battle in an attempt to control the damage and keep things secret. If we’re lucky, we may succeed, but if we don’t, the Great Awakening will be happening very soon in the worst possible fashion.”
“This is . . . unexpected,” Adio murmured. “I knew the Great Awakening was going to happen soon, but I didn’t realize that the situation with the naturi had grown so dire.”
“Jabari and Macaire haven’t been keeping you informed?”
“I knew of the events at Machu Picchu, but I knew nothing of Aurora’s newest plans. I assumed she would take some time to build her army and strike back at the nightwalkers here in Venice. I didn’t know that a civil war was brewing.”
“Cynnia seeks peace with the nightwalkers and simply wants to lead her people into a quiet existence away from humanity before they all fade into extinction. I’ve sworn to help her because my other choice is Aurora and her very public war against humanity.”
“I see.”
“Do you really?” I asked, finally coming off the bed to walk around so I was standing in front of him. “I’m torn on two fronts. The naturi need to finally be dealt with, and this alliance with Cynnia could afford us at least a temporary peace to get us through a few decades should the Great Awakening occur. At the same time, I must deal with Nick and finally see that he is caged in some fashion so he can’t cause us any additional problems. I fear that the Great Awakening would afford him too wonderful an opportunity to step forward into the power vacuum created by the chaos.”
“I do not know what I can do to help you with your father, but I am sure you have a plan,” Adio said with a smirk.
“I do.”
“But for my help, you must first aid me in changing my friend here over to a nightwalker,” he continued, motioning with his hand toward the warlock.
I stood and looked over Adio at Ryan, who was standing straight and stiff. He wore his usual charcoal suit with the light gray shirt that was open at the neck. His skin still held a nice tan, while his shoulder-length hair was a flawless white. He watched me with perceptive gold eyes, taking in my every movement.
When I first met the warlock at the Themis compound, I suspected he was going to be more trouble than he was worth. However, he had helped protect us when the naturi attacked, and came to our aid again on Crete when we were fighting the naturi once again. Unfortunately, he’d tried to exploit my weakness with glittering promises of walking around during the day. I hadn’t considered the price when I agreed to the deal, only thinking I would be safe from an attack by Aurora. If we had continued, I believed he might have finally convinced me to change him without Adio’s assistance, simply because I was already too strung out on his blood to know any better.
Now I knew that no one would survive if Ryan was trusted.
“So why are you so desperate to become a nightwalker?” I asked in a smooth voice as I stepped around Adio’s chair to come face-to-face with the warlock.
“I’ve been Adio’s friend for a long time and a close planner on the committee regarding the Great Awakening,” Ryan replied with a nonchalant wave of his hand.
“As such, you must certainly know that those most likely to escape the ‘witch hunts,’ so to speak, will be the warlocks and witches. You won’t be thrust into the limelight. You will be able to easily hide from the frightened and enraged humans.”
“But there is no power in hiding,” he countered.
“There is survival,” Danaus interjected.
“I’ve spent more than three centuries surviving. I’m looking for a larger piece of the pie. The nightwalkers will be the real power players when the world changes following the Great Awakening, and I will be a part of it.”
“But surely Adio has explained to you that when you are reborn a nightwalker, you will come back weak. Sure, you will have more abilities than a human, but you’ll be little more than a plaything among your new brethren. You will have to acquire all new survival skills very quickly.”
Ryan lifted his chin while clenching his jaw. “Adio has sworn to stay by my side and aid my growth. Besides, there is always a chance that I will retain some of my powers as a warlock. That knowledge won’t slip away simply because I’ve become a nightwalker.”
“What about the elixir?” Danaus asked from the opposite side of the room. The hunter had silently slipped away from where he had been standing near me, and was now leaning against the far wall with his arms folded across his chest.
Ryan’s eyes flared for a moment while his lips pressed into a frown and he stared at the hunter. “You knew?” he bit out.
“Do you think I was going to willingly let you live under the same roof as those helpless Themis researchers if I didn’t know some of your secrets? I knew you were a few centuries old, but I had to be sure you wouldn’t use one of them to prolong your life.”
“What elixir?” I demanded, my gaze jumping from Danaus to Ryan.
Both men fell stubbornly silent for nearly a minute, so that all that could be heard was the crackle of the fire and the fast heart rates of the two living creatures in the room.
“It’s an elixir of life that my former master had created,” Ryan finally said, grinding out each word between his clenched teeth. “It prolonged the life of the drinker. Unfortunately, potions have never been my strong suit. I’ve never been able to properly replicate it and my supply has finally run out. My real age will start to catch up to me within the next few weeks.”
“So you’re becoming a nightwalker because you want to live longer,” I replied.
“Yes,” Ryan hissed, glaring at me. He hadn’t enjoyed revealing his own dirty little secret.
I leaned around to look at Adio. “You knew about this?”
“I did.”
I stood upright again so I was facing Ryan. “Wanting to live is a much better reason for becoming a nightwalker than simply wanting power. It will get you through the transformation when Death comes for you.”
The heat and anger left Ryan’s eyes for the first time, and he blinked at me, looking a little confused. I smiled at him as I took a step closer. “You have to really want this. I have to drain you to nearly the point of death, and he will know that you are hovering on the brink. Death will come for you and he will grab onto your soul. Only the strong—only those that truly want to live and be a nightwalker—survive the process. You can be given all the nightwalker blood in the world, but if you don’t have the will or the fight, you will not wake up again. Death wants you, but you have to want this more.”
“I want this,” Ryan said in a soft but firm voice.
I grinned. “I was hoping you’d say that.”
In a flash I had a handful of his soft white hair and had twisted it around my fist as I brought his neck down to me. No one had time to react. It was only after I sank my fangs deep into the man’s neck that I heard the strangled cries and shouts from both Adio and Danaus. Ryan grabbed my shoulders and instinctively tried to push away from me out of fear. The other times I had fed on him were slow and gentle, so he didn’t feel threatened by me. Now the gloves were off and he finally knew he was at my mercy. I was going to drain him to the point of death, and he had to rely on the protection of his friend Adio to make sure I didn’t let him cross over and die.
Wrapping my free arm around his waist, I dragged him away from the support of the back of Adio’s chair to an open space in the room where I could easily lay him on the ground when he finally grew weak. Behind me, I could hear both Danaus and Adio moving around the room, their footsteps heavy and anxious as they watched me, but I didn’t care. This was the first warm, full meal that I’d had in a long time.
Since taking up with Danaus, I had stretched out my feedings to less than once a week, and then they were quick little bites that could be grabbed in stolen moments when he was most unlikely to notice. He knew I was feeding, but I still did what I could to hide it from him. I didn’t want to cause him any more strain than I already did. We were still trying to figure out this relationship thing, and me drinking blood was still a comfort issue for him. I was willing to give Danaus all the time he needed to get adjusted to the idea. He was worth a little sacrifice.
However, the thought of draining Ryan nearly dry was just too enticing. His blood was deliciously sweet and packed an amazing punch of power that rolled through my body in enticing waves. I could feel my half-starved cells and organs finally filling up to the brim and overflowing with his blood. I was bathed in an energy that tingled throughout my body.
