A fresh stab of fear shot through me, seeming to pierce down to the bone, and it was nearly a minute before I could speak again. “What do you want me to do?” I found myself asking in a shaky voice. I wouldn’t go back to the Coven. I couldn’t. The place was a nightmare of death and endless screams that echoed through your brain even in your sleep.

“Catch the killer. Settle the chaos within your domain,” he said, making it sound so simple. And for him, it was. He was simply waiting around for an excuse to drag me back to Venice. That was his job.

“Fine,” I reluctantly agreed. “Just stay out of my way. This is still my domain and I will handle this mess.”

“As you wish,” he said with a slight bow of his head. With a parting grin, mocking me one last time, Bishop strolled out of the parking lot, heading back for the main street.

I sat down on the ground against one of the cars I had crashed into earlier. Resting my elbows on my bent knees, I dropped my head into my hands. Damn it. A flunky of the Coven was dangling a sword just above my neck, simply waiting for an excuse to chop my head off. My hands were trembling and my stomach was twisting into knots as I sat there, mentally listing every nightwalker I knew of within my territory. Who could it be that was talking to the Coven? Someone was betraying me, betraying my trust and my protection.

Knox…I called out mentally for my companion. Less than a minute later he was kneeling at my side.

He rested his hand on the back of my head while the other was on my knee. “What happened? Are you all right? Who was that?”

“Someone from the Coven. We’re being watched. We need to clean up this mess quickly before it becomes an even bigger problem.”

“How did they find out so fast about Bryce? He was killed this morning.”

“I don’t think Bishop is here because of Bryce. I think the timing just ended up being convenient for whoever has the Coven’s ear,” I said, lifting my head so that I could look at Knox. “We need to get going. We’re officially running short on time.”

3

According to Daniel’s information, Bryce was found in a house out past Bonaventure Cemetery, not far from Wilmington Island. Knox and I jumped into my little silver BMW Z4 and zipped out of the city like a mercury tear sliding down a clown’s cheek. The convertible top was down and we shoved our baseball caps in the center console area between our seats so we could enjoy the feel of the warm summer air rubbing against our faces and tangling our hair. The night was alive, pulsing and squirming, demanding to be noticed.

Yet it wasn’t the fact that Bryce had been murdered that had us both unnerved. It was the fact that someone had contacted the police regarding the corpse, potentially looking to expose us. It was the fact that the body had been found in the middle of the living room. No nightwalker was stupid enough to sleep out in the open, even when in the safety of his own lair. It was the way Bryce had been killed—by the old mythological methods, head and heart removed.

The whole thing stank of the Daylight Coalition and yet I felt confident that no branch members resided within my domain. The Daylight Coalition was an all-human organization that believed in the existence of vampires and other supernatural creatures. They saw it as their duty to hunt us all down. Their aim wasn’t too good, however, considering they had killed as many humans as they had nightwalkers. The rest of the human world thought they were a bunch of crackpots who had watched Van Helsing one too many times. I tended to agree.

I downshifted the car into second as I turned onto Bryce’s street. The houses were spaced relatively far apart, with large yards filled with massive honeysuckle bushes and white jasmine. The air was thick with the rich scent of flowers and damp earth. Across the street from the two-story, redbrick house, I parked the car and turned off the engine. Using my powers, I briefly scanned the region. There were only a few nightwalkers in the area, and one of them was Bishop. I suspected he was going to be my shadow until this little investigation was finally concluded.

Another was standing just at the end of the block. Her name was Heather, and she was also a member of the Ravana family. Word traveled fast among telepaths. Without my needing to say a word, most of the city nightwalkers knew that a vampire had been murdered. In general, they were willing to give me a wide berth so I could investigate the matter, but I had been expecting someone from the Ravana family. Bryce’s death was their business.

I hesitated, my right hand still clutching the key in the ignition. Something felt off. We sat in the car, waiting for the brunette to finally reach us. She stood in the street a few feet away from where I sat in the car. She looked lost and afraid, with her right hand gripping her left elbow.

“Do you know if he had anyone else staying with him in the house?” I asked.

“No one on a permanent basis,” she said shaking her head, sending her long brown hair down around her face. “I think he had nightwalkers that stayed for brief periods of time here and there, but nothing permanent.”

I was willing to guess that Bryce was one of the few within the Ravana family that was permitted to keep a residence outside the main family home. Justin believed in spreading out his clan throughout the city so that his influence could be felt everywhere. Older, trusted members were allowed their own homes as long as they checked in on a regular basis. This wasn’t an original idea within the nightwalker world, just rare.

I listened into the thoughts of all the humans with a one-block radius, but they were all consumed with their own problems—bills, sickness, doubt. No one was thinking of the body that was taken out of the lonely redbrick house. Even all the lycanthropes had left this section of the city. I had a feeling I had Barrett Rainer, Alpha of the Savannah Pack, to thank for the extra space.

Sitting in the car for another minute, we all stared across the street at the dark house. The feeling of foreboding was irrational. I was unnerved by the way Bryce was killed and I was afraid of what I would find inside. We were all completely helpless during the daylight hours; unable to awaken, unable to defend ourselves. That was our greatest fear—to go to sleep one morning and not awaken the next night.

“Let’s get this done,” I announced gruffly, jerking the key from the ignition with a soft jingle. We both alighted from the tiny car and crossed the street in silence. There was only the sound of the wind rustling the leaves in the trees and a distant wind chime singing a forlorn melody. The air was still hot and heavy even after nightfall.

“Why would someone kill Bryce?” Heather softly asked, walking a couple steps behind me.

“Who and why are the questions we’re trying to answer,” I said a bit irritably. Stopping short, I spun around on my right heel to face the young fledgling. “Why did Justin send you here?”

“He…I…he said I was to help you in any way I could. Bryce was part of the family. Justin cares about us,” she replied in an almost mechanical manner.

I snorted and turned back toward the house. She had been sent to spy on me and report back to Justin.

“You go in through the back and search the second floor,” I said, looking over at Knox as we walked up the sidewalk and past a pair of stone urns overflowing with what appeared to be a fuchsia plant. “I’ll go in through the front door and search the first floor.”

“Anything in particular I’m looking for?”

I paused with my foot on the bottom step leading up to the front porch. The wooden board was warped from age and covered in peeling white paint that crunched under my running shoe. “We’re looking for any sign of a struggle. Also, look for Bryce’s daylight chamber. Was he taken out of there or did he actually fall asleep out in the open in the living room?”