouldn’t move until I signaled.

Standing so close to Stefan, I could easily meet his gaze, but he wasn’t the type to back off either. We were both too accustomed to having our way.

“You are the oldest here,” I said, “and the only one who knows both the city and the naturi. I need someone intelligent to lead the second group.” He stared silently at me, carefully weighing my words. It was the truth. I could think of few others I would want trekking up the other side of the mountain. Stefan might not like me, but he had no problems ripping through the naturi. “If we attack them from two sides, it will force them to divide their people by thirds in order to take us both on and still guard the spell site. We’ll be able to destroy more of them.”

He smiled slightly at me. “I can see why everyone was so confident that you would take the open seat on the Coven. Giving commands comes naturally for you.”

“I never wanted a seat on the Coven,” I snarled. But it was too late for that. I was a Coven member, and it was time I started remembering it before it got me killed. But then again, my main concern was just trying to survive the next twenty-four hours so I could return to my own domain of Savannah.

“Good,” he said, smiling wide enough to show off his fangs. That’s what I thought. Stefan was simply aching to make the thousand-year mark. He had set his sights on Tabor’s empty chair and had no qualms about taking the seat from me if I should fall during the fight with the naturi tonight.

I chuckled and turned my back to him, wandering back to my chair. I stood beside it, my left hand resting limply on the back. “You’ll make an excellent Elder.”

The smile instantly dropped from Stefan’s lips as he tried to figure out whether I was mocking him.

“Mira.” Danaus’s deep voice drew my thoughts back to the task at hand. I looked over at the hunter and curtly nodded. No more talk. No more stalling, hoping for a last second miracle.

“Let’s go.” I was surprised. My voice sounded firm and strong, confident even. I was a better liar than I had thought. Maybe I would make an okay Elder too.

It was the summer of 1468 when I first saw the white-gray stones of Machu Picchu, more than sixty years before the Incans would be nearly wiped out by the Spanish conquistadors. The Incans had just finished building their city in the sky with its more than forty rows of crops stair-stepping up the mountainside and numerous thatched buildings. The enormous stones were perfectly cut and placed together like an intricate puzzle first designed by the gods and later pieced together by man. Up among the clouds, the Incans reveled in the sweeping vistas of great mountains, worshiped the sun, and paid homage to the moon.

However, that year, the Incan emperor Pachacuti anxiously watched the strange beings that had suddenly descended upon his mountain retreat. Their brown hair, golden skin, and amazing powers quickly marked them as great children of their sun god, Viracocha. Pachacuti was more than happy to serve the needs of the sun children, even if it meant human sacrifices. But these great beings had also left him in an awkward position. They held captive a daughter of the moon. While the children of the sun lounged in comfort around Machu Picchu, the moon’s child was chained and blindfolded at all times.

During the day, I was kept deep in a dark, damp cave connected to the Temple of the Moon on the side of the mountain, hidden from sight and the far-reaching rays of the sun. And when I awoke each night, I was carried back to the funerary rock where I was tortured until dawn threatened once again.