“Don’t start this now,” Danaus growled.
“I’ve risked your life enough tonight. You should be home—”
“Doing what? Baking a pie in the kitchen? Your laundry?”
“This is nightwalker business—”
“And as your consort, that makes it my business as well,” he snapped. “I was handling nightwalkers long before we met, Mira, and I’m going to continue to handle nightwalkers regardless of whether we are involved. You have to stop trying to protect me.”
Clenching my teeth, I closed my eyes for a second while I dragged in a deep breath through my nose and released it through my mouth. He was right. I was being overprotective. If there was anyone among my acquaintances that could handle himself in a fight, it was Danaus. Since taking him as a lover, it had become easier to forget that first and foremost he was an efficient killer.
“Stay behind me,” I grumbled, refusing to vocally acknowledge that he had a valid point. That didn’t stop him from chuckling softly at me as he took one step back so he hovered just behind my left shoulder.
Hideo was the first to step out of the shadows and enter the clearing. He raised one hand to shade his eyes against the bright light of the dancing flames that filled the immediate area. The ancient nightwalker was followed by two of his companions, on either side of him. Matsui stepped around them and briefly bowed to me before turning back into the woods. I could only guess that he was going back to wait at the car. My greatest concern, however, was the one missing nightwalker from their group.
“Thank you for agreeing to meet me here. I thought the added privacy would be most beneficial to our talks,” I said, forcing a smile onto my lips.
“We are honored that you have agreed to speak with us during this most trying time. We are sure that you are quite busy with your own troubles,” Hideo stated with a nod of his head. He glanced around the clearing and I could hear him sniffing the air. “This is an interesting location.”
“This is actually the meeting spot for the local lycanthrope clan. Since the full moon has already passed, I thought it would be the one remote location in the city where we would be undisturbed.”
“And the scent in the air . . . ?”
“Yes, it is human blood,” I confirmed. The smell of dried blood lingered. Considering that we spent centuries hunting down and ingesting the delicacy, it was no surprise that most nightwalkers could easily discern between human blood and the blood of other races simply by smell, even if it was a day or two old. “During the full moon there was an altercation between the lycanthropes and a group of humans determined to hunt them down. Members of the Daylight Coalition.”
“I fear we have not heard of them.”
“You will,” Danaus grimly interjected, drawing a frown to Hideo’s mouth. I saw him cock his head ever so slightly toward the nightwalker on his left as if he were listening to something the nightwalker was silently saying.
“I was unaware that one of your companions was injured in the battle,” I stated, changing the subject to the more important topic of the location of the missing nightwalker.
“Not injured,” Hideo corrected with a wave of his hand. “I hope that you don’t mind, but it was a very long journey here. He was in need of sustenance. I apologize for not seeking your permission first.”
It was an excuse. Not a particularly good one, but one I could not argue with at the moment. I held up my hand and smiled at my companions. “Please say no more. I understand your situation and you are welcome to feed in my domain so long as you abide by the coven’s rules of discretion and protection of the secret.”
“Of course. Thank you,” he agreed with a slight bow of his head. He then turned his attention to Danaus, who was just behind me. I could easily imagine the grim, disapproving expression etched in the hunter’s hard face. I had little doubt he was also disturbed by the missing nightwalker. “Despite the lycans’ recent problem with the humans, we find it reassuring that you have chosen to keep a human close to you in the form of a companion, as well as the human bodyguards that you keep on staff.”
“Apparently you have not been fully informed. Danaus beside me isn’t a companion. He is my consort on the coven,” I replied with a growing grin that allowed my fangs to peek out. I was waiting for their shock but was ultimately disappointed.
“Matsui had mentioned his increased importance in your life,” Hideo admitted. “We have long seen it as essential to have a strong relationship with humans. It’s reassuring to see the West adopting a similar mentality.”
“Mira remains very unique in her stance toward humans and their place in her life,” Danaus said blandly.
“But as an Elder, she could represent a positive influence for others,” Hideo countered with a small confident smile.
“I hope so,” I said.
“Please allow me to introduce my companions.” Beside Hideo on the left, a nightwalker who appeared to be about the same age and yet felt several centuries older stepped forward. “This is my second in command, Tetsuya.” The nightwalker quickly bowed to us and then stepped back behind Hideo’s shoulder again while the other nightwalker stepped forward. “And this is my close advisor, Kojima.” The final, remaining nightwalker at least had a few flecks of gray in his hair, but his face still looked relatively young and fresh. However, Kojima felt as if he were the youngest of the trio.
“It is both an honor and a surprise to meet you,” I said. “If my memory serves correctly, I was but a weak fledgling when an emissary from the East met with the coven, and the purpose of that meeting was to break all ties with the coven and the nightwalkers of the West. If you’ll forgive my bluntness, why the sudden break from the silence?”
Hideo’s earlier smile widened and I saw only the barest flash of fang, as if he were trying to hold it back and was failing. “I was forewarned of your bluntness and have been told you appreciate it in those you deal with. Of course, I’m sure you must know what would drive Japan’s nightwalker clans into breaking their centuries of silence.”
“The naturi,” Danaus said in a low growl.
The smile melted from Hideo’s face at those two words. We had expected as much. Since the opening of the doors following the battle at Machu Picchu, the world had been flooded with naturi. Even the Soga clan, after centuries of isolation and silence, were looking to me to clean out this nest because I was the famed Fire Starter. But fame was not going to help me survive the nights ahead of me.
“Yes, those earthbound monsters have been hunting down my people these past several months. Our human daylight guardians are no match for them. Two entire clans have been completely wiped out. Another lies on the verge of extinction. These clans are nearly as old as the people of Japan themselves, and now they are gone forever.”
I nodded once, chewing on my lower lip. “Yes, we have lost many nightwalkers and lycanthropes as well due to the increased presence of the naturi.”
“We have come to find out what the coven plans to do about the naturi threat,” Kojima stated.
Frowning, I stared down at the ground, weighing my next words carefully. I had little encouragement to offer them, but then, I had to remember that they’d turned their back on the coven and our ways. Was it really my job to offer them a hand of assistance?
“As of my last meeting with the coven, the naturi threat was being handled by the keepers of the individual domains. The coven itself is not acting beyond the occasional incursion,” I explained in a firm, even tone. “For now, it is seen as the job of every nightwalker to rein in and hunt down the naturi.”
Hideo looked over at Kojima and then at Tetsuya before leveling his narrowed gaze on me. “And that is the coven we remember. Unwilling to act to save its own; concerned only with hiding from humanity so it does not have to answer for the lifestyle with which it has become so enamored.”