We spent the rest of the evening that way, locked in a lover’s embrace, hardly speaking a word to each other because we had said enough. I loved him and I knew that he loved me. The rest of the world could fall away and we wouldn’t care. I had everything I wanted when I touched him.
Just before the sun rose the next morning, Danaus rose and dressed. He tucked the covers around me and pressed one last lingering kiss on my lips. “Tomorrow night we’re back to the way it usually is,” he said, before nibbling on my lower lip.
“How’s that?”
“Rough and frantic,” he said with a smile. I smiled back at him, running my hand across his cheek before he stepped away from me.
“That’ll be nice too,” I said around a yawn.
“Sweet dreams, my love.”
“Sweet dreams, dark hunter,” I murmured as he closed the door and set the security lock. I was safe for another day, and I had Danaus waiting for me when the sun set in the sky again. Everything was right in the world for just one day.
Twenty-eight
Danaus’s mental and vocal screams for me were almost deafening when I awoke the next night. I lay still in my bed in my house outside Savannah, trying to sort out the cacophonous noise, when I realized that both Knox and Gregor were mentally reaching out for me as well.
I’m here, I wearily replied to the group as I opened my eyes to the usual total darkness of the room. However, something was horribly different. There was the distinct acrid smell of burnt wood all around me. In addition, it seemed warmer than usual, as if the heater had been left on high all day.
Are you hurt? Danaus demanded.
Where are you? Knox quickly followed before I could answer.
I’m fine. I’m in my room in the basement. I’ll be up in a minute, I said warily, unable to understand why they were acting so strange. I did a quick scan, extending my powers to their fullest extent, and sensed only those three in the immediate area. There were no naturi or humans that could cause problems. Just Danaus and a pair of anxious nightwalkers.
Stay where you are, Gregor directed. We’re coming to you.
Closing out the other nightwalkers, I directly touched Danaus’s mind so the others could not hear us as we privately spoke. What is going on? Why is everyone here and in such an uproar?
I could feel Danaus hesitate to answer me. His mind was a jumble of images and incoherent words. But the one thing I could pick out clearly was the image of bright, dancing flames. I’m sorry, Mira. Your house was burned down during the day.
“No!” I gasped both aloud and mentally. My hands flew to my mouth as if to stop the scream of pain that had risen to my throat. My home was gone? How could my house burn down? My mind just kept stumbling over those thoughts over and over again. This was the twenty-first century. I had a security system on the house that alerted the fire department at the first sign of smoke. Gabriel had once set it off while cooking in the house and had to shoo the fire department away. How could they have let the house burn down?
Danaus, how bad is the damage? I asked, though a part of me didn’t want to know. I was sitting on the edge of my bed now, my eyes clenched shut as I tried to block out the smell of burned wood.
Just wait until we come and get you, Danaus firmly replied, causing my heart to sink in my chest. I pulled back from his mind as I struggled to get hold of the emotions rising within me. His avoidance of my question was enough of an answer.
After taking a slow steadying breath, I touched Danaus’s mind again so I could see through his eyes. I could sense his heart pounding in his chest and sweat dripping down from his brow despite the fact that there was a chill in the evening air. His hands were black. After a moment the hunter finally paused to catch his breath and looked around. There was nothing left of the house but the random black timbers stretching up to where the second floor had been. Furniture was reduced to ash, books were mere cinders, and the second floor was now open to the starlit sky above me.
With shaking hands, I fell to my knees as I choked back a sob. My collection of nearly a lifetime was gone. So many memories that I had saved and protected were now turned to blackened ash. Tristan’s room had been wiped from the earth along with the last of his scent. Lily’s room was gone. I was left with only their ghosts haunting my memories.
Cracking wood nearby was quickly followed by the sound of pounding on the metal door that blocked entry into my secret room. I had made it of steel and concrete so it was fireproof, but a part of me had not expected such an eventuality.
“Mira, are you all right?” Gregor demanded, shouting from the other side of the door.
“Get me the hell out of here,” I replied as I picked myself off the floor. I had been betrayed by someone. Gabriel would never turn his back on me, but he was the only person I could think of that should have been there and wasn’t.
Metal screeched and groaned as it was pulled and bent, and then dim light finally penetrated the darkness. Danaus was the first one in the room, his arms sweeping around me in a tight embrace that threatened to crack my ribs. The pounding of his heart had nothing to do with exertion, but with fear. Despite being mostly human, he had developed the same sleeping habits as the nightwalkers. If the house had burned during the day, he would not have found out about it until the sun set. He hadn’t known whether I was destroyed until that second when my mind finally touched his.
“I’m fine, Danaus,” I said, snuggling my head against his neck and refusing to let go.
“When I saw the house . . .” He trailed off.
“I know. I’m fine,” I replied, my voice a little firmer. I pushed away so he could look me in the eye. “I’m safe.” The hunter nodded and slowly released his tight hold on me. To my surprise, he took a step back and pulled off his light leather jacket before stripping off his shirt. He tossed the sweaty cloth to me and then donned his jacket again. It was only then that I remembered I was wearing only a pair of panties and a thin lace bra.
“Let’s get out of here so I can survey the damage,” I said, taking my first step toward the door. The other nightwalkers preceded me, while Danaus followed behind me. As soon as I stepped outside my private chamber, a sharp gasp escaped my throat. The room had been destroyed. The wooden timbers and drywall were gone, revealing blackened concrete. Part of the first floor had collapsed into the basement. I could see a broken shell of the desk in my study, along with a couple of blackened bits of furniture the parlor. Overall, it was a black mess that I was hardly able to discern, though I had spent more than a century picking out the special items that comprised my house.
Danaus stepped in front of me and hoisted me over his shoulder before making his way across the basement, which was covered in smoldering bits of wood, broken glass, and twisted nails. With a little help from Gregor and Knox, the hunter managed to get me unscathed to my yard, where I could look on the burnt remains of my house in shock. Words escaped me for several minutes—I had spent seemingly countless years there, accumulated all the knickknacks of a life well lived, and in the blink of an eye they were all gone. Just a distant, heart-wrenching memory.
“This was Nick,” I whispered mostly to myself as I clenched my eyes shut to keep the tears from falling.
“This wasn’t Nick, Mira.” Danaus’s slow voice sent a shiver up my spine. I didn’t want to know the answer to the question I was about to ask, but it came tripping off my tongue before I could stop it.