Pray for Dawn by Jocelynn Drake Page A

would stick to the woods and leave mankind untouched while they worked out their own little political problems. With any luck, it would take years, enough time for us to come up with some solution to the problem of them even being in this world in the first place. But it wasn’t to be.
    During the past three months, I had destroyed more nightwalkers than I had naturi, but the number was steadily increasing. They were popping up on the outskirts of town, sometimes just seeming to watch me as I battled the vampires before they finally attacked. The trio in Spain had been the most I had encountered at once since leaving Mira’s presence. But then the nightwalker had a special way about her that seemed to bring out the worst in the naturi. She reminded me of a young man I had trained with in the Legion. He had the same special knack. Every time we were sent ahead as scout, he would literally trip over the enemy. It’s a wonder he lived through half as many battles as he did.
    Pushing away those dark thoughts, I turned my attention back to the food that was growing cold before me and switched to a less tasteful topic. “Mira has been with Ryan for the past week?” I asked before shoving a piece of steak into my mouth. It was heaven. I tried to relax and just think about the taste, but I couldn’t. I had to know what was going on before it rose up and bit me in the ass, literally.
    “Yes.”
    “Why?”
    James looked down at the white tablecloth, his hand jumping up to smooth his navy tie against his chest. “I can’t say.”
    “And Ryan is here now?”
    “Yes.”
    “Why?”
    This time his eyes darted back up to my face and he frowned at me. “Danaus, I…”
    I held up my right hand, my fork still pressed between my thumb and index finger. “Never mind. Forget I asked.”
    James slumped in his chair and pulled off his glasses so he could rub his eyes. “You know how he is,” he grumbled.
    Yeah, I knew how Ryan worked. He liked to be in control of the flow of information at all times. Ryan was from the school of thought that knowledge is power and he liked knowing more than everyone else.
    I pushed aside my empty plate, cleaned of the steak and vegetables, moving on to the eggs. “How did they take Mira’s presence at Themis?”
    Resting his elbows on the arms of his chair, James stared at his glasses as he held them with both hands. “She’s a great source of information, assuming she’s telling the truth,” he said slowly. One corner of his mouth lifted in a half smile. “But I think they’re glad that she’s gone.” James looked up at me. I was surprised to find that his gaze was sharp, unlike the unfocused stare of someone suddenly caught without their glasses. Not for the first time I wondered if he actually needed his gold-rimmed spectacles.
    “What did she do?”
    “Not much.” He shrugged as he slipped his glasses back on his nose. “Just her usual mischief, I imagine. But she stopped sleeping not long after her arrival and I think most people stopped sleeping as long as she was awake and wandering the halls.”
    It was on the tip of my tongue to ask how Ryan had managed that unique feat, but I swallowed the question. I doubted if James actually knew even though he doubled as Ryan’s assistant when I was out of town. And even if he did know, I doubt he would be permitted to tell me.
    Reaching for the coffeepot, I poured another cup, somewhat relieved to find that Mira hadn’t caused too many problems. It was probably best that she had shaken things up back at Themis. I was learning that their understanding of vampires had little to do with reality, defying my entire reason for joining the society in the first place. “Is there anything else that I should know about?”
    “Not much. Ryan has pulled back most of the hunters to Paris, London, or the Compound recently. He believes things have become too…tense at the moment and thought it best if we pulled back to guard our own for now. Last I