“We first need to get rid of Aurora.”
“Stopping Aurora would bring us peace? We would still be overwhelmed with naturi,” Hideo said.
“Stopping Aurora would be the first step in the process of achieving peace,” Danaus said, drawing all eyes over to him. “She maintains her plan to destroy not only nightwalkers but humans as well in her effort to save the Earth. She is single-minded in her plan, and she has begun to turn on her own kind. She is alienating those she would need to accomplish her grand scheme.”
“There is a fissure that is growing among the naturi,” I added. “We should be able to use that break in their solidarity to our advantage.”
“How?” Tetsuya asked warily.
I smiled at him. “An alliance.”
“With the naturi?” Hideo demanded, his soft voice hardening for the first time. “You are planning an alliance with the naturi?”
“Yes,” I said with a slight hiss of warning. I wanted to keep this meeting as civil and calm as possible, but I knew that what I was suggesting now was treasonous among the nightwalkers. We had spent too many centuries fighting against the naturi. From the very birth of our race, they had been our enemy. There was no reconciling your differences with your enemies. At least, not when it came to the naturi. What I had said earlier was too true. Nightwalkers didn’t change. But then, I guess Tetsuya was right; I was different.
“Aurora has tried to kill both of her sisters in the name of treason. The younger of the two sisters, Cynnia, wants to establish a coexistence between naturi and nightwalkers. A number of naturi have already rallied to her side, and she aims to take on Aurora. If we can get Cynnia named queen of the naturi, we have a chance at creating a permanent peace between our two peoples.”
Danaus stood beside me with a hand resting on the hilt of one dagger at his side in the form of a warning.
“From what we have come to understand, the naturi are weary of war. The race is slowly dying off. Cynnia is offering them a chance at survival by simply blending into the background, a return to the forests of the world where they can live in peace.”
Kojima shook his head and paced a couple steps away from his companions, edging a little farther into the clearing. He was clearly the most emotional of the trio, struggling to maintain the same outer calm as his companions. “If they are already facing eventual extinction, why do we not just take advantage of it and kill them off?”
“Because their numbers are still great,” I said, closely watching the pacing nightwalker for any sign that he was reaching for a weapon. “The war that would ensue would place us against all the naturi, and no matter what you may hope, we would never be able to rally the nightwalkers together to defeat the naturi horde.”
“You would also be faced with the Great Awakening if you attempted to wage such a war,” Danaus reminded us.
The Great Awakening. I liked to think it was something that nightwalkers from both the East and the West were trying to avoid. Especially since we still had to deal with the naturi epidemic first. I could only manage one thing at a time.
“My people are ready for the Great Awakening,” Hideo firmly said.
I shook my head. “But the world is not. If your people are struggling with the naturi, then you are not ready to face a world that knows about nightwalkers and lycanthropes. Those humans you are so eager to call your friends are just as likely to turn on you the moment they begin to see you as a threat—which you are.”
“Coexistence is the only way we can hope to continue our current life while remaining hidden from humanity,” Danaus said. “Cynnia wants peace between the two sides, and it is the wisest choice at this juncture.”
“Do you seriously think peace with the naturi is possible?” Kojima demanded, glaring at me. I didn’t blame him for his doubts. He was only voicing the same thoughts that I had. The only difference was that I knew what had truly happened among the Machu Picchu ruins. Cynnia wasn’t just trying to save her own skin; she was trying to save her race from an even bigger war that Aurora was planning. We didn’t need to turn the humans against us just yet. That would come soon enough, I was certain.
“With Cynnia as their leader, yes,” I replied. “I’m not so blind as to think that all the fighting between the nightwalkers and the naturi will stop. There will be small branches that are determined to keep the war going even after Aurora’s defeat, but that is nothing in comparison to the war Aurora is determined to wage.”
Hideo scratched his chin as he silently stared at me. “This Cynnia was the one you were meeting with tonight?”
“Yes. The leader of the Savannah lycanthropes, me, and my associates all met with her tonight to discuss her plan. In truth, I have just now agreed to go along with her plan. There is still much planning and strategizing that needs to be done, but I believe in her vision for our two peoples. After countless centuries that have cost us too many lives, I believe that Cynnia can finally bring the war between the nightwalkers and the naturi to an end.”
“If Cynnia is for peace between our races, why were there naturi attacking you tonight?” Tetsuya inquired.
“Because Cynnia is being hunted by her sister Aurora. The queen has become paranoid and insane with power. At Machu Picchu this past fall, she branded Cynnia and her sister Nyx traitors. She banished her consort Rowe. She has made enemies of the very people she needs most at her side to succeed in defeating the nightwalkers and the humans. Those so-called traitors are now gathered together to bring her down.”
“And they have won over the Fire Starter as well,” Danaus added with a smirk. “The odds are starting to tip in our favor. Aurora may have greater numbers, but we just need to take down the queen to finally quell the naturi nation. Cynnia will lead them into seclusion while the nightwalkers and the lycanthropes return to their previous way of life.”
Hideo shook his head at me. He paused and threaded his fingers through his hair, pushing it away from his eyes. “And what happens if this Cynnia succeeds and takes her people away from the human world? What if the naturi are allowed to return to the woods where their numbers are permitted to grow once again? Won’t we be eventually faced with a new, stronger threat?”
An evil grin slipped across my face, and I could feel a lavender glow filling my eyes. “The peace that I speak of is merely a temporary one in hopes of avoiding an even greater and more dangerous war that will rip away our veil of secrecy. The fight between Cynnia and Aurora will cut into their numbers, leaving the naturi weakened. It will take them a long time to replenish themselves. That will give us time to train our own death squads to specialize in hunting down the naturi in their own territory. At the moment, we haven’t an edge when it comes to fighting them in the woods. Time and research will give us that edge. Do not mistake my decision to agree to a truce with the naturi. My ultimate goal will always be their complete extinction.”
“Your plans are interesting,” Hideo conceded. “We are reassured by the fact that your end goal remains the elimination of the naturi race. However, we cannot accept a temporary truce with a group that we plan to ultimately destroy. The naturi are our sworn enemy and we cannot agree to work in harmony with them.”
“Even if it means avoiding the Great Awakening?” I asked, cocking my head to one side as I stared at him.
“This just may be a sign that it is finally time for the Great Awakening to happen.”
“I can’t accept that.” I crossed my arms over my stomach and glared at Hideo. “If it is within my power to delay that horrible event, I will do everything I can to delay it. Humanity is not ready.”
“And we cannot accept such two-faced betrayal,” Hideo countered, looking completely at peace with his decision. It was all I could do not to snicker at him.
“The clans of the East truly are different,” I said. “Here, betrayal is a way of life. It’s a survival
