disturbed again less than four hours later. Lying on my back, I used my powers to discover James standing outside the door. I released the knife and shuffled across the room, wiping the sleep out of my eyes. I had managed to squeeze in close to seven hours of sleep. With both Ryan and Mira in town, I had a sick feeling that it was the best I was going to get for a while.
The young man smiled at me when I opened the door, easily ignoring my own sour expression as he stepped into the room. Early thirties, with brown hair and thin face, James had been assigned as my assistant less than a year ago and we were still adjusting to the arrangement. I always worked alone, but I depended on a specific contact within Themis to arrange for my travel, lodging, money, research information, and other odds and ends.
But for me, it was more than those basic necessities. James was my tie to the human world. He reminded me of what it meant to be human in the twenty-first century, which was not exactly the easiest thing for me to remember. I would turn 1,866 years old this year. After such a passage of time, things like polite conversation and mundane tasks tended to be forgotten under the relentless grind of life.
“You don’t look as bad as she made it sound,” James said, his sharp eyes skimming over my face.
I hit the light switch, bathing the room in warm, golden lamplight as I walked over to my bag. “She?” I asked, as I jerked the black cotton pants over my hips.
“Mira. She was worried.”
I snorted. Mira’s only concern was that someone would kill me before she had her shot. James also said nothing, but answered the door when another visitor knocked. A member of the hotel staff carried in a large tray with several covered plates, and the smell of coffee that caught my attention. The promise of warmth and caffeine wiped away the last of the fog from my brain. As James signed the bill, I started lifting covers to find a strange combination of breakfast and dinner. Scrambled eggs, sausage, steak with a baked potato, steamed legumes, lentil soup, whole-grain muffins, and a whole pot of black coffee. James was going to work out fine as my assistant.
“I wasn’t sure what you’d want,” James hedged as he came to stand on the other side of the table.
“This is fine,” I muttered, falling into a seat as I dug into the food. Coffee and food would clear out the cobwebs and cure the aches. Then I would be able to tackle the growing mess that surrounded Mira.
“Any trouble with the vampires?” James asked, unable to keep the excitement out of his voice. He was still young and enthusiastic about this dark world in which I worked, wanting to know all the secrets and desperate to dive into it. However, after meeting Mira and some other vampires last summer, he had grown a little more cautious. Of course, he had also had to clean up the multiple naturi corpses Mira and her band had left behind following their last visit. Cleaning up that many dead bodies would have been a harsh wake-up call for anyone.
“Not with the vampires,” I said with a shake of my head as I poured more coffee. “The naturi were another matter.”
James slowly fell backward into the chair opposite me, his mouth falling open and his eyes widening behind his gold-rimmed glasses. “Naturi?” he nearly choked on the words. “I thought you said that these vampires were a part of Sadira’s domain. Why would the naturi go to a known haven for a powerful nightwalker?”
“They might not have known,” I said with a wave of my fork in between bites. “They might not have cared. After the doors opened, the naturi scattered everywhere. I have a feeling that they are going to go where they want to.”
“I always assumed they would stick to wooded areas. I mean, they are nature-based creatures,” James replied.
I stared down at my half-empty plate for a moment. He had just voiced the hope I had been harboring for the past three months: that the naturi
The young man smiled at me when I opened the door, easily ignoring my own sour expression as he stepped into the room. Early thirties, with brown hair and thin face, James had been assigned as my assistant less than a year ago and we were still adjusting to the arrangement. I always worked alone, but I depended on a specific contact within Themis to arrange for my travel, lodging, money, research information, and other odds and ends.
But for me, it was more than those basic necessities. James was my tie to the human world. He reminded me of what it meant to be human in the twenty-first century, which was not exactly the easiest thing for me to remember. I would turn 1,866 years old this year. After such a passage of time, things like polite conversation and mundane tasks tended to be forgotten under the relentless grind of life.
“You don’t look as bad as she made it sound,” James said, his sharp eyes skimming over my face.
I hit the light switch, bathing the room in warm, golden lamplight as I walked over to my bag. “She?” I asked, as I jerked the black cotton pants over my hips.
“Mira. She was worried.”
I snorted. Mira’s only concern was that someone would kill me before she had her shot. James also said nothing, but answered the door when another visitor knocked. A member of the hotel staff carried in a large tray with several covered plates, and the smell of coffee that caught my attention. The promise of warmth and caffeine wiped away the last of the fog from my brain. As James signed the bill, I started lifting covers to find a strange combination of breakfast and dinner. Scrambled eggs, sausage, steak with a baked potato, steamed legumes, lentil soup, whole-grain muffins, and a whole pot of black coffee. James was going to work out fine as my assistant.
“I wasn’t sure what you’d want,” James hedged as he came to stand on the other side of the table.
“This is fine,” I muttered, falling into a seat as I dug into the food. Coffee and food would clear out the cobwebs and cure the aches. Then I would be able to tackle the growing mess that surrounded Mira.
“Any trouble with the vampires?” James asked, unable to keep the excitement out of his voice. He was still young and enthusiastic about this dark world in which I worked, wanting to know all the secrets and desperate to dive into it. However, after meeting Mira and some other vampires last summer, he had grown a little more cautious. Of course, he had also had to clean up the multiple naturi corpses Mira and her band had left behind following their last visit. Cleaning up that many dead bodies would have been a harsh wake-up call for anyone.
“Not with the vampires,” I said with a shake of my head as I poured more coffee. “The naturi were another matter.”
James slowly fell backward into the chair opposite me, his mouth falling open and his eyes widening behind his gold-rimmed glasses. “Naturi?” he nearly choked on the words. “I thought you said that these vampires were a part of Sadira’s domain. Why would the naturi go to a known haven for a powerful nightwalker?”
“They might not have known,” I said with a wave of my fork in between bites. “They might not have cared. After the doors opened, the naturi scattered everywhere. I have a feeling that they are going to go where they want to.”
“I always assumed they would stick to wooded areas. I mean, they are nature-based creatures,” James replied.
I stared down at my half-empty plate for a moment. He had just voiced the hope I had been harboring for the past three months: that the naturi
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