Dayhunter (33 page)

“So we allow her to come through the door, close the door, and then kill her,” I stated, frowning darkly at him. “After that, the naturi that hired us go free.”

“Returning to their quiet lives,” he said with a nod as he laced his stubby fingers behind his back and continued to walk along the sidewalk until it opened up into a large, open square.

“What do we get out of this?” I demanded, unable to keep the skepticism out of my voice. I folded my arms over my chest and stared hard at the Elder, but he ignored my dark looks.

“Besides the chance to destroy their queen and cripple their race?”

“Yes. We’re the ones risking everything.”

Macaire smiled and strolled into the center of the
campo
, his hands clasped loosely behind his back. Reluctantly, Danaus and I followed him into the center of the square. The area was mostly empty. At the far end of the
campo
a stage was being decorated by several people. They appeared to be preparing for a festival, though I wasn’t sure which one. On the stage sat a row of five chairs with high backs, reminding me vaguely of the Great Hall dais. Obviously, Macaire had planned on walking to this part of the neighborhood. He had something else on his mind.

“What do you know of the Great Awakening?” he asked, his tone sounding as if he had just asked what the weather would be like tomorrow.

“A general outline of the plan. Why? It’s not supposed to be for another fifty years and even that’s still up for debate.”

“It’s the debate that has the Elders concerned,” he said. His hands swung from his back and hung limp at his sides. He looked around, taking in the string of little lights overhead and the other tables that lined the edge of the square. Tomorrow they would most likely be overflowing with food while the square buzzed with conversation and laughter. “It seems Our Liege wishes to change the date of the Awakening.”

“To what?”

“Next year.”

“Is he mad?” Danaus blurted out, causing me to wince at his volume and tone. It was not the type of thing anyone dared to voice about Our Liege. You never knew who was listening. I had always been outspoken, but there were a few lines even I was hesitant to cross.

“That’s not the word I would use,” Macaire said, his grim voice a proper reprimand for my companion’s unseemly outburst.

“It’s too soon,” I said to the Elder, resisting the urge to place my hand on Danaus’s arm to steady myself. My world was spinning out of control and I desperately wanted to run away from them all. “The humans may be able to adapt, but there are still a few stages that are supposed to be implemented. It would make the transition easier. The timetable was developed to protect our kind. You can’t throw it aside.”

“You’re not telling me anything the Coven has not already discussed.” Macaire waved one hand absently at me. A frown dug deeper lines into his grim face.

I walked over to stand directly in front of him, lowering my voice. Our agitated conversation was drawing the confused gaze of those on the stage at the far aside of the square. “What about the other races? What have they said?”

“They wish to stick to the timetable.”

I closed my eyes, not wanting to hear any more, but there was one other question that had to be asked. “Will Our Liege proceed without the rest of the races?”

“It is his intention.”

“Then it will be war,” I said wearily. The other races would attack nightwalkers around the globe to keep us from pulling aside the veil that protected our common secret. If I survived Aurora’s planned assassination, I would be headed into a war against creatures I had been at peace with for centuries. And in the end, the humans would still discover us ahead of schedule. We wouldn’t be able to hide the war from them forever, and they would discover us in the worst possible way.

“So now you understand our dilemma.” The Elder sounded tired, as if the weight of centuries had trickled into his voice.

“What is the Coven’s plan?”

Again Macaire smiled at me, sending a shiver skittering across my skin. Nightwalkers may not have been reborn evil, but there were moments when I thought something truly evil resided in Macaire’s chest. “The naturi can move about during the day. They would be able to get past bodyguards.”

“You plan to—”

“Do not even breathe the words!” he sharply said. Even the powerful Macaire had his fears. I knew what they planned to do. The Coven planned to have the naturi assassinate Our Liege while he slept during the day.

“And all of the Coven has agreed on this course of action?”

“Of course.”

“Even Tabor?”

The Elder’s gaze darted to Danaus before he could stop himself and then he stared silently at me for a long time. I could almost see the thoughts bouncing around in his head as he weighed my question. His lips twitched. It wasn’t quite a smile, but it was something. Maybe a word that he had stopped at the last second.

“That is an interesting question,” he said at last. “I think he would have if he had survived longer.”

“But he didn’t initially,” I prodded. Something still didn’t feel right about this. It might have just been my survival instincts telling me not to trust a word Macaire told me. I believed there was some kernel of truth to this tale, but I also knew there were a few other important tidbits he was leaving out. I had never met Our Liege and didn’t feel any particular allegiance to the nightwalker. As far as I knew, he had done nothing for me and was generally indifferent to my existence. In truth, Our Liege and the Coven had little effect on the night-to-night life of a vampire.

“He had his doubts,” Macaire said. “Why do you ask?”

“Just curious,” I replied with a shrug.

I strolled through the
campo
then, heading toward the stage, when I abruptly stopped, my eyes locked on the five chairs. The people who were hanging the last of the deep purple cloth to hide the wooden beams supporting the stage had finished and left the plaza. Danaus and I were alone with the Elder.

“Another question if you please?” I called into the air, trying to lighten my voice of the fear coursing through my entire body.

“What is on your mind, my dear?” Macaire said, coming to stand beside me. His voice was sweet and pleasant. He already knew what thoughts were dancing through my head.

“Supposing Our Liege meets an untimely demise at the hand of the naturi. Then our kind will find itself without a clear leader for the first time in several millennia. That cannot be in the best interest of our people.”

“No, that would not be,” he said with a solemn shake of his head. “But our race wouldn’t be without guidance. The Coven would remain.”

“So the rule of one and four would be replaced by the rule of three,” I said. That did not feel like an improvement.

“Until someone rose to power to reclaim the throne, and a fourth filled the empty seat on the Coven.”

I was frowning again. The Coven was not an improvement over Our Liege if one used the court as any kind of example of what the future would hold for my race. The Elders did as they wanted, but Our Liege held their collective leash. I might not have been too keen on his plan to throw away the timetable and start a war, but I wasn’t thrilled with my other option either.

Thick, heavy shadows had moved into the large plaza, and the voices of the people had dulled. Night was fully born. To my surprise, Macaire hopped up on the stage. The nightwalker sat down in the chair in the center, balancing his left ankle on his right knee.

“There is a belief among our kind that you will take the open seat on the Coven,” he casually began, motioning toward the seat that would have been Tabor’s.

It was a fight not to clench my teeth. I was doomed to hear this question repeated until it drove me mad. “I’m not an Ancient,” I said carefully.

“That is more a tradition than a law,” he said with a dismissive wave of his hand. I remained silent, waiting for him to finally say what was on his mind, but I should have known it wouldn’t be that easy. “The rumor has begun to pick up steam now following your return to Venice and your little display the other night with Gwen. You were never one to adopt pets. I also heard what you told Valerio the other night about choosing sides. One might think that you are starting to build a following.” All this was said with a great amount of indifference and a frosting of boredom, but I wasn’t fooled. There was something he wanted to hear from me, and he was hanging on my every word.

“My actions during the past several days have nothing to do with the Coven and everything to do with defeating the naturi. That is all,” I said sharply, folding my arms over my stomach.

“Even Nicolai?”

A wide grin spread across my face, exposing my fangs. I was wondering when he would get around to what had happened with the harpies. “That was only a bit of fun.”

“As you wish. But the question remains…”

“Part of being on the Coven means being able to defend your position, and I am not strong enough to do that,” I hedged.

“This, coming from the one who tried to destroy all three members of the Coven at once just nights ago,” he scoffed, putting his foot back on the stage with a hollow thud as he leaned forward.

“That was a stupid move on my part. I lost my temper and did not think,” I conceded. My eyes fell to look at the cobblestone plaza, an appropriate stance of subservience. I wasn’t sorry about the whole thing. In fact, if Danaus hadn’t stopped me, I might have been able to pick off one of them before my head was ripped off.

“True, but you do have a nasty past with the naturi. It was understandable and I have forgiven you.”

I wanted to tell him to choke on his forgiveness but thought it better not to antagonize Macaire, since we were currently getting along so well. I decided to wisely ignore the comment and push ahead.

“Regardless of recent events, I know that there is at least one Elder who would not support my ascension to the Coven,” I cautiously hedged, curious as to his opinion. “And after Gwen’s demise, I have succeeded in upsetting another. Even you called for my death last night.”

Macaire sighed dramatically, shaking his head slightly as he chuckled to himself. “You do have a way with people,” he murmured, sitting back in his chair. “I acted rashly last night. The development with Nicolai was unexpected. Elizabeth is not pleased with you, but you did warn Gwen. She had to fight her own fights. Elizabeth accepts that.”

“And Jabari?” Danaus asked, as he came to stand beside me. He placed his hand on my shoulder, but I could not feel his presence in my thoughts. I was suddenly wary of his new interest. Could he honestly want me on the Coven? I wanted to shake my head to clear it of the thought. The only place Danaus wanted me was staked and headless. Yet the new thought stuck like a worm in an apple’s core.

“No, Jabari means to have Mira’s head after the door is closed,” Macaire said sadly as he returned his ankle to his opposite knee.

“I can’t defeat him.” There was no emotion in that statement. It was a simple fact I had known for as long as I’d been a nightwalker. As long as Jabari could control me, it was impossible for me to destroy him. And even without that ability, Jabari was extremely old and powerful. I wasn’t sure anyone could actually defeat him.

“I think you underestimate your powers.” I opened my mouth to argue, but Macaire held up his hand, stopping the words in my throat. “If half of what Ms. Brooks described is true, I think you could easily triumph with some help from your hunter.”

“But that would not be on my own.”

“No one else would know that.” His words escaped his thin lips as a whisper, a grin reappearing on his face.

“No one but you,” I corrected. Nicely done. He had found a way to not only get rid of Our Liege, but Jabari as well. Unfortunately, for him, I wouldn’t let myself be used by him. “I won’t be a puppet for you.”

“How is that possible? I’m sure you have guessed by now that I cannot use you the way Jabari has,” Macaire said, with no small amount of bitterness.

“I won’t do it.”

“Loyal to the end,” he sneered, his mouth twisting so that I saw a flash of fangs. “Even after all that he has done to you. Even though he means to end your life.”

“If I defeat Jabari, it will be on my own. Besides, I don’t want a seat on the Coven.” I didn’t want to have anything to do with the group. I just wanted to go home and forget about them all. Of course, if I did somehow manage to kill Jabari after we defeated the naturi, it would mean leaving two seats on the Coven open and Our Liege standing in danger. It would be all too easy for Macaire to take the throne and create his own Coven.

“If that is what you wish,” he said softly. He rose from the chair and jumped back down to the ground. I turned my back to him and stepped away from Danaus as I let my gaze sweep over the square. Lights in the shops and houses threw down a mismatch of golden squares on the plaza. Within the walls I could feel the humans going about their tasks, making dinner and talking to their loved ones. Just a few yards away their lives hung in the balance, being decided by creatures they didn’t even know existed.

“Are you prepared to leave?” Macaire inquired, returning my thoughts to the most urgent problem.

“A jet will be ready to leave by midnight. Where are we going?” I asked, swallowing some of the horror and anger that were still crowding in on my thoughts. This was why I had been brought to Venice. Not so much for my protection, but to make sure I understood what was at stake. To Macaire, I was being called in for one last mission on behalf of the Coven. When the time came, he expected me to kill Aurora as if she was some rogue nightwalker reeking havoc in a tiny town half forgotten by the world. However, it seemed Jabari wanted something else from me. He’d brought me there for the sole purpose of discovering the bargain, and wanted the naturi to fear me. But I had no idea what his ultimate goal was. After the horrid tale Macaire told, could Jabari truly want me to disrupt this bargain when it could stop two wars?

“Crete,” Macaire replied to my question.

A bubble of laughter escaped me as I shook my head. Oh yes, it could get worse. I hadn’t been to Crete since I escaped that wretched island as a young woman hoping to elude the mob screaming for my head. More than six hundred years had passed since I touched that land, and I had no desire to revisit it and the ghosts that waited for me.