Jocelynn Drake - Dayhunter

“Yeah, but not destroy all of southern Europe in the process.” I tightly gripped both of his shoulders and shook him. “You have to stop this.” By the weight still in the air, the spell hadn’t made a dent in the power swelling up from the earth. Ryan had to stop it before it got any worse.

Pain exploded in my cheek and jaw as I was thrown backward, Ryan’s shoulders wretched out of my hands. I slid back across the broken rock until I slammed into a bigger, immovable rock. The sharp edge dug into my back, trying to insert itself between the vertebrae of my spine.

With a groan, I looked up to find Rowe standing next to a confused Ryan. Drenched, but entirely unfazed by the growing storm, the naturi smiled at me as he shoved the warlock aside. Planting his feet wide apart, Rowe casually raised his left hand above his head, his eyes never wavering from me as I pushed to my feet again.

Overhead, the storm calmed. The pounding rain lightened to a steady downpour and the wind stopped trying to push me across the clearing. Rowe had taken control of the storm with little effort and strain.

I shouldn’t have been surprised. He had demonstrated his ability to manipulate the weather when we met in Venice. I just didn’t expect it to be so easy for him. No struggle. No strain. He simply lifted his hand and the fury of the gods slipped into his palm.

While the naturi calmed the raging storm, I quickly looked around. There were still no humans, which meant they couldn’t complete the sacrifice. And then my gaze stumbled back to the warlock, who had also pushed to his feet. They couldn’t complete the sacrifice unless they grabbed Ryan. I needed to get him out of there. I didn’t think Rowe would try to break the seal tonight, but I didn’t want to take my chances and be proven wrong.

“Fancy meeting you here,” I called, brushing my scraped-up hands on the legs of my leather pants. My body was battered, bruised, and thoroughly chilled. What I needed was a good soak in a tub of hot, sudsy water. Instead I got a naturi with an attitude.

“Ancient ruins. Middle of the night. It’s where all the lovers meet,” he taunted, his smile widening to a malicious grin.

I slowly stepped to my left, edging closer to Ryan. I wanted to get between him and Rowe, but the naturi guessed my plan. With a slight twitch of his fingers, a lightning bolt slammed into the ground between Ryan and me. We both dove in the opposite direction, the air around us crackling with energy.

When I looked back at Rowe as I regained my feet, he was closely watching Ryan. The warlock was preparing to cast something; I didn’t have a clue what. I was just worried that he would draw the energy from me, leaving me weak and vulnerable.

“Stupid humans,” Rowe growled, letting his arm fall back to his side. “You’ll never gain the ability to control the weather. The earth is beyond your comprehension.”

“Wow!” I mocked, luring his stare back to me. “I would never have guessed you to be an elitist prick.” Gathering up my energy before Ryan could tap it, I created a fireball in each hand. Because of the ceaseless rain, I put a little more energy behind it.

But something unexpected happened. The energy that had been pressing against me finally found a way into my body. The softball-size fireballs I had attempted to create appeared in my hands larger than basketballs, crackling and spitting in horrific fury. I hurled both of them at Rowe before I could contemplate it any further. However, once the energy found a way into my system, I had no way of stopping it. The power continued to flow in, hot and biting.

I blinked, struggling to rise above the flow of power, watching as Rowe darted away from the fireballs. With the energy filling me, I had no choice but to continue to pitch fireballs at the dark naturi in hopes of setting the bastard on fire. Not the easiest of tasks even with the free flow of energy. I had an amazing source of power, but I didn’t have the same level of control I had perfected over the long centuries.

As Rowe hit the ground, he swung one arm at me. A bolt of lightning plunged from the sky, striking a few feet from where I stood. I lurched backward, my onslaught of fire halted. Rowe took advantage of the pause to cause the storm to build again. Lightning bolt after lightning bolt hammered the earth, each striking closer and closer to me. He was driving me back, farther from him and the center of the clearing.

Keeping me on the run was also stopping me from using the power building within my body. I couldn’t force it out. I couldn’t stop it. The only relief I could find was to use the energy, but I couldn’t concentrate on using my ability if I was dodging lightning bolts.

Mira.

The relief I felt at the sound of Danaus’s voice within my mind was instantaneous. I had been so centered on taking out Rowe, I forgot that the hunter was lurking somewhere about.

What do you need me to do?

Get Ryan out of here. They could use him , I ordered in a brief respite between strikes. I quickly threw another fireball at Rowe, but it went wide of its mark and struck another naturi, bathing him in liquid orange flames. I hadn’t had enough time to concentrate and aim.

Another lightning bolt. It hit far too close. I jumped but didn’t look at where I would land. My right foot came down on a large chunk of rock and I fell backward, landing heavily on my back. I cried out as the pain shot through my spine and ribs. My control slipped on the energy that was vibrating through my body. A wall of fire whooshed up around me with an angry roar.

Laying on my back, I looked up to find a circle of fire surrounding me, reaching up more than ten feet into the heavens. The snapping orange and yellow flames encased me like an oven, drying my clothes and hair, sucking away cold that had chilled me to my bones. I hadn’t thought of the wall of flames. After more than six hundred years, it was a reflexive move, like raising my hand to protect my eyes from a bright light.

Mira! The frantic shout in my head was my only warning. Danaus was there. More than just a presence in my head, he was inside me, his power burrowing down into me until I could no longer separate myself from him. Pain exploded in my frame. I thought my bones were going to splinter under the force of the energy he was pushing into me.

I nearly shouted at him to release me when I realized that as his energy filled me, the energy flowing into me from the earth was being pushed out. The circle of fire was shrinking back down into the earth. I lay still, letting my eyes fall shut as I concentrated on the war being fought within me, but without my influence.

“Mira!” Danaus shouted. He was still within me, but he was calling now. He was close.

“I’m fine,” I muttered, but that was questionable. My body hurt in a hundred different ways, making me wish I’d let Rowe hit me with a lightning bolt. I couldn’t imagine a nightwalker surviving such a thing. Of course, it would be just my luck that I would.

Release me , I said to Danaus, using our private connection. No reason to let everyone in on our little secret. We had enough problems. Slowly, I felt him pull his powers out of my body, leaving me feeling cooler, emptier. I immediately noticed that the power I had felt pouring from the earth into me didn’t return, but went back to pushing against my skin.

A light rain splattered on my face and a grumble of thunder rolled in the distance, pulling me back to the present. I lurched back into an upright position, wincing at the pain in my back and in my head. Rowe had been firing lightning bolts at me only moments ago. But now he was gone. All the naturi were gone.

“Where?” I whispered in confusion, pushing back some hair that had fallen around my face.