“Are you ready?”
Sara turned away from the tall glass building to look at me. “I’ve been ready for this for a long time.”
Her smile didn’t hide the uncertainty in her eyes, not that anyone could blame her for what she was feeling. In a few minutes, she was going to come face-to-face with the mother who’d abandoned her. She kept saying she only wanted to see Madeline to ask her about the Master, but I could feel her pain, even if she didn’t realize it was there.
I looked at Geoffrey over the hood of the SUV, and he nodded to let me know his team would take up watch outside. He’d met us at McCarren Airport to provide us with an escort and extra backup. Vegas was a dangerous place these days, and Sara wouldn’t be here at all if it was up to me. But she wanted to be the one to talk to Madeline, and God knew she’d earned that right.
We walk into the building’s marble lobby, followed closely by Chris and Jordan, with Elijah and Noah taking up the lead. Sara was quiet as we took the elevator up to the forty-second floor. I reached for her hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze when we got off the elevator and walked the short distance to Adele’s condo.
Sara and I stood in front of the door, and everyone else stayed a few yards away. I rang the doorbell, and we waited. After a minute, I knocked.
“Madeline, we’ve had our people watching this place, so we know you’re in there,” I called to her. “We just want to talk.”
When no one came to the door, Sara impatiently stepped in front of me.
“An hour of your time, and we’ll be out of your life forever. You owe me that much…Mom.”
The locks disengaged, and the door opened an inch.
“I’m sorry but you have the wrong address,” said a female voice I didn’t recognize. “My name is Claire and I have no children.”
“Now that really hurts,” Sara replied with thinly veiled sarcasm.
The woman started to shut the door. “I don’t know who you are, but I’m calling the police if you don’t leave.”
Sara put a hand on the door and leaned in. “Before you do that, I think you should know I can see through glamours…even Orias’s.”
There was a sharp inhale before the door shut. A few seconds later, it opened fully to reveal a tall, thirtysomething brunette wearing blue pants and a cream-colored top. If I didn’t know better, I would never guess she was Madeline.
“Come in,” she said stiffly.
She locked the door after we entered and led us into a living room with large windows overlooking the Strip. Sara and I sat on a leather couch while Madeline took the chair.
She studied Sara for a moment before she spoke. “You look like Daniel.”
“I know,” Sara said, unsmiling. I tried to imagine what she was feeling, but her face was almost expressionless.
Madeline looked at me. “It’s been a long time, Nikolas.”
I smiled. “It has. I’d say you look well, but I can’t see past the glamour.”
She frowned and looked at Sara again. “And how is it that you can? Did Orias give you something to see past it? Did he tell you where I was? I know Adele would never betray me.”
Sara shook her head. “Orias and I are not exactly on the best of terms, and Adele didn’t give you up. She is amazingly loyal to you.”
“Then how did you find me? How can you see me now?” Madeline demanded.
“Some very resourceful friends of mine found you for me. As for how I can see you, that’s irrelevant.” She stared intently at her mother. “You know the identity of a Master and we want to know who he is.”
Madeline shook her head, and Sara’s voice grew hard.
“He had my dad killed. Your husband. He’s spent the last six months trying to kill me and everyone I love. I know family means nothing to you, but you must have felt something for my dad once upon a time.”
Madeline blanched. “You know nothing about what I felt for him.”
Sara’s hands clenched tightly in her lap. I wanted to reach over and offer the comfort of my touch, but I stayed where I was. She needed to do this her own way.
“You’re right. I don’t. I don’t know how you can love someone and hurt them so completely. I don’t know how you can stand back while they are murdered and let the one responsible walk free so he can destroy other families. I have no idea what a person who does something like that is feeling. So why don’t you enlighten me?”
For a moment, Madeline looked like she was at a loss for words. “I know you are angry because I left you –”
Sara’s angry laugh cut her off. “I don’t even remember you. My dad gave me all the love I needed until they took him from me. You have the information I need to find them, and that is the only reason I’m here now.”
No one spoke for a long moment.
“I loved him,” Madeline said softly.
“What?”
“Your father. I met him in college. I knew he was human and it could never work between us, but he was… He had a way of making you feel like you were the only person in his world.”
She cleared her throat delicately. “I should not have married him, but I was in love, and I couldn’t think of leaving him. I knew it wouldn’t be long before he realized I was different, so a month before our wedding, I told him what I was.”
“He knew what you were?” Sara asked in surprise.
Madeline had to have loved Sara’s father deeply to expose herself to him like that. The Madeline I’d known had always been too shallow for those kinds of feelings. But then, love had a way of changing a person. I knew that firsthand.
“I told him I was Mohiri, but not about my Mori because I didn’t think he could cope with that,” Madeline said. “It was a struggle for him to learn about the real world, but he said what I was didn’t matter to him. Even when I said I would not age, he wanted me to stay. So we got married. Those two years were the happiest of my life.”
She looked almost regretful for what she was about to say next.
“I was content with just the two of us, but Daniel wanted a child. He talked about how wonderful it would be, and I loved him so much that I let myself believe it was what I wanted, too. The day you were born, he was the happiest I’d ever seen him. I thought that would be enough for me to be happy too, but I was wrong. I loved my daughter – you, but being a mother wasn’t something I had ever wanted. I did it for two years, and then I couldn’t handle it anymore.”
I could stay quiet no longer. “You left your child with a human who had no idea what would happen to her when her Mori emerged.”
Madeline flinched at my harsh tone. “I could sense no Mori in her. I thought she was human like her father.”
She looked at Sara, her eyes sad. “I came back sometimes to see how the two of you were doing, but neither of you knew it. If I’d seen a sign that you were different, I would have gone to your father. You looked happy together.”
Sara swallowed hard. “We were happy. Until he was killed.”
Madeline’s face became pinched. “I went to him and warned him he might be in danger. He didn’t believe me. The last thing I wanted was for him to get hurt.”
“He didn’t get hurt, Madeline. He got murdered.”
The pain in Sara’s voice pulled at me. It was all I could do not to slide over and put an arm around her.
Madeline lurched from her chair and went to the window. Outside, rain was coming down in torrents, blurring the city lights.
“Part of me died that day,” she said hoarsely. “No matter what had happened between us, Daniel was the only man I ever loved.”
“Did you even care about what happened to your daughter after he died?” I asked.
I understood her pain over losing the man she loved. I’d go crazy if anything happened to Sara. But Madeline was a mother. She should have protected her daughter above all else.
She scowled at me. “Of course I did! Sara disappeared after her father died, and there was no trace of her. I thought she had died, too, at first. I don’t know why I forgot about Daniel’s brother, Nate, but it was years later when I remembered him.”
Sara had told me Aine had erased all traces of her after her father was killed to keep her safe from the vampires. That was why the newspaper articles had no mention of a child, and people forgot Daniel had a brother. Even Sara’s own mother had forgotten about him.
I rested my arms on my knees. “Tell us about the Master.”
Madeline’s face turned ashen. “I-I can’t.”
“Yes, you can.” Sara’s voice rose. “Why are you protecting him?”
Madeline began to pace, her face tight with fear. “I’m not protecting him. You don’t understand. I can’t tell you because I don’t know who he is.”
“You’re lying. A day before my dad was killed, you went to visit a friend of yours in Portland and you told him you knew about the Master.”
Madeline stared at her. “Jiro Ito? How do you know about him?”
“His son, David, was there and he overheard you talking to his father. You said you knew the identity of a Master, and you needed the money he was holding for you so you could disappear.”
“Jiro’s son was there?” She paused as if she was trying to remember that day. “He misunderstood what I said. I told Jiro that a Master was after me because I’d seen him, but that I didn’t know who he was.”
“That makes no sense,” Sara argued. “If you saw him, you can describe him. And how did you come to see him in the first place or even know he was a Master?”
The air was thick with fear when Madeline sat again and began to tell us her story.
“I was in New York to see Adele, who was opening a new night club there, and I ended up at a party on the Upper East Side. I –”
She swallowed convulsively, real terror in her eyes. “Something happened to me at the party. One minute I was having a drink, and the next I woke up in a cage in the basement of a place I didn’t know. There were vampires everywhere, but none of them talked to me until one named Eli came in. He taunted me about being his Master’s new toy. When I heard the word ‘Master’ I knew I was dead.”
“Khristu!”
“A few hours later, they took me upstairs to meet the Master. I remember walking into a room and seeing him sitting by the fireplace.” Her voice faltered. “I remember every minute I was tortured by him for two days. I remember wishing to die. But I can’t remember anything about him.”
“I’m sorry,” Sara said softly. “Did they drug you to make you forget?”
Madeline shook her head. “He compelled me to forget him.”
Sara turned her shocked gaze to me. “But we can’t be compelled by vampires. Can we?”
“A Master is not a normal vampire,” I reminded her. The vamhir demon in a Master was much stronger than those in a normal vampire. No one knew what made them so powerful, but they could compel other vampires and most demons, including ours.
Madeline trembled. “He made sure I remembered everything about my time there, except him. He said he was going to enjoy playing with me for a long time.”
Lightning lit up the room, and Sara jumped. The three of us were on edge after hearing Madeline’s story.
“How did you escape?” I asked Madeline kindly, seeing how difficult this was for her.
“I didn’t. He released me.”
I stared at her in disbelief.
“He let you go?” Sara asked.
Madeline’s voice cracked. “Something happened. I don’t know what. I was chained in his sitting room and I heard voices outside. Then he came in and said something that made me go to sleep. I woke up in Central Park filled with an overwhelming urge to run. The first thing I did was go to Portland to warn Daniel. I’ve been running ever since.”
“Madeline, why didn’t you go home?” I asked her. “Tristan would do anything to keep you safe.”
“Whatever he did to me made me afraid to trust anyone, especially the Mohiri. Adele is my closest friend, and I can’t even trust her completely.”
For a moment, anger replaced the fear in her eyes. “He stole that from me. He released me from my chains, but he still robbed me of my freedom. Until I can get rid of this compulsion, I’ll never be free.”
I swore silently as the meaning of her words sank in. Sara was going to be devastated when she realized it, too. We’d chased Madeline for months, and she would never be able to tell us who the Master was.
“Orias is trying to find a way to break the Master’s compulsion, isn’t he?” Sara asked her.
“He’s been working on it for ten years, but nothing can break it.”
“The only thing that can break a Master’s compulsion is his death,” I said.
Sara paled as realization set in. “She can’t tell us where he is unless she can break the compulsion, but in order to break it he has to die?”
“Yes.”
Her shoulders sagged, and she looked away. It killed me to see her disappointment after all she’d been through to find Madeline.
“Are you okay?” I asked her.
She made a brave attempt at a smile.
“We’ll find him,” I promised. “It’ll just take a little longer than we thought.”
“So you are Mohiri after all,” Madeline said, reminding me of her presence. “I’m glad you found our people, Sara.”
Sara’s smile was real this time. “Actually, it was Nikolas who found me.”
She placed her hand between us on the couch, and I covered it with mine. I gave her hand a light squeeze, and she laced our fingers together.
Madeline stared at our joined hands and gave us a questioning look. When neither of us spoke, she said, “What will you do now?”
I smiled at Sara. “We’ll keep looking. Keep fighting.”
“We found you. We’ll find him, too,” Sara said. She let go of my hand as she stood. “We should be going.”
Madeline nodded and walked us to the door.
“Sara, for what it’s worth, I really did love your father. And I loved you, too. I still do.”
Despite her anger at Madeline and her terrible disappointment, Sara raised her hand graciously to her mother, reminding me again why I loved her so much.
“Thank you for talking to us. I hope Orias can find a way to help you,” she said sincerely.
Madeline took the offered hand, her voice cracking. “Thank you.”
“Good-bye, Madeline,” Sara said then walked out.
I nodded at Madeline as I followed Sara, and I felt a surge of pity for the woman. She’d given up everyone she loved in her life because of her selfishness: the father who adored her, the husband who had worshiped her, and the daughter who would have loved her unconditionally.
Not getting to know her daughter was her greatest loss. Sara had such a capacity for love and a light within her that made the world a brighter place. Madeline could have had that love freely, but she’d thrown it away.
I would never take the love I’d been given for granted, and every day God gave me with Sara, I’d make sure she knew it.
Jordan came up to us as soon as the door closed. “What did she say?”
“Not here,” I said, seeing how tired Sara looked. “We’ll talk outside.”
We dashed through the rain and climbed into the SUV. Sara was subdued on the seat beside me, so I filled the others in as Geoffrey drove us back to the hangar at the airport. When we got there, Sara went directly into the plane, and I went to talk to our pilot.
“The tower said there are some big storms coming through, backing up air traffic,” the pilot said apologetically. “We probably won’t get clearance to leave for three or four hours.”
“Come back to the safe house for the night,” Geoffrey suggested. “It’s better than hanging around here.”
I told the others about the change in plans and went to find Sara. She was reclined in a seat in the last row with her eyes closed. I was loath to disturb her, but she couldn’t stay here all night.
I said her name as I sat beside her. She opened her eyes and gave me a questioning look.
“We’ve got some bad electrical storms moving through the area, so we’re grounded for a few hours, at least. Geoffrey’s team has a safe house nearby, and we’re going to wait out the storm there. It’s more comfortable than an airport hangar.”
“Okay.”
“You did well tonight.” I brushed damp hair from her face. “I know that was harder for you than you’re letting on.”
“It was,” she whispered.
I didn’t think I’d ever seen her this disheartened, and I wasn’t sure what to say to help her feel better. Her reticence told me she didn’t want to talk about it yet, so I’d wait until she was ready.
“Come on.”
I stood and held out my hand to her. She let me help her out of the seat and quietly followed me to the SUV. Jordan gave her a worried look, and I smiled at the other girl to let her know Sara was okay.
The safe house was the same one Chris and I had stayed at in the fall. The rain was coming down in heavy sheets so Geoffrey pulled into the garage. Normally, he wouldn’t bother, but I think even he was worried about Sara, who hadn’t spoken since we left the plane.
“How is she?” Chris asked in a low voice as Sara entered the house ahead of us.
“It wasn’t easy for her. She needs some time.”
“So what now?”
I shrugged. “Now we start over. Madeline said she was grabbed by the Master in New York City. He could be long gone by now, but it’s as good a place to start as any.”
When we entered the house, Sara was nowhere in sight, although I could sense her nearby. I talked to Chris and Geoffrey for a minute, and then I called Vivian to fill her in on what Madeline had told us about the Master. We talked for a few minutes, and then I went to look for Sara.
It wasn’t hard to find her in the den off the main hallway. I entered the dark room and sat on my haunches in front of the couch where she lay.
“Why are you hiding in here alone?” I asked, though I already knew the answer.
“If I was hiding, I’d be behind the couch.”
I smiled at her attempt at levity. “You’d never hide behind a couch.”
“True,” she said with a sad smile. “There is no dignity in lying in dust bunnies.”
“Want some company?”
I’d understand if she wanted to be alone, but the pain I felt through the bond told me that wasn’t the case. She was hurting, and all I wanted to do was ease her pain.
“Behind the couch?”
“Wherever you want.”
“Yes,” she said softly.
She started to sit up, but I had other plans. The leather couch wasn’t really big enough for two people, a fact which worked in my favor. I lay on my side behind her, using one arm to pillow her head and wrapping the other around her waist to pull her back against me. Her curves fit my body like she’d been made for me.
“Comfortable?” I asked when she relaxed against me.
“Yes,” she whispered.
“Do you want to talk about her?”
At first, I didn’t think she was going to respond. I was content to hold her until she was ready to talk.
“She wasn’t what I expected. I pity her. Except for Adele, she has no one, and she spends her life running and afraid and regretting the love she gave up. I think of her and I realize how lucky I am to have you and everyone else in my life.”
“That’s not luck,” I said. “You have so many people who love you because you’re a good person. Madeline was always selfish. She proved that when she left home the way she did, and with her behavior since then. I’m not saying she deserves the things that have happened to her, but I do believe she brought most of them on herself. That you can feel sad for her after all you’ve been through shows how kind you are.”
She was quiet for a moment. “Can I ask you something?”
“Anything.”
She drew in a deep breath. “How do you always know when I need you?”
My heart squeezed, and I pulled her closer. “When you’re hurting, I feel it.”
“You do?”
I smiled at the wonder in her voice and leaned in to kiss her forehead. “Yes. So don’t ever try to hide your pain from me.”
“Why can’t I do the same with you?”
“You will, someday.”
One day soon we were going to complete the bond, and nothing would ever come between us again. She would never have to question my love for her because she’d feel it without me uttering a word.
She snuggled closer to me. “I love you, Nikolas.”
I cupped her chin and turned her face toward mine. “I love you too, moy malen’kiy voin,” I said before I kissed her tenderly.
She closed her eyes. After several minutes passed, I thought she’d fallen asleep, until she spoke softly.
“What do we do now?”
“I don’t know,” I said honestly. “But we’ll figure it out together. Like you told Madeline, you found her when no one else could. We’ll go back to California and come up with a plan for what to do next.”
Maybe we could enlist the help of her friend David. He’d proven to be an invaluable ally, and he was the one who’d ultimately lead us to Madeline. If I could convince him to work with Dax, there was no telling what the two of them could do.
“I don’t want to go back to California.”
Her hoarse declaration took me by surprise. “Where do you want to go?”
She turned in my arms until she was on her back. Lightning lit up the room, revealing the tears gathering in her eyes.
“Can we go home?”
Home. I had a sudden image of her things spread around my apartment. Our apartment.
“I thought you’d never ask.”
I lowered my head to brush my lips across hers. Her hand came up to hold the back of my neck, and the tender kiss turned into a sensual exploration that left us both breathing a little faster.
She protested softly when I broke the kiss, but she deserved a lot more than heated groping on a couch. Tomorrow, we were going home. Tomorrow night, I was going to make love to her in our bed and sleep with her in my arms. And that was worth waiting for.
