I pulled my sword from the dead vampire and stepped over him to the large winding staircase. Halfway up the stairs, I heard a muted scream from somewhere on the first floor, but I resumed my silent climb to the second floor. The others would handle whatever was happening down here. I had a more important mission to tend to.
The vampire came at me as soon as my foot touched the landing. He was fast, but not as fast as I was, and I sliced him across the midsection before he could reach me.
He cried out and grabbed at his stomach as he stumbled backward. Hate blazed in his eyes as I advanced on him. He turned to run, and I decapitated him before he took a step. His body crumpled to the floor as his head rolled down the stairs.
I looked both ways at the row of closed doors on the second floor. Standing still, I let my Mori hearing search for movement.
To my left, I picked up a muffled cry. With grim determination, I moved down the hallway and came to a stop in front of one of the doors. I listened again. From inside the room, I heard a child’s frightened sob.
I stared at the door, planning my next move. There would be at least one vampire in the room, if not more, but if I waited for the others to reach me, it might be too late for the children.
A sound behind me alerted me to the arrival of another vampire. I spun to face him and saw the shock on his face as my sword went through his chest.
He let out a gurgling cry as I withdrew my blade. Instead of plunging it in him again to finish him off, I grabbed him by the shoulders and hurled him through the closed door.
The door crashed inward and slammed against the wall as the vampire landed in a heap at the feet of a female vampire crouched in the middle of the room. The blonde vampire showed me her bloody fangs and held her clawed hands defensively in front of her. Blood dripped from her chin, and I feared I was too late.
A whimper to my right had me glancing at the two young children huddled in the middle of the large bed. We’d gotten word two days ago from Salt Lake City that a pair of orphans had been found. But before the team could retrieve them, vampires had gotten to them. No one, especially not me, had expected to find them alive.
The boy had his arms wrapped protectively around his twin sister, whose face was buried against his neck. The shoulder of her top was blood-soaked, and her body shook from her sobs. Long dark hair spilled down her back, looking so much like Sara’s that I almost shook from the fury boiling inside me.
I gave the vampire my full attention.
She licked blood from the corner of her mouth and sneered at me. “You interrupted my meal. Such a delicacy, young Mohiri blood. So sweet and rich.”
“Consider it your last supper,” I answered coldly, not rising to the bait.
Her brows drew together slightly when she realized she wasn’t going to goad me into making a rash move. She began to walk around me in a wide circle. Her slow, practiced movements told me she was more deadly than the others I’d killed in the house. She wouldn’t die as easily, but she was going to die today.
I watched her eyes, and I saw them flick to my left a split second before she blurred.
A burst of speed from my Mori saved me from her attack, although her claws managed to score my upper arms. She didn’t escape unscathed either, screaming when my blade cut a deep furrow in her chest.
Most vampires would need a few seconds to recover from such a strike. This one whirled almost instantly and flew at me again.
There was no time to bring up my sword, so I caught her and flung her across the room. She slammed into the wall so hard the plaster crumbled.
She was back on her feet in less than a second, but her smile was less confident. “You’re a strong one, but I’m no fledgling. Once I’m done with you, I’m going to drain those two little morsels.”
My gaze flicked to the two children, and I found the boy watching me with fear-glazed eyes. No child should have to endure what these two had suffered. Their mother had been slaughtered before their eyes, and they’d spent the last two days being terrorized by her killer. It was a wonder they were still alive.
I smiled at the vampire’s false bravado. She might be old and as strong as me, but I’d spent my life hunting her kind. “Let’s get this over with then.”
Her grin faltered, and I saw it in her eyes the moment she shifted from fight to flight mode. The only reason vampires like her lived this long was because they ran when faced with a real threat.
When she feinted toward the door, I was ready for her, and I was at the window a second before she reached it. My sword came up as she flew over my head and crashed through the glass. She screamed as she fell, and I looked through the broken pane to see her writhing on the lawn as two warriors sped around the corner.
“Take care of that for me, and send Paulette up,” I said before I turned and stepped over the pair of severed legs on the floor.
I turned from the window as Chris ran into the room. He stared with wonder at the boy and girl on the bed. I understood his disbelief. It was rare that we recovered an orphan once they’d been taken by a vampire. That both twins had survived was nothing short of a miracle.
“They’re injured but alive,” I told Chris. “Do we have a healer on the team?”
“Paulette will know what to do.”
The blonde warrior ran into the room, followed by another female warrior I didn’t know. Paulette approached the bed slowly and crouched beside it. She smiled at the boy, who watched her with wary eyes. The girl still had her face hidden in her brother’s shirt.
“Hey there,” she said gently. “I’m Paulette. You’re Colin, right?”
The boy nodded, and I knew he and his sister were in good hands. I walked out of the room with Chris trailing me.
He didn’t speak until we were back on the first floor.
“You were supposed to wait for the team.” He waved at the four vampires I’d dispatched a little while ago. “You couldn’t save one for me?”
“If I’d waited, those children would be dead.”
He had no argument for that.
I wiped my blade on the nearest vampire’s pants and walked outside. Taking a deep breath of cool night air, I waited for the satisfaction that always filled me after a successful job. My Mori was quiet, sated from our seven vampire kills, but I felt none of the usual gratification. If anything, I was more wound up than when I’d arrived.
I’d come here desperately needing an outlet for my frustration and to put some distance between Sara and me. Not because I didn’t want to be near her, but because I wanted it too much. Kissing her and feeling her respond to me had only intensified my need to be with her. Since the moment I left her in the medical ward, her absence was a physical ache in my chest, and my body felt like a wire strung too taut.
“You two must have had a hell of a falling out.”
I looked sideways at Chris, who had come out to stand beside me. “Who?”
He rolled his eyes. “Oh, I don’t know. Maybe the only person who can put you in a mood like the one you’ve been in since we left home. What happened after you left the menagerie that night?”
“Nothing happened.” Chris was my best friend, but there was no way I was sharing something so private with him.
“Okay,” he drawled. “Then I guess we’ll be heading home now that the job is done. The Council will be so delighted you saved the children they’ll probably forget to scold you for ignoring their orders.”
I scowled and started walking to my bike, which I’d left at the end of the street. “Maybe the Council should get out of their offices every now and then, and remember what it’s like in the real world.”
He snorted softly. “You should tell them that.”
“Maybe I will.”
We reached my bike, and I stowed away my sword before I straddled the seat. “I’m going to spend another day or two here. I’ll catch up with you later.”
Chris gave me an understanding smile. “I’ll see you at home.”
* * *
I barely noticed my surroundings as I drove through Boise the next evening. My mind was too preoccupied, thinking about the long overdue conversation I needed to have with Sara when I got home. I didn’t know if she was ready to hear the truth, but she deserved to know what was happening between us. There was no going back to the way things were, not after I’d kissed her.
Remorse filled me over the way I’d left her. I should have tried to talk to her, if not that night, then the next day. I’d thought I was doing the right thing by leaving and giving us both some space.
I realized now that I’d left because I’d been afraid she wanted nothing to do with me. If I’d been thinking clearly, I would have realized that no one responded to a kiss the way she had if they weren’t attracted to the other person. Maybe I’d misread her reaction, and what I’d taken as distress had really been the confusion of a girl receiving her first kiss.
I’m such an idiot, I thought for the hundredth time since I left Salt Lake City. I wouldn’t blame Sara if she refused to speak to me for another week. How had I managed to screw things up so badly?
A mocking laugh burst from me. I had known many women in my lifetime, and I’d always been confident and sure of myself with them. One kiss from Sara and I was fumbling like a prepubescent teen.
It was after ten when I pulled into the garage at Westhorne. Grabbing my bag and sword, I walked to the main building, wondering what Sara was doing at that moment. I’d only been gone for three days, but it felt like much longer. I was going to drop my stuff off at my place, and then I was going to find her and make things right between us.
The first place I went was her room. Not finding her there, I checked the common rooms, the library, and the menagerie. I was frowning when I entered the main hall again. It was a Saturday night, but there weren’t a lot of places she would go. Maybe she was with Jordan in the other girl’s room.
Disappointment pricked my chest. It looked like our talk was going to have to wait until tomorrow.
“Hey man, I thought you were in Utah.”
I turned to Dax. “Change of plans.”
He held up the tablet he carried. “You must have a sixth sense for trouble. We had a vampire attack in town tonight.”
“An attack in Butler Falls? Are you sure?” No vampire would be stupid enough to hunt so close to one of our strongholds.
“It’s the real deal, all right.” He tapped on his tablet. “Chris went to check it out, and he confirmed it. Tristan’s gone to town too on account of the trainees being at a party there. I’m surprised you didn’t pass him –”
Icy fingers touched the back of my neck. “Sara is in town?”
“Yeah. No worries though. The party is out at a farm on Old Creek Road, and the attack happened on the other side of town. Besides, Tristan and the others are there by now.”
I reached for his tablet, and he relinquished it. On it was a map of Butler Falls, zoomed in to an address on Old Creek Road. Handing the tablet back, I turned to the door.
A minute later, I was speeding toward town, dread knotting my stomach. Butler Falls hadn’t had a vampire attack since we moved in next door. And now they had their first one on the night Sara was there. It was just too much of a coincidence.
I shouldn’t have left Westhorne. If anything happened to Sara, I’d never forgive myself.
I couldn’t help but think about the last time I’d raced to find her. I’d been too late, and I’d almost lost her. What if I was too late again? What if Tristan hadn’t reached her in time?
My chest felt like it was in a vise, and my Mori was in a state of high agitation by the time I pulled into the farm’s long driveway and spotted two of our SUVs. I parked behind them and strode toward the house. The sounds of laugher and music coming from the place eased my mind a little, but I wouldn’t relax until I saw Sara and knew she was okay.
I was almost to the house when I spotted lights moving over at the barn. Instinct had me moving in that direction instead, and I let out a breath when I suddenly sensed Sara’s presence nearby. Some of the trainees stood outside with Seamus and Niall, but there was no sign of Sara or Tristan.
I came up short when Callum walked out of the barn with an unconscious human male over his shoulder. When Jordan appeared behind him in blood-splattered clothes and carrying a bloody knife, my heart began to pound against my ribs.
Movement in the barn entrance drew my eye, and I stared at the girl emerging from the shadows. Her clothes were covered in blood. She stumbled and would have fallen if not for Tristan. He held her up and offered to carry her.
I was too late.
Roaring filled my ears, and a deep-red veil fell over my vision as my tenuous hold on my Mori snapped.
Solmi, the demon roared ferociously, its distress and rage blending with mine. My body shook from the white hot rage consuming me. The urge to destroy anything that threatened my mate overpowered me.
Sara stopped walking and looked at me, and my gaze locked on her. A part of me registered she was well enough to stand, but all I could focus on was her pale face and torn, bloody clothes. The need to touch her, to comfort her, and to reassure myself she was okay was unbearable, and it was all I could do not to go to her and crush her to me. The pain and confusion in her eyes were all that stayed me and kept my Mori in check.
She walked briskly toward me…but then she veered to go around me.
Mine, my Mori growled, and an answering sound rumbled in my chest.
She stopped abruptly to stare at me. “Did you just growl at me?”
“Nikolas, she is okay.”
I heard Tristan’s words, but it was difficult to focus on anything except the girl standing too far away from me. My Mori was close to losing it, and she was the only thing keeping us together.
Tristan spoke again. “Sara, listen to me. You need to walk toward him, talk to him, and let him know you are okay.”
“I don’t understand.” Her gaze remained locked with mine, and I could see fear creep into her eyes. “Can’t he see that from here?” she asked.
“No,” Tristan answered calmly. “You need to get a lot closer. He won’t hurt you. If there is anyone here who is safe from him, it is you.”
I wanted to speak, to tell her I would never hurt her, but I was locked in a power struggle with my demon. My Mori would not harm her, but it might hurt someone else. Sara wouldn’t forgive me if that happened. I’d never forgive myself. All I could do was hold myself as still as possible as she closed the distance between us.
She stopped a few feet away and gave me a tentative smile. “Look, Nikolas, I’m perfectly fine, see? Okay, I’ve looked better, but that’s beside the point.”
My enhanced senses recognized her sunshine scent beneath the coppery smell of the blood that covered her clothes. Mine, the demon snarled again.
I gritted my teeth from the superhuman effort to control the demon side of me that was feral in its need to claim our mate, to take her away and make her ours.
I was only vaguely aware that Sara and Tristan were talking. Then she moved forward until she was close enough for me to see her lips tremble and hear her rapid heartbeat.
An eternity later, I felt her cold hand slide into mine, and I grasped it like a lifeline. If she pulled away now, I didn’t think I could bear it.
“Let go!”
I stared down at her in confusion when she hit me in the chest with her free hand.
Then she slapped my cheek hard. “Nikolas, snap out of it! You’re breaking my hand.”
The pain in her voice penetrated the red haze in my mind, and I released her hand. But if I didn’t touch her I’d go insane. I enfolded her tightly in my arms and buried my face in her hair, breathing in her warm scent like it was oxygen to my starved lungs.
Her arms wrapped around my waist, and I sighed as her hands rubbed my back gently.
“Hey, it’s okay. I’m here,” she said softly, her touch and voice a cooling balm for the rage burning through me.
It took a while for my Mori to calm, and for the rage to recede enough for me to realize what I’d done. Shame settled like nausea in my gut as I thought about what I’d put her through and how close I’d come to losing control completely.
I looked over her head at the group who stood frozen, watching us. Their shocked faces told me they knew exactly what had just happened and why.
Sara was the only one here who still didn’t know about our bond, but it wouldn’t stay that way for long. I had come home tonight intending to tell her everything, but not like this. This was the worst possible way for her to learn the truth about us.
I released her as Tristan approached us. She took a step back and looked up at me with eyes full of tender concern.
My stomach knotted. Would she still look at me that way an hour from now?
“Nikolas, we need to get Sara and the others home.”
I nodded at Tristan.
Sara’s searching gaze moved from me to Tristan, and I knew she was waiting for one of us to tell her what was going on. But this was not the place for that conversation. I’d take her home so she could get cleaned up, and then I’d explain it all to her.
When neither of us spoke, she let out a soft sigh of frustration and stepped around me to walk to the driveway. I fell in behind her, intending to ride with her in one of the vehicles. Someone else could take my bike home.
She approached the second SUV and climbed into the back seat. I moved toward the other door until Tristan laid a hand on my arm.
“I think you need to let me do this,” he said quietly.
“She should hear it from me.”
Tristan might be her grandsire, but Sara and I shared a bond and a history. It was my place to tell her about us.
“Before tonight, I would have agreed with you. But she’s been through too much with the vampire attack and now this.”
The rage threatened to surface again. “Is she hurt?”
“No. They were young vampires, and Sara and Jordan killed them. The blood you saw on her is the vampires’.”
I unclenched my hands. “I have to be with her.”
“Nikolas, listen to me. You are both overly emotional right now. Sara is confused and upset, and you just went into a full rage. You know you’re not in the right frame of mind to talk to her about something so delicate. And she will be even more upset if we make her wait until tomorrow to hear the truth.”
He sighed heavily. “I know this is hard for you, but given the situation, I’m probably the best person to talk to her.”
I opened my mouth to object, but the words died on my tongue. He was right. I was still worked up, and the last thing I wanted was to upset Sara, though it killed me that she was going to hear the truth from someone else.
Tristan laid a hand on my shoulder, and then he walked to the SUV and got inside. A minute later, Seamus and Niall climbed into the front.
I strode to my bike and moved it aside so the SUV could back out of the driveway. I stayed behind them for most of the drive back to Westhorne, but I went on ahead when we reached the main gate. I wanted to be there when she arrived, to reassure her I was in control and she didn’t need to fear me.
The SUV pulled up in front of the main steps, and Tristan got out. He reached in to assist Sara from the car.
She emerged, looking pale and exhausted, and I had to force myself to stay where I was. She looked at me before Tristan led her up the steps into the main hall. It was enough for me to see the apprehension in her eyes, and I cursed myself again for doing that to her.
I rubbed the back of my neck and looked around, at a loss as to what to do now. It was going to be a long night.
I was still standing outside ten minutes later when Chris arrived.
He gave me a wry smile. “You look like hell.”
“You heard?”
“I saw. I was in the barn when you decided to have your meltdown.”
I grimaced. “How bad was it?”
“Bad, but it could have been a lot worse. You got it under control.”
“Because of her,” I admitted, remembering Sara’s arms around my waist as she’d talked to me. Even after I’d frightened her, she’d come to me, comforted me.
“Well, it won’t do you any good to stand around here. You’re only going to get worked up again. I’d suggest a good sparring session, but in your mood, I might not come out of it with all my parts.”
He pointed to the garage. “Let’s go for a ride.”
I shook my head. “I can’t leave. Sara might –”
“Tristan will take care of Sara, and she’s not going to talk to you tonight.”
I scowled at him.
“You know that’s how she copes with change. She avoids dealing with it until she can handle it. She’ll talk to you when she’s ready.”
“I don’t know, Chris. She’s never looked at me that way.”
He shook his head. “She’s confused and overwhelmed, that’s all. Did you know she killed a vampire right before we all got there?”
“Tristan told me.” Pride surged in me in spite of the part of me that struggled with the knowledge that she’d fought a vampire.
“She’s tougher than she looks, Nikolas. And she cares about you. Anyone with eyes can see that. Give her some time.”
I looked up at the light shining from the second story windows belonging to Tristan’s apartment. I should be the one with her, telling her about us.
“God, I really messed up.”
“You aren’t the first bonded male to lose it, and you certainly won’t be the last. Standing here torturing yourself is helping no one.”
“You’re right.” I made myself turn away from the building. “Let’s ride.”
