As Danaus pushed his way toward the double doors, I grabbed the edge of one of the square columns that rose up to support the second floor, abruptly halting him. I pulled my body back into the crush of people running for the exit. We were being pushed and elbowed, but we managed to shrug most of it off. We’d both be a little sore for a while, but I had bigger fears.
“The body!” I shouted above the thunder of cries and screams. Danaus carried me back in so we were pinned against the column, ignoring the angry cries of confusion. “Lift me up!”
Without question he boosted me up so I was sitting on his shoulder. If not for his strength and my superior balance, it would have been an impossible task in this crowd. I looked over the writhing wave of bodies to the stage. Thorne had not been touched and his band mates had disappeared. I still had to see what I was burning if I couldn’t specifically sense it. Frowning, I focused on his body and it was instantly bathed in dancing flames.
Flames were already starting to eat at the walls and lick at the ceiling. In a few minutes the fire would consume this place, but I couldn’t take any chances. I had to be sure the body was destroyed before the local fire department managed to extinguish what I started. They’d have trouble discovering why the fire started, but I was more concerned with Thorne’s corpse. Jumping down from Danaus’s shoulder, I grabbed his forearm and pulled him out the exit door to the left of the stage, bypassing most of the people who crowded the exit at the front of the building. I looked back once to find Tristan following us, thankful that he wasn’t trying to escape in the chaos. At the moment I think he was too shaken up by the attack and death of a fellow nightwalker to be concerned with his own freedom.
In the distance, the high-pitched whine of approaching police cars and fire trucks echoed in the night. We weaved our way through the crowd and down the dark streets, then ran for blocks until we were bathed in the bright lights of Piccadilly.
Nineteen
Darting down one of the few dark, empty alleys I could find, I stopped running, letting the shadows wrap their arms around me. At the back of the narrow passage I howled into the night. The horrible sound bounced off the brick and stone walls before finally flying free into the black sky. My hands were shaking with frustration and fear. The one person that was supposed to fix all of this, that was supposed to make the naturi go away, was now dead. To make matters worse, it was because I had failed to protect him. I should have expected the naturi to pull such a trick. I should have grabbed Thorne and dragged him out of that place. I couldn’t fathom how they knew to kill him, that he would be the one I would need. It didn’t matter. It could have just been my usual rotten luck. It didn’t make Thorne any less dead.
Silence consumed the alley again until all I heard was Danaus’s labored breathing. Our run had left him winded. It was a strange reminder that I was still dealing with a human, or at least someone part human. I walked back toward the hunter, who was leaning against the wall, struggling to catch his breath. My gaze briefly tripped over Tristan, who stood against the opposite wall, shaken by the unexpected turn of events.
“What happened?” Danaus demanded between ragged breaths.
“The waitress poisoned Thorne. She spiked his beer with naturi blood. She probably spiked all the beers she brought over,” I said. My anger flowed from my tensed muscles, leaving behind only the cold, lead weight of fear in my stomach.
“Why?”
“She was a pagan. They’re usually naturi sympathizers.” Frustration crept back into my tone as I paced to the back of the alley. “They believe the naturi are sweet and peace-loving like all those asinine fairy tales. They’ve struck out at my kind before, but most don’t have access to naturi blood.”
Jerking my head around, I turned my narrowed gaze on the young nightwalker. He was squatted down with his elbows on his knees, his fists tightly clenching his hair, as if trying to hide from me or the naturi. “How long had Thorne been going to that pub?” I asked.
Tristan flinched and then turned his face up to look at me. “I—I’m not sure exactly. He knew a lot of people there so I think he had been appearing there for a while.”
“I wasn’t looking for a damn insider!” The comment escaped me in a low growl as I paced a couple steps away and then returned.
“How did she know to go after Thorne?” Danaus’s breathing had returned to normal. He was recovering from our little run a lot faster than he should have. But that was my mysterious Danaus. The long scratches I’d left on his arms were long gone and there was only a light crust of dried blood running across his tanned skin.
“I don’t know.” I threw my hands up in the air as I approached him. “Less than a dozen people would have known about my search for Thorne.” The moment those words drifted past my parted lips a horrible thought dawned on me. I stared at him. “And you’re the only outsider in this whole mess.”
Closing the distance between us in a flash, I slammed him back against the wall. His arms were pinned between our bodies, keeping him from drawing any weapons. Of course, he didn’t need his arms to kill me, but that was the least of my concerns at the moment. Jabari was going to rip me in half, if the naturi didn’t get to me first.
“You knew about the naturi first. You knew I was at Machu Picchu and hoped I would give you more information about the nightwalkers. Once you learned that we could rebuild the triad, you alerted your people to Thorne’s existence,” I snarled, my words lashing at him.
“Then why did I save you in Aswan?”
“Because you need me to lead you to the other members of the triad so you can finish them off.” I felt a sickening lurch in my stomach as my mind continued on that line of thought. “And I put Sadira right into your hands.”
“What?” Tristan gasped. Despite his desire to escape his maker, the reflex loyalty was always the hardest to get over.
Releasing my hold on Danaus, I stumbled backward. “I left Sadira with his people as protection,” I told him. “I couldn’t protect Sadira and come after Thorne at the same time.” I could care less if Sadira lived or died, but I couldn’t keep burning through triad members if I wanted to defeat the naturi. “Why?” I asked, looking back at Danaus. “Why would you help them? Is that what you are? Part naturi?”
“I’m not helping them,” he said, taking a step away from the wall toward me. I sidestepped him, keeping a comfortable distance from him. “Think, Mira. They tried to kill us both in Aswan.”
“Of course they did. It’s what the naturi do—kill anything that is not their kind. Surprised that they would betray you?” I cried, still circling him. My foot kicked an empty aluminum can, sending it skidding around the dirty alley. “Your connection to the naturi also explains how you got Nerian. He would have fought you and you would have had to kill him. You can’t capture the naturi.”
“Nerian was insane,” Danaus said, his voice edged with what was beginning to sound like desperation. “While I had him, he ranted endlessly about you. He spoke of Machu Picchu and things that had been done to you. Even if less than half the things he spoke of were true, how could I help monsters like that?”
I shivered, breaking eye contact for a moment. Pacing back down the alley, I ran my left hand along the rough brick wall to steady myself. Danaus had dredged up thoughts that had no place in that dark alley. I didn’t know whether to believe him. I had absolutely no reason to believe him. But I was also desperate and running out of time.