James slid down the wall and sat on the ground. He looked down at his shaking hands, a tortured look on his face. I knew his thoughts without asking. He had thought he had escaped the fate of his parents. We all had. He had shown no signs in all his years, but now he had to face a new fate and he wasn’t ready for it. For the first time in his life, I thought he actually needed the sanctuary Themis offered.

With a sigh, I looked down at the body of the poor man who simply walked back into an alley to check on a man and girl who looked like they were in trouble. A good Samaritan, and I had been forced to kill him before he killed someone else against his will. I closed my eyes for a minute and forced the bile back down my throat along with the scream of frustration. Gaizka could easily read minds and take any form it wanted in an effort to win over its prey. I couldn’t find it unless it wanted to be found and I had no idea if it could even be killed. A bori had found its way into Mira’s domain and it was my fault.

“James,” I called. The researcher’s head jerked up, his eyes wide and terrified. “Go back to the hotel. I’ll take care of this.”

“I-I-I can’t do this,” he said, shaking his hands at me. “I-I can’t be this way. I thought I was s-safe.”

“We’ll get through this. I’ll talk to some people who can help you. Go back to the hotel and get some rest. It will help,” I said, knowing full well that it would be a long time before the young man had another good night’s sleep. But to my surprise, he nodded as he pushed to his feet. Blindly, he trudged down Factors Walk and headed back to the hotel.

I stood as well and walked over to the dead body. I pulled it over to the shadows, where it was out of the direct line of sight of anyone who might be passing by. Taking a small bottle of accelerant from the interior pocket of my jacket, I sprayed it on the body. I kept it with me in case I had to quickly dispose of a vampire or naturi body. I piled a couple empty boxes on top of it to make it look like someone had lit some trash on fire. With a heavy heart, I threw a lit match on the pile. I waited only long enough to make sure the accelerant caught on fire before I jogged up the same stairs the girl had disappeared up just minutes earlier.

A sigh escaped me as I drove back to Mira’s town house. I had little doubt that Gaizka was behind Abigail Bradford’s murder, but I just wasn’t sure of the creature’s motives for killing her. If it wanted to start killing humans and causing chaos, it could have easily taken control of Mira and torched all of Savannah. Of course, that could just be the next stage in its master plan. If that was the case, then no one was safe and I would finally be forced to kill the nightwalker. Unfortunately, I was no longer sure that I wanted to.

A heavy pounding dragged me from the deep abyss of sleep. Twisted in the soft cotton sheets, I lay on my back rubbing my eyes. Sleep had come faster than I had anticipated, pulling me under the moment my head had hit the pillow. Twice in too few hours had I used my powers, with too little sleep and food. I needed to sleep for at least a few hours before trying to butt heads with Gaizka yet again. As I stared up at the white ceiling, my thoughts were finally starting to congeal in a semi-coherent fashion when the pounding started again. Someone was at the front door.

Throwing back the black covers, I swung my feet to the floor and pulled on the pants I had worn the night before. I had left them crumpled on the floor next to the bed in case I needed to be dressed quickly. Grabbing the knife from under my pillow, I silently walked down the stairs. Late-day sunlight was entering the room at an angle, creating long shadows.

“Who is it?” I called before reaching the door. My voice was still heavy and rough from sleep.

“Peter Teague,” a male voice replied from the other side of the door, soft and muffled. “We sort of met last night at the party.”

I had opened my mouth to say that he had the wrong address when it dawned on me that he could be referring to the First Communion gathering. Frowning, I gazed through the slender window beside the door to find last night’s main course standing on the front porch.

With the knife still tightly clenched in my right hand, I unlocked the door and jerked it open. I stood in the opening, blocking his entrance. “What do you want?”

“Welcoming committee,” he said, his thin lips twisting into a sneer. Peter wore a white button-up shirt that was wrinkled and left untucked from his faded blue jeans. His brown hair was damp as if he had just recently gotten out of the shower. Dark shadows underlined his brown eyes and his skin was pale. Rough night, no doubt.

“Go away.”

Peter caught the door as I tried to shut it. “They just want a little information,” he interjected before I could completely shut the door in his face. “You would too if your mother had welcomed a serial killer into your home.” I paused with the door half open, staring at the man. His mouth moved again, some of the sneer leaking away. “Think of me as a diplomat, smoothing the waves.”

The nightwalkers were nervous about my appearance at Mira’s side. Not that I was surprised by the fact. Unfortunately, that anxiety could prove to be a distraction for Mira, and I needed the Fire Starter focused as much as possible on our current problem. I couldn’t afford to have her running off to deal with her fellow vampires when I needed her with me.

Frowning, I stepped aside and opened the door so Peter could enter the town house. He walked in, his gaze sweeping over the grand hall, eyes glimpsing the giant library to the left and the living room on the right. His hands were shoved deep into his pockets and his shoulders were slumped.

He wandered into the living room and stopped before the picture windows. “She has one of the best views in the whole city,” he muttered softly under his breath as he shook his head. He then turned on his heel to face me. His lean face twisted and wrinkled as he took in my dirty hair, bare chest, wrinkled pants, and bare feet. “You just get up?”

“Late night,” I grumbled, following behind him. “What time is it?”

Peter pulled his left hand out of his pocket and glanced down at his watch. “Couple hours before sunset.”

Turning my back on my unexpected guest, I stumbled into the kitchen, stretching my arms over my head in an effort to wake up. I had slept later than I had meant to. Peter’s reply also surprised me. He measured time the same way nightwalkers did, in relation to the rising and setting sun. I was willing to bet he had been among their kind for more than a year or two.

I heard his soft footsteps on the carpet as he followed me into the kitchen. I tried to ignore him as I opened the black cabinets. There was a small coffeemaker sitting on the counter beside the sink. I was hoping to find some coffee and maybe a filter or two. The last time I was here I had stayed only a couple days and the food in the house had been takeout, including the coffee.

“Left of the fridge, top shelf,” Peter said from where he was leaning against the doorway.

Following his directions, I found a bag of ground coffee and some filters on the top shelf. I pulled them down and then looked at my guest, waiting for an explanation of how he knew.

Peter shrugged his slim shoulders, his eyes darting away from mine. “Mira threw a party here a couple months ago. There were a few humans. I made some coffee.”

I walked over to the coffeemaker and started prepping it. “How long have you known Mira?”

“Mira threw a party here a couple months ago,” he repeated, sarcasm lacing each of his words. “There were a few humans. I made some coffee.” I looked back over at him as I poured water from the carafe into the top of the coffeemaker. “I don’t,” he admitted, into the growing silence. “I’ve seen her only twice, including last night.”