Free Wait for Dusk by Jocelynn Drake Page A

our kind while settling the humans as well.”
    Should I be concerned? I asked Jabari secretly.
    You should always be concerned when Macaire is involved.
    I should have just killed him instead of Lucas.
    Yes, that may have been the wiser choice, Jabari agreed with a rumble of laughter rolling through my brain.
    Of course, then you would no longer need me.
    True, he admitted.
    It was enough to make a person scream. Even the one ally I had on the coven wanted me dead in the end. Only the hunter at my back seemed to worry about whether I lived or died. At least he wanted me to live another night for reasons other than how I could be used to his benefit.
    “Who is the keeper of Budapest?” I asked, sitting back in my chair again. I was stalling. I didn’t want to go and fight the naturi again. Most importantly, I didn’t want to go into a domain that was ruled by a nightwalker loyal to Macaire. However, if I could steal that bit of backing from the Elder, it would weaken him. He would have fewer allies to rely on. It would bring him one step closer to being removed from the coven.
    “That is unknown,” Macaire admitted. “Since the death of Geoffrey more than two centuries ago, no one has formally stepped forward to claim the territory.”
    I didn’t buy it. There were exceedingly heavy concentrations of nightwalkers in Paris, Budapest, Vienna, Prague, and Berlin. I knew the keepers of all those domains save Budapest and Vienna. Of course, it was well known that Valerio made his home in Vienna and anyone causing problems in that city had to answer to him. He may not have held the title of keeper, but the city belonged to him. I could only guess that Budapest was managed much the same way by a nightwalker I wasn’t currently familiar with.
    Going to Budapest was dangerous, to say the least, but I would only be faced with the naturi and a nightwalker that didn’t like me much. It didn’t seem to be that bad a situation. If I was lucky, Rowe would be hanging out in Budapest, giving me a chance to remove his one remaining eye. Traveling to Budapest would also give me the opportunity to steal something from Macaire. The potential rewards outweighed the risks, as far as I could see.
    “I shall travel to Budapest and look over the situation. I’ll remove the naturi from the region,” I said with a nod of my head. “However, it seems such a waste to just send out one Elder when there are four of us. Wouldn’t it be a more effective example if we all struck out in separate domains and cleaned them of naturi?” I waved my right hand out toward the horde of nightwalkers closely watching me. “Our people have come forward for our help. Would not a strike from all four of us be the best use of our resources?”
    “We all have domains that we watch over—” Elizabeth started, but I was quick to cut her off.
    “Yes, and I’ve been careful to leave my domain in the capable hands of one I trust to watch over things while I am away. Surely, you’ve done the same. I imagine that you can spend a few nights away from your domain and the coven in support of your people.”
    I sat back in my chair, fighting back a smile. There weren’t too many nightwalkers that would welcome a visit from an Elder, let alone have one temporarily set up shop within their domain, even if it meant getting rid of the naturi. Not many would thank me for this suggestion. However, I was unwilling to be the only one on the coven that got her hands dirty. I had been sent to Crete and Peru to stop Rowe. I was now being sent to Budapest to fight the naturi for some unknown keeper. I would not be the errand girl of the coven. They had to fight as well if we were to succeed against the naturi.
    You will pay for this suggestion , Jabari growled at me. “I think this is an excellent idea. With the death of Yuri, I will travel to Russia and check over the situation in Moscow and St. Petersburg,” he announced.
    I was impressed and worried. Jabari was from