Free Wait for Dusk by Jocelynn Drake Page B

Egypt. He lingered there in his free time even after countless centuries. He hated the cold, but he was willing to travel to Russia in the dead of winter. He had something else up his sleeve beyond the need to destroy naturi in Yuri’s domain. I quickly pushed the concern aside. I had no plans to travel to Russia, no intention of traveling that far from my own beloved Savannah. Let the Elder claim the region, extending his reach to more than what Alexander the Great could even call his own.
    “Following that train of thought,” Macaire began, straightening in his chair as he spoke, “I shall go to Spain. After the death of your maker Sadira, a power vacuum has been left behind. There is no one there to keep order. I shall restore calm to the region.”
    Should I warn him about the wind clan near Barcelona? Danaus inquired.
    A smile tweaked the corners of my mouth, forcing me to bite the inside of my cheek to keep from letting the smile fully form. No, let him figure it out on his own.
    Pushing to the edge of my seat, I looked down the row to where Elizabeth sat. Her tiny figure seemed to be engulfed in the chair. She sat with her back ramrod straight, her dainty hands folded in her lap. I struggled to imagine her in a fight with the naturi, but then Sadira could have passed for someone’s grandmother, not a vicious killer. When it came to nightwalkers, looks were frequently deceiving.
    “If I might make a suggestion,” I politely said, lifting my hand. “You may want to consider traveling to London and the surrounding region.”
    “London?” she repeated, arching one eyebrow at me. “Why there? There is no keeper of London, none in all of the United Kingdom.”
    “True, but it has a high population density of humans and there are still a number of nightwalkers there, despite the fact that the city has no keeper. Wouldn’t it be prudent of us to stake a claim in the city before it is lost to the naturi?” I countered. “We could at last establish a power foothold in the region, and it’s not too far from your own beloved Paris, correct?”
    What are you doing?
    The question nearly echoed through my brain as both Jabari and Danaus made the demand at almost the exact same second.
    I’m trying to see where her loyalties lie, I told Jabari. I don’t think she’s with Macaire and I know she doesn’t stand with you. Handing her a new domain could give me insight into where she stands .
    I then switched to my secret path with Danaus. I’m dangling a bit of fresh meat in front of Ryan. I want to see if he will try to access the coven through Elizabeth if he thinks he’s lost his entrance through me.
    My reasons for sending Elizabeth were multifaceted, but neither man needed to know all of them. If Elizabeth didn’t side with Jabari or Macaire, she might soften toward me at last if I handed her a way to easily extend her own domain. London and the surrounding region wouldn’t be an easy place to control, but it was another high-profile city like Paris.
    “I will go to London,” she announced, nodding toward me. She eyed me suspiciously for only a moment before turning to look straight ahead again, dismissing me.
    “It is decided, then!” Jabari announced, pushing to his feet. He raised his hands over his head, causing his robes to sway about him. “This meeting of the coven is at an end. We will meet again when all four members have gathered here in Venice after the completion of their tasks.”
    The nightwalkers filed out of the front door of the Main Hall, while Elizabeth and Macaire slipped out a side door that led to the underground chambers. The air was heavy and silent, but I could feel the telepathic chatter as they discussed this unprecedented move by the Elders to rid the region of the naturi. The Elders rarely did anything beyond their silly amusements here in Venice. To take action, to actually take up arms against an enemy, hadn’t been done in centuries. But then, we hadn’t had an enemy to