“Yes. I’ve checked every day since the first sacrifice but detected no other places I think might have the markings. Do you know what they mean?”

“The carvings? No,” I said with a shake of my head. “This isn’t the first time they’ve attempted to break the seal, but I have never seen or heard of the carvings before.”

“I had thought they were used as a way of activating the twelve holy sites,” Ryan speculated. With his right hand, he picked up a crystal paperweight about the size of a baseball. It looked like a crystal ball, but instead of being clear, red veins ran through the orb. He rolled the crystal between his two hands, a nervous gesture that revealed his worry, unlike the more guarded and planned expressions that crossed his face.

“No, the first sacrifice accomplished that. The carvings mean something else,” I said, shoving my hand through my hair, pushing it back from my face.

“So, now we just wait for the second sacrifice.”

“It will be soon. Very soon,” I whispered.

Ryan put the paperweight back on his desk and stood. “Are you sure? How do you know?”

“They’ve begun checking the other eleven sites. Once they locate the right one, they have only a small window of time to use it. The pool of power is constantly moving. I’ve never heard of anyone being able to tell when it will move or where it will go to. Maybe Aurora can, I don’t know.”

“But the next new moon isn’t for another five nights,” Ryan said with a shake of his head.

“The naturi are not bound to the key phases of the moon, though it helps,” I replied, fighting the urge to get up and pace. I forced a tight smile onto my lips as I titled my head back to look up at a warlock. “You know magic. It’s more than just the moon, and the seasons, and the alignment of the heavens.”

“Magic is also about circles and balance,” he finished. His brows drew together slightly, as furrows ran through his smooth forehead.

“And the anniversary of when the last seal was created is upon us,” I murmured. The thought had first occurred to me when I was talking to James last night. I too thought they would stick to phases of the moon, since it would provide them with the most power to break the seal. But destroying what the nightwalkers had wrought on the anniversary would not only be a powerful blow magically, but deal a heavy blow to the morale of my kind. “The naturi will be making their attempt either tonight or tomorrow night.”

“And if they were to succeed…”

“Then they would be able to open the door in five nights, lining up perfectly with the new moon.”

“And the pagan harvest holiday.”

“We’re running out of time,” I said with frustration, pushing out of the chair. I paced over to the wall of books on my left and back to Ryan, my arms folded over my stomach.

“But you have everything you need,” he argued, looking at me with confusion filling his face.

“No, I don’t,” I replied, turning to walk back toward the bookshelf. “A triad of nightwalkers stopped the naturi five centuries ago. One of the three, Tabor, was killed by the naturi several years ago. With him gone, we have to reform the triad. Unfortunately, the replacement I found was killed while I stood there watching.”

“But the triad has already been reformed,” the warlock said, his voice a gentle caress in the silence of the room.

I spun on my heel to look at him as my stomach attempted to turn itself inside out. “What?”

“I could feel it as soon as you entered the compound. All the pieces needed to seal the door again have been found,” he said confidently.

My legs threatened to buckle beneath me when I heard this horrible pronouncement. I was supposed to be the third? It couldn’t be. Sadira was my maker, putting us in the same bloodline. And if Sadira’s story was to be believed, so was Jabari and Tabor. I didn’t want to be a part of the triad. My job was to find a replacement for Tabor and protect Sadira. After that, I was returning to my city across the ocean and never looking back. They didn’t need me for anything else.

“You’re wrong,” I said, nearly choking on the words. “I can’t help them.”

“You have no choice,” he sadly said. “I—” Ryan abruptly broke off as his gaze darted toward the door and cocked his head to the side as if listening to someone whispering in his ear. “Something is coming.”

“What do you mean ‘something’?” I snapped. “Is it the naturi?”

“No, something else. I don’t know what. It’s powerful,” he said, pushing away from the desk to stand.

“Great,” I muttered, already moving toward the door. “You better get your people to cover. I’ll do what I can.” I didn’t know what I was facing, but I assumed it was at the Compound because of me and my traveling troupe of vampires and misfits.

“Thank you,” Ryan called.

“Don’t be too grateful. I may still need to pick your brain.”

“As long as I’m alive for it,” he joked, though the laughter no longer reached his golden eyes.

I paused, holding the door handle, and looked over my shoulder at the warlock. “Did you order my death?” I inquired, wondering if I would ever have another chance to ask. I needed to know exactly where I stood with this creature.

“Recently?” he asked.

“Ever.”

“Yes.”

I walked down the main staircase toward the first floor, my feet sinking into the thick carpet that covered the stairs. Apparently Ryan had sent out some kind of mental warning to the proper people because I heard doors being thrown open around me and hurried footsteps across the hardwood floors. I needed to get these people out of my way. If something not good was headed to the compound, I didn’t want to concern myself with the stray gawker trying to collect a little valuable data.

A part of me was aching for a fight. A couple of naturi to deal with, something to rip apart; their flesh squishing warmly between my fingers and collecting under my fingernails. While I’ll admit that I was still extremely hungry, more than a rising blood lust clouded my thoughts. I craved just the sight of blood. I wanted to see it splashed across the skin and soaking into torn and shredded clothing. I needed the violence, an outlet for the frustration and the fear. In the brief moment when you are struggling to stay alive, you convince yourself that you’re actually in control of your life and destiny. And when you kill that which was trying to kill you, you bask in a moment of true power. I wanted that moment, even if it was an illusion.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t afford a fight right now. My job was to protect Sadira, and the best way to do that was to avoid confrontation altogether. Sadira’s skill lay not in physical strength, but in the horrible ways she could destroy a creature’s mind. She cultivated fear and obedience in her own special way but was not a fighter. Furthermore, neither she nor I were at our top strength after last night’s healing session. We both had to feed, and I still needed a couple more days of rest.

A familiar voice halted my descent at the second floor, jerking me from my frantic thoughts.

“What is it?” Danaus called from behind me. I turned on the stairs to find him buckling the last leather wrist guard on his right arm as he descended. His hair was damp and hung heavy about his broad shoulders. To my surprise, he was wearing a pair of dark blue jeans instead of his usual black cotton pants. His navy T-shirt was untucked and strapped down with a pair of sword sheaths crossing his back. I guess now that he was home, he felt he could go casual. Or maybe it was the fact that his mission was technically over. I had a tendency to forget how handsome he was when I was plotting how to peel his skin from the network of muscles and sinew that danced as he moved.

“I don’t know yet,” I said. “Get your people somewhere safe. I’ll handle it.” I continued down the stairs at a slower pace, reluctantly serious.