Jocelynn Drake - Wait for Dusk

Valerio is there. Tied up on the stage.

Stage?

I’m going to fall back until you arrive. I will attack from the east. Don’t singe me.

A weak smile crossed my lips as I softened my footfalls so they couldn’t be heard over the wind. Reluctantly, I reached out to Danaus and briefly relayed the information that Stefan had supplied me. Danaus didn’t reply, but I could still sense him. He was preoccupied, but it seemed that he remained uninjured for the time being.

My footsteps faltered when I found the enormous water tower, directly next to an open air theater with the name “Szabadteri Szinpad” written across the top. Six more armed naturi waited for me. I raised my hand to conjure up a fresh wave of flames to burn through my opponents when a naturi created a wall of fire before I could. A string of low curses escaped me as I tightened my grip on my blade and took a step forward. No easy way out this time. The light clan naturi was going to keep me from burning any of the other naturi. I would have to fight each one of them.

“Kill the light clan while I handle the others,” Stefan said as he walked past me and engaged the first two naturi. I nodded and rushed forward. Stefan was strong and skilled enough to handle anything the wind or animal clan naturi threw at him for the time being. He had no defense against a light clan naturi throwing fireballs.

In a couple quick slashes and lunges I dispatched the two naturi guarding the light clan member. I was surprised to find her siding with Rowe, considering that Aurora was light clan as well. I guess there was no such thing as loyalty between the various clans. The light clan naturi backpedaled a couple of steps until her back was pressed against the stone wall. With a broad wave of her hand, brilliant orange and yellow flames sprung up between us.

A wolfish grin spread across my face as I stepped through the flames, turning them from orange to a silent and steady blue. “You’re going to have to do better than that.”

“Done,” she sneered, lifting her chin to me.

My only warning was the hair on my arms standing on edge. I dove forward, plunging my sword into the stomach of the naturi until the tip was buried into the wall. She grunted in surprise, but I barely heard it over the slam of lighting into the ground where I had been standing only a second earlier. Either Rowe or another wind clan naturi was close by, ready to make my night a nightmarish hell.

Pushing off the wall, I slowly pulled the sword from the naturi, but thrust a second smaller knife through her heart, making sure she was dead before I turned my back on her. The naturi were resilient and extremely fast healers. However, they couldn’t recover from a missing heart.

“Rowe!” I screamed, staring up at the sky for a glimpse of the naturi that seemed to haunt my every waking moment.

“Inside, my friend! Inside!”

“Bastard!” I growled, turning to look for Stefan. He was detaching himself from his final opponent. He walked close enough to a shaft of lamplight to reveal that he was completely covered in blood. The jeans and sweater he had worn into the woods earlier in the evening were soaked in the blood of both naturi and lycanthropes. It dripped from his chin, where it had splattered across his face and poured in thin streams from his bare hands. A part of me longed to run my tongue along his chin, lapping up such waste, but I knew better. I didn’t think Stefan would be opposed to it, but the temptation was tainted by the fact that naturi blood was poisonous to nightwalkers. Otherwise I would have been happy to bury my fangs into the devious monsters.

The echo of footsteps stopped my first comment to Stefan. I jerked around with sword drawn, but instantly relaxed when I saw Danaus pop through the trees. He slowed down to look over the bodies scattered around the area. With a wave of my hand, they all exploded into flames, burning away the remains so there would be nothing left behind for the humans to find. I could only hope that my companions were taking the time to dispose of their prey in the Danube. Otherwise we would have an annoying mess to clean up before we could finally leave this island tonight.

“How many are left?” I asked when Danaus finally reached my side. I didn’t even bother to scan the region. Now was not the time to hone that skill. We needed to get to Valerio.

“Only five more,” he said after a brief pause to catch his breath.

I glanced one last time at the sky, inwardly cringing as I waited for the heavens to strike at me once again. “And one of them is Rowe.”

“Is he truly such a problem to kill?” Stefan asked, leaving me wishing I could bury my blade in his stomach. He had no idea what kind of a problem the one-eyed naturi was.

“You take to the sky. Danaus and I will go in through the front on the ground. We’ll take care of the naturi. You get Valerio out of there. I don’t know how they’re holding him, but he might be too weak to disappear and reappear in Vienna. Get him somewhere safe,” I directed.

“As you wish, Coven Mistress,” he said snidely with an elaborate bow before taking to the air like Superman.

“Has he always been such an asshole?” Danaus inquired.

I was about to reply when another bolt of lightning streaked through the sky, sizzling directly toward Stefan. The nightwalker instantly disappeared from the open air, but reappeared lying on the ground just a few feet away. I darted over to him, sliding on my knees as I reached him. “Were you hit? Are you okay?” I demanded, helping him to slowly sit up.

“Fine. Wasn’t hit,” he said, but his voice sounded wobbly and broken. He may not have been hit, but it was a close thing.

“Looks like you’re walking in with us,” I said as he slowly regained his feet.

“Walking into a trap,” he groused, but he walked beside me as I approached the entrance to the theater. There was no doubt this was a trap of Rowe’s design, but our odds were pretty good. Of course, I was hoping to leave with all my companions alive and in one piece. Rowe didn’t care if we slaughtered the four naturi that were still at his side.

“Get to Valerio,” I told Stefan. “We’ll provide cover and a distraction.”

I led the way into the outdoor theater with its massive seating. There was no missing the four naturi that stood on the stage next to Valerio, who was strung up on a massive wooden cross with a stake protruding from his chest. They must not have driven it into his heart because I could still sense him, but it was close enough that he was gushing blood and he was close to death.

“No!” I screamed mindlessly. I ran up to the stage, leaving Danaus and Stefan struggling to keep up with me. Lightning rained down from the gathering clouds, slamming into the seats so that they exploded in a shower of sparks and debris.

“Mira!” Danaus cried after me, but I ignored him. I wouldn’t allow these nature-loving bastards to destroy Valerio, the one creature that didn’t make me doubt myself. Valerio might have intended to use me to his best advantage, but I also believed that he loved and trusted me in his own unique way. I would not allow the naturi to kill him.

More lightning fell between the stairs of the stage and me, causing me to halt. The naturi on the stage jumped down and instantly surrounded me, while Rowe finally appeared, placing one hand on the stake in Valerio’s chest.

“Surrender!” he shouted in a laughing voice. “Surrender and I’ll consider not plunging the stake deeper into his chest. Surrender and they won’t kill you now.”

“You’re not going to win,” I snarled, looking up at Rowe as one naturi pressed the tip of his short sword into my throat. The blade punctured my flesh, sending a trickle of blood down my neck. “We’ve destroyed your numbers tonight. You’re not leaving here alive.”