Jocelynn Drake - Wait for Dusk

Mira—

No, listen to me. It was all a plot to separate us. She’s a witch.

Mira, you can’t—

I can’t explain now. Just trust me.

Send me Stefan, Danaus said. He didn’t sound happy, but at least he was willing to come get me out of my prison.

I looked up at Rowe to find him watching me expectantly. “Almost got the troops rallied,” I said, then turned my attention to Stefan. He was a bit more pliable than Danaus. He didn’t care about Sofia, only where I was and how he was going to set me free. While he preferred to come get me directly, he at last agreed to fetch Danaus before appearing at Veyron’s place.

“Help is on the way,” I said, finally turning my full attention back to the naturi watching me.

“So I would hope. Are they going to break us out of here?”

I walked over to the massive steel door and frowned. “They are going to act as support. I was hoping we could get out of here on our own.”

“And then what?” he asked, not moving from where he stood against the wall. “You’ve summoned up your little soldiers, but there are no other naturi in Budapest to assist me. How far does this truce extend? The cell door? The front door?”

I held onto the tiny bars in the windows and stared down at the rough concrete ground. “I should kill you now for what you did to Valerio,” I muttered, but then shook my head. “But you could have killed me while I slept and you didn’t. That earns you a free ticket out of this house. However, if you strike at me or mine even once while we’re on the property of this house, I won’t hesitate to kill you. The truce extends as long as you behave. That goes for me and mine.”

“Agreed.”

I turned my focus to the door in front of me and the string of problems I had yet to face. I wasn’t ready to contemplate the fact that I had just struck a deal with the worst of my enemies. I’d face that nightmare some night when I was home safe, away from the naturi and the coven.

Rowe pressed his hand and cheek against the cold steel door, sensing for any kind of spell that might have been wrapped around the opening. Not only was the naturi well versed in nature-based magic, but in his years of struggling to come up with a way to free his people, he had also become an expert in blood magic—the very thing that got him exiled. His hand slid across the metal in a slow caress, while I stood back from the opening, waiting to see if anything went awry. My skills did not lay with magic spells and other bits of hocus-pocus.

The naturi pushed away from the door and brushed off his hands. “There’s no spell barring our way,” he announced. “In fact, as far as I can tell, there’s no spell in all of this basement area. Apparently, no one thought we would survive to attempt an escape.”

“At least, they didn’t think you’d have the strength to escape alone after you killed me while I slept,” I added. “We should get moving. My companions should be arriving shortly and they’ll need our help.”

I wrapped my hands around one corner of the window in the door, while bracing my left leg against the stone wall. Rowe did the same on the opposite side of the door and we pulled. Alone, we were both stronger than the normal human, but neither of us were capable of pulling loose the steel door that was firmly bolted into the stone wall. However, working together, the door folded like a piece of warm cheese. A loud metallic screeching echoed through the stone basement, announcing our escape attempt. We had to get moving before someone arrived to investigate.

Climbing through the opening, I reached down to my side for my knife, to discover it was missing. I had forgotten that I’d taken off all of my weapons as I collapsed into bed. I was completely unarmed. I glanced over at Rowe, who simply shook his head at me. Apparently, his captors had taken the time to disarm him.

No matter. I’d tear Sofia apart with my bare hands if it came to that. She had caused me enough problems to last a lifetime and now it was time to take her life.

We hurried down the hallway to the entrance of the basement, not making a sound except for the occasional rustling of our clothes. I climbed up the stairs first and poked my head through the trapdoor, to find that we were actually in a subbasement below the real basement. On stone slabs there were an array of wood and metal coffins where Veyron and his companions obviously slept during the daylight hours. A quick count revealed more than a dozen coffins. Apparently, they subscribed to some of the old ways despite their talk of escaping the old-fashioned precepts of our people. I hadn’t seen a grouping of coffins like this except for the underground rooms at the coven meeting hall.

“Can we burn them?” Rowe asked as his eyes scanned them, searching for any that might still be occupied.

“Why bother? We’re going to kill them all eventually,” I said with a shrug. The naturi smiled unexpectedly at me. Of course, he would be pleased with any plan that worked toward the demise of my kind.

“I think you’re starting to come around to my thinking,” Rowe whispered as he led the way to the only door in the vast dark basement.

“Hardly. I just don’t take kindly to creatures that try to kill me,” I replied, following close on his heels.

“I’m still here.”

“You don’t want me dead. Otherwise, you would have completed the task centuries ago,” I said smugly, earning a low growl in response. I ignored it, though as I sensed the distinct presence of Stefan and Danaus close by. They had arrived at Veyron’s and were currently seeking entrance into the house. I fully expected Sofia to invite them in. She needed to see to it that the rest of my party was disposed of properly, which would meet with Macaire’s ultimate plan. He wanted Danaus and me dead. Unfortunately, Stefan was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time, caught up in the cross fire.

“Let’s go. They’re here,” I said, giving him a little shove in the middle of his back to keep him moving up the stairs and through the door, which opened into the main hall. I peered through a small crack that Rowe had opened. The light was nearly blinding after walking around in pitch-darkness since awakening that evening. I couldn’t see anyone, but I could hear Sofia’s soft, desperate voice as she pleaded with Danaus and Stefan to help her escape Veyron’s clutches. She claimed that Veyron’s men had grabbed her again during the day and were threatening to kill her. She was plotting something, ensuring that Danaus and Stefan would be entangled in such a way that their deaths would be imminent.

The sound of approaching footsteps caused Rowe to pull back and soundlessly close the basement door. I threw out my senses to find six nightwalkers and three lycanthropes approaching my companions. Sofia was simply the bait in this trap.

“We need to get in there,” I whispered, trying to get around Rowe so I could escape the dark prison.

“Unarmed? We’ll be slaughtered in minutes,” he snapped. “Your friends are surely armed. Let them whittle down their numbers a bit before we go jumping into the fray.”

“Coward! Surely you’re not afraid of a handful of weak nightwalkers and a few pathetic werewolves?” I goaded.

“No! I’m more concerned with the nightwalker I made a deal with stabbing me in the back because it’s convenient. I would prefer to get the numbers down to something more manageable before I go jumping in.”

Laying my hand on the doorknob over his, I took a step up the stair, crowding him. “Remain, if you like. I’m going. But know this, you may be missing your only chance to strike at your kidnappers.”