Davina (Davy Harwood #3)(41)

“The child.”

“The child . . .” He stepped back, his thoughts whirling, but then it clicked. He took Talia’s child with him. She had been given to a Mori family to be raised. It was decided that he would not raise her and he had forgotten about the child till then. Then, it began to click with what else Jiyama had said. “You’ve been to the child’s home?”

She nodded. “I was curious, Lucan. I wanted to know more about The Immortal and about Davy. I was not used to this feeling, wanting to know but not having the answers given to me. The child is still human. I thought she could explain more to me.”

A human child within close proximity and a female one at that. No. He had completely forgotten about the girl . . . she came from an Immortal thread-holder already. Once the thread would leave Davy, it wouldn’t bounce to him. There hadn’t been a male thread-holder, but he had been determined to become the first. No other human within close distance, it would have to go to him, but now he realized his mistake. He had planned to turn Kates when the witches told him Davy was close to losing the thread, but the child—it would’ve gone to the child then.

The family . . . he was trying to remember whom the child had been given to. They were going to let her grow as a normal human until she got to the age she wanted to be at for eternity. He was recalling all of the meetings now. She hadn’t been born a Mori. If she were turned, she wouldn’t continue to grow as the Mori vampires did. There’d been so much debate about the child, they had been furious he brought the human into their lands in the first place, but then a woman fell in love with the girl. She volunteered to raise her, and the husband . . . “Who took her in?” he muttered under his breath. His hand turned into a fist, and he rapped it against the table. “Who was that . . .”

His questions were spoken out loud before he realized how they sounded, and he felt Jiyama’s withdrawal immediately. The air grew cold as she stepped away, a scowl instantly on her face.

“Jiyama.” He reached for her. “It’s not how it sounds—”

She clipped her head from side to side. “No.” Her eyebrows bunched together again. The corners of her mouth dipped down even more. “I felt your intentions just now. You want to murder the child. That goes against the Mori. You must not touch a child. Ever.”

His anger rolled into fury, but he kept it contained. He knew he was broadcasting his emotions. Jiyama was in tune with the earth and all sensations rolled together. She could feel his rage even though he was trying to keep it blanketed. She just hadn’t sensed how much rage he had. He was still trying to keep it locked inside of him. As her eyes became hard and accusing, he knew he was failing.

He knew what he had to do then, but he wouldn’t think about it. If he did, she would know. He couldn’t let himself experience that sadness, because he really did love her.

“Jiyama,” he said quietly. “I need to thank you.”

She paused, thrown from his change in demeanor. “Thank me?”

He nodded, tucking all his hostility aside. He reminded himself that he would become The Immortal. Davy was close. She had to be. No one else would be able to kill three Mori vampires, unless they came upon an army. All would happen as it should. He would find Davy, because she was coming for her friend. She would try to rescue Kates, and he would grab her then. He would use the child to distract her. Everything would work wonderfully, and as he let himself believe his thoughts, a peace settled inside of him.

Jiyama felt the peace, and she started to look more reassured.

He went to her, closing the distance between them. They were lovers and he held her face for the third time that day. He leaned down until his forehead rested against hers and he breathed out, “I would’ve completely forgotten about Talia’s child, if you hadn’t reminded me.”

Her eyes widened, but before she could recoil—he snapped her neck.

He let her body fall to the floor, and he murmured, “And then all would’ve been in vain. So thank you, Jiyama, for you saved my plans after all.” And then, knowing he would have to burn her body to kill her completely, he reached down and hoisted her up. He carried her to where he had kept Davy imprisoned and tossed her body onto the fire in the corner. No one would think to check this room. It was considered forbidden because it was used to hold captives, and they would never consider checking the ashes for any Mori essence.

Lighting the fire, he waited until Jiyama was burned beyond recognition, and then he left, knowing the fire would die down on its own.

He had an Immortal child to hunt down now, but once he stepped into the hallway, a Mori guard came rushing toward him. “Lucan.” The guard stopped, his chest heaving. “There are two armies approaching our lands.”

Lucas.

Lucan narrowed his eyes. “Who are they?”

“One is your brother, but the other army have their own magic.” He stepped back and gestured down the hallway. “The Archon requests your presence.”

The Archon was the Mori leader . . . and Jiyama’s father. Lucan nodded and proceeded ahead of the guard, but this wasn’t good. This wasn’t good at all.





ROANE


“This is ridiculous.”

Saren appeared next to Roane, who was perched in a tree and watching as five Benshire wolves were combing the trees a mile away. They were doing what he and the Christane wolves had already done. They arrived at the river three days earlier. On the other side were the Mori lands, but a protection spell was cast as soon as they tried to cross the water. Two wolves exploded in thin air and since then, no one ventured across. Because they couldn’t move forward, Roane and the Christane wolves set up their camp and scouted their perimeter. They arrived three days ahead of the Benshire wolves and the Romah vampires. It was why Roane was in place and was disguised when the Benshire wolves would move underneath him.