“Mira, you can’t do this! You can’t change him!” Danaus growled, grabbing my shoulder to pull me off of the warlock. I didn’t think. There was no thinking at that moment beyond that flood of blood. I reached back with my other hand and raked my long nails across his arm, causing him to suddenly jump back.
After another few minutes I heard Ryan’s heart start to significantly slow and start to stutter in his chest as his body struggled under the last of his blood. With a gasp, I lifted my head and licked my lips and teeth before lowering him to the ground. He lay motionless then, his breathing shallow and his face paler than it had been. His eyes were closed and he was unconscious, which is what I had been aiming for.
I stepped away from Ryan and turned so I could look over my shoulder at Adio, who was closely watching Ryan with a look of concern on his face. “Well, are you going to finish the job?” I asked.
Adio looked up at me a little stunned. “What?”
“You asked for my help. I drained him. Now you give him your blood. Make him your pet. I don’t need one.”
“I—I—I can’t,” he stuttered, shaking his head.
“The god thing?”
“Yes, I can’t risk it. I don’t know what my blood would do to him. I can’t risk . . .”
“Can’t risk him coming back too powerful,” I finished with a smirk. “And when you came to me, I seemed to be the right amount of power. A nightwalker that had a little something extra, but not like you. Unfortunately, until night, you didn’t know that I am like you. It was too late to talk Ryan out of his little plan.”
“Yes, but we can’t leave him like this. He’ll die.”
“There are worse things,” Danaus muttered, drawing Adio’s glare.
“I have a backup plan, but it requires a little discretion on your part,” I said to Adio. At that moment, I mentally reached out to an old friend who had been waiting in the wings for my signal. A second later Valerio appeared in the room, standing opposite me as we all looked down on Ryan’s struggling body. “Adio, this is my close and trusted friend, Valerio.”
Adio stiffly nodded, looking at the nightwalker for a moment, undoubtedly sizing him up. Valerio merely smiled under the scrutiny, unmoved by the other nightwalker or the body on the floor that was slowly dying. He simply looked at me and smiled as he extended his hand toward me. I grasped it and allowed him to brush a kiss across my knuckles that brought a low growl from Danaus. A little jealousy was always a good thing in a relationship.
“You said you were in desperate need if my assistance, my dear,” Valerio said with his rich accent, which seemed to run fingers across my cheek.
“I am, my friend. This man here wants to be a nightwalker, but neither Adio nor I, for very . . . distinct reasons, can use our own blood. I was hoping you would be willing to provide me with a bit of your own blood.”
Valerio gave a little laugh before shaking his head. “I have no need for a new fledgling hanging on my coattails. No, thank you.”
“He won’t belong to you. He will never know you were ever here. He will belong exclusively to Adio.”
Valerio’s smile faded as he stared at me. “And what is wrong with your blood, my sweet Mira?”
“It’s my heritage. Ryan is a powerful warlock, and I fear that my blood may give him some added abilities when we would all prefer him to be just a little bit of chum. Cage the possible monster that he may become.” A seductive smile slipped across my lips and I stepped one foot over Ryan so I could lightly grasp one of Valerio’s arms. “I know you made Knox, and you did a fabulous job with him. Such purity and strength. Give me a creature similar to Knox in strength and leave Adio here to the job of raising him.”
Valerio gave me a fresh, knowing smile as he pressed a kiss to my forehead. “You shall have to try harder than that. I do not make nightwalkers on a whim. Will your blood create a monster?”
“No. It will give a potential monster the power to be a monster. Someone good at heart should not be affected so. Your blood will simply make him a weak nightwalker, which is what we all want.”
“Except him.”
“True.”
“Entice me, Mira,” he whispered in my ear. “Give me something that I truly want.”
I looked up at Valerio to find that he had been staring at Danaus the whole time he’d spoken to me. He was trying very hard to make the hunter jealous, make him act, so he could pretend to be offended and disappear in a huff. But for now, Danaus was as still as stone and I was grateful.
I reached up and placed my hand against Valerio’s cheek, turning his face so he was forced to look down at me. “One day you will come to me with a request. You will be desperate. It will be a request that I would under normal circumstances deny without thought. Make this nightwalker tonight, and I will be beholden to you for one request of your choosing.”
“Anything?”
“Anything,” I repeated, my gaze unwavering.
“Very well.”
Releasing Valerio, I stepped back away from him and walked over toward Danaus, who was glaring at Ryan on the floor. Valerio knelt down, placing his hand over the man’s chest. “He’s nearly dead now.”
“There’s still a little blood left for you to take. I didn’t drain him completely,” I argued.
Valerio merely shook his head a moment before biting Ryan on the opposite side of the throat. He drank only a little before healing the wound so the deception would be preserved. He then slashed his wrist and allowed his own blood to pour past Ryan’s parted lips. The warlock didn’t respond, but I hadn’t expected him to. He was deep in a coma and would remain there until the sun set the next night. If he was to become a nightwalker, we would only know it if he rose the next night. Valerio was forced to open the wound twice as it healed on its own before enough blood had been poured into Ryan’s body. I had only witnessed the making of another nightwalker a couple other times, and always swore I would never complete the act myself. It was a responsibility I didn’t want.
Valerio licked the remaining smear of blood from his wrist before rising to his feet and dusting off the knees of his slacks. He looked over at Adio for a moment and arched one dark brow. “Our Liege, I presume?”
“Correct,” Adio said, sounding a little surprised. But then, I knew better. Valerio knew more than he would ever admit and was wilier than should have been allowed to live. Yet, I loved him too much to try to kill him, and he was too entertaining to allow him to slip out of my life.
“A pleasure,” Valerio said with a slight bow from the waist. He then turned his attention to me and smiled. “An interesting flavor. One I’ve not run across with other warlocks.”
“Yes.” I smiled, resisting the urge to give him a hug of thanks. Danaus had endured enough and I could feel his anger simmering beside me like a pot beginning to bubble over. “Just as a warning. If you don’t feed again tonight, his blood will allow you to stay awake during the daylight hours, but you are still susceptible to the sun. Enjoy it for a day or two, then I would suggest some fresh blood.”
“Interesting,” he purred, then disappeared from sight.
With Valerio gone, I turned my attention back to Adio, who was now kneeling beside Ryan. I could hear now that his heartbeat was nearly nonexistent, and knew that in a few moments it would stop completely. It was all a matter of whether his soul remained hovering around the body. Otherwise it would never find its way back.
“I’m assuming you don’t need me any longer.”
“No, I will take care of matter from here,” Adio said in a distracted manner.
“And there will be no mention of Valerio?”
“And reveal to Ryan that he’s been double-crossed by us both? Of course not.”
“Thank you.”
“When will you need my help with Nick?” he asked without my need to prompt him, which was promising.
“Soon. I will be in contact. It shouldn’t be a problem now that we’ve been introduced.”
“True,” Adio admitted with a certain curl to his upper lip. “I’m sure I can also find you in Savannah.”
“Of course, but I will try to give you a couple nights with Ryan to get him adjusted before contacting you.”
“I would appreciate that.”
