Dawnbreaker

“He’s weaving blood magic?” Cy

“I’m willing to guess that he’s desperate and doesn’t really care what is forbidden at this point.”

“But if I’m to teach you earth magic, you’ll have to remove these,” she said, raising her manacles to me yet again.

I simply chuckled and shook my head. “Nice try. No, you’ll be instructing me through the lovely Shelly here,” I said, motioning toward the earth witch hovering on the edge of the patio, watching the entire conversation. “She was hired to help me with a little earth magic, and now we’re both going to get a crash course in how to use earth magic, naturi style. And if that doesn’t work, I’ll kill you.”

Cy

“I—I don’t know,” Cy

“You’ve got some time to think about it. We fly to Peru in two nights. We begin lessons before we leave or I kill you in Cuzco.”

I turned my attention to Shelly, who was staring at me with a stu

With a wave of my hand, the fire that had been circling Cy

I watched as the two walked across the patio, a new thought begi

“Wait!” I called out, stopping Cy

“Nyx? I…I don’t think so,” she slowly replied. She paused, nibbling on her lower lip in thought before she spoke again. “I arrived here with only the spell weaver. Nyx and Aurora didn’t know anything about my coming here. Do you think she’s come for me?”

“Would she side with you or Aurora?” Danaus inquired, slipping his hands into his trouser pockets.

“Aurora,” she whispered. “My sister Nyx is the defender of our people. She would follow Aurora to the ends of the earth to protect my people and do what is best for them.”

“Does she look like you?”

“Why? Have you seen her?” Cy

“How can I have seen her if I don’t know what she looks like? I want to know in case we meet up with her in Peru.”

Cy

“And is she of the wind clan? Like you?”

“How did you know I was—”

“Your coloring and build. It was also a guess.”

“Yes, we’re both from the wind clan. Aurora is of the light and Nerian was from the animal clan,” Cy

“How is it possible that four siblings were born of three different clans?” Danaus demanded. “Did you all have different parents?”

“No!” Cy

“That will do. Sweet dreams,” I taunted.

Danaus and I stood in silence outside that house as we listened to Shelly and Cy

“Is taking either of them that good of an idea?” Danaus asked after Shelly had completed her spell, knocking Cy

“We’ll try to keep them both in the city, out of the Sacred Valley. Shelly might be able to teach me a few things before the sacrifice. At this point, any new knowledge will help me when it comes to dealing with the power swell at Machu Picchu.”

“And the naturi?”

“Bait for Rowe.”

“You think she’s going to actually teach you anything?” he asked, shoving one hand through his shoulder-length hair, pushing it out of his face. His brilliant blue eyes reflected some of the light coming from inside the house, reminding me of the first night we met. I had not expected our association to last this long.

“Not really. Even if she does want peace for her people, she’s not going to risk making a stronger enemy for them to face.”

Danaus dropped his hand back to his side and stared up at the stars for a moment. The night was nearly done. I needed to get back to the safety of my home. As it was, I was exhausted and the blood lust was gnawing at my insides like the fires of hell.

“Do you believe her?” Danaus asked, pushing aside my thoughts of blood and sleep.

“About wanting peace?”

The hunter gave a soft grunt that I took for a yes.

“It doesn’t matter whether I believe her or not. Our plan is set for when we arrive at the sacrifice at Machu Picchu in a few nights. We stop Rowe. We stop the sacrifice. We finally reform the seal. Thoughts of peace and war—we don’t have the luxury of debating such things. We have to stop Rowe.”

“I agree, but you didn’t answer my question. Do you believe her?” he repeated.

It was my turn to stare up at the stars that were winking out above me as daylight approached. Dawn was coming. Did I believe Cy

“No, I don’t,” I murmured.

But the problem wasn’t that I didn’t believe her. It was that for the first time in my life I truly wished I could believe that the naturi was telling the truth. I wished she did want peace and was seeking a way for naturi and nightwalkers to coexist on this planet without the constant fighting. I wished it were a possibility. But it wasn’t. Not so long as creatures like Aurora and Rowe existed. Not so long as I existed would there ever be peace between the nightwalkers and the naturi.