“How did you know?”

“I sensed your rage and fear.”

“I’m afraid he’s going to kill you,” I whispered.

“You’d never allow it.”

Blinking back tears, I turned my head and pressed my lips to the palm of his hand. “Thank you for your confidence in me.” It was all I could say. He was giving me his trust, and as I had already proved once tonight, I didn’t deserve it.

After some discussion, Danaus and I decided we would pursue a small group of naturi hanging on the edge of the city at what turned out to be Szobor Park. I suspected that if anyone knew I was in the city, they would expect me to go straight for the gathering on one of the islands in the Danube River, but I wasn’t willing to step into that trap just yet. It was bad enough that I had willingly walked into whatever trap Macaire had set for me. For now, I was avoiding the bulk of the naturi on the island. I wasn’t sure how we would reach the island just yet, and I feared a trip out on a ferry would put me in the clutches of the water clan once again. My last encounter with the water clan in Savannah nearly cost Danaus his life.

Unfortunately, neither Danaus nor I were familiar with Budapest. The hunter knew a vague location of the group of naturi, but neither of us could give directions or a landmark to taxi driver. As a result, I was forced to dip into Danaus’s mind while he scanned the region for the naturi. At the same time, I was in the mind of the taxi driver, directing him as best as I could toward our ultimate destination. My powers were strained as I struggled to separate the two minds, while leaving enough of the driver conscious so he could effectively operate the car without plowing us into the first semi we passed. I was shaking by the time we reached Szobor Park, the strain making it one of the longest thirty-minute drives of my life.

I had done this trick before with other nightwalkers, touching multiple minds at once with little problem. But then, everything was easier when I was dealing with nightwalkers. The mind of a human was too easy to completely consume. Meanwhile, I had to maintain my own guard against Danaus so he could not see some of my own dark secrets as we were intimately linked together. I didn’t expect the hunter to go wandering around in my mind while we searched for the naturi, but I wasn’t about to leave the door hanging wide open either.

At Szorbor Park, my hands were trembling and my head was throbbing from the strain. I released both Danaus’s and the taxi driver’s minds at the same time, glad to finally be free of them. Slumping back against the seat as Danaus paid the fare, I closed my eyes and drew in a slow cleansing breath. The pain started to ebb and I became aware of the energy steadily flowing from Danaus. It pulsed and brushed against me, a reassuring heat that seeped into my chilled frame. The hunter was continuously scanning the area for the naturi to make sure we weren’t going to be attacked before we even stepped from the car.

“Are they coming?” I pushed into a sitting position as he opened his door.

“Not yet. Feels like they actually moved deeper into the park,” he replied as he slid out.

I followed behind him, unbuttoning my coat as I moved. My weapons were hidden beneath the heavy folds of my leather coat, and I needed to be able to easily access them. “Where are we?” I may have been giving directions to the taxi driver as I pulled them out of Danaus’s brain, but that didn’t mean I had even the slightest clue as to where we finally ended up. I frowned as I looked around the empty expanse. We were on a lonely strip of road, well outside the city proper. We weren’t going to easily find another taxi back to the hotel, assuming that we had little trouble dispatching the naturi. Grabbing my phone, I typed in the phone number for the taxi company written across the side of the car door. If we couldn’t get another taxi, I’d be forced to hotwire a car. Unfortunately, I was trying not to stir up too much trouble in the city just yet. I wanted to meet this Veyron first, and then I would be happy to cause as much trouble as I wanted.

A red brick wall rose up before us with three tall openings. There were two large windows within the wall that housed a pair of enormous stone statues. I walked over to one, squinting in the darkness until I finally made out the cubist vision of Karl Marx’s face. Cocking my head to the side, I took a step back and smiled.

“It’s Statue Park,” I said, talking mostly to myself.

Danaus stood next to me as he looked up at the statue of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. “I don’t know it.”

“It’s also called Memento Park by some.” I shoved my hands in my pockets and walked over to the other statue. I didn’t recognize the face, but it matched some of the Communist themes I had seen in pictures. “I read about this place. About a decade ago the city leaders gathered up all the Communist statues from around the city and placed them together in a single park. Preserving history, but keeping it carefully corralled in a single location so it can’t bleed into the present.”

“So, I’m guessing that we should be careful and try not to damage the statues,” Danaus said.

I smirked at the hunter over my shoulder. “It would be preferable. I don’t expect that the city will be able to easily replace anything that we break tonight, and I’d hate to be responsible for destroying this interesting bit of history.”

Taking a couple steps backward, I crouched on the balls of my feet for a second before taking a running leap into the air. It was with a sigh of relief that I easily landed on the top of the red brick wall despite the coating of snow and ice. Squatting down, I stared out at the broad swath of level ground that sparkled in the snow before me. Apparently the park was closed during the winter, because no one had bothered to shovel the snow from the walkways. However, I could still make out the outline of six large circles in the earth around a larger central circle. There were no trees in the park to hide behind, but I could easily make out more than three dozen statues. And somewhere in there, five naturi were hiding. I could feel the pulse of their energy, but it almost seemed blurry, as if their powers were obscured by the energy coming from the earth.

I, on the other hand, stood out on the wall, my hunched body outlined by the moonlight. Let the naturi know I was coming for them. With any luck, my appearance and active hunting of the naturi would finally draw out Aurora, or maybe even Rowe. I was ready to remove the head from either one.

“Let’s go,” I said as I took a step off the wall. I landed easily, my knees flexing under the impact. My left heel slipped slightly as I hit the snow but I kept my balance. Meanwhile, Danaus took the time to pick the lock at the front gate. A loud squeal resounded through the frozen wasteland as he pushed it open. I flinched at the sound, glaring at him over my shoulder. I wasn’t exactly trying to be sneaky, but at the same time, I wasn’t trying to wake the dead either.

“Where are they?” I asked when the hunter was finally standing beside me.

“Toward the back of the park, holding very still.”

“Blending in with the statues, I’m sure.” Reaching inside my coat, I pulled a short blade from where it was strapped to my waist. A second blade was removed from where it hung at my hip. “You take the right and I’ll take the left. We’ll meet at the back of the park.”

“Shall we make this interesting?” Danaus inquired as he also pulled a blade.

I arched one brow at him and lowered my weapons. “Fighting the naturi isn’t already interesting?”

“Most kills wins.”

“First to use his or her powers automatically loses,” I added with a grin. Danaus nodded, one corner of his mouth lifting. “And my prize?” This caused Danaus to pause, his newborn smile slipping from his face.