Unbound (19 page)

“He’s a part of the Ravana family, I believe. He came to Savannah alone and immediately got sucked into Justin’s clan,” Knox replied. His voice grew steadier the longer he spoke, as if he were finally detaching himself from the gruesome death of the nightwalker that lay before him. Nightwalker flocks were like high school cliques, each with its own set of rules and bizarre tastes.

A low, steady hiss escaped me as I turned this new bit of information over in my brain. I had been hoping that he wasn’t a member of one of few families that existed within my domain, but of them all, Justin Ravana’s clan was the most undesirable. Cruel and vicious, Justin was one of the oldest within my territory and had been practically raised by the Coven. I hadn’t thought much of his petition to live in my domain decades ago, but I had regretted agreeing ever since. Justin specialized in brutality, torture, and control. No one that entered into his family ever escaped it alive.

“When Bryce was away from his family, he tended to associate mostly with fledglings,” Knox continued. “During the past few years, I’ve seen him mainly with this small group of nightwalkers, mostly females, all less than a century old.”

“Not exactly the best list of suspects you’ve got for me.” I stood, pulling away from my examination of the corpse. “A group of fledglings? It’s possible that it was Justin, but it’s not his style to hand off the murder to someone else who could do it during the day. He’d want to be part of it. Justin would have taken the time to handle it personally over a series of weeks if possible.”

“What? You’ve never seen a fledgling kill another nightwalker?” Knox scoffed. The comment finally caused some of the tension to roll off of his shoulders.

“I’ve seen the remains of plenty of fledgling kills, but I’ve never known of any fledgling that could accomplish the feat during the day. And I’ve never known a fledgling to kill a nightwalker in this style.”

“Really? Fledglings have a style? A preferred method of murder?” he mocked.

“Don’t we all?” I batted my eyes at him.

“We all know your preferred method, Fire Starter,” Knox said, shoving his hands into the pockets of his worn jeans. He leaned against the cooler, careful to keep his eyes on me and not on the corpse. “What about fledglings?”

“I guess I have something in common with them. Fire is their preferred method. It’s fast, effective, and relatively easy. Of course, I’ve seen just as many fledglings go up in flames with their intended victim because they weren’t careful.”

“So you’re saying one of the fledglings that knew Bryce didn’t kill him,” he suggested, earning him a grin.

“I didn’t say that. It’s possible, but unlikely, particularly if he was killed during the day.” I wasn’t willing to say out loud who I thought had killed Bryce—we were both on edge enough.

An easy silence settled between us as I contemplated our dead friend and his potential attacker. Knox stood nearby, ready to offer up information. He was careful to look anywhere but at the half-burned, beheaded corpse. “Did you ever do this with my maker?” Knox softly asked, fiddling with his sunglasses.

“What? Look at corpses with Valerio?” I asked, my brow furrowed at the unexpected question. “All the time. It was how we spent most of our nights.”

“Ha. Ha,” he said, rolling his eyes at my sarcasm. “I can imagine how you spent most of your nights. But you know what I mean. He said you and he investigated strange things for the Coven back when you were in Europe?”

A smile drifted across my lips before I could stop it. I had too many good memories of Valerio, but that didn’t mean I was willing to share. Some were too embarrassing or too gruesome. And others were simply too private. My time with Valerio wasn’t always filled with happy memories and I was frequently horrified by some of the things we did, but I would never trade the moments I had with Knox’s maker.

“Yes, Valerio and I frequently looked into a strange death or a corpse that needed our unique attention to keep the secret protected. During that time, we never found a fledgling that could kill during the day.” I smiled at my companion for lightening the mood and shook my head. How had Valerio ever stood to part with this child? I was becoming far too attached to him.

“Is there anything else I should know about our dead friend?” I asked, resting my hands on the edge of the stainless steel table next to Bryce.

“The only other thing I can think of is that about six months ago he petitioned you to allow him to bring over his lover,” Knox added.

My head snapped up at this bit of information. “I’m assuming that I said no.”

“You denied the request,” Knox confirmed. His brow furrowed slightly as he turned over my sudden interest. “You think she had something to do with this?”

“I’m hoping such a thing is impossible since her memory was wiped,” I said in a hard, cold voice.

“It was.”

“Did our headless friend tell you that or did you check for yourself?”

“I checked. There were no memories of Bryce or nightwalkers in her brain,” he replied.

Biting down on my lower lip, I stared down at the blackened remains of Bryce, still wondering if his would-be fledgling had found a way to murder him because he had refused to make her into a nightwalker. Though equally unlikely, there were still a number of ways she might have been involved in Bryce’s death.

“Is she a magic user?”

“The woman?” Knox’s perpetually even, dry tone jumped several octaves. “I don’t think so.”

“If she is, she may have been able to hide her memories from you.”

Knox’s whole body stiffened at my comment while his expression went completely blank. “Do you honestly think Valerio didn’t show me how to pick apart the mind of a magic user?” he demanded in a brittle voice.

A ghost of a smile flitted across my face at Valerio’s name on his tongue. “Would it have occurred to you that she might be?” I countered, but quickly waved my hand at him. “I don’t doubt your ability and I think it’s highly unlikely the woman is a magic user. However, I find it strange that six months ago he was denied the right to make a vampire and now he’s dead using a very human form of execution.”

“Could have been a nightwalker,” Knox suggested, putting his sunglasses back on again.

“Maybe,” I whispered. Had Justin not approved of Bryce’s request to create a fledgling and decided to act against the nightwalker in some fashion? The time issue still needed to be confirmed. “We won’t know until we get to Bryce’s place.”

“We?”

“Of course! You think I would leave you out of the fun of ransacking a murdered vampire’s lair for clues as to his killer? Not a chance.” My outrageous teasing left a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. “Besides, there will be plenty of time for you to track down the woman and anyone known to associate with Bryce,” I continued, crushing the smile before it could actually form.

“You’re too kind, Mira,” Knox sneered. He took a step backward as I placed Bryce’s head on his stomach. I then picked up the dead nightwalker and carried him over to the oven. Setting the nightwalker inside, I closed the door and summoned up my powers. Within seconds, the body was consumed with flames hotter than any that could be produced by the crematorium. The remains were reduced to ash. Bryce was no more.

As I looked up at Knox, a cold grin stretched across my lips. “You have no idea how
kind
I can be.” I was the Fire Starter, scourge of our people. The protector of our secret. Kindness was all relative.

A
crunch of gravel was my only warning as we walked across the parking lot of the morgue to my car. I hadn’t scanned the area for other nightwalkers. This was my domain, and no one would dare to attack me in my own domain. I was wrong. Pain exploded in my ribs just before my body slammed into the side panel of a dark blue station wagon, denting the metal and breaking two of my ribs. With a snarl, my head snapped up to see who attacked me. Knox was squared off against a dark-haired nightwalker in leather pants and a black T-shirt. Other than his porcelain white skin, he looked as if he was a part of the night itself.

“Stand down, Knox,” I ordered, pushing back to my feet. My body protested the movement as my ribs attempted to mend.

“Mira?” Knox paused in his circling of the other nightwalker, but his brown eyes still glowed; he was ready to attack if I said the word.

“This is my fight,” I stated, taking a step toward the nightwalker. “It’s been a long time, Bishop. I don’t remember inviting you into my domain.”

The nightwalker smiled, but had yet to take his gaze off Knox. Bishop was nearly five centuries old and a very skilled fighter, making him one of the most valued servants of Macaire. The Coven Elder wouldn’t dispatch Bishop without a very good reason.

“As an emissary of Macaire, I go where I wish,” he announced. He sidestepped to his left so that he could look at both me and Knox at the same time. Unfortunately, Knox still stood between us. Bishop might be here on business with me, but he would have no qualms over ripping through Knox just for the fun of it.

“Knox, go inside and see if there is anything else that Archie needs to complete his paperwork,” I commanded, but Knox didn’t move. If anything, he seemed to sidle slightly in front of me.

“Not a chance. I’m not leaving you out here alone with this guy,” Knox said.

“No wonder I’m here. Your people won’t even listen to you,” Bishop mocked, straightening from his defensive stance.

“Go, Knox. I know him. We have some business to settle,” I said, pushing the words past clenched teeth. Normally, Knox’s loyalty and readiness to protect me at all times would be flattering, but not now, not in front of a member of the Coven’s court.

Knox hesitated a moment before finally edging around Bishop and heading back into the morgue where he would make sure that no one came out to the parking lot while Bishop and I discussed whatever business had brought him into my domain.

We both waited until we heard the door to the morgue slam shut before we were in motion. My nails raked across his chest, tearing his shirt and leaving four ragged cuts across his skin. He backhanded me, throwing me into the side of another car. Pain spread across my face, leaving me with the feeling that he had broken my cheekbone. With a growl, I pushed away from the car and launched myself at him. Ducking his swinging fists, I landed a punch to his gut that broke a rib or two before he managed to grab my throat with his right hand. He squeezed, effectively closing off my airway. I didn’t need to breathe, but from this position he could quickly rip my head off, ending this contest.

I grinned at him, my eyes glowing an eerie shade of purple as in nightshade. Around us, a circle of fire sprang up from the ground, closing in so that there was barely a foot of open space between us and the crackling flames.

Bishop pulled me close to him so that the tip of my nose touched his. There was no escaping his hard, black gaze. There was no light, no glow of power, just a black empty pit as if his power were bottomless. “Do it, Mira!” Bishop whispered. “Incinerate me. I swear you’ll awaken tomorrow night back in the hands of the Coven in Venice, and this time Jabari will not be there to save you.”

A shiver ran through me at his cold words. The Coven was the ruling body of the nightwalker nation, and it was an ugly place of pain and nightmares. It was a place I had escaped centuries ago and rarely visited, particularly since Jabari, one of the four Elders, had gone missing.

Bishop’s grip on my throat loosened slightly so I could talk. “What do you want?” I asked in a ragged whisper.

“Besides the opportunity to rip your head off?” he asked with a dark grin that revealed his perfect white fangs. “I’m here to make sure that you clean up the mess that is currently your domain.”

“What mess?” I demanded. I reached up and dug my nails into his large hand, trying to get him to release my throat.

“You’re joking, right?” he said, dropping me. “We’ve heard from people within your domain. There is no order here.”

“That’s a lie.”

“There has been an increase in Daylight Coalition-related deaths within the New World, recently,” he continued to list.

“It’s not my job to police all of the New World,” I quickly countered.

“And now you have a fresh death found by the humans. From what I’ve heard, it looks like another Coalition kill. Can you not even protect your own?”

“I’m looking into the matter,” I growled. I had nothing that I could say about Bryce’s death. I didn’t know the why behind it all just yet, but I would with time.

“I’m here to make sure that you clean up this mess and deal with the nightwalkers within your domain,” Bishop said, taking a step closer to me as I stepped backward. With a thought, the flames were gone and the parking lot was plunged back into darkness.

“Other than the matter with the fresh body, there’s no mess here.”

“The Coven doesn’t believe that to be true.”

“You mean Macaire doesn’t believe it. Who’s been talking to him?”

“Now that would be telling,” he said, a fresh grin lifting his thin lips. “Convince me that you have everything under control here, and I will leave along with everyone else that I brought with me. Fail and you’ll be coming back to Venice with me.”

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.”