Warrior (Relentless #4)(130)

Celine made a sound. “She’s fine, gentlemen. She doesn’t need an escort to go to the ladies’ room.”

Sara smiled at us. “She’s right. Please, finish your dessert.”

Reluctantly, I sat. I’d known Sara long enough to tell when something was bothering her. What I couldn’t figure out was why she was concerned about Tristan leaving. I knew she wasn’t going to the restroom, and I could think of no other reason for her to suddenly excuse herself.

I looked at the others. Chris had gone back to eating his pie, and Desmund was swirling his glass of wine thoughtfully. Neither of them looked concerned. Maybe I was overreacting.

“So Desmund, how did you and Sara become such good friends?” Chris asked. At the other warrior’s raised eyebrow, he shrugged. “It’s no secret you like to keep to yourself…or did.”

“I was keeping to myself when she decided to invade my library one night. I tried to convince her to go somewhere else and read, but she didn’t take the hint.” He smiled fondly. “She kept coming back, and I found myself quite taken with her.”

Chris grinned. “Knowing you both, I can only imagine how your first meeting went.”

Desmund’s eyes sparkled with amusement. “She called me Lestat and told me I smelled old and musty.”

Chris and I laughed, and Desmund joined in. I pictured Sara standing her own against him. She would have given him as good as she got. A girl who befriended trolls would not be cowed by a surly warrior, even one as bad-tempered as Desmund.

Later, I’d get her to tell me how she’d healed him when our people had tried unsuccessfully for centuries to heal Hale witch victims. What she’d done was nothing short of –

I sucked in a sharp breath as a wave of pain and grief washed over me.

Sara.

I leapt to my feet, sending my chair skidding away from me.

“What –?” Chris started to ask, but I was already running for the door.

The front door was open, and I ran outside. At the top of the steps, I stopped and stared at the scene below. At the bottom of the steps Sara, Tristan, and Ben stood facing a white van parked in the driveway. Beside the van, Nate stood in front of his wheelchair.

Nate took a step away from the chair and raised his arms. “Look, I can walk again. Aren’t you happy for me?” he asked Sara.

The horrible truth hit me as Tristan and Ben moved quickly to grab Nate and hold him between them.

Nate merely smiled and flashed his new fangs at Sara. “I have a message for you from the Master. Eli was his favorite and he was very upset to lose him. The Master thinks it’s only fair that, since you took one he loved, he should take someone you love.”

Sara staggered, and I was behind her in an instant to catch her before she fell.

“I’m here, malyutka,” I said as another blast of pain hit me.

She tensed and tried to pull away, but I wrapped my arms more tightly around her.

“It’s me, Sara. I’ve got you,” I said softly. I wasn’t sure if she even heard me, but she stopped struggling and stood quietly in my arms.

“Nikolas, it’s good to see you again.”

I raised my eyes to the man I’d come to respect and think of as a friend. Sorrow filled me. “I wish I could say the same. I’m sorry this happened to you, Nate.”

He grinned. “Don’t be. I’ve never felt so whole or so strong.”

Seamus and Niall arrived, and Nate stood quietly as they placed thick iron cuffs on his wrists. The twins cast pitying glances at Sara before they began to lead her uncle away.

“What…will you do with him?” she asked brokenly.

“What do you think they will do?” Nate jeered at her, and I felt her stiffen. “You are vampire killers, after all.”

“We will question him about the Master,” Tristan said vaguely.

“And then?”

He looked at me, and I could see how much it weighed on him to say his next words.

“He will die. I promise it will be quick and…”

Sara sagged in my arms, and I held her against me. “Let’s get you inside.”

She shook her head weakly. “No, I need… I need to be there.”

“It won’t happen today,” Tristan said gently. “It usually takes a few days to get them to talk. He won’t hold out long without…sustenance.”

A shudder went through Sara. I wanted to tell Tristan to stop, but she needed to know why she couldn’t be there. She was suffering enough. There was no way I was putting her through the horror of seeing her uncle starved and screaming for blood.

Desmund appeared beside us and spoke to Sara with uncharacteristic tenderness. “You are turning blue from the cold, little one. Let Nikolas take you inside, please.”

She nodded, and we turned to the steps where everyone from the dining hall was gathered. Sara faltered, and I moved to pick her up and carry her inside.

“No,” she whispered, gripping my hand instead.

I led her inside, and the crowd parted for us as we passed. I planned to take her to my apartment, but she moved toward her floor as if on autopilot. When we entered her room I expected her to cry, but she curled up on her side on her bed, hugging her knees. She shivered violently, and I grabbed the quilt at the foot of the bed and covered her. I watched her helplessly, and I would have taken her pain into me if I could.