“Like adjusting memories?” I said, arching an eyebrow at him. “There are just too many. By now, news reports have hit the air. There are search parties trekking through forests and dogs sniffing the area. It’s too much. We would never be able to reach everyone.”
“But you managed to cover up the naturi fiasco outside of London last summer, and the human sacrifices at Machu Picchu in the fall,” Danaus interjected, causing me to frown at him. It’s not that I didn’t seriously want to help Barrett. Hell, it was in the best interest of everyone that this was covered up and quickly forgotten about. Unfortunately, if they used the same numbers at the other locations as in Savannah, nearly eighty men had gone missing.
“What about the coven?” Barrett asked.
I shook my head as I folded my arms across my chest. I hated to admit it. “It takes them months to make a decision. They wouldn’t be able to help you. However, I can make some phone calls; reach out to the nightwalker keepers in St. Louis, Austin, and Denver. They can do some damage control as best as they possibly can if they haven’t started already. We need to take care of the problem at hand and deal with the Daylight Coalition directly. We need to know what they know and take away their information.”
“We need a mole in the coalition,” Danaus said. He looked over and waved one hand at me. “Want to make a trip to Atlanta? I could get you past whatever security system they have on their headquarters, and you could slip by any humans wandering around the place.”
“And what if their source happens to be another lycanthrope, nightwalker, or warlock?” I said. “My cloaking powers would be useless and we would be discovered. We would have no information and I’d be exposed to the group, assuming that they don’t know about me already.”
“You think one of our own kind has turned on us?” Barrett snarled.
“We already saw a werewolf and a witch traveling with a coalition member last summer,” I said, remembering back to the encounter Tristan and I had in a dark London alley just a few months earlier. “It stands to reason that someone has stepped forward to provide them with inside information. Otherwise, they would have never been able to attack four different locations so quickly.”
No one said anything for several seconds. Then Daniel spoke, breaking the silence that had grown over the room. “So what you’re saying is that you need a human to infiltrate the coalition and report back.” It was an uncomfortable truth, but I had a feeling that both Barrett and Daniel had already come to that conclusion before coming to my town house. They were here simply to make sure that we didn’t have any other options before taking this very large and dangerous risk.
I drew in a deep breath as I let my hands slip down to the edge of the desk. Staring down at the floor, I wished there were some other option, but if they had someone spying on us, then we definitely needed someone on the inside, spying on their activities.
“A human would make the most sense,” I reluctantly conceded. “I could make some minor memory adjustments so that if a nightwalker or warlock read the human’s mind, plans for infiltration and betrayal would not be found. At least not right away. This would have to be a relatively short mission. Get in, get access to some basic information—such as the name of the betrayer—and then get out as quickly as possible.”
“However,” Danaus said, “the person we get to do this needs to realize it is extremely dangerous. If they are discovered, it is inevitable that they will be killed for their efforts. I’ll volunteer for this. I can block my thoughts better than most, and after years of hunting nightwalkers, I think I can be a pretty convincing recruit for the coalition.”
I smiled weakly over at him but shook my head. “I’m sure we all appreciate your offer, but if they have a warlock or a witch on hand, it’s likely they would be able to sense your powers. You’d be quickly labeled as one of the ‘others’ and they might not accept you. In addition, there is a chance they already know about me, and if that’s true, then it’s likely they know about you, considering our frequent association. It’s a wonderful offer and idea, but I don’t think it would work.”
“Unfortunately, I have to agree with Mira,” Barrett said. “It’s known throughout all of Savannah that you’re not exactly human. If it’s common knowledge among our people, then we have to assume that the Daylight Coalition is aware of it as well. We need someone who is simply human.”
“And that’s where I step in,” Daniel said with a heavy sigh. “I’m driving up to Atlanta tomorrow morning and renting an apartment. I’ve already told my wife that I’m going on an undercover assignment and that I’ll be out of communication for a while. I’ve taken some time off work and—”
“Absolutely not!” I declared, springing to my feet. “This is nonsense. You are not to go anywhere near that damned headquarters.”
“He’s our best and only option at this point,” Barrett patiently pointed out.
“Daniel also has a wife and kids to think about,” I countered.
“He’s also a trained cop. He knows how to handle himself in a dangerous situation,” Danaus said, earning a dark look from me. I wasn’t expecting him to immediately side with Barrett and the detective. “He knows the workings of the lycanthropes and enough about the nightwalkers to know what he was looking for once he got into the headquarters.”
“It also doesn’t hurt that I genuinely dislike nightwalkers,” Daniel added, grinning up at me.
I shook my head at the human, ignoring his teasing. “I don’t like this at all, Daniel. You’re taking a big risk. I know we would all greatly appreciate it, but with just a little more time we might be able to find someone else.” I jerked my head over to Danaus. “What about one of the hunters you trained for Themis? Are any of them loyal enough to you that they’d be willing to infiltrate the headquarters for us?”
“Maybe, but I wouldn’t trust any of them to choose loyalty to me over loyalty to Ryan,” he said. “I don’t want to push my luck with the warlock now, considering we’re not exactly on speaking terms. He may not want to risk the secret, but I don’t want to imagine how he could potentially twist this situation to his advantage.”
I sighed, pushing away from the desk, but there was no room for me to pace so I fell backward against the front of it, crossing my arms over my stomach. At that point I was willing to risk the life of a human I didn’t know just so I didn’t have to face the fact that Daniel really was our best choice. He had an understanding of both the nightwalker and lycanthrope peoples. He was grumpy and cranky enough to convincingly appear to be a disgruntled human looking to exterminate the two races. If they did a background check, they would discover that he was a detective, and that would make sense, explaining how he knew about the lycanthropes and the nightwalkers. It all added up perfectly.
“I hate this idea,” I admitted.
“But . . .” Daniel prodded.
“It’s the best one we’ve got, particularly since we’re short on time,” I continued. “We need to get this under control before the next full moon so the local packs can hunt and run without fear.”
“Then I leave tomorrow,” he declared. “Barrett and I have already developed a reliable way to communicate that should be untraceable. Otherwise, I’ll be completely out of contact until I return to Savannah.”
“And when you return, you will be under constant protection,” I proclaimed.
“That’s ridiculous!” he snapped.
I shoved away from the desk front and grabbed the arms of the chair where Daniel was seated, leaning in close enough for the tip of my nose to nearly touch the tip of his. “Is it? What if they find out you were a spy? What if they find out exactly who you are and where you live? Do you really know what you’re in for? If the Daylight Coalition discovers that you’re a spy, they will strike back at you. I can’t allow that. Lycanthropes will watch over you during the day and a contingent of nightwalkers will guard you by night until the Daylight Coalition has been permanently eliminated.”
“Mira—” Daniel began, leaning back as far as he could so he could see me more clearly.
I jerked my attention over to Barrett, who sat beside him. “Am I wrong?” I demanded.
The Savannah pack alpha shook his head slowly. “No, you’re not.” Then, addressing the detective, he said, “We recognize the great risk you’ll be taking for both our peoples. You and your family will be watched over while you’re gone and following your return.”
“And what if I don’t come back?” Daniel threw out.
I straightened, took a step back and, frowning, gazed down at Barrett. The lycanthrope spoke up before I could. “Your family will always be taken care of,” he said to the detective. “They will be considered a part of the Savannah pack and given all the privileges thereof.”
“I don’t want my wife and kids to know about . . . about . . . all of this,” Daniel growled, throwing out his
