At the end of the main street, Danaus halted the car and looked at me for direction. Now that we were here, I didn’t want to move, didn’t want to speak. It had sounded like a good idea while I was sitting in a crowded bar in Cuzco surrounded by my own kind. No, that’s wrong. It had sounded like a horrible idea when I was in Cuzco, and now that I was sitting here in the dark, I knew it was disastrous.

“Mira?” he prodded when I still refused to speak.

“The ruins,” I replied in a low voice, proud that it didn’t tremble. Of course, I was still struggling to loosen the death grip I had on the door handle. “Were we followed?”

There was no reason to ask who I was talking about. Only one group would be able to follow us without being detected by normal means. There was only one group right now that any of us were worried about. The naturi.

“No, but they’re not far away,” Danaus said. His deep voice was even and calm; a soothing balm despite the ominous words. Since we left the hotel, there had been a steady throb of energy seeping from him as he searched the area for our enemy. The relentless waves washed over and through me, pulling me closer to him. Those waves had both protected and sought to tear me apart in the past. Now I needed their protection not only from the enemy that was drawing close, but also from the ghosts haunting my past.

Danaus turned the grumbling white van down the road and drove the short distance to the ruins. Surrounded by hills, it was easy to make out the ruins rising up before us with the intricate stonework carved out by men centuries ago. The hunter pulled the van into the small, gravel parking lot a few hundred yards from the base of the mountain. Of course, mountain was a relative term considering we were already more than nine thousand feet above sea level. By the looks of it, the hike to the peak of the ruins was less that a quarter of a mile.

“Well, Mira,” Stefan started, breaking the silence that was punctuated by only the rough breathing of the humans. “We’re here. What is it you wished to see?”

Turning in my seat, I looked back at the naturi huddled as close to the door as she could get, putting as much distance as possible between her and Stefan. “Cynnia? Is there anything you can tell me?” I asked, ignoring the nightwalker for the time being.

“Nothing. I’ve never been here. I’m not quite sure why it would be viewed as important other than the fact that there is a great deal of energy in the air right here.”

I couldn’t argue with her there. The air seemed thick with energy, as if it were moisture on a hot and humid day. The energy within the area had become an entity that seemed to demand its presence to be recognized. Well, I was about to.

“We go to the top,” I bit out, goaded on by Stefan’s insolent tone. If the nightwalker had any special skill, it was his ability to instantly get under your skin like a tick. “The humans stay here and guard the van.”

“Mira?” Shelly’s voice softly broke the quiet of the van.

“You stay close to Cynnia. Don’t let her out of your sight. Don’t let her anywhere near the ruins where she might be able to escape us,” I commanded, more for Stefan’s benefit than for Shelly’s. I didn’t expect Cynnia to make a mad dash for freedom here, not if she was afraid of the allegiance of any naturi she found. For now, she was actually safer in my hands.

“Are you sure she can handle—”

“She can handle it,” I snapped, interrupting Stefan’s question.

Without waiting for any additional comment or argument, I shoved open the door and stepped out. I had to get moving. A flock of nightwalkers would be arriving in less than an hour to fetch us and carry us back to the lodge at the base of the ruins. This would be my only chance to see this place. Yet, all well laid plans are nothing without the occasional stumbling block.

The moment my booted foot touched the gravel-covered ground, my knee buckled beneath me. Luckily, I had yet to unwrap my fingers from around the armrest on the door, saving me from landing on my butt. The weight of my body pushed the door all the way open, pulling me out of the van. My other foot touched the ground and a second shockwave of power surged through my body, pulling a soft whimper from my throat. I tightly locked both hands around the armrest and leaned my head against the door, waiting for the feeling to pass. I couldn’t get my legs to work. They remained limp, useless noodles beneath me. Pain filled me in massive, endless waves as the power from the earth pushed and pummeled my body from head to toe.

“Mira?” Stefan laid a hand on my shoulder, his voice questioning but without its usually cold indifference. I hadn’t even heard the side door slide open when the nightwalker alighted from the van.

“Don’t you feel it?” I choked out as I unclenched my teeth.

“Feel what?”

The question startled me enough to force my eyes open. I twisted my body to look over my shoulder and find Stefan standing just behind me, appearing perfectly fine. Then I lifted my head to see Danaus walking around the van. He also appeared unaffected. There was so much energy in the air it was positively suffocating. How could either of the two men manage to be completely oblivious to it?

“Shelly?”

“I feel it, but it’s not painful,” she said, coming to stand by me. “It feels like a lot of energy just flowing by me, sort of like standing in the middle of a fast-running stream.”

“It’s not running by her like it should,” Cynnia said as she walked toward me. “It’s trying to push its way into her. Even with the manacles, I can feel the energy swirling around Mira, swamping her. It wants in.”

“What’s going on?” Stefan demanded over the buzz of conversation and contemplation. “What energy are they talking about?”

“The energy from the earth,” I muttered when no one seemed willing to talk directly to him. “I can sense it.”

“Is it going to make you useless to us?” he continued in his usual less than cheerful manner.

“Danaus?” My eyes fell shut again as I concentrated on holding onto the armrest. I didn’t need to worry about Stefan and his attitude at that moment. I had to worry about finding a way to function like this. If we were attacked right now by the naturi, I would be useless to the group, a liability.

I listened to the crunch of gravel beneath Danaus’s feet as he stepped closer. His broad hand rested on my back and a surprised grunt escaped him. He drew his hand away and I opened my eyes to find my dark companion staring at me in confusion.

“What is that?” he growled.

“The earth,” I whispered. “Pick me up.” My grip on the door of the van was beginning to weaken and I didn’t have the strength to crawl back into the van. It also wasn’t an option. We had to get to the top of the ruins before the other nightwalkers arrived.

Without a word of argument, the hunter lifted me up into his arms. Instantly, the surge of energy was gone. For a moment my limbs felt weak and shaky, but even that quickly subsided. Laying one arm around his shoulders, I rubbed my temple with the heel of my other hand, trying to clear the fog from my brain. I didn’t have a clue why the energy was so strong there. This wasn’t where they would make the sacrifice in order to open the door. We all knew that was going to be at Machu Picchu. But for some strange reason this place was a maelstrom of energy, and I had to know why before we continued on to the lodge. If this place was of value to the naturi, I needed to know why before we left it at our backs.

“Let’s get going,” I sharply said, feeling awkward giving commands while being cradled in Danaus’s arms, but I’m sure I accomplished it with my usual aplomb. “How long until the others arrive?”

“They’re already on their way,” Stefan stiffly said. Danaus had started walking, and the nightwalker was forced to take a couple jogging steps to catch up. “You can’t have him carry you to the top.”