Valerio smiled at me and extended one hand. I took it, allowing him to raise it to his lips and brush a kiss across the knuckles. “You are my concern. You are always my concern.”

“You’re also full of shit. What’s your sudden interest?” I snapped. I tugged at my hand, but he refused to release me.

“A powerful nightwalker hunter has obviously won the heart of one of the most powerful nightwalkers in the world. Certainly that should raise a concern or two among the masses.”

“Shouldn’t you also consider that one of the most powerful nightwalkers in the world has potentially won the heart of a powerful nightwalker hunter? Wouldn’t that benefit us?” I countered.

“Have you, now?”

“If not now, then soon I think,” I said with a small smile. “He has stopped hunting us at random. Directed execution is not out of the question for him. He would be protecting the humans, and protecting my interests as well.”

Valerio chuckled at me as he leaned down and pressed a kiss to my cheek. “You make it sound as if you planned this.”

“Hmmm . . . wouldn’t that be marvelous,” I purred, and then grew serious. “I have plans for Danaus, but they have nothing to do with the coven or the naturi or anything of this world.”

“And what plans would those be?”

“Going home to Savannah and letting the world forget about us.”

“Ahh . . . mi amor , I don’t think that will ever be possible.”

“You’re probably right, but we have to try. Even if it’s only for a little while.”

A knock at the door pulled us apart. I turned to find Danaus standing in the hall with his bag slung over his shoulder and his coat folded over his other arm. “Is this a private party?”

“No, we were discussing plans after we are done with Budapest and Venice,” I replied, forcing a smile upon my lips.

“Savannah,” he said with a sigh. Home, I heard whispered through his brain. He then turned his full attention to Valerio. “Does Clarion know where you reside in Vienna?”

“No, I don’t believe so,” Valerio replied. “No one has seen me come or go from this particular residence. The few times I saw Clarion in Vienna it was in some very public locations. He should not bother us here.”

“Can Veyron or Odelia track me like the naturi can?” he asked, turning his attention to me.

“No. They found us at the hotel because I made no secret of where we were staying. We did not try to hide our movements within the city. We were easily followed, I have no doubt. They may guess that we have left the city with Valerio and Stefan, but they are more likely to believe that we have pulled back to Venice rather than Vienna.”

“It may not be safe for me to stay here with you during the day.” Danaus frowned down at me, tightening one hand on the strap of his bag. “I could go stay in a nearby hotel so you don’t have to worry about Clarion getting close during the day.”

I walked over and laid my hand against his cheek. I could spend a lifetime touching him. “If I know Valerio, we will not exactly be here during the daylight hours. He has some secret den tucked away for us to sleep in, which will be safe. You will have the run of the house until sunset.”

“You’ll be safe?”

“Completely.”

I could feel the tension ease from his shoulders. The naturi were able to get to me in the past because they had been able to track him, following him until he finally met up with me. It was trick I was sure Rowe found handy more than once during our association.

“Well, if that’s all for the evening, I must go feed,” Valerio said in a louder than necessary voice to remind us that we weren’t alone. I rolled my eyes, but I was still smiling when I turned to look at my old friend. “Feed well, but be back well before sunrise. We have to plan tomorrow’s attack.”

“Mmmm . . . sounds like fun.” Then he disappeared completely.

Yes, the time had come for us to finally be on the offensive. I was done running and chasing my tail. The naturi were out of the way. The lycanthropes were dead. It was time to clean out the rest of the house, and Veyron was on the top of my list for Budapest. I had little doubt that Macaire had pulled back to Venice following the death of Ferko and Odelia. I would deal with the Elder in Venice.

The silence was suffocating. I stared up the lonely street interspersed with trees gnarled and twisted by time. Without the presence of the naturi, the wind had gone still, leaving the tree branches standing like silent sentinels in the thick darkness. A fresh powder of snow coated the ground, struggling to glisten in the thin light that poured from the moon as it peeked from behind massive clouds.

The earth was holding its breath, waiting for the outcome of yet another battle. But then so was I. Each time I walked into a fight, I weighed the strengths and weaknesses of my opponents. I weighed the strengths and weaknesses of my allies. I played the odds in my head, and too often I came up as the long shot. It was getting old.

Among my kind, being the Fire Starter meant something. With a thought and a casual wave of my hand, I could wipe out an army of nightwalkers. When I faced the naturi, they needed to bring forth only a light clan member to counter my unique ability. A bori merely needed to extend its powers and I was under its immediate control. And a warlock . . . a warlock could counter my powers with a quick spell, leaving me nothing more than another bloodsucker with an attitude problem. In this fight, Valerio and Stefan had the true advantage, with their ability to appear and disappear at will. Sure, the power took its toll on their strength, but the battle wouldn’t last more than a few minutes before one side was decimated.

Despite my place on the coven, it only made sense that I go in as bait. I was the ultimate target of Veyron and the others, at Macaire’s request. I was also the youngest and the weakest of our quartet. Danaus was not thrilled with the decision, but he said nothing when Stefan took me to the end of Veyron’s street and left me. I could feel Danaus as a ghost in my thoughts, along with Valerio. Both men were waiting for the first sign from me that it was time for them to appear.

My footsteps echoed off the concrete, the sound bouncing off the flat front of the homes and flying off into the nothingness. I resisted the urge to nervously check all my weapons once again. I was well-armed with a short sword across my back and an assortment of knives around my body. To Danaus’s dismay, I didn’t bring a gun with me. Guns were ineffective against nightwalkers, and I didn’t think Clarion would allow me to catch him off guard with a spray of bullets.

In truth, I wasn’t sure how we were going to kill Clarion. We would try to stop him if he decided to flee, but I wasn’t sure if Valerio and Stefan could follow him if he did. I wasn’t sure what the warlock was capable of, but I had a feeling he could cast some of the most basic shield spells to block our weapons and attacks. My only hope was that he didn’t know how to control fire, but I wasn’t counting on it. If Clarion was going to survive this ordeal, he would have taken the time to learn how to manipulate fire.

I paused at the edge of Veyron’s yard and sent my powers flowing out from my body so they swept over the ancient structure. A single candle burned in the front window, while the rest of the massive house was dark. Inside, I sensed close to a dozen nightwalkers and a handful of humans. These humans would be heavily armed with guns that could blow apart the brain. That was the only way to kill a nightwalker with a gun—destroy the brain or heart so completely that it couldn’t grow back. I would need to take out these humans before Danaus and the others stepped foot in the building.

Within their midst was a single powerful magic user. It would be Clarion, who was waiting for us. I could sense him over the aged Veyron and his companion Odelia. Clarion was the true danger here, not the nightwalkers or the humans with their weapons. Unfortunately, I had no idea how to defeat him.