Jocelynn Drake - Nightwalker

Danaus’s name suddenly popped up in Tristan’s diatribe about me needing to feed. I fought back the wave of pain and managed to open my eyes. Tristan was still behind me but was leaning over so I could look him in the face. He was pushing something into my back, keeping the pain screaming through my body.

“Danaus?” I murmured.

“Fighting the wolves,” Tristan confirmed. “When he comes back, you will feed from him so we can get you somewhere safe.”

That’s what I thought he had said. “No,” I choked out, letting my eyes fall shut again.

“Mira, we have no choice. My blood won’t help you.”

I licked my lips and gathered up my energy again. I was in no mood to die, but drinking from Danaus seemed like a very bad idea. Even as I appeared to be facing my final hour, the hunter didn’t seem the type to give such a donation. “No…dangerous. Bad blood.”

“What? What are you talking about?”

“His blood is dangerous…Don’t feed from him.” I didn’t have the energy to explain it, but I was still conscious enough to know that until I knew what he was, drinking from the hunter was a bad idea. While there was a chance his blood could heal me, there was also a good chance it could kill me faster than the hole in my back and chest.

“Mira—”

“No, Tristan,” I bit out around clenched teeth.

The young nightwalker heaved a heavy sigh, looking away from me. “We need to get you to Sadira,” he muttered. As much as I hated it, he was right. Our maker was the only one who had a chance at keeping me alive.

“Leave me now,” I whispered, “and not even death will stop me from collecting your head.”

A fragile smile played with the corners of his lips as he looked back down at me. “Very frightening, Fire Starter,” he murmured, smoothing some hair from my face.

I wanted to smile and say something reassuring, but I was just too tired and had no doubt that I looked as threatening as a half-downed kitten.

“Is she dead?” Danaus’s voice intruded in the growing silence.

“Asshole,” I grumbled.

“We need to get her to Sadira,” Tristan said, his hand tightening on my shoulder.

“Take her to where I dropped you off. I’ll bring the car,” Danaus instructed.

“How do I know you won’t abandon us?”

“Because I need her alive,” Danaus growled, stepping away from me.

I wanted to think about that comment, turn around what he meant, but I didn’t have the chance. Tristan picked me up, sending a fresh wave of pain through my body, and then the world went dark.

The world slowly swam back into focus, and I instantly wished it hadn’t. Pain washed through me in sickening waves, threatening to pull me back under into the thick darkness. I resisted the desire to let unconsciousness sweep me under again. Tristan and Danaus were arguing about something, but I couldn’t quite catch the thread of their discussion. I could make out the low growl of the car engine. A window was open, and a breeze slipped across my skin, chilling the blood that was drying on my arms and stomach.

Cracking my eyes open, I found myself lying across the backseat of a small car. I was on my side, my head in Tristan’s lap. He was still pressing what I guessed was his shirt into my back in an effort to slow the flow of blood, while his other hand was pressed to my chest.

“How the hell should I know?” Tristan angrily snapped, his voice finally pushing through the fog of pain slowing my thoughts. “The Ancients never talk about Machu Picchu. We don’t talk about the naturi. The naturi are gone. They were gone…” His voice faded toward the end to a low whisper.

I closed my eyes again, his words echoing through my brain. He was right. We didn’t talk about this ugly part of our past, running from the horror, the moment that brought my kind to the very brink of extinction. We ran from it, afraid mentioning it would conjure up our enemy once again.

“Why? What happened there? Why is it so important?” Danaus fired back from the front seat, where he was driving. “They’ve killed Tabor and they continue to go after Mira. Both were at Machu Picchu.”

“Machu Picchu is important because it was the last battle,” I said in a low voice. I felt Tristan flinch beneath me, surprised that I was conscious again. “It was the last in a long series of battles against the naturi.”

“What happened?” Danaus inquired, his voice softening somewhat.

“I don’t remember anything about that night.”

“It’s understandable,” he murmured under his breath. The words had nearly been stolen away by the wind, but I caught them before they flew away.

“Why?” I tried to turn my head to look up at him, but it felt as if it weighed the same as a baby elephant and I gave up the attempt.

“Sometimes the mind forgets things to protect itself.”

A chill slithered across my skin that had nothing to do with the wind. I wished I could fold my arms over my stomach, fighting back the black memories of the naturi. “What did Nerian tell you?”

“Enough to haunt me.”

The truth was, I didn’t want to hear the details about that night. I still remembered the naturi with startling clarity, as if the memories had been charmed so I could never escape the pain. And now there was Rowe, with his voice teasing at my brain as if I should remember him.

“I remember Nerian.” My words barely inched over a breathy whisper. “I remember what the naturi did to me. They held me for almost two weeks. They wanted to use me to kill the nightwalkers when they arrived at Machu Picchu. We had been battling them off and on for several centuries. Prior to Machu Picchu, they managed to break the seal using the energy at Petra. They had come to Machu Picchu to open the door between the worlds and finally free the remaining host along with their queen, Aurora.” I paused for a moment, trying to force my eyes open so I could look around, but it just took too much energy. I felt lucky to be talking.

“I remember seeing the nightwalkers arrive, but I can’t recall their faces, except for Jabari. It was the first time I had ever seen him. And then, nothing. I can’t remember anything after seeing them appear.”

“What is the next thing you do remember?”

“Standing over Nerian. Sunrise was near and he was dying. I escaped into the surrounding jungle for the day. The next night Jabari came for me.”

“What about Rowe?”

“I had never seen Rowe before the attack in Egypt,” I said with a sigh.

“He seems to know you.”

“I know, but I don’t know him. I’m pretty sure I’d remember a one-eyed elf.” It didn’t make any sense. I had dug through my memory during the past couple days but couldn’t recall anything about a naturi named Rowe, or any naturi that resembled him. “At Machu Picchu, I remember feeling Sadira, though I can’t recall seeing her. I also remember hearing Tabor’s voice. Before leaving, I heard him speaking with Jabari. He sounded tired…and angry.”

“Where are we going?” Tristan abruptly demanded. I could feel the tension running through him increase. Unable to move, I gathered up what energy I could and dipped into his mind. It was relatively easy since he was holding me, but I didn’t have the strength to maintain the link for long. I managed to pick up flashes of trees from his mind, edging closer to the road. The area seemed desolate and lonely, perfect for an attack.

“The Themis Compound. Sadira is there,” Danaus said.

“What’s Themis?” Tristan asked.

“Vampire hunters,” I muttered.

“That’s not the goal of Themis,” the hunter snapped.

I didn’t try to stop the snort of disbelief that escaped me, despite the fact that I was currently in no shape to pick a fight. “Enlighten me. From what I’ve seen, it doesn’t make much sense. There’s you—a nightwalker hunter—and James, a bookworm who seems to be completely out of touch with reality.”