Ignoring Danaus’s glare, I wrapped my arms around the hunter’s waist and focused all my thoughts on my secret lair in the basement of my home. I had a feeling he was going to have a few loud words with me before the night was over.
Twenty-seven
A scream was ripped from me the second my feet touched the ground in the basement of my home. It felt as if my skull was being split into two while my soul was ripped from my chest. I hadn’t thought of the time difference when I shot across the ocean to the United States. It hadn’t been that late in Venice when we left, and the sun had yet to set in Savannah. The only thing keeping me awake at that moment was Ryan’s blood. Unfortunately, it was too much of a shock to my system for my nightwalker body to suddenly go from night to day, and my body was being torn between the demand for death and the power of the blood to keep me awake.
I felt Danaus’s hands grasp my shoulders as I crumpled to my knees on the concrete floor. The pain slowly ebbed and I felt as if I could think again. I blinked my eyes a couple of times and unclenched my fists in front of me.
“I’m okay,” I murmured after a minute. “I forgot to check. The sun is still up here.”
“I guess Ryan’s blood proved to be a rare benefit this time,” Danaus admitted.
I let the hunter help me back to my feet, but was disappointed when he suddenly released me and stepped away. “Kind of. Otherwise, when we reappeared, I would have been immediately dead for the next few hours.”
A tense silence filled the air as we watched each other. His expression was stern and he wasn’t meeting my gaze as he stood on the opposite side of the room with his hands in his pockets. “You need to feed,” he finally bit out.
“I’ll call Gabriel, but I would rather wait until sunset. It’s not far away and I don’t want to drop dead the second I get a little blood into my system. I want to fall asleep on my own terms.”
Danaus gave a little grunt as he opened the door and left the room. I could hear his footsteps trudging up the stairs as I pulled my cell phone out of my pocket. Gabriel, my trusted human bodyguard, was more than a little surprised to hear from me, but he was happy to lend his aid in my time of need. I closed the phone again and followed Danaus up the stairs to find him sitting in the growing darkness of the parlor.
“What part of the events that occurred tonight is bothering you?” I asked, taking the seat beside him.
“Most of it.”
“And the biggest irritation is . . . ?”
“Valerio.”
I bit back a smile as I wondered if jealousy was truly eating at him. “You know that Valerio was just flirting a bit to get under your skin. It was harmless.”
“But your promise wasn’t. I know you, Mira. You stick by your word. What if he asks you to kill me?”
“Then Valerio knows that I will kill myself in the same heartbeat that you drop dead. Valerio isn’t stupid. He knows that I love you and would never harm you without causing equal harm to myself. And he has too much use for me alive.”
“What if he asks for you to sleep with him?”
I couldn’t hold the laugh back that time. “Valerio wouldn’t waste a promise like that just to get me in his bed. He would prefer the challenge of seducing me if he truly wanted me to sleep with him. No, he will save that promise for a very special occasion. Please, don’t mistake his carefree demeanor. Valerio is an extremely intelligent strategist and manipulator. He will save that promise for a moment when he is finally backed into a corner and has no escape.”
Danaus didn’t look placated by my explanation. In fact, he looked even more concerned than when I started. And in truth, I was a little worried myself. Whatever Valerio set before me, I knew it would be an ugly task that I would naturally refuse at first glance, but I would have no choice. I feared it might finally come between Danaus and me, but I didn’t think it would be on a romantic level. No, I would have to sacrifice my honor and morals in order to fulfill this promise.
The only bright side I could think of was that I was likely to die trying to capture Nick, and would never be given the chance to live up to my promise to Valerio. My plan was dangerous and in many ways stupid. I feared telling Danaus because he would be determined to stop me. So I kept the thought buried deep within my brain, where neither Danaus nor Nick would be able to find it.
“How much danger are we in from Ryan now?” Danaus inquired, letting the previous subject drop.
“Actually, for the first time, he’s little to no threat to us. He’s going to take months to adjust to being a nightwalker. He will try to use his warlock powers, but it’s going to be a strain because his body needs all the energy it can gather just to stay alive. Unless Adio actually gives him some of his blood, I wouldn’t expect Ryan to be a problem for a century or two—assuming he lives that long.”
“Adio’s not going to do that.”
“No, he knows that danger. That’s why he didn’t transform Ryan in the first place and why he balked when he discovered what I was. He didn’t mind the idea of turning Ryan into a nightwalker, but he wanted to limit his powers. No nightwalker wants to risk creating something more powerful than themselves.”
We sat in an uncomfortable silence for several minutes before we heard a car pull into the driveway and drive around to the back of the house. I rose and walked toward the kitchen to meet Gabriel, while Danaus remained sitting in the parlor. Something else was eating at the hunter, but I wasn’t willing to go digging through his brain and invading his privacy just to find out the truth.
I stood toward the back of the kitchen as Gabriel used his keys to unlock the door and quickly punch in the code on the security keypad beside the door. Most of the shades were pulled in the house, blocking out the last of the sun’s rays, but I was still trying to be cautious.
“You’re awake,” he announced with a lopsided grin. “I thought you had given up that dangerous lifestyle.”
“It was for the last time, I promise,” I said, holding my hand up to him. He crossed the distance between us and I gave him a quick hug before sliding out of his strong arms. Things had become somewhat awkward between us since I’d taken Danaus as a permanent lover. Gabriel and I had worked out an interesting relationship over the long years, which not only included his protection and blood, but also the occasional bout of sex. We had come to a silent understanding that the sex was at an end, and he showed no signs of remorse or disappointment with my choice, which was a relief.
I led my old friend down the hall to the entrance to my secret lair in the basement. “I’m sorry to drag you all the way out here, especially since I only need just a tiny bit to dilute Ryan’s blood so I can sleep again. I actually feel exhausted, but I couldn’t sleep now no matter how hard I tried.”
“I don’t mind,” he said. “Things have been quiet recently. With Danaus now here permanently, I was beginning to think you wouldn’t have much use for me any longer. Well, at least not beyond that occasional donor.”
I stopped when we reached the bottom of the steps and quickly spun around. I wrapped my arms around him in a tight embrace, rubbing my head against his hard jaw. “You are more than a source of blood for me. You are and always will be my personal guardian, my guardian angel. Yes, I have Danaus now, but I still need you to watch over me during the day. If you want to leave me and find another life, then I understand and wish you the best. I will support you in any way I can, but I am not trying to push you out of my life.”
Gabriel wrapped his strong arms around me, one hand rubbing up and down my back for a moment. “I just didn’t feel needed any longer.”
I gazed up into his chocolate brown eyes and touched his soft brown hair, brushing it away from his forehead. “You protect me during the day. There is no greater task when it comes to a nightwalker.”
“Thank you,” he whispered, pressing a kiss to my temple. “Since Michael was killed and the deaths of Lily and Tristan, I thought you might try to push me away as a way of protecting me.”
“I can’t. You’re one of the last few members of my family.”
Gabriel nodded and released me as I dropped my hands. I led him to my private chamber and let him sit on the edge of the bed with me. We talked about the recent development with Matsui while we waited for the sun to
