Tuesday Flashback: Valerio vs. Danaus

For the third installment of my Tuesday flashback, I thought we'd spend one more week with Valerio.  Two weeks ago, we looked at Valerio's overall character and last week we took at peek at his hot relationship with Mira.  This week, let's take a peek at Valerio's one true nemesis, the nightwalker hunter, Danaus.

After Valerio, there were other men in Mira's life, though all were humans.  She remained with humans because of their frailty and short lifespans.  In her mind, all those relationships had an expiration date stamped on them and she could maintain an emotional distance.

Danaus was the first to break that rule.

The hunter was centuries older than Mira; centuries older than Valerio.  He wasn't frail like other humans.  He could survive a beating and would never fall to the touch of Father Time. 

At first, Mira found him incredibly sexy, but she didn't like him or what he believed in.  However, and this was her first weakness, she did respect Danaus.  The hunter steadily wormed his way into her heart, tearing down barriers that she was sure no man would ever get beyond.

One of the greatest differences between Valerio and Danaus was that Mira was able to completely trust Danaus.  She never felt that trust for Valerio because Valerio always looked out for himself first, or so she thought.

Of course, Valerio took an instant disliking for Danaus.  First, because he was a vampire hunter and second because Valerio quickly realized that the hunter was growing in Mira's affections.  Though Valerio rarely ever showed it, I think he would have cheerfully ripped the man's head off. With the series written almost entirely from Mira's point of view, there weren't many chances to see Valerio and Danaus alone together. 

However, Valerio did pay Danaus a visit at the Dark Room to give the hunter a quick word of advice when it comes to Mira.  I posted the quick scene on my website under the Extras section a couple years ago.  If you'd like to read about their little heart-to-heart talk, please click this link.

You can find more of Valerio in:
Bound to Me
Dayhunter
Wait for Dusk
Burn the Night

Be sure to come back next week when we take a stroll through Gage's world from The Asylum Tales.