“I’ve had six centuries to practice.” Yuri had appeared before the coven many years ago, when word hit that a fledgling nightwalker that could control fire was making her first appearance. I had been a freak show for all to see as they tested both my strength and endurance. I lasted longer than most, but in the end I broke like all of those before me.

Yuri lunged at me with incredible speed, swinging the blade to remove my head. I barely raised my own sword in time to stop it. The vibrations down the blade nearly shook my hands loose, leaving them stinging from the impact. Muscles burned as I struggled against his greater strength. I was beginning to question my earlier vow. The Ancient was both stronger and faster than me. He had more powers than me. My chances of winning on skill alone were growing dim.

Again the nightwalker vanished before my eyes. Immediately, I sent my powers out from my body, tapping into the energy that surrounded me. I sensed Yuri just before he reappeared behind me. Spinning around, I ducked lower into a squat and slammed the flat of my blade into the back of his legs. The impact was enough to send him sprawling onto his back. Kneeling beside him, I drove my sword down into his chest before he could roll away, narrowly missing his heart. At the same time, he lifted his blade, shoving it through my shoulder.

Our matching cries of pain reverberated through the air as the scent of blood filled the hall. Jerking my sword from his chest, I pressed the tip into his throat.

“Will you yield and swear to follow me?” I demanded through clenched teeth.

“You have not won yet,” he bit out, twisting the blade that was still in my shoulder. A low moan escaped me, but I held my own sword steady in my hand.

“It’s over,” I said firmly. “This is your last chance to walk away.”

To my surprise, Yuri disappeared. I slammed into the floor, my free hand sliding in his blood as I tried to stop myself. A wall of flames shot up around me as I pushed to my knees again. Pain pulsed down my arm and across my chest. The flames had been a reflex reaction to save myself from being stabbed in the back.

Yuri reappeared beside me. He grabbed a handful of my hair, but before he could tighten his grip, I pushed on the floor, using his blood to slide out of his reach and through the dancing flames. Regaining my feet, I threw a knife at him before I stepped back into the circle of fire. The blade embedded itself deep in the creature’s stomach, bending him over in pain. With no remorse, no hesitation, I raised my sword and chopped off his head.

The headless body collapsed at my feet, while the head rolled several feet away. With a snap of my fingers, the wall of flames vanished as Yuri’s body became engulfed in flames. Walking over, I kicked his head toward the dais so it lay before my chair like a trophy.

“Who’s next?” I shouted, extinguishing the flames so that only my voice echoed through the heavy silence. No one moved. No one spoke. Even wounded, I was still a threat they were unwilling to take on. I was not an Ancient, but I would take my seat on the coven as an Elder regardless of whether I truly wanted it.

This arrangement will not last , Stefan whispered in my head.

I smiled as I turned to face the three seated Elders before me. You’re right. This won’t last. Just give me time and I will hand you an open seat, I promised. I didn’t always agree with Stefan and his outlook toward the other races. However, he was strong and he would help me stand against the naturi. I needed him alive and seated on the coven beside me if my people were to survive the long nights that were approaching.

“It seems there are no others willing to cross you, Mira,” Jabari said, beaming at me like a proud father. “Once again I recognize your claim to the open seat on the coven.”

My gaze turned to Elizabeth and Macaire, waiting. All the members of the coven had to recognize my claim on the open seat or they had to challenge me. After my fight with Yuri, I was weaker than I had been when I first walked into the Main Hall, making me potentially easy prey for Macaire and maybe even Elizabeth. Both held grudges against me for their own particular reasons. My muscles tightened, increasing the pain in my shoulder even as it struggled to finally heal. My hand tightened around my sword, sending a stabbing pain through my arm, but I was ready.

“I recognize your claim to the open seat on the coven,” Elizabeth declared in a clear, ringing voice that filled the enormous chamber. She lifted her chin a little and even graced me with a small smile, as if daring me to question her motives.

My gaze then turned to Macaire, whose face had grown red during the past few minutes as his rage mounted. I was willing to bet that the nightwalker had goaded Yuri into challenging me, confident that the powerful Ancient would make quick work of me. But yet again Macaire had under-estimated me and my determination to live.

“I recognize your claim to the open seat on the coven,” he announced in a dark growl, his hands tightening on the arms of his chair.

I bowed my head slightly to him, my grin growing wider. It was official now. I was an Elder on the coven that ruled the entire nightwalker nation, and I had at my side a hunter that was part bori. My people might never forgive me if they found out the truth, but I was doing what I believed was for the best.

“As my first act as Elder, there is some old business that I would like to clear up,” I announced. Gazing around the room, my eyes finally lit on a slender blond nightwalker with icy blue eyes. My smile dimmed as I walked over to him. Lucas took a step backward, bumping into a nightwalker standing directly behind him.

“Mira, I—” he started, but I didn’t allow him to get any further. Grabbing the front of his shirt, I tossed him into the middle of the open floor before the coven. The young nightwalker scrambled to his feet and tried to edge closer to his master Macaire. However, I darted across the room, intercepting his movements.

“What grievances do you have against my companion?” Macaire demanded as he shoved to his feet.

“Many,” I said in a low voice. “Don’t I, Lucas?”

“Please, Mira,” he pleaded, trying to take a step away from me, but I had already begun to circle him, keeping him trapped in the center of the floor.

I waited for him to say that he was simply following the orders of his master, but the nightwalker stopped himself before he could incriminate Macaire. The Elder would only go so far to protect him, and neither of us believed that he would cross me directly.

“Last summer you were in Savannah trying to incite a rebellion with Bishop among my people. You lingered in my domain without presenting yourself to me. You attacked me and you attacked my guest.” I stopped pacing. “Do you have any excuse that you can offer up?”

“Please, Mira, I had no choice,” Lucas pleaded as a tear streaked down his pale cheek.

“Really? Why is that?”

“I—I can’t . . .” he said, his words seeming to drift away. If he offered up an excuse that saved him from me, he would not escape Macaire’s wrath.

“That’s what I thought.” Balling my right hand into a fist, I punched through his chest so I could grab his heart. I wrapped my fingers around the cold lifeless organ before ripping it out. The nightwalker gave one little jerk before falling over before me. He never cried out. He never fought me. But then, he never had a chance.

I waved my empty hand over Lucas’s body, lighting it on fire. I tossed the heart on the burning body and turned back to face the coven with a wide grin on my face. All the aches and pains I felt earlier had left me as I was filled with a rush of adrenaline that came from killing both Yuri and Lucas. My fangs poked against my lower lip and a part of me yearned for another battle, but now was not the time. Macaire had returned to his seat, his eyes unmoving from the flickering flames behind me.