“How kind of you,” I said with a smirk. “You’re right, though. In a perfect world it should have worked, except that nightwalkers don’t play well with other creatures.”

“The agreement between the various members was falling apart?” Danaus asked from the other side of the room.

“Or it never really worked in the first place because it never really had a good test,” I replied.

“They set up Ferko to take the fall for Michelle from the very beginning, knowing we would strike back by wiping out his entire pack along with Ferko, freeing the others from their agreement. They could have come riding to his rescue at any time, particularly earlier tonight at Veyron’s house, but they didn’t. Someone wanted him out of the way. He was sacrificed.”

“And Sofia?” Danaus asked.

I frowned, still hating to hear her name pass his lips. “Just one of Macaire’s pawns.” I turned to look at Stefan and Valerio, wiping my face clean of expression. “Her job was to separate Danaus and me using his weakness for humans. Their hope was that we would kill each other so they wouldn’t have to do the job themselves. If Danaus didn’t kill me first, it was a given that I was going to kill Sofia for her trouble, even if I never discovered that she was truly a witch in disguise.”

“How sweet! A crime of passion,” Stefan mocked.

I bit my tongue. Stefan had committed his own crime of passion when he ripped Ferko to shreds over Michelle’s death, and I had no doubt that he planned to do the same to Odelia when she crossed his path again.

“So, we’re left with an intimate trio of conspirators against you,” Valerio said, sitting back against the sofa again with a heavy sigh.

“Oh, no. This is a quartet, and I fully intend to clean house. I won’t tolerate being hunted. This conspiracy was not only for our death, but yours as well. I don’t find myself quite so forgiving as you when it comes to the planned assassination of those I consider to be my friends.”

Skepticism filled Stefan’s expression, and in truth I couldn’t blame him. We’d never seen eye-to-eye on anything, and I had no doubt that he would take the first opportunity that presented itself to kill me for my seat on the coven. But by the same token, he had protected and defended me on more than one occasion since Peru. He was proving to be more useful than I initially anticipated, though I still didn’t trust him. Stefan needed a seat on the coven if he was ever going to be satisfied.

“Mira, you can’t mean . . .” Valerio started, but his voice faded off. Even as we sat in Budapest, a long distance from Venice, it still didn’t feel safe to say the words out loud.

“I do and I will. It’s the only reason that Jabari allowed me to join the coven in the first place. It’s time I fulfilled my purpose so I can move on with my life,” I grumbled, staring at the sparkling glass-covered floor before me.

“If you fulfill your purpose, then what reason will Jabari have to keep you around?” Danaus asked softly from the far side of the room.

“None,” I whispered, then shook my head. “I’ll deal with that problem when the time comes.” Though I had a feeling I would have to deal with it sooner if Nick had any say in the matter. My time was running out. Soon I would have to deal with two coven Elders, not just one.

“What about the naturi?” Stefan inquired, drawing my gaze back to his face. The nightwalker leaned against the wall with his hands shoved into his pockets, looking very content with my plans. If I took on Macaire directly, there was a very good chance that a seat was going to open up on the coven. He honestly didn’t care if it was mine or Macaire’s. It was a win-win situation for him.

“They were just a red herring,” Valerio said, his lips twisting around the words. He had been nearly killed by something that wasn’t important in the grander scheme of things.

“Yes, it was either just luck or coincidence that Rowe happened to be in Budapest at the same time.” I shrugged. “I hadn’t seen any sign of the bastard since Peru.”

“Or there’s a chance that Macaire is still in contact with the naturi,” Danaus said, “plotting new plots that would mean your eventual death.”

“Macaire is plotting with the naturi?” Valerio nearly came off the sofa.

I inwardly cringed, wishing I could throw something at Danaus. I really wasn’t in the mood to get into this with Stefan and Valerio. Neither knew that members of the coven had conspired with the naturi at one time to bring about the end of Our Liege.

“He did at one time,” I muttered. “We don’t know if he still is. I thought I had killed his contact, and I find it hard to believe that Rowe would cooperate with any nightwalker.”

“He might if it means getting his hands on you,” Danaus countered, sending a shiver down my spine.

“It doesn’t matter. I plan to clean up this mess.”

“Tonight?” Valerio asked.

“No. I need you in peak fighting form. I will need everyone’s help to take down not only Veyron but Odelia and Clarion as well. We’re cleaning out Budapest before we return to Venice.”

“Will you ever return?” Stefan inquired. “You are the keeper, after all.”

“Keeper,” I grumbled. “I never wanted to be keeper of this city.”

“It’s not that bad a city. Once you clean out the rabble, of course,” Danaus added, surprising me.

I leaned my head into my hand with my elbow resting on the arm of the chair. “I just want to go home at this point. I’ll come back to Budapest eventually. It’s not like we’re going to be leaving behind any power players. The shifters are dead, and there aren’t any old nightwalkers here.”

“That’s just the problem, Mira,” Stefan spoke up. “You’re leaving behind a power vacuum. Anyone will be able to move into this domain and take over.”

“What? You want it? Take it!” I dropped my hand and glared at Valerio. “Or you. It’s closest to your domain. You take it.”

“I don’t have a domain,” Valerio said smugly.

I slammed my fist against the arm of the chair, causing the wood to creak. “Then man up and claim one finally!”

Valerio just smiled at me, enjoying my evident frustration. I didn’t want Budapest. It was a gorgeous city and I had no doubt that I might actually enjoy it once Veyron and the others were cleared out. However, my mind kept drifting back to my sweet Savannah. I had left Tristan and too many others unguarded. I needed to get back there before something horrible happened.

“If nothing is going to be done tonight,” Valerio said, pushing slowly to his feet, “then we should pull back to Vienna, where it’s safer.”

“We need to be at our strongest if we’re going to take them on,” I added, rising as well.

“Veyron got you worried?” Danaus asked.

I shook my head as I carefully picked my way over to the bedroom. “Clarion. You never know what warlocks are capable of until they have already cast the spell.”

Danaus and I quickly packed our bags. Then Stefan placed an arm across my shoulders, while Valerio put his hand on Danaus’s arm. In a blink of an eye we were whisked across vast empty miles to Valerio’s private apartments in downtown Vienna.

Stefan released me once he was sure I was steady on my feet. He walked into the living room and relaxed across a chaise lounge. Valerio and Danaus appeared beside me a second later. The hunter frowned and shook his head as if to clear it of the cobwebs, while Valerio came over and picked up my bag so he could personally escort me to a room that I would use for changing. I would be sleeping in a more secure and private chamber with him and Stefan when the sun finally started to rise in the sky.

“It seems that you and Danaus have reconciled your differences,” Valerio murmured when we were alone in the other room. He placed my bag down on the bed and leaned against one of the four wooden posters with his arms crossed over his chest.

“We’re trying to make this work,” I admitted, though I was reluctant to speak about it. Valerio and I had a past together that stretched across several centuries. I’d taken different lovers during the times when we were apart, and he had not batted an eye at it. Why had he taken a sudden interest now? “What’s your concern?”