Danaus leaned his hip against the edge of the desk and folded his arms over his chest. “And the blood marks?”

“They weren’t made from human blood,” James interjected before looking back down at his notes. “We had it tested. It was all animal blood.”

My gaze drifted back down to the pictures. “They’re testing sites,” I murmured.

“What do you mean?”

A half smile lifted one corner of my mouth. “It’s old magic. You’d think you would know a little old magic, Danaus,” I teased. “The next sacrifice is to break the seal, and they will need as much power they can get. With Aurora stuck in the other world, they’ll need to draw as much power as possible from the earth. To do so, they have to locate the site that has the best charge. So, the naturi are testing sites with minor spells, looking for the best location.”

“But Danaus said there would be a total of three sacrifices,” James said, his brows meeting over the bridge of his nose.

“There will be if we don’t stop them. The first was sort of priming the pump, pulling the power up from the earth. The second will break the seal, and the third will open the door.”

“And you don’t think they will use any of the sites that had the marks?”

“No, they would have covered their tracks. Cleaned off the blood and immediately ended the spell. Konark has been used and the other six marked.”

“So, there are just five possibilities: Stonehenge, Machu Picchu, Dead Vlei, Abu Simbel, and Easter Island,” James read off his list.

“Contact Themis,” Danaus ordered. “Get people to those locations now.”

The hunter then turned his grim eyes intent on my face. All lightness and entertainment for the evening had been sucked from the room.

I sighed. “We have to find Sadira now.” We couldn’t sit by and hope that Jabari located Rowe. We were nearly out of time. If the naturi were actively searching for another site, it meant that they were likely to complete the next sacrifice soon. But it didn’t make any sense. The next new moon was nearly a week away. I had a dark suspicion when they planned to strike, but I needed to confirm it, which meant I needed Sadira.

“Wait!” James said, hurrying around his desk. “I can help.”

I paused at the door, my hand resting on the doorjamb. “Go back to Themis, James Parker. Go back and warn them.” My voice suddenly sounded very tired. I pitied this young man who had devoted his life to studying the things that crept by in the shadows. That was one of the greatest differences between the naturi and nightwalkers. Unlike the naturi, we could feel pity on occasion.

We grabbed a taxi back to the hotel. Huddled in the darkness with Danaus beside me, I reached out into the city and for the first time in almost five hundred years searched for Sadira. It should have been an easy task. With any other vampire, I would have had to search slowly, letting my powers creep over the earth until I finally reached him or her. But Sadira was different. She was my maker. My connection with her would always be strong, no matter the distance or time. I should have been able to find her immediately, like lightning being drawn to a lightning rod. Yet, it felt as if she didn’t exist. But I would have known it if she was dead; I would have felt it. Something was wrong. First Jabari, and now Sadira. I could feel the nightwalkers in the city, but not these important two.

“Are there naturi in the city?” I asked. Silence filled the dirt-encrusted taxi, broken occasionally by the scratchy, distorted voices from the cab radio. I stared out the window at the assortment of town houses and shops as we headed back toward the Thames and the Savoy Hotel, near Charing Cross.

“Not in the immediate area.” Danaus’s voice rose, as if we were waking from a dream. “I think near the outskirts of town.”

“You’re not sure?” I turned my head so I could see him out of the corner of my eye.

He grimaced in the darkness, his features drawn in concentration. “It’s hard to tell. It’s like trying to see through a thick fog.” Frustration edged his voice and hardened the line of his jaw.

“It’s this island.” Sinking back into the dirty backseat, I leaned my shoulder against his strong arm. I was sure he’d run into other magic-related problems while staying in Great Britain in the past. There was too much old magic in these lands. Too many old gods had been born and died on this island; too many powerful warlocks had stretched their arms here. Magic doesn’t just die—it fades into the air and seeps into the earth. After centuries, this ground was saturated. Many magic users came to Great Britain because they could tap this well of power.

“Who’s Sadira?” he asked, changing the topic.

“She was one of the three to form the seal centuries ago.”

“Jabari and Tabor were the others?”

“Yes.”

“Were you a part of it?”

“No, just a recovered prisoner.” I was barely a century at the time, still a child among my kind. I had been captured two weeks before and tortured. The naturi wanted to use my unique ability to control fire as a weapon against the nightwalkers.

“Do you think the naturi will come after her?”

“Yes. Enough naturi were left behind in our world who would be able to identify the members of the triad.” I just didn’t understand how they would find her, when we couldn’t sense them and they couldn’t sense us.

Leaning my head back, I placed my right ankle on my knee, which brushed against his with the movement. Neither of us stirred for a moment, almost as if we waiting to see who would flinch first. What did it matter? I had crawled all over him on more than one occasion. And right now I wanted the reassuring warmth that washed off of him…it was better than the cold reality of the naturi.

“Is this how you expected things to progress?” He turned his head to look at me, his blue eyes catching a shaft of light as the taxi lurched into motion again.

“No.” I slumped in the seat and crossed my arms under my breasts. “Finding Jabari was supposed to improve the situation, not make it worse. I should be home looking after my domain, not searching for Sadira. It’s all a mess.” Beside me, I could hear the steady rhythm of his heartbeat while his powers brushed against my cheek. His power might not feel human, but his heart did. I had been out of contact with Knox for several nights now, and a part of me was desperate to know how things were progressing with him and Barrett. I needed to be home to help suppress any fires should they spring up between the nightwalkers and the shapeshifters.

“Is this how you planned it?” I asked. Sitting so low in the seat, I was forced to tilt my head up to meet his gaze.

“No.”

“Oh, really?”

Danaus leaned toward me as he whispered, “You should be dead.”

I chuckled and threaded my arm through his. He stiffened but didn’t jerk away. “But we work so well together,” I said, earning a soft snort. “We worked quite well together in Aswan.”

“You mean when you stopped trying to kill me.”

Leaning my head against his shoulder again, I let my eyes drift shut. “Well, I thought you tried to kill me while I slept. I was understandably upset.”

“It’s my job.”

“Get a new job, like being a florist.” I snuggled a little closer, trying to irritate him now. The night air was warm and we had our windows down, allowing the fresh breeze to circulate through the stale car. Yet, the warmth and strength rolling off Danaus would have been comforting no matter the season.

“I can’t.”

“Why?”

“You’re evil.”

My whole body stiffened at those two cold words and my eyelids lifted. I stared blankly at the back of the front seat. “Prove it.”

“Come into a church with me tomorrow night.”

I couldn’t, which was the point. “Why haven’t you caused my blood to boil? If we’re so evil, why haven’t you destroyed us all that way?” I asked, attempting to dodge his question as I sat up, pulling away from him.