Warrior (Relentless #4)(107)

“When do you want to go into town?” I asked as I opened the door for her.

“Can we go this weekend?”

“I think we can arrange that,” I said, already thinking about places to eat in Butler Falls.

She stopped walking and turned to me. “Chris told me you were the one who had Hugo and Woolf sent here. Thank you for doing that.”

“You don’t have to thank me. They belong with you.”

We walked across the lawn. To my left, I spotted one of the trainees practicing with a sword near the trees. It was the boy who had helped Sara gather up the karks yesterday.

“That boy is going to cut his own head off,” I said, watching him fumble with the weapon several times. When he saw me looking his way, he almost dropped the sword.

“Can I exchange the trip into town for something else?” Sara blurted, drawing my attention back to her.

“You don’t want to go into town?”

She bit her lip. “I do, but I want something more now.”

“All right, let’s have it.” If it meant more time with her, I was all for it.

“I want you to teach Michael not to cut off his head.”

Who? It took me a moment to realize she was referring to the boy with the sword.

She lifted a shoulder. “He needs a lesson in sword fighting a lot more than I need a ride to town. Besides, you have no idea how much this will mean to him. He looks up to you a lot.”

I glanced at the boy. Sara was willing to give up her trip to town just to make him happy. Her capacity for kindness never ceased to amaze me.

“If that’s what you want.”

She smiled. “It is.”

“Okay, I’ll see what I can do for him, but no promises. And I’ll still take you into town.” I wasn’t quite as willing to give up our time together.

“Thanks!”

Her hug took me completely by surprise. Before I could react to her arms around my waist, she released me and set off toward the main building. I stared after her until she disappeared around the corner.

Shaking my head, I turned to Michael, who was picking his sword up from the ground. I smiled as I started toward the boy. If giving her friend a sword lesson was enough to earn a hug from Sara, I’d volunteer to train the whole damn group next time.





*


That afternoon, instead of working with Sara on her studies, I stood at the window in my apartment, waiting for her to leave the menagerie with her hellhounds. Aside from a fleeting moment in the cellar of the house in Portland, I hadn’t seen her interact with the beasts.

Sahir, who had over half a century of experience working with creatures, had assured Tristan Sara was safe with the hellhounds. That didn’t stop me from being uneasy about her going off alone with them in the woods.

The door to the menagerie opened and Sara emerged, alone. She walked a few steps then turned back to the door and said something.

My hands gripped the windowsill when two massive black bodies hurled toward her. Sara only laughed as the hellhounds ran around her in circles, pressing against her like overgrown puppies.

I released the breath I was holding when she motioned with her hand and both hellhounds heeled on either side of her like well-trained dogs.

I watched them disappear into the trees before I turned away from the window. My first instinct was to follow them and make sure Sara was safe. I pushed that thought aside. It was obvious the beasts adored her, and hellhounds would protect their master with their lives.

I spent the rest of the afternoon with Tristan and Chris, going over the reports of vampire activity around the country. In the last month, there had been more attacks and sightings than we normally saw in half a year. We all suspected it was the work of Eli’s Master, but the behavior was out of character for a vampire Master.

Every Master I’d hunted had been careful to hide their presence, because the last thing they wanted was to draw the attention of the Mohiri. It didn’t matter how strong a vampire was; they would eventually die at the end of a Mohiri sword. So why was this one suddenly making his presence known after staying hidden so well all these years?

I felt torn when I thought about the warriors who were out there hunting the Master. He was responsible for so much pain in Sara’s life, and I wanted to be the one to end his life, to make him pay for her suffering.

But a hunt could take months, even years, and I couldn’t be away from Sara that long – not that I wanted to be. The need to be close to her was almost a physical one, and it got stronger every time I saw her. It was my Mori’s way of ensuring I spent time with her, thus strengthening our bond.

When the light began to fade, and Sahir hadn’t called to let us know Sara had returned, I headed outside with Chris to watch for her.

“She’s most likely enjoying her taste of freedom and just lost track of time,” Chris said.

“I know.” But I worried anyway.

A few minutes later, she walked out of the woods with the hellhounds. Even through the gathering dusk I could see her happy smile when she gave us a quick wave and headed straight to the menagerie.

Chris waved a hand in her direction. “Safe and sound. You worry too much, my friend.”

“You will too when it’s your mate going off alone.”

One corner of his mouth lifted. “Not gonna happen.”