Moonshadow (Moonshadow #1)(74)

She tucked her face into the crook of his neck and leaned against him, and it was so unlike her usual, snappy self he had no choice but to enfold her, cradling her against his chest as close as he could.

The detonation of rage didn’t die. Instead, it grew stronger. He growled, “What did you see in the vision?”

“I don’t want to talk about it,” she whispered.

Her voice sounded hurt and small, which frankly made a part of him crazy. He hated that something had managed to get inside her and wound her like that. He cupped her head as if to shield her from the world.

As if to shield her most especially from himself, even as he said in a quiet, hard voice, “It doesn’t matter whether you want to or not. You have to talk about it.”

When she didn’t respond, he slipped a hand underneath her chin and forced her to look up. Her eyes had filled with tears, and she looked at him with such… such compassion?… it started an entirely different alarm going off inside him.

“What?” he said.

Her face tightened. “In the vision, one of your men tried to kill me.”





Chapter Fifteen





“No,” Nikolas said. “I don’t accept that.”

He still held her just as tightly, but his expression told her louder than his words that he rejected everything she had just said.

She knew he was going to react that way before she ever said anything. How could he not? He had known his men for far longer than she had been alive. They were his compatriots, his brothers and fellow soldiers, and he had already shown the depth of his commitment to them and to his people.

“Maybe it’s a horrible misunderstanding,” she said. “Maybe he didn’t realize I’m on your side. Really, truly, I’m on your side. I’m helping you, and I want to help you. If we make that clear to them when they arrive, there won’t be an issue, right?”

He stared at her almost as if he hated her, and that look in his eyes really hurt, but she had the smallest inkling of what he must be feeling, so she sucked it up and took it.

“You said, what are the vulnerabilities we have that we do not know?” he said through tight lips. “Right?”

She nodded.

“What did the man look like?”

“I don’t know,” she whispered.

His dark eyes snapped with anger. “What do you mean, you don’t know?”

“I mean, I do not know. Someone came up to me from behind, and he started choking me. We were inside the manor house. The only ones inside were you and your men, me, and Robin.”

“Robin,” he growled, looking around with fresh rage.

His expression was frightening. She pulled out of his arms, rolled to her knees, and stood. As she turned to face him, she found that he had stood as well. “Why are you so angry at Robin?”

“He interfered with your vision somehow. I don’t know what he did. He enhanced it, or he directed it. Maybe he twisted it.” Nikolas snarled at the direction of the sitting room. “Come out here, you little bastard.”

“Nikolas.” She took hold of his wrists. “Stop. You’re reacting emotionally, and why wouldn’t you? My God, I’m reacting emotionally. I didn’t want to say those words to you, and I can only imagine how you must be feeling.”

“Can you, really?” He confronted her fiercely. “Those men are my family.”

“Okay,” she said in a gentle voice, her fingers tightening on him. “It was a mistake. The vision went wrong, that’s all. We can let it go. I don’t know what Robin intended, but I do not believe he would intentionally hurt me.” She raised her voice. “Would you, sweetheart?”

As if in reply, Robin crept into the kitchen. Giving Nikolas a wide berth, the monkey raced toward Sophie. When she held open her arms, he leaped into them. The puck buried his face into her chest, and she hugged him tightly.

Glaring at Robin, Nikolas started to pace like a caged, wild creature. “Tell me what you saw.”

“No. It’ll only make things worse.”

He rounded on her, his face blazing. “Tell me what you saw.”

She took a step back while she searched his face for any sign of understanding or belief. He was reacting like a wounded animal, and gods, she didn’t blame him.

She told him, “I don’t believe this is the right time to have this conversation.”

Nikolas opened his arms wide. “When else, Sophie?” he snarled. “My men are going to be here soon. We’re all alone, just you and I. Tell me, when else should we be talking about this?”

She looked down into Robin’s eyes. He looked so sad. Stroking the puck’s head, she said softly, “We were all in the manor house, and I knew we’d been looking for the answers to the broken pieces of crossover magic. It’s just background to the vision, that knowledge. It puts everything in place, you know? Then I was on my own, somewhere in a big room, or maybe a long one. I was really excited about something, but someone came up from behind, put his hands around my throat, and started choking me. I fought, but he was really strong, as… as I’m sure you can imagine. He was tall too, maybe as tall as you are or even taller. A big man, with big hands, not someone as small as a puck.” She kissed the monkey and whispered to him, “It wasn’t you, was it?”