Gliding inches above the ground toward him, I raised one of the chair legs I was still holding and plunged it into his chest, purposefully missing his heart. Jabari screamed in pain and rage as he fought my hold. The great Elder no longer held terrible fear over me. That was Nick’s job now. I had finally taken back a part of my life, if only to hand that part over to another.
“Now, as I was saying,” I started when Jabari stopped screaming. He was growing weak from the blood loss and had gone completely still, no longer pushing against the powers that kept him completely immobile. “You will travel with Danaus and me to Venice. The night is young enough here that the dawn should not have risen over the city just yet. Danaus and I will speak with Our Liege. And then you will step down from the coven. If you are there when I return to Venice, I will finish what I started here.” To punctuate my point, I jerked the stick in his chest so it scraped against his heart, wringing another scream of pain of out him.
Soft footsteps drew my attention for a second. I glanced over my shoulder to find Danaus standing close to me, waiting for my next move. With a weak smile that I hoped was somewhat reassuring, I threaded my sticky, blood-covered fingers through his while I tightly grasped Jabari’s shoulder. I nearly closed my eyes as I delved deeply into Jabari’s mind, pulling forth an image of the Main Hall that was home to the coven. I could disappear and reappear over short distances, but I had never attempted anything quite so far as jumping from Savannah to Venice in a single motion. I needed Jabari’s crystal clear memories to aid me.
Unfortunately, with those memories came a wealth of hatred that churned and seethed around me. During the long century that I had spent at Jabari’s side in my youth, I had only sensed feelings of warmth and love from him. I’d been convinced that he cared only for my well-being and that I was fully aware of my importance within the nightwalker nation. I had no memory of his experiments to learn how to control me. I could not help but wonder if he had also hid this deep well of hatred from me as well.
It was hard to hate him with the same vehemence. He was my father, my mentor, my creator. He had been a guiding light and a pair of strong arms when the world became too overwhelming for a creature that struggled to understand her own powers.
But I had to hate him, because if I didn’t, it would get me killed.
We reappeared in the Main Hall with its expanse of black marble floor and raised dais. The four golden chairs of the coven Elders shone brightly in the overhead candlelight. All were currently empty as dawn was quickly approaching. If Stefan and Elizabeth were in residence in Venice, both would be in the catacombs below, unaware of what was happening just a few floors above them.
As soon as I felt the floor firmly below my feet, I released Danaus’s hand and gave Jabari’s shoulder a shove away from me. The Ancient stumbled backward until he finally fell on his backside. The shaft of wood still protruded from his chest, while his shirt was soaked with his blood. If I left him as he was, there was a good chance he would die during the day and not awaken the next night because of the continuous blood loss. I wasn’t willing to take that chance.
Stalking him, I smiled wide as he pushed backward, trying to escape. My eyes glowed brightly and the blood lust was on me. I needed this. I knew that I’d promised him a reprieve, but I also knew that I had been lying the moment the words left my tongue.
“Mira!” he screamed. Despite the immense pain he had to have been in, I felt his powers surge toward me in an attempt to control my actions, but I was wholly focused now. There was no penetrating my defenses as before. I brushed his attempts aside like swatting an annoying fly. Dropping suddenly to my knees, I jerked the stick out of his chest and immediately plunged it through his throat, limiting his cries to a low gurgling. Using the hole I had created in his chest, I reached inside and easily plucked out his heart. Jabari’s body went instantly limp before me. At long last the Ancient was dead and could no longer haunt me or threaten those I loved.
Clutching his heart tightly in one hand, I grabbed the shoulder of his shirt while I stood. I dragged him across the shining floor, leaving a smear of dark black blood. I placed the heart on my seat and left the body at the foot of the stairs before my chair. In the event that I wasn’t around the next day to speak with members of the coven, the Elders and their lackeys would all know who had finally disposed of Jabari.
As I stepped away from the body, relief hit me like a runaway train, leaving me weak in the knees. Danaus laid his large hands on my shoulders and squeezed gently, holding me steady so I wouldn’t fall to the blood-covered ground. As it was, my clothes were already splattered with it, and blood was smeared across my arms and face. I was grateful that he’d respected my wishes to face Jabari alone. It was only fitting that I fought this demon alone at long last. It was the only way I could finally purge my fear of him.
In the end, I finally saw Jabari as he truly was: an extremely old nightwalker afraid of the bright future that lay before him. He was no longer concerned about himself and how to best protect his interests. And I had finally become too powerful for him to control. I was only useful to him as a puppet and a frightened fledgling.
“Are you all right?” Danaus demanded. It was only when his hands slid down from my shoulders to grasp my hands that I realized they were violently trembling. A shiver wracked my body as I dragged in a deep breath and slowly released it. As the air escaped my useless lungs, the power I had been holding onto also escaped me, seeping back down into the earth and swirling once again around the creatures it emanated from. Danaus’s powers hugged close to my shaking frame, like a warm blanket pulled around me. He was there now, when the battle was over, to ease my wounded psyche and protect me as I licked my wounds.
“I’ll be fine,” I murmured in a low voice.
“I thought you planned to let him live,” Danaus said, sounding more than a little surprised.
A small smile tweaked the corners of my mouth. “Yeah, well, I decided that I could most likely accomplish everything I needed to without his assistance. Besides, the monster had already lived long past his usefulness.”
Danaus smirked on me in return. “I could have told you that months ago.”
“Thank you, smartass.” Leaning against his chest, I raised my face up to his, and he met my lips with a melting kiss that succeeded in wiping away the last of the fatigue and confusion in my brain. As I reluctantly broke off the kiss due to the rising of the sun, I rested my head against his chest, letting the sound of his beating heart rumble through my frame.
“So, what’s the plan now that we are in Venice?” he inquired as he pressed a kiss to my forehead.
“Sleep,” I sighed wearily.
“And then?”
“A meeting with Our Liege. Jabari was the oldest and strongest member of the coven. I also succeeded in taking out Macaire just a few months ago. If that doesn’t catch Our Liege’s attention, I don’t know what will. We will get our meeting.”
“Are you hoping he will help you raise an army to fight the naturi and Aurora?”
A frown pulled at my lips as I turned my face against his chest. “It’s too late for that now, I think. We’re on our own. If he still stands by what Macaire told me, Our Liege will welcome the Great Awakening. I’m hoping I can get his help to get rid of Nick. I can’t do it alone.”
Danaus grasped the sides of my waist and moved me away so he could look me in the eyes. “You’re taking on Nick?”
“He’s not content with Jabari’s death. He wants you dead as well.”
“Mira—”
“It’s not just that. We can’t allow him to regain his former power. He’s the god of fucking chaos. The world simply can’t handle his presence when we still have to face the Great Awakening.”