Jocelynn Drake - Dayhunter

Maybe it’s time you faced your past. The sound of Danaus’s thoughts echoed in my mind. He was getting too good at speaking to me telepathically. Just over twenty-four hours had passed since he had last pushed his powers into me, but our connection grew stronger each time he did it.

To hell with my past. This isn’t the time to go all Freudian on me. We find the naturi and stop them. That’s it, I mentally flung back at him.

Danaus didn’t reply, but I could feel him laughing at me, some silent chuckle rumbling through his mind and slipping into mine.

But the feeling ceased at the sound of the front doorknob turning. A knife seemed to magically appear in Danaus’s hand as he twisted around to face whoever was entering the house. I stood, my knees slightly bent, ready for anything. We both scanned the house at the same time to find the other nightwalker. However, neither of us relaxed when he stepped into the room with hands up and palms out and open.

Hugo was built like a freaking refrigerator. The nightwalker could have caused a lunar eclipse if he happened to step in front of the moon. His shoulders were wide, tapering down to a narrow waist and hips before splitting into legs that resembled tree trunks. He could have easily palmed a basketball with one large hand. I would have taken a step backward if my left thigh wasn’t already pressed against the back of the pale yellow sofa. I’d never seen a vampire as big as Hugo. The only relief I felt was the fact that he wasn’t very old; less than a century.

“Hugo?” I asked in a hard voice.

“Ja,” he grunted, lowering his hands.

A curse rose up the back of my throat but I swallowed it down again. I spoke only a sprinkling of German and it had been a long time since I had last tried. “Sprechen Sie Englisch?”

“Ja,” he replied, to my immediate relief. “Mira?”

“Ja,” I said, trying to match his low growl and not quite pulling it off. I guess I needed a set.

“Hunter.” Hugo’s mouth twisted into a sneer as he looked over at Danaus.

“I’m glad we’ve got the introductions out of the way. Now, if we can get back to business, we—”

The sound of Penelope’s heels clicking across the floor as she returned to the kitchen halted me. She opened what appeared to be a travel guide for the island of Crete and unfolded a colorful map from the back.

“Have either of you seen or encountered the naturi since coming to the island?” I asked as I walked over to where she’d spread the map out on the table.

“No, but neither of us has been on the island that long,” Penelope said, shaking her head, her black hair flowing down around her face, nearly blocking her eyes. For the first time since meeting her, I saw a flicker of fear cross her face.

“Danaus,” I called, looking over my shoulder at the hunter so I didn’t have to look at Penelope any longer. I put my finger over Heraklion, which was on the northeastern part of the island. “This is where we are. Where are the naturi hiding? In the city or farther away?”

He moved behind me so he could see the map, but at the same time he didn’t have his back completely turned toward Hugo. I didn’t particularly want to turn my back to the enormous vampire either, but if Hugo knew that I was unnerved by his great hulking mass, he’d never follow my orders. And right now I needed him to follow me without question.

Once again Danaus’s powers flowed out of his body, passing through me like a warm wind, threatening to sweep my soul out of my body and drag it across the entire island. “Farther away,” he murmured. “None are in the city right now.”

“He—He can sense them?” Penelope asked, her voice wavering.

“Mmmm…he knows all kinds of nifty tricks.” A dark smile lifted the corners of my mouth. The nightwalker took a step back from the table, the fingers of her left hand curling into a fist. She glanced over her shoulder at Hugo, but I didn’t catch his expression. Danaus had lifted his right hand, moving it from Heraklion toward the west.

“They’re all gathered in one place,” he continued, his hand hovering over a relatively broad part of the island.

I leaned in close to read the tiny print on the map. “Can you get a sense of the region? Does it have a green feel? Mountainous?”

“Mira, my powers aren’t that exact,” he bit out as his hand moved back a little, toward the west. “I don’t sense the earth, just the naturi.”

“What about humans?” Penelope inquired, taking a tentative step closer again. “If they are in the Amari Valley, there are other villages there. People would be close to the naturi.”

“No, there are no humans. Not for a good distance.”

“Then they are on Mount Idi,” I said, straightening from where I was bent over the table. I looked up at Penelope as she straightened as well, a frown flattening her full lips into a thin line.

“That entire area is dotted with caves,” she stated, waving one hand over that part of the map. “The naturi could be hiding anywhere, and it would take us several nights to flush them all out.”

“We won’t need to flush them out,” I said. “They’ll be at the Palace of Knossos in two nights.”

“You want us to wait for two nights and then take on all the naturi at once?” Hugo asked from where he was still standing in the living room. “I was told that I was to kill a naturi called Rowe. How am I to get to him if he is surrounded by his brethren? There are only four of us.”

Hugo’s German accent was incredibly thick and it wasn’t helped by his growing anger. It had actually taken me a couple seconds to figure out what he was saying.

“Wait! You mean, this is it? No one else is coming?” Penelope shouted, slamming both her open palms on the table. “I never agreed to a suicide mission. The tales of the battle at Machu Picchu told of hundreds of nightwalkers. Why are we the only ones?”

“Don’t know. You piss off Macaire or the rest of the Coven recently?” I asked. I was about to say more but my cell phone started ringing, stunning everyone into silence. Stepping away from the rest of the group and walking into the living room, I hiked up my dress and got my phone from where it was strapped to my leg. No pockets.

The little LCD screen revealed that it was my home phone number back in Savannah. There were only a couple of people who could be calling me from that number. “Who is it?” I demanded.

“Gabriel said you wanted me to call,” replied a soft voice that instantly made my hands begin to tremble in relief. It was Tristan. He was awake and safe. For once, something had gone right.

I turned my back to the group and hunched my shoulders as if I could disappear from their view. I even went so far as to lower my voice, though I knew they could all clearly hear me. It didn’t matter. I needed this private moment with Tristan to settle my own nerves.

“Are you okay? Did Gabriel show you around?” I asked, cringing at my own questions. I sounded like a worried, overprotective mother. I sounded like Sadira.

“He said he would after I called you. Are you still in Venice? What about the naturi? I can still—”

“No, I’m in Crete,” I interrupted, and instantly wished I hadn’t used such a harsh tone. “We should have this all cleaned up in a few nights. I’ll be home in three or four nights, and then we can…find a more…permanent arrangement for you.”

A heavy silence filled the air. I couldn’t guess at what he was thinking. He either doubted that I would be back at all or was insulted by the idea that I was already looking to unload him like a pile of unwanted baggage. I had never wanted a family for this very reason. I didn’t want anyone underfoot and didn’t know what to do with someone once he was in my life.