Burn the Night (44 page)

“And Archie?”

“He’s doing what he can with the lycans currently in his care. He’s getting a lot of pressure to get some positive IDs on them and he’s stalling as long as he possibly can. My own people have been informed of the deaths and are out for blood as well. I’m trying to hold them together and keep them from hunting on their own, but that’s not going to last very long.” Pacing into the parlor, I shoved one hand through my wet hair to push it back from where it was crowding around my eyes. The war that was brewing had opened up to include a new set of players we hadn’t been counting on. Our numbers were already stretched thin when it came to Aurora. We couldn’t take a chance of fighting a two-sided war with the Daylight Coalition as well.

“Have your people gotten anything off the computers you took?” Danaus asked as my own thoughts seemed to swirl in useless circles.

“Nothing of great use yet. Just a bunch of names and locations of other branches of the Daylight Coalition.”

“That’s not much help,” I muttered.

“Unfortunately, they did find one thing.” Barrett paused, causing me to turn to look over my shoulder at him. “They ran across one instance of your name and a picture. They are still trying to hack that particular file. Either way, they’ve identified you as either a sympathizer or as one of the
other
races. You’re out of time, Mira.”

“Not yet,” I said, holding up one finger to halt him. “They can’t possibly know where I live. I’ve kept both locations hidden under false names over the years. I come and go under a cloak, so no one has seen me.”

“But eventually they will,” Danaus warned. “They won’t attack right away. They’re going to watch for you, see who you associate with and make a list of who else they need to kill when they go after you.”

I stared at Barrett for more than a minute, knowing the words I needed to utter, but they seemed stuck in my throat. My heart was breaking on the inside and a lump had grown in my throat. A part of me had never thought this day would come, but it had, and far too soon in my opinion.

“Once we take care of Aurora, I’ll leave Savannah,” I said in a soft voice that seemed to creep through the room like a thin phantom. This was my home. The only place that had felt like home during my seemingly endless existence. I had hoped it would never come to this, but if the Daylight Coalition knew my name and my face, it was time to go somewhere far away and create a new identity so I could live in peace.

“Are you ready for such a thing?” Barrett asked.

I sighed and nodded. I had been preparing for a couple months now. I’d survived too many years on my instincts, and they were telling me that my time in Savannah was growing short.

“The Starlight Foundation has nearly been dissolved,” I said, referring to the investment corporation I headed with the help of my assistant Charlotte. “My money has been moved into offshore accounts under a variety of names and dummy corporations. My home outside the city has been destroyed so I have nothing to pack. After we’re done, I’ll go to Gabriel and see if he wants to go with me. I’m not sure he has been identified, but I’ll at least warn him that the coalition could come after him next. I’ve already set up a trust fund for him in Switzerland, so he is set for the rest of his life.”

“If he decides to stay, I’ll assign some people to keep an eye on him while he’s in the hospital,” Barrett offered.

“I appreciate that, especially after all you have lost with your pack,” I replied as my frown deepened.

Barrett shifted from foot to foot for a second, staring at the floor. “My pack is down to less than a dozen members. My sister Erica and my mother have already been moved from the area with an escort. With a detail of guards put on Gabriel, we won’t be able to offer much help when it comes time to face Aurora.”

“You’ve helped and sacrificed enough already,” Danaus said, placing a hand on Barrett’s shoulder. “Get the remainder of your people out of Savannah and to a safe location. Come back after everything has calmed down.”

Barrett shook his head before raising it to look both me and Danaus squarely in the eye. “I vowed that the Savannah pack would assist Cynnia in her fight against Aurora, and that is what I intend to do. The Daylight Coalition is not the only group that could make our lives a living nightmare if they succeed. Aurora will see to the subjugation and destruction of the rest of my pack if she has her way. If the Savannah pack is to be destroyed, they will go down in battle with their comrades.”

“Thank you, Barrett. I know that both Cynnia and I appreciate your sacrifice in all of this. I suggest you pull the remaining members of your pack that are prepared to go to battle and bring them back to my town house at midnight. I will be having another planning session with Cynnia, Rowe, and Nyx tonight—by then we must have a plan of attack.”

Barrett nodded and turned to leave. I wished I could throw some words of encouragement after him, but in the end silence filled the house as the door slammed shut. There was nothing I could say that would make the situation any better. On one side, we were being hunted and killed by the naturi, on the other, by the Daylight Coalition. The lycanthropes of Savannah had nearly been wiped out despite the position of power they once held in the city. And my nightwalkers were slowly being picked off one by one each night.

Looking over at Danaus, I saw the hunter watching me, waiting for me to decide what the next move was. I was no longer sure. When I was chasing after Rowe and the other naturi, I knew where my next stop would be. But now the battle was closing in on my own backyard, and I was unwilling to risk the lives of the nightwalkers that had followed my leadership for so many years. And yet, I was keeper of this domain. It was my duty to call them forward to deal with this threat.

“Have you heard the news for the day? Were more killed?” I demanded.

“No, there were no further attacks on the humans during the day. I’ve not heard from Knox yet regarding the nightwalkers.”

“What was the final body count from the fires?”

“Over two hundred.”

“What? How is that possible?”

“One of the dorms over at SCAD was torched, and some of the students were trapped in the building.”

I dropped my face into both of my hands and stumbled blindly away from him for a second. The college students of the Savannah College of Art and Design had been instrumental in reconstructing the city to its former glory. Now Aurora was striking at the innocent youth of my city, the protectors of her history. I’d had enough.

We’ll get her.
Danaus’s words softly slipped across my brain in a soothing caress.
We’ll end this
war forever.

Leaving us to face the Daylight Coalition,
I grimly reminded him as I dropped my hands.
And my
father.

“Barrett’s people will keep working on the computers. They will tell us if anyone else has been identified. In the meantime, we’ll leave Savannah and set up a home somewhere else. Maybe it’s time for us both to go back to Europe,” he suggested, surprising me.

“You’re going to come with me?” I asked.

Danaus shook his head and gave a little smirk. “You’re an idiot sometimes. After everything that we’ve been through, do you honestly think that I would leave you now? Just when things are starting to get interesting?”

“I’m so glad I can keep you entertained,” I growled, but there was no real venom in my tone. I was just relieved to find that Danaus would be staying at my side, even if it meant that I and possibly he would need to take on new identities as we started a new life wherever we landed next. “Aren’t you concerned about the coven if we go to Europe?”

“For the most part, you are the coven now, and it appears that Our Liege has his hands full with Ryan,” Danaus replied, brushing off my concerns.

I opened my mouth to voice another concern about Europe, but the words never left my tongue as the front door to the house burst open and slammed against the back wall. I didn’t have time to move from the spot where I was standing when Shelly ran into the house. Her face was red and sweat had collected at her temples, dampening her pretty blond hair. She gasped for air, desperately trying to catch her breath. It appeared as if she had run the entire distance from Cynnia’s secret lair to my house.

“What’s wrong?” I demanded, impatient for her to finally catch her breath.

“Aurora! She’s here!” Shelly exclaimed between gulps of air.

“What do you mean she’s here? There’s no way she would be insane enough to launch an attack at night when the nightwalkers are available for battle,” Danaus said.

“No, she’s here. In Savannah.”

“Where?” I asked in a low, cold voice. This creature had set fire to my home, killed hundreds of humans, nightwalkers, and lycanthropes, and was now threatening to expose our world to the humans.

She had to be stopped at last.

Shelly leaned against the doorway with her arms wrapped around her waist. “She’s headed toward Forsyth Park. Cynnia and Rowe have gone to meet her, while Nyx is bringing in Kane and the rest of the animal clan.”

With a stiff nod, I turned my attention to Danaus. “Call Barrett and tell him to bring his people to Forsyth Park. The war ends now.”

Thirty-three

D
anaus and I left my car on a quiet, shadow-covered street and walked the last few blocks to Forsyth Park. The massive green area stretched several city blocks, but I knew where Aurora would be: in the center of the empty green expanse, waiting with her army. I had mentally contacted Knox and all the other nightwalkers in the city, ordering them to converge on the park and wait for my signal to attack. All around me, I could sense nightwalkers slowly approaching the park, falling into step behind me as I drew closer. They remained cloaked, little more than soundless shadows in the deepening night.

My army was small, numbering less than two dozen after all the deaths that had plagued my city during the past several months. However, we were strong and ready to call an end to the war with the naturi as Cynnia had promised.

As we reached the green space, I noticed two distinct sides lined up against each other with a wide swath of ground separating them. Rowe stood beside Cynnia in the center, and Nyx was next to a pair of large naturi along the far left flank. I could only assume that this was the illustrious animal clan I’d been hearing about. I guesstimated there were more than a hundred of them, adding to the rest of Cynnia’s army lined behind her.

Meanwhile, Aurora had taken up a position on a hill so she could look down on her little sister.

By sheer numbers, the two sides looked evenly matched. I knew that I wasn’t looking at the entire naturi race, only those that had answered the call to war by either Aurora or Cynnia. The rest were most likely waiting for a winner to be officially declared.

Pausing before crossing the street to enter the park, I watched as a man walking his dog slowed down and stared into the park. His brow furrowed and he shook his head before hurrying on his way.

My eyes followed the direction of his gaze.

“Fuck,” I hissed, now hesitant to enter the park.

“What’s wrong?” Danaus demanded, standing directly beside me.

Aurora and her army aren’t cloaking themselves. They want to fight this battle in the open, in
plain view of the humans,
I mentally said, blasting the information out to Danaus and all the nightwalkers in the region.

What do we do?
Knox inquired, briefly touching my mind.
Engaging them will nullify our own
cloaking and people will be able to see us. What about the secret?

We made a promise to assist Cynnia,
I replied.
It’s the only way that we will finally be free of
Aurora. Remain cloaked as long as possible, but do not hide from the battle. Aurora’s army must be
exterminated.

Danaus touched my arm, bringing my gaze up to his face.
What about the coalition?
he asked me privately.

I guess they’ll finally get their proof positive that we exist. The only problem is whether they will
survive long enough to show the world.

Steeling myself for the fight that loomed ahead, I marched across the street and entered the park and felt the other nightwalkers moving as well, bravely entering. They had to know that many of them weren’t going to survive the fight ahead of them. It was going to be a bloody night, and I was ready for it.

Danaus and I slipped through the crowd of naturi and came to stand behind Cynnia and Rowe.

Aurora smirked down at me when I appeared at her sister’s side. My cloak was only effective against those who didn’t use magic, which was a shame. I would have been more than happy to climb the hill unseen and knife the bitch in the back, ending this contest all too quickly.

“I see that you’ve not only chosen to side with your fellow traitors, but also useless mongrels such as these nightwalkers,” Aurora declared disdainfully.

I opened my mouth to throw my own barbs at the naturi queen, but Cynnia spoke up before I could. “I have surrounded myself with those that have the same vision as me. We are looking to pursue a peaceful existence on the earth, coexistence with all the other races rather than running blindly into one war after another. You’re killing off our people when we are at our weakest.”

“The naturi are not weak!” she shouted, shaking both of her fists at us. “We have returned to the earth and are back to our former strength. Our numbers will grow instead of diminish. We will sweep away the waste and protect the Great Mother.”

“You’ve lost the support of the Great Mother,” Nyx called out from another part of the field. The declaration caused a rumble of concerned conversation among the ranks before she could continue.

“I’ve seen it in your aura. I’ve seen it when I look and speak to you. You’ve grown weak as your connection with the earth has nearly been severed. The Great Mother has turned her back on you. You have no right to lead the naturi now. Step down.”

“Enough!” Aurora screamed. “This is your last chance. Throw down your arms and hand over your lives to me and I will spare all those that have chosen to side with you.” Out of the corner of my eye I saw Cynnia look up at Rowe one last time, as if for confirmation.