“And I thought you were everyone’s enemy,” Daniel said with a slight smirk.
“Apparently not any longer.”
Daniel fell silent again, and his breathing seemed to even out for the first time as he relaxed. When he spoke again, he sounded somewhat distant, as if falling asleep again. “I have daughters. Five daughters.”
“How?” I found myself whispering in awe.
A blush stole to Daniel’s cheeks and he cracked one eye open at me. Even Barrett chuckled at me from the front seat. “The old-fashioned way,” he uttered before closing his eye again.
“Most of our females will never hold their own child,” I said in a low voice. “Five is . . . unheard of among my people.”
Daniel blindly reached out with his left hand and squeezed one of my hands. “I’m sorry.”
“So am I,” I whispered in a voice so low I wasn’t sure that even Barrett with his keen hearing picked up my words.
Yet, even as the sad thought passed through my brain, I had to question the wisdom of ever reproducing. Despite my constant training and work as protector of my people, even I felt the occasional stirrings inside me, the longing to hold my own flesh and blood. But as I sat in the back of the dirty car with a lycanthrope and human, covered in blood of my enemies, I didn’t think it was wise to attempt to bear my own children. What kind of an influence would I be?
I fought back a surprised smile, as I had not thought he would pick up on my change in emotions. Drawing in a slow breath, I released it through my nose, pushing away the temporary melancholy I felt for both myself and my slowly dying race.
Twenty-three
Danaus had not arrived at my home yet when I felt a shift of power in the air. The feeling built slowly, like a spider crawling up my flesh until it was squatting at the back of my neck. I knew what it was. Or rather who it was. Frowning, I left my sanctuary in the basement and climbed up the stairs before crossing through the underused kitchen to exit out the back door. My nearest neighbors were several acres away, with trees surrounding my property in all directions, obscuring the view. It was the safest place for facing Nick, and it protected my house in some small way. I had just finished rebuilding my study following his destruction of it and was in no mood to rebuild any more of the house. I had spent too many years moving around, and I liked it and its contents as they were.
Standing unarmed in the middle of the yard, I raised my arms out to my sides and stretched out my powers so I could feel the various energies swirling around me. Nick had opened up my senses. Before, I could only sense the soul energy that emanated from humans and lycanthropes, as well as the thin, wispy presence of nightwalkers. Now, it was as if a great door had been opened before my eyes. I could sense the energy of the earth along with the beating pulse of the naturi. I could sense other strange powers I couldn’t identify and seemed indeterminate, as if trying to cloak themselves yet unable to completely hide from me.
In the mix of it all, I had learned to identify my father’s unique power signature. Most of the time he seemed distant, content to simply watch the show that was my life from a comfortable chair in some hidden theater of the cosmos. However, when I strayed from the direction he thought I should be headed in, my dear parent intervened. Apparently, I wasn’t on the track he deemed proper for me. Or in truth, for him.
Still tapped into the energy around me, I summoned up a ring of fireballs the size of baseballs in a large circle around me. Shadows lunged and danced from the nearby trees as the night came alive with motion due to the flickering lights.
As I expected, Nick accepted the invitation and appeared in my circle, transforming one of the fireballs on the far side of the circle into the form of a tall, lean figure. After a couple of steps toward me, the flames subsided to reveal a man in a dark maroon suit with a crisp white shirt and tie. His hair was black and slicked back, while his features had become sharp and hawklike. I had never seen him in this form before. Usually, he appeared looking like the kind, sweet man who had raised me from birth in the belief that I truly was his daughter. He had also appeared as a goth teenager full of angst and piercings, and as a man with red hair and lavender eyes like myself. But this was new and strangely disconcerting. Not for the first time, I felt as if my soul were on the line as I stared at him, unflinching.
“I’m assuming that you wanted something,” I said with as much distain as I could muster without betraying the fear twisting into tight knots in the pit of my stomach.
“Can’t a father pay his loving daughter a social call?” he asked, extending his arms as if he meant to embrace me. I took a step back before I could catch myself, not wanting to be anywhere close enough so he could actually touch me. That path only led to excruciating pain and broken bones.
“You’re not the social type,” I sneered, forcing myself to remain still at the edge of my circle. My knees were like water and I could feel my fingertips trembling. I needed him gone as soon as possible. I didn’t want another fight I couldn’t win, and I definitely didn’t want him anywhere near Danaus, should the hunter suddenly appear at my house now that the sun had set. “What’s with the new appearance? I thought you preferred to look like my father.”
“I grew bored looking like a common fisherman. I thought I would come looking like someone you might encounter in your business dealings,” he said, running his hands down the front of his suit jacket with a look of pride. However, that look was instantly wiped away, replaced with an appearance of ominous threat. “Besides, I am the true father that you need to concern yourself with. Not that distant and dead memory.”
I gave a huff and shoved one hand violently through my hair, which gave away my growing anxiety. I didn’t need Nick in a bad mood. I needed him amused or focused on an important issue. Not angry. “Fine. What did you come here for?”
“I’m not happy with how things are developing within your domain. You are not handling things how I would have hoped.”
That was way too vague to be considered helpful in any fashion. I was dealing with the Daylight Coalition poaching lycanthropes outside of Savannah, the Japanese nightwalkers were attempting to drag me kicking and screaming to Japan, and the naturi were expecting me to side with them in the coming war against their queen. What part of that complete mess was not to his liking? Because at that moment I could have done without all of it.
“Jabari, that nightwalker that has the ability to control you, is still hanging around in your domain,” Nick declared, nearly causing me to laugh out loud with relief. He had chosen to focus on what appeared to me to be the least of my concerns.
“Jabari? You’re worried about Jabari causing problems?” I demanded, unable to keep the sarcasm out of my voice. I was playing with fire when it came to mocking Nick, but then I was never very good at bowing to anyone, however much more powerful they were than me.
Nick shoved his hands into the pockets of his slacks and settled back on his heels as he shook his head at me. “You have not tamed this one. He still thinks he can control you at any moment. He wants you in the palm of his hand or dead. Neither suits my needs.”
“I’m sorry to hear you’re not pleased. What can I do to rectify the situation?” I inquired in my most patronizing tone. I knew I had overstepped what Nick was willing to tolerate when he immediately disappeared. My stomach dropped and my throat felt as if it had closed in on itself. I twisted around, trying to spot where he would reappear next, while at the same time scanning the region for his powers. I felt him, but there was no exact location until it was too late.
A hand clamped on the back of my neck in a viselike grip, while a hot breath brushed against the hair that covered my left ear. “Now see, that’s the kind of attitude I’m looking for. I just want your complete cooperation and
