Panting and covered in a fresh sheen of sweat, he leaned over me and bit my shoulder. “You’re mine, vampire, from here until the end. You are mine.”

I laughed at him. I was feeling light-headed and more than a little giddy. It had been too long since I’d last been touched, since I had last felt these warm feelings of concern and passion. It had been too long since either of us were happy.

“Then take me back to bed, hunter,” I commanded in a weary but contented voice. “Take me back to bed so you can be sure that I stay yours.”

Unfortunately, any additional quality time was cut short by the appearance of Stefan in the hotel suite. He was considerate enough to appear in the living room instead of the bedroom where Danaus and I were spread naked across the bed. Danaus brushed his lips across my temple and heaved a deep sigh.

“Can I stake him?” he asked, running his fingers up and down my back in a slow caress.

I snuggled closer as I smiled. “No, you can’t.”

“Can you at least get rid of him?”

Leaning up on my elbow, I looked down at him. “I’m afraid not. We need to make plans for how we’re going to get rid of Veyron and his companions.”

“Back to work,” he groaned, sitting up in bed.

“Back to work.”

After pulling on some clothes, I went out to keep Stefan occupied until Danaus could join us. The nightwalker was also considerate enough not to make any comment on my obviously disheveled appearance. There was no question as to what we were doing.

Setting an overturned chair back on its four legs, I sat down on the soft cushion. “How’s Valerio?”

“Better. He should be arriving shortly.”

As if summoned by our words, Valerio appeared near the entrance to the room. He gazed about, arching one eyebrow at the chaos. “I see the cleaning service hasn’t been through yet. Of course, if you’re comfortable with this arrangement, who am I to judge?” he said blandly.

I jumped out of my chair and rushed over to him. The nightwalker gave a slight grunt when I wrapped my arms around him, but he returned the hug. Seeing him strung up on the cross with a stake in his chest had terrified me. I knew I’d come to close to losing him.

“So glad to see you still alive, old man,” I said, brushing a kiss across his chin.

“I am glad to still be alive,” he said with smile. His cheeks were still a little paler than usual and he didn’t look as strong on his feet as he should. He was not up to his full strength yet, but coming back to Budapest was a start. As I stepped away from him, I noticed the smile fade from his lips. “However, I am disappointed to hear that you had a chance to kill my captor and you let him go. I’m curious to know why.” His words were deceptively calm and neutral, but I could sense frustration boiling away inside of him.

“I would like to know why you didn’t kill Rowe either,” Danaus spoke up. I spun around to find him standing in the bedroom doorway with his arms folded over his chest. At least he looked as he always did, with his dark clothes and sturdy boots. I, on the other hand, was skipping around the room barefoot, trying to avoid shards of broken glass, chunks of wood, and spent bullet casings. “He’s hunted you for months, Mira. He’s going to continue to do so. Why take such a risk as leaving him alive?”

“I couldn’t in good conscience kill him.”

“You couldn’t in good conscience kill the creature that was going to end my existence?” Valerio repeated, humor and sarcasm filling his voice.

“I’m sorry, but no. Rowe was trapped in a tiny cell with me all throughout the day. He had more than ample opportunity to kill me while I was unconscious and vulnerable, but he didn’t. I don’t know why he didn’t kill me, and in truth, I don’t want to know. The only thing that matters is that he didn’t. In repayment for that act of clemency, I agreed that no one would attack him so long as he did not attack me or anyone within my party while we attempted to escape Veyron’s house. He kept to his part of the agreement, so I kept to mine.”

“So, you’re not going to kill him now?”

A deep laugh escaped me as I wandered back over to my chair and plopped down. “Of course I’m going to kill him. If I see him on the battlefield again, I’m sure neither one of us will hesitate to attack, but I promised for that brief period of time at Veyron’s that I would not attack him. It was the fair thing to do.”

“Fair thing? He tried to kill me!” Valerio said.

“And he had ample opportunity to kill a sleeping vampire that was his enemy for centuries, but he didn’t. There is still time, Valerio. We will kill him soon enough. Please say that you understand why I did it.”

“I understand. What I do not understand is where you got this strange sense of justice and fair play. Your conscience is going to get you killed,” he warned, frowning at me.

“Possibly, but not tonight.”

“No, Veyron is going to kill you tonight. Or rather, this morning,” Stefan said grimly.

“If it’s okay with Valerio, I would prefer to retreat to Vienna during the daylight hours and regroup here in the evening for our final attack on Veyron.”

“You think Veyron will send another daylight raiding party?” Danaus asked.

“Not really, but I cannot judge Macaire’s potential attachment to Sofia,” I said with a shrug. “If he was fond of her, he may force Veyron to send people after me.”

Valerio finally entered the room completely and sat down on the sofa after brushing off some of the debris. “So, tell us you’ve got this whole mess figured out. I don’t believe that Macaire sent us here simply to get rid of the naturi.”

“What you have to keep in mind,” I said, “is that he only sent me to Budapest. He knew I would bring Danaus with me. You and Valerio are just expendable.”

Stefan grimaced. “Nicely put.”

I ignored his comment and continued. “There’s a power structure here unlike any of the other domains, and Macaire was counting on it being strong enough to kill both Danaus and me.” Pushing out of my chair, I went over to the desk and picked up the piece of paper I had been scribbling on. As I returned to my chair, I handed it to Valerio, who looked down at it.

“I don’t understand,” he said, handing the paper over to Stefan.

“Macaire built a ruling system here similar to the coven, with five shared rulers,” I explained. “My guess is that he drew Veyron and Odelia, but also struck a deal with Ferko and the warlock Clarion. They held the city in a firm hand, killing off any creature that might have been seen as a threat to their control.”

I looked up at Stefan and frowned. “Odelia may have given the excuse of Michelle’s beauty, but if they knew she belonged to you, they might have feared that she was a scout for you, looking for new territory. She may have been killed simply as a poorly thought out warning against coming into their domain.”

Stefan clenched the paper in his fist and stared down at it. “So, Veyron, Odelia, Ferko, and Clarion all conspired together to be the keepers of Budapest, and Macaire knew.”

“Macaire didn’t just know, he arranged it,” I said. “We’re not talking keepers. He was setting up a replacement coven. He had the liege role here in Budapest and planned to extend his power once his little group destroyed Danaus and me.”

“Th-That’s treason,” Stefan stuttered. “Our Liege would never allow it.”

“I think the hope was that he would never be able to withstand an assault by all five of them, particularly with the warlock in hand. Macaire’s first goal was to get rid of me.”

Valerio leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. “The odd thing is that this should have worked. If they all had acted in concert, we never would have been able to adequately protect you, especially not with Clarion as backup. You should be dead and you’re not.”