“I don’t understand,” Alex interjected, drawing my gaze back to her troubled features. “I thought you and Jabari…Well, you’ve never made any secret of your—”

“Jabari wants me dead,” I said in a rush. “He wants my head on a pike and my heart on his mantel.” Saying the words out loud suddenly made me feel very tired. My body went extremely still, as if I were made of stone, and I leaned back into Danaus, letting his warmth seep into me, calm my mind. Jabari had been my beloved mentor and guide through the night for nearly five centuries. He had been a companion when the emptiness threatened to consume me. And now he accused me of betrayal while he stank of it. I had been his puppet, his toy, his own personal assassin and servant. I had believed he would protect nightwalkers and that he would do what was right for our race.

But I’d been wrong about him; about a lot of things. Unfortunately, my blindness and ignorance were getting people killed. It couldn’t continue.

“I won’t say anything to the Coven about your meeting with Ms. Brooks,” the man said, his deep voice like a distant drum beat waking me from my growing lethargy. “I may belong to the vampire, but my loyalty will always be to my own kind.”

“Thank you…”

“Nico,” he supplied.

“Nico?” I repeated, crinkling my nose at him. He definitely didn’t look like a Nico. He was more like a John or Bruce. Maybe even Adonis, but that was guessing he looked as delicious naked as he did standing there in his cotton slacks and soft, hunter green button-up shirt. The sleeves of his shirt were rolled up past his elbows, revealing strong tanned arms covered in light blond hairs. I was willing to bet naked was better.

“Nicolai Gromenko,” he replied, crushing the name with his clenched teeth.

“You’re not Russian,” I snapped, sounding equally irritated.

“Fourth generation. Nicolai is a family name. I’m from Phoenix. Anything else? Shoe size? Boxers versus briefs?”

“Don’t worry,” I purred, a grin slinking across my mouth. “There’s always time to find out.” The comment instantly erased the irritation from Nicolai’s expression, causing a surprised smile to brighten his handsome features.

Danaus suddenly released me, a snort of disgust escaping him while Alexandra laughed. My attention snapped back to my companions and I winked at my old friend. I couldn’t help myself.

“Lord! You had me worried for a minute,” Alex said as she gave me a quick hug. “Between the hunter and Jabari, I seriously thought you were losing it.”

“She has,” Danaus grumbled.

My eyes darted from Danaus back to my friend, who noticed the smile that was crumbling from my face. “We have to talk,” I said. Threading a loose strand of hair behind my ear, I swept my gaze over the area. This was going to take a while, but it would be worth it. “Hungry?” I asked, my eyes snagging on a pleasant-looking restaurant with a scattering of tables on the rim of the square.

“Starved,” Alex said with a half sigh. She tilted her head toward Danaus while plopping her hands on her hips. “He need babysitting while you hunt?”

“She’s eaten already,” Danaus interjected, oozing disapproval.

Alex arched one eyebrow at me and threw a “What’s his problem?” look my way. She had long ago adjusted to the fact that I drank of the blood of humans and thought nothing of the hunt.

Threading my arm through hers, I guided her over to the restaurant, with Danaus and Nicolai following close behind. I motioned to the maître d’ that we would be taking one of the tables in the courtyard. He nodded, then disappeared inside the building to find a server.

When we were all comfortably seated and our drink order taken, I relaxed in my chair, staring out across the quiet square. A pair of lovers walked arm in arm, whispering to each other. Three young children chased pigeons, their squeals of laughter skipping ahead of them. From inside the restaurant, loud boisterous Italian tumbled into the plaza. It was all pleasant and blissfully normal.

“Let’s start with something simple,” Alex announced as she scanned the menu. “Was that you I felt earlier?”

“I lost my temper,” I murmured, my eyes falling to the tabletop. It had been stupid and irresponsible. Now that I was calm, I could admit as much. My actions had been careless and irresponsible, just like when I convinced Tristan to help me attack the naturi in England. We had been outnumbered and outgunned. I knew that when we spotted them, but I went ahead anyway. As a result, I barely escaped with my life, endangering Danaus and Tristan unnecessarily.

I knew better than to take these stupid risks and risk the lives of those I had sworn to protect. Shame and guilt burned away in my stomach. Fear of the naturi was driving me to make one bad decision after another, and it couldn’t go on. I had already lost Michael. I refused to lose anyone else in my life because of my stupidity.

Drawing in a steadying breath, I lifted my eyes from the glass tabletop to look over at Danaus, who sat to my right with his arms folded over his chest. “Do you eat?”

“Yes,” he said, frowning at me.

“Then find something to eat,” I said, tapping his untouched menu with the index finger of my right hand. “Order something big. I’m putting it on the Coven gold card.”

“That’s petty,” he chided, but he still picked up his menu.

“I regret to say that I’m feeling very petty right now,” I said with a dramatic sigh, relaxing in my chair. Alex chuckled, shaking her head behind her menu. Her dark hair cascaded over one shoulder, caressing her cheek.

We let the conversation die while Alex, Nicolai, and Danaus perused their menus. I contented myself with twirling the stem of my glass of red wine. After what had happened to Thorne, I wasn’t going to even sip it. Ingesting anything other than human blood had effectively lost its appeal. After the server returned and the others placed their orders, I reopened the conversation.

“How did you get stuck with Coven duty? Piss off one of the big dogs?” I teased, looking at Alex. She was frowning at me but there was no real anger in her eyes.

“Just rotten luck, I guess,” she confessed with a shrug. “I had been in London on business for the past week. When news hit of the strange piles of ashes, phones calls were made and e-mails were flying. I was sent to a small town outside of London to check it out. I swear, Mira, the second I saw it I thought of you, but I’ve never seen you do anything like that. Their bodies were reduced to ash, but the ground around them was completely untouched. Some are talking warlocks and spontaneous combustion, but there are still too many holes in the theories.”

“They’ll cover it up,” I said indifferently. “In a few days they’ll think of some very simple explanation and blast it across all the news agencies. It may have holes, but people will buy it because they want to. They need everything to make sense.”

“You think?” she said skeptically. She stared down at her short but perfectly manicured nails. “I wish I had your confidence.”

I shook my head, not liking to see her so shaken. Alex exuded confidence and strength in her own pack or when on her own, but when faced with issues outside her own control, her confidence and strength wilted like a flower with too little water. “Don’t get me wrong,” I said. “You were right when you said this moves up the timetable. Too many things have been happening lately, and science has gotten too far too fast to keep hiding.”

“Damn it, Mira!” she suddenly exploded, shattering her mien of calm. “Fifty years was a nice number. I was hoping to be dead and buried before the Great Awakening. It’s going to be ugly, and I don’t want to be around for it.” She leaned her forehead on her hands, her frame tense and her teeth clenched.

“It’ll be fun!” I laughed, trying to cheer her up. “Just think of all the groupies we’ll gain. These people are completely enamored of the idea of the occult.”