“No one has come but your protectors and you.” The Ancient shook his head in amazement. “How?” The word was one of the few I knew in Ancient Egyptian, despite both our efforts, but his meaning was clear: How had I survived? Even a vampire as old and powerful as Jabari would have been hard pressed to come out with his head still attached.
“Just barely,” I said with a weak chuckle. Two on one had been a close match, but seven on one would have been impossible. “Danaus saved my life. I don’t know why and at the moment I don’t care. We need to get out of the city. There’s one called Rowe—he’s been in contact with Aurora. He tried to take me, possibly to make sure they would have a clear shot at you.”
“I’ve not heard of this Rowe,” Jabari said with a shake his head. He stared at the ground in thought for a moment, potentially digging through volumes of old memories.
“I hadn’t heard of him until Nerian mentioned him. He’s scarred and wears an eye patch. He pretends to know me, but I don’t remember him.”
“Not from Machu Picchu?”
“No. I would remember a one-eyed naturi that dresses like a pirate,” I said, a smirk briefly twisting on my lips before fading away.
“Maybe you are the reason he possesses only one eye,” he said, lifting his gaze back to my face.
“No, I would remember him.”
“And his goal was to capture you?”
I shoved a shaking hand through my hair and nodded, unable to say the words through the tremor of fear that sapped my strength.
“You’re right,” Jabari said. “The naturi felt they had to get you out of the way so they could destroy the members of the triad. They were successful in destroying Tabor. They will also go after Sadira. You must go to her, protect her.”
My brows bunched over my nose and I could not stop myself from shaking my head. I didn’t want to leave him unprotected, even if he still wanted my head on a pike. “What about you?”
“I will go to the Coven. They must know what is going on. I shall be safe.”
“But—” The words died on my lips as the room swayed. Whatever energy I’d scraped together to get me from Fatimid to Koti had run out and my vision was growing black. I put my hand out to try to steady myself on anything I could find and came in contact with a soft, warm shoulder. Blinking, I found myself looking into Michael’s concerned eyes.
Jabari’s deep, soothing voice floated into my ears and wrapped itself around my thoughts. “The naturi poison is still inside you. You have to feed to cleanse yourself.”
My stomach twisted and knotted, attempting to turn itself inside out in hunger and pain. The muscles in my legs quivered, demanding I sit down.
Michael took my hand and placed it against his neck, once again offering himself to me. A weak smile lifted my trembling lips, but my eyes were closed again. “This will hurt, my angel,” I warned. “I can’t spare the energy.”
“You need me.”
That was enough. In a surge of raw need, I pulled him down to me, sinking my fangs deep into the vein in his throat. A rough cry escaped his parted lips as the pain tightened the muscles in his body. His hands grabbed my arms, but he didn’t struggle. Forcing him down to his knees, I leaned over him and slipped my fingers into his blond hair, holding him captive.
Fear exploded in his chest and ran through his bewildered thoughts, speeding up his heart, pumping his wonderful blood into my body that much faster. His fear was almost as intoxicating as his blood, awakening something that lay curled up in a dark pit in my stomach. The creature unwound itself and swam up the river of blood. It roared inside my head, demanding more, demanding I take it all.
The hand entwined in Michael’s hair tightened and a small whimper escaped him, sending fresh pleasure skipping through me. I kept his neck pressed to my mouth even as his heart began to grow sluggish. I didn’t care. There was only the warmth flowing into my cold limbs and the ball of energy swelling in my chest. My fear and the pain were finally gone. I felt alive and powerful.
“Mira.” Jabari’s firm voice somehow broke through the haze of blood and power, but I tried to ignore it. “Release him, Mira.” Instead, my free hand gripped Michael’s shoulder, locking him to me.
“Release him, Mira, or you will kill him.”
I jerked my mouth away from Michael and loosened my death grip. My guardian sank back to sit on his heels, blinking in a desperate attempt to stay conscious. I had taken more than I had planned to and yet the creature inside still howled for more.
When I finally looked up, I found Jabari standing beside his wooden, high-back chair. His right hand rested on the back, gripping it so tight his knuckles were turning white. His brown eyes seemed an eerie yellow in the flickering candlelight. He had heard the creature’s cry inside of me, felt the same blood lust. The Ancient blinked once, releasing his grip on the chair.
Michael touched my hand timidly and flashed me a crooked smile, searching for the reassurance that everything was okay. Smiling back at him, I gently ran my fingers through his thick blond hair before pressing a kiss to his forehead. My right hand slid down to cover the bite mark on his neck. With a brief swell of power, I healed both this fresh wound and the one from the previous night.
Something inside of me trembled when I looked down at my angel. A quick search of his thoughts revealed he had no idea how close he came to dying. But Gabriel knew. When I released Michael, I felt a wave of relief wash from Gabriel as he put his gun back in its holster. A bullet from Gabriel wouldn’t have killed me, but would have succeeded in loosening my hold on my bodyguard and saved his life, at least until I reacted.
It had been a long time since I last succumbed to the blood lust. A well-fed vampire was a vampire in control. But the pain and poison had shattered that hard-won control and nearly cost me my angel.
“You must go to Sadira,” Jabari said in an even voice, as if we hadn’t just been interrupted by my desperate need to feed.
“I can’t.” Shaking my head, I took a step back, away from Jabari. “Send someone else; someone older and stronger than me. Have the nightwalker escort Sadira to rest with the Coven. They can protect her.” I walked over to a low bookshelf and picked up a small statue of a man seated on a throne. By the arrangement of the hands and the facial structure, I determined that it was a piece of Nubian art, though very similar to some of the pieces of work that came out of the Middle Kingdom.
I think I would have said anything at that moment—not only to avoid Sadira, but also the chance of meeting the naturi again. My good deed was done. The Coven now knew of the growing threat. Hell, I’d destroyed four naturi in as many nights, and I was willing to wager it had been centuries since the last nightwalker could make such a claim. Now, I just wanted to go home.
“Protect Sadira while I hunt this Rowe. You failed me once with Nerian. I am willing to give you a second chance. Will you fail me in this request as well, my Mira?”
A string of curses in three languages exploded from me as I slammed the stone statue on the bookshelf and stomped away from Jabari. It was a mix of gutter nonsense, but it didn’t matter. The Elder’s deep laughter rumbled over my curses. He’d won and he knew it. He was the only one who could convince me to face the naturi yet again.
“Where is she?” I said, unable to keep the distaste out of my voice as I turned back to face him. Jabari stared at me a moment, surprise filling his dark brown eyes. “I won’t do it,” I snapped. “I won’t reach out for her.”
“She is in London. I imagine she will come to you after you arrive,” Jabari said after letting me twist for a moment in the silence. I had not seen or talked to Sadira since Machu Picchu. I didn’t want to see her now, but I didn’t have much choice.