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nightwalkers, leaving me grateful that we had been cloaked when we set foot in Madrid. Human eyes had yet to take us in, but that didn’t mean we weren’t being watched.
    “Is Sadira close?” I demanded in a hard voice. I might have been cloaked, but I had no doubt that she would be able to sense me as soon as I came close to her domain. I had a feeling that much like Jabari, she always knew where I was, but I was more concerned she would try to take advantage of the situation now that I was so close.
    Valerio looked over at me questioningly as he repositioned his own bag on his shoulder. “There are a couple nightwalkers within the city, but none as powerful as her,” he said, giving me a reassuring smile. “I don’t expect her to come out of her castle until after we’ve taken care of the threat, and by then we should be on our way again.”
    “Is that why you’ve come?” A soft voice drifted out of the shadows behind us. We both twisted around to find a nightwalker stepping forward into the nearby lamplight. She was beautiful, with her wealth of black hair hanging down her back, framing a heart-shaped face and large, dark eyes. She stared only at Valerio, who smiled invitingly at her. “You’ve come to get rid of the killer?”
    Valerio unshouldered his bag and roughly handed it off to me as he took one step forward and offered the nightwalker his hand. She took it, her smile widening as he bowed gallantly over it. I clenched my teeth and remained silent as I watched the show.
    “I am Valerio and this is my companion, Mira. We have been sent by the coven to remove the threat from Madrid.”
    “I am Eva,” she practically purred. “Welcome to Madrid, though it is not the happy place that it usually is. Nightwalkers have been killed every night for more than a month and humans have started to discover the remains in the daylight. We can’t risk recovering their bodies without being killed ourselves.”
    “What is this creature that stalks our people?” Valerio asked, holding her hand in both of his. “Have the lycanthropes turned on us?”
    “No, it’s a warlock. He hunts us at night and by day when we can be found. He calls himself Armand and usually has an apprentice with him at all times, though I don’t know the name of the apprentice.” She daintily wiped a tear away from the corner of her left eye while Valerio stepped closer, wrapping a reassuring arm around her slim shoulders.
    I had seen Valerio touching other females before, but for the most part, it had always been human women. Then, I found his solicitous attitude amusing as he was only drawing them close for their blood. He had never touched another female nightwalker while in my company. I didn’t think that I was a jealous creature, but as Eva leaned into his embrace I felt my hands aching from where I was gripping our bags so tightly. She stood in the night wearing an elegant gown as if she were preparing to attend a party, looking like a shining gem, while I stood in my coarse men’s trousers and crudely mended shirt in anticipation of a fight. My hair was undoubtedly a wind-blown mess from our travels, leaving me looking like some pathetic street urchin next to her alluring beauty.
    “If you’re so concerned about the warlock killing nightwalkers that dare to set foot within Madrid, what are you doing wandering the streets? Isn’t that a little dangerous?” I demanded snidely as I dropped Valerio’s bag on the ground with a heavy thud.
    “I had no choice,” Eva said in a choked voice, looking at me for the first time with glistening eyes. “Our supplies are running low. I was sent out to fetch more humans to bring back to the safety of the castle. The warlock has kept his distance from the castle.”
    “The castle?” I repeated, my temper flaring to life with a new reason. “You belong to Sadira.”
    “Yes, she’s my mistress,” she replied with a nod. “All of her remaining children have hidden themselves within