“Stop!” James said before he could stop himself. “That one’s rare.”

Ignoring him, I opened another book on vampires. I tossed this one aside before reaching the bottom of the page. Overriding his fear, James came around the desk to my side as I was grabbing a third book. I dropped it over my shoulder, but he caught this one.

Turning, I grabbed his jacket lapels as he cringed. Behind me, Danaus’s powers brushed against me, warning me. “Is this what you have been reading about us? Has all of your kind been soaking in these lies?”

“They can’t be. These journals were written by people who have survived encounters with vampires,” he said. “You can’t deny that you kill; you treat us like cattle.”

“You paint us as mindless killers, monsters in the darkness.” I released him suddenly as if he were something dirty. “Humans are remembered for more than the wars they wage and the lives they take. We create things of beauty as well.” I took a step closer to James. He inched backward but was stopped when his back hit the bookshelf. I smiled at him, careful not to reveal my fangs. Lifting my hand, I held it barely an inch from his face. He flinched, his wide eyes darting between my face and hand. Lowering my hand with infinite care, I drew my fingers across his forehead to his temple and into his hair. “We feel pain and joy. We feel sadness and love just like you,” I whispered, my voice like a caress. “We can give and take exquisite pleasure.”

“E-Even with humans?” he asked, stumbling over the words.

I chuckled, pulling my hand back to my side. “Some of my favorite lovers have been human males. You’re very…attentive.”

Turning, I walked away to the other side of the room. As I passed Danaus, I shoved my hands into my back pockets and winked at him. He looked back at James’s desk, but I caught the slight quirk of one corner of his mouth. He knew the game I was playing, and at the moment, after the questionable information they had supplied him with, he was not pleased with Themis.

“But there is one thing I am confused about.” I turned back. “Despite all the horrible things you believe about my kind, Danaus was sent to find me. I don’t think he was sent to acquire my assistance, just information. Why?”

“If the stories are to be believed, vampires stopped the naturi once. I thought you could do it again,” James said, still clutching the book to his chest.

“I? Not we?”

“Some of the others…did not see the wisdom in this idea.”

“And do they know about this meeting?”

He looked at Danaus, then back to me. “No.” His grip on the book pressed to his chest tightened, as if it could protect him from the wrath of his superiors.

“You are a brave one. Of course, you do have Danaus here to protect you from me, but I have a feeling your little friends aren’t going to be too happy about this. Interesting.”

“What are you planning?” Anxiety spiked his voice.

I strolled back over to the chair I’d been sitting in and plopped down, propping my feet up on the edge of this desk. “Nothing at the moment. It’s just interesting information. Do you have anything else interesting to tell me?”

“A-About what?” he said, walking back over to his chair behind the desk. He sat down and reluctantly laid the book down on the surface.

“About the naturi.”

Pulling open one of the drawers to his right, he withdrew a manila folder and handed me what looked like a thin stack of photographs. I had to force myself to reach for it. The last photograph I’d been handed had sent me on this fool’s errand. Gritting my teeth, I took the glossy pictures and nearly screamed in frustration when I saw more naturi symbols, each smeared in blood.

I lurched to my feet, struggling to keep from igniting the picture in my hands. “When?” I heard Danaus stand and walk over, his heavy steps echoing off the hardwood floor. I handed him the pictures, my eyes never leaving James’s pale face.

“They’ve started appearing during the past couple of days.”

“Where?” I needed him to confirm my suspicion.

“I—I’m not completely sure. I think one was in Spain,” he said, running a nervous hand over his tie.

“The Alhambra,” I confirmed. “Where else?”

“Another was in Cambodia.”

“At Angkor Wat.” I grabbed the pictures out of Danaus’s hands and laid them out across the top of James’s desk. “There are six pictures here. We have Angkor Wat and Alhambra.” I put the two that I was sure had been identified aside. I knew these places. Jabari had drilled them into my head. I picked up another with rose-colored stone and added it to the pile with Angkor and Alhambra. “That’s Petra and this is the Palace of Knossos on Crete.” I added the fourth picture to the pile, flipping it over and laying it down with a slap. I’d known that place before Jabari. I’d been born in Crete.

“Oh, I remember this one.” James picked up a picture of a plain dark brown sign set against a backdrop of trees. “They said it was on the back of a sign in Yellowstone National Park.”

“And the last one?” Danaus asked, picking it up.

“Mesa Verde, Colorado.” I recognized the stonework. Turning my gaze back to James, I fought back a knot of panic that was starting to twist in my stomach. “What about the other five sites? Have your people checked them?”

“Other five?”

“The holy cities of the naturi. I assumed you were checking those.” I turned my gaze on Danaus, clenching my teeth. “You said your people were watching potential sites for the sacrifices. Did you lie?”

“We are watching them,” he snapped, taking a step toward me.

“All twelve?”

“Twelve?” He looked genuinely puzzled for a moment. “There has to be more than twelve. We’re watching all the ancient temples and structures that have been linked to ancient myths.”

I shoved both of my hands through my hair, swallowing a scream of frustration. I knew I should have asked for more clarification sooner. He seemed to know so much when we met that I assumed he knew all about naturi history. I was wrong, and it might just cost us.

Drawing in a deep breath, I turned back to the desk and picked up the pictures. “A quick lesson on the naturi,” I said, then looked up at James. “You might want to take some notes.”

The Themis member immediately plopped back down in his chair and pulled out some paper and a pen.

“There are twelve so-called holy sites for the naturi spread around the world, based on the energy that culminates in the area. In North America, there is Old Faithful and Mesa Verde. In South America, it’s Easter Island and Machu Picchu. In Europe, we have Stonehenge, Alhambra, and the Palace of Knossos. In Africa, there’s Petra, Dead Vlei, and Abu Simbel. And in Asia, there’s Konark and Angkor Wat.”

Danaus shook his head, frowning. “That doesn’t make any sense. Some of these places aren’t that old, and Abu Simbel has even been moved from its original location. The naturi are older than all of those structures.”

“It’s not the structure that makes a place holy to them, it’s the power emanating from the earth in an area that makes it special.” I grabbed the pictures again and spread them out across the desktop. “Humans have created amazing structures at these locations. Why? Because they are drawn to these places. Some part of their brain senses something, even if they can’t recognize it.”

“Abu Simbel was moved.”

“Only two hundred meters. It’s still close enough to the original location, which is now underwater and only of use to the water naturi.”

“What about the marks in the trees,” James said, his head snapping up from the paper where he was furiously scribbling notes. “They weren’t anywhere near these locations.”

I shook my head, nibbling on my lower lip. I was getting into shaky territory. Nowhere in the histories I’d read of the naturi did I encounter tales of them making marks in the trees like the ones I’d seen. “Those feel different than the ones at the holy sites. More permanent, but I have no idea what they are for.”