As my thoughts calmed, drifting away from the nightmare, a deeper sense of foreboding seeped into my bones. Hesitantly, I stretched out my senses, but I didn’t have to go far. Michael was leaning against the box and he was hurt. Someone else was in the room. I unlocked the box and threw back the lid, sitting up. My eyes easily located Michael, who was sitting on the floor near my feet, clutching his right arm to his chest.

Jumping to my feet, I turned to find another man, standing near the wall, a gun in one hand. My muscles tensed at the sight of Omari and I bit back a low growl. The dark-haired, dark-skinned man who served Jabari lowered the gun to his side but didn’t put it in his shoulder holster.

“He came to protect you,” Michael said in a rough voice before I could lunge at the human. I hadn’t told him about what occurred with Jabari, but I had no doubt that my astute assistant could easily read my tense posture.

“What happened?” I said, pivoting slowly on a heel as I gazed about the room. We had been lucky enough to secure a corner suite at the Sarah Hotel on the southern edge of the city. I took a couple steps forward, glass crackling under my feet. The pretty little room had been turned into a war zone. Furniture was broken, pictures pulled or knocked off the wall, and curtains torn. There was also a splatter of blood against one white wall, while the others were peppered with bullet holes. The hotel was located on a clifftop overlooking the city. With any luck, the distance had helped insulate us from drawing the attention of other city dwellers. However, I knew that both the hotel owner and the police had to be taken care of financially before we left the city.

“Four men attacked a few hours before sunset. They were well-trained hunters,” Michael said. He reached a hand over and closed the lid of my coffin. In the center was a deep dent, as if someone had taken an axe to it. I gritted my teeth as I stared at it. The dent was over where my heart would have been.

“I arrived shortly after them,” Omari stated, his words rolling to me like a low rumble of thunder.

My narrowed gaze snapped to his tense frame. “How did you know?”

Dressed in a pair of jeans and a plain, white button-up shirt, he had the polished look of an executive on holiday. Of course, the splatter of blood on his shirt and the tear in his jeans near his right calf destroyed the effect.

“Jabari doesn’t trust the one called Danaus. He sent me to watch over you, and Jamila was to follow Danaus if he left the hotel during the day,” Omari said, finally holstering his gun under his left arm.

“Where is the hunter?” The muscles in my shoulders tightened into a hard knot. Danaus had not been there when I was attacked.

“He left the hotel about an hour before the attackers arrived,” Michael said. “He hasn’t returned yet.”

I stared down at my protector, relieved that the scent of his blood wasn’t clouding my mind. After reaching the five-century mark, I discovered that I could go several days without needing to feed. With the meal Michael had provided for me the previous night, I was still feeling quite sated.

“Where is Gabriel?” I demanded, suddenly realizing his dark form was missing from my chambers.

A frown pulled at the corners of Michael’s full lips. “He’s following the men to find out who they are and where they have hidden themselves. I haven’t heard back yet.” He was worried, and I couldn’t blame him. Gabriel was good at what he did, but four against one was a little much even for him. I gazed out the window, taking in the murky gray sky. I was awake earlier than usual. Quickly, I mentally searched the city for Gabriel.

“He’s safe.” My voice sounded as if it had crossed a vast distance before reaching my ears. “He’s returning to the hotel.” I reached out a little farther and discovered Danaus was several blocks away toward the northeast but had not yet begun moving toward the hotel.

“If I’m not needed, I’ll return to my lord,” Omari said, drawing my gaze back to his face.

“Is Jabari near?”

“Yes, he keeps a residence within Koti.”

I nodded, recognizing the name of one of the Nubian villages on Elephantine Island. “Will you take Michael with you; tend his wounds?”

Omari stared at my bodyguard then looked up at me before briefly bowing his head. “Yes, I will take him with me.”

I pressed my lips into a firm line as I looked back over at my angel. “Take Gabriel with you. I will come to Jabari after I deal with the hunter.”

“Are you sure you will not need us?” Michael said, wincing as he pushed to his feet. He was hurt, but Omari and Jamila would see that he was properly stitched up. I needed to travel fast and I did not want them in my way when I faced Danaus.

“I’ll manage,” I said, failing to keep my fangs from peeking out when I spoke. “Go now.”

I walked over to the small balcony that looked down on the city and the Nile. Nearby was the first cataract with the outcropping of stone that had once caused a series of rapids in the Nile. With the addition of the High Dam in the seventies, the rapids had been largely tamed. I waited until I sensed Gabriel meeting Michael and Omari in the lobby before putting one hand on the balcony railing and vaulting smoothly over it. Before I hit the ground four stories below, both my invisibility and cloaking spells were in place. I could not be seen by humans nor sensed by other magic using creatures. I didn’t know what Danaus was capable of, but I wasn’t taking any chances. He had been conveniently gone while someone attacked me while I slept and endangered the lives of my angels. I struggled to believe that he might have been kidnapped while this all occurred, or that it was coincidence that he just happened to be away from the hotel at that moment.

Cutting down the road that led back into the city proper, I ran toward the north, slowly working my way east. I slowed my gait every few blocks to check Danaus’s location, but he hadn’t moved yet. The city streets were still crowded with a mix of locals and tourists, enjoying the cooling temperatures now that the sun had set. After less than a mile, the tall white buildings and shorter tan square homes gave way to a vast expanse that looked like the ancient ruins of a forgotten city. It was Fatimid Cemetery. The old Muslim burial ground was filled with small, square mausoleums with domed tops and arched entries. However, the sun, wind, and sand that had ravaged the country over the long centuries took its toll on the monuments here. Names and inscriptions chiseled in the stones were worn away. Stone paths into the cemetery were broken and mostly covered by sand and dirt.

The sounds of the city died off here, falling to a soft hum of noise. Pausing at the entrance, I reached up and brushed some hair from my eyes. The wind had picked up, carrying with it the smell of the Nile. It wasn’t all that pleasant a smell, but it carried good memories with it. Some nights Jabari and I would follow the winding river north, walking along as close to the banks as possible. He would tell me tales of when Thebes was the capital city of the Egyptian Empire and how he designed great monuments for the pharaoh.

Danaus was on the move finally. He had been with a group of three humans. I sensed him headed in my direction, with the other humans headed northwest, back toward the city and the river. With a smile, I silently darted over to the shadows of a large mausoleum. After I dealt with Danaus, I would go after the humans.

Leaning one shoulder against the smooth white stone wall, it surprised me that I was amazingly calm. I knew I was going to kill Danaus. I was going to put my hand into his chest and pull out his heart. It was all quite simple. It might not be his style to stake vampires during the daylight hours, but he apparently had no problems sending in others to do the job. None of it made any sense, but that didn’t matter. He wasn’t there when I was attacked. That was damning enough for me.