“I am honored. I am Mira, and I am at your service.”
Again he chuckled, drawing my eyes back up to his lean face and dark gaze. “We shall see, won’t we?”
“You don’t think I would obey your wishes?”
“I know that you are one to follow your own wishes more than the wishes of others who would seem to be more powerful than you. Of course, Jabari and Macaire dearly paid the price of believing otherwise, because there is no one more powerful than you.”
At that I could not stop the soft snort that escaped me. “I think I may have finally met my match.”
“In me?” he inquired with one arched brow.
“I—I—”
“You don’t know. That’s a true and honest answer, which I can respect.” Adio smiled down at me. He waved one hand toward the second chair that sat at the foot of the bed, hidden somewhat in the shadows. “We know so little about each other, so how can we gauge each other as proper opponents?” he continued while I rose and sat in the chair, facing him again.
“Are we opponents?”
He gave a slight shrug of his slender shoulders. “That is another thing that time will only tell.”
“Where is my consort? Where is Danaus? I cannot contact him. Am I still in Venice?”
“He is safe with a friend of mine, I swear to you. You are in one of my secret sanctuaries within Venice. I wanted only a few undisturbed moments with you alone.”
I didn’t like the answer, but for now I knew it was all I would get. Safe didn’t mean that he was happy or comfortable or even uninjured. At best, it meant he was still alive, which I would just have to accept. The sooner I got through this interview with Adio, the sooner I could get back to Danaus.
Pursing my lips together, I stared at Adio as he lounged in the chair, but focused on the energy that swirled around him. He reminded me too much of myself, which only meant one frightening thing.
“You’re like me, aren’t you?” I demanded suddenly.
“How is that?”
“One of your parents wasn’t human.”
“Mother actually. Her name was Eos,” he said with a smirk.
“The Greek goddess of the dawn. Also known as Aurora to the Romans. How ironic!”
“Yes, I’ve heard of your troubles with the naturi’s queen Aurora. The coincidence is quite unfortunate.”
“But your mother was a god, just like my father. That means you were born differently.”
Adio smiled broadly at me. “Yes, but my differences were not as openly apparent as your own. I’ve heard the rumors. Born as a human with the ability to create and manipulate fire—a unique power that you carried with you into your rebirth as a nightwalker.”
“What of yourself?”
“I found that being the nephew of Helios gave me a certain invulnerability to fire, though I can’t control it like you.”
“And?”
Adio’s smile broadened. “And when I became a nightwalker, I quickly discovered that I was more appropriately called a daywalker.”
I came out of my chair, sliding it back a few inches as I tried to move away from him in shock. “What do you mean daywalker? You can be in the sun? You’re awake?”
“I sleep when I wish and I can walk about in the sun, but like any nightwalker, I am still dependent upon blood to survive.”
I stared at him a moment longer, as if frozen in place with the thought that this nightwalker had come to me during the middle of the day and stolen me away from my resting place. It was the idea that he could go to anyplace where a nightwalker rested and quickly see to their demise.
Adio motioned for me to return to my seat. “You’re looking at me much the same way that prior coven regarded me when I first appeared.”
“With horror?”
“Pretty much. One day, I swept in and killed two of their members as well as the previous liege. The remaining two were Jabari and Macaire. I took them to a place much like this and informed them that I would be taking over as liege.”
“But that was so long ago. You had to have been so young,” I said softly as I slid back into my chair.
“I was, which was why they were less than pleased with the idea, but after waving my hand through a flame a few times I think I convinced them they might have another Fire Starter on their hands. For the time being, they were unwilling to cross me. And in the end it all worked out for the best. I mostly kept to myself while the rest of the coven managed the night-to-night activities of our people.”
I shook my head in disbelief. “But there has to be more to it.”
“Why do you say that?”
“By the energy I can feel swirling around you! You’re not just drawing from the blood energy in the region, but also from the earth and the other energy that even the gods seems to be in touch with. How long have you been in touch with that?”
“Most of my life.”
“Your mother, Eos,” I whispered. “She’s been in your life. She taught you.”
“From a very early age.”
I shook my head and closed my eyes, cursing my luck. I didn’t know if Eos had been a patient, loving teacher and mother, but at least she was there to teach him exactly what he was and what he was capable of from an early age. She’d given him a distinct edge his entire life, where I had been forced to learn everything the hard way, particularly during the past few months under Nick’s painful tutelage.
“But if you always knew that you were the child of a god, why make the decision to become a nightwalker?”
“Because I believed in being in a position of power when the time came for the humans to know the truth. What my mother made clear to me was that the gods were in no position to reassert themselves as the power players in this world. It would be the nightwalkers and the lycanthropes that stepped forward as the dominant races when the Great Awakening happened.”
“Did she take into account the naturi?”
“No,” he sighed softly. “I don’t think she did, but then I didn’t think she expected the goddess of that cage to weaken so quickly without the constant contact of the earth or her mate.”
“I also don’t think she took into account the plans of my father,” I grimly admitted.
“Yes, I have to admit that I am curious as to your parentage,” Adio said, sitting forward. “I suspected that a god had a hand in your unique qualities, but I have been reluctant to let my interest be known lest it draw more attention to you than necessary.”
“You shouldn’t have worried. I’ve done a good enough job on my own drawing attention to myself,” I muttered.
“Yes, but I didn’t want Jabari or Macaire drawing any connections between you and me.”
“I’m grateful. I didn’t have the kind of training that you were lucky enough to receive.”
“I noticed.”
“You’ve been watching.”
“Through a friend and from a distance. But things have changed recently.”
“My father has suddenly stepped into my life.” I sat back in my chair and rested my head in my hand while propping my elbow on the arm of the chair. “It has not been an easy transition.”
“And will you be kind enough to finally tell me who your illustrious father is?”
“When you bring me Danaus,” I stated firmly, narrowing my gaze on Adio. I had spent the past several minutes sizing up his powers and didn’t feel like I was at a distinct disadvantage. Eos might have spent more time training him, expanding his powers, but Nick’s training had been thorough if not life-threatening, in its own right. Adio didn’t need to have Danaus secreted away.
“You don’t trust me?”
“I don’t trust anyone. I’m sure you’ll get used to the feeling.”
Adio laughed softly as he sat back in his chair again. “And that humbleness that you were so eager to grace me with has already melted away. So fast.”
“You have something that is known to be important to me, and you are asking some very intimate questions. I will not sit here and allow my hands to be completely tied when I can start making some demands of my own.”