“No!” she cried.

“Mira, please!” Tristan shouted. I turned to find him standing between me and Amanda. “She’s been through something terrible. She needs time to recover. She’s not thinking clearly. Please, reconsider. She belongs with us.” The nightwalker reached out and clasped my right hand in both of his.

“Then she should have stayed in her home and recovered from her encounter instead of coming here and insulting our family,” I snapped.

“I’m sorry,” Amanda murmured. “I—I—”

“Which naturi was giving orders while you were being held?” I demanded, quickly changing subjects. I didn’t want to hear her apologies right now. She had insulted both Tristan and me, coming to my home with her whining complaints and feelings of entrapment.

“I—I don’t understand,” she replied, shoving one hand through her hair to push it away from her face.

I resumed my trek into my study, their footsteps following me across the marble and hardwood floors. “If you’re going to be in this family, you’re going to be of use to me,” I said irritably. “Who was giving orders?”

“I’m not sure. Knox said that you killed everyone on the island,” she said.

I glanced over my shoulder to find her hovering in the doorway. Where she had been eager to explore and soak in every inch of my house last night, she was now equally hesitant to enter my world and endure my gaze. She feared me again, which was something I needed since I no longer had her absolute loyalty, like Tristan.

“Nearly,” I admitted. “The naturi that was being held prisoner still lives. Was she a prisoner when you arrived?”

“Yes. They beat her every time she spoke. She always wore manacles. They tried to get me to drink her blood,” Amanda quickly explained.

Standing beside my desk, I turned over a silver-plated hourglass. It was possible that what Amanda saw was the truth, but then it could just as easily have been an act. I didn’t trust Cynnia or my luck when it came to the naturi. It was too much to hope that I had managed to get my hands on someone that could actually help me get closer to Rowe and potentially Aurora.

The black sand poured from the upper glass chamber in a steady stream, building in the lower chamber in a spent pile. We were all running out of time. The night was wearing down, and I needed to make some decisions about Cynnia before Danaus and I left for Peru. I also needed to make some serious attempts to learn some earth magic before I climbed to the Incan ruins.

At the same time, I felt as if I needed to put Tristan and Amanda on a healing path. What if I didn’t come back from Machu Picchu? I wanted to know that Tristan would be safe and happy in Savannah, and that would only happen if Amanda respected him. Too much to do and too little time.

My fingers drifted over the glass bulb of the hourglass, wishing I could slow those seconds down. “Stay here, today. Tristan will find a safe place for you to sleep. I have some business to complete.”

“It’s getting late, Mira,” Tristan reminded me. “Can’t it wait until tomorrow?”

“I’m running out of tomorrows,” I said with a frown as I lifted my hand from the hourglass. “I’ll be back before the sun rises.”

“I am truly sorry, Mira,” Amanda said, trying to draw my gaze back to her form, but I refused to lift my eyes from the surface of my desk. “I didn’t mean to insult you. It’s…it’s the naturi. I—”

“I’m not the one you should be apologizing to,” I said, then silently slipped out of the room, leaving Tristan and Amanda alone to finally face the battle they had both survived in different ways.

I had dipped into Tristan’s mind when I found him in Forsyth Park, watched it replay the battle in gory detail. He had held his own, killing several of the wolves that overwhelmed him. They had surrounded him, separating him from Amanda when she was grabbed by the naturi. He had performed well, but it wasn’t enough to save Amanda. He blamed himself for his capture when there were few who would have been able to save her. She needed to understand that he had been there for her, argued for her rescue when common sense said to abandon her. I had a feeling this was their only chance, and I wished them luck.

Summer was in its last days but you wouldn’t know it in Savannah. The air was still hot and heavy with the scent of flowers and earth. It was well after midnight now and the traffic had slowed to the point of being nearly nonexistent. I was sure the bars down along the riverfront were still seeing some action. Yet I remained away from the buzz on River Street, returning to the one place I thought I wouldn’t see again tonight: my own town house. When I left Danaus, I had sworn to myself I wouldn’t return until tomorrow night; that I needed more time to relax from the battle, to think and detach myself from the naturi that was now in my grasp.

On the drive over I knew I was being drawn back to my town house for more than just my need to talk to Cynnia and to see that my companions were safe. I needed to talk to Shelly. Standing outside the front gate, I scanned the house. Danaus was in the front living room with, I assumed, Cynnia.

Pausing there, I mentally reached out along the well-trod path between my mind and Danaus’s. The more we mentally touched, the easier it became. While I wished it wasn’t so, I couldn’t deny that the ability to communicate with him this way was useful.

Is the naturi with you? I demanded suddenly in his brain.

Yes. What’s wrong? His reply was instantaneous, as if he were expecting my touch.

Nothing, I thought with a faint sigh. We’ll talk more soon.

I wasn’t particularly happy about the arrangement, but this was the best option for all those involved. I would have preferred to keep the naturi locked up in the warehouse I owned downtown, but it was inconvenient for all those involved. Danaus would be stuck there during the day guarding her, and I couldn’t guarantee his privacy. I just had to remind myself that this was an extremely temporary arrangement.

Shelly, on the other hand, was alone in the backyard. Slipping silently past the iron gate, I walked around the house to find her seated on the ground with her face in her hands.

“I hesitated,” she announced into the air before I could start to approach her. I hadn’t made a sound and yet she knew I was there.

“You choked,” I corrected, shrugging off the trick. Maybe something in the earth had told her I was coming. I entered the backyard, coming to stand several feet away from where the witch sat on the ground.

“I’m sorry,” she murmured, twisting around to look up at me. Her large eyes were red-rimmed and her face was flushed from crying. My stomach twisted with guilt and regret when I looked at her. My instincts had told me she was not ready for a fight with the naturi, but I let my need for manpower override my common sense, and her presence had endangered everyone. If I was to survive the upcoming battle at Machu Picchu, I needed to be more aware of who comprised my team and less worried about the numbers. But then I wasn’t the only one there with a hard lesson to learn.

“I’m not the one you should be apologizing to. Your hesitation and inability to handle the situation put Tristan and Knox in serious danger. They could have been killed trying to protect you when their main concern should have been saving Amanda,” I explained.

“I know. It won’t happen again,” Shelly affirmed, wiping the last of the tears from her face. She turned on the ground so she was facing me.

“I know it won’t. Your assistance is no longer needed here,” I firmly said, shoving my hands into the front pockets of my leather pants. “You’re free to go back to Charleston or wherever Danaus brought you from.”