Warrior (Relentless #4)(131)

A soft knock on the door heralded Tristan’s arrival. He entered and looked at the small form huddled beneath the quilt.

“How is she?” he asked in a low voice.

I stepped outside to talk to him.

“She’s in shock.”

Worry darkened his eyes. “Should we send for a healer?”

“All they can do is sedate her. I’ll take care of her.”

He dragged a hand through his hair. “God, if I had only known. This will kill her.”

“No, it won’t,” I said fiercely. “I won’t let it.” Nate’s death would haunt Sara for a long time, but she was a survivor. And I’d be beside her every step of the way.

“Is there anything I can do?” he asked desperately.

“Find out what he knows and end it quickly,” I said in a low voice.

The longer Nate was alive in this state, the longer it would be before Sara could begin the grieving process. I wouldn’t extend her suffering one minute longer than necessary.

He nodded grimly. “I’m on my way to see him now. I wanted to check on her first.”

I didn’t envy him his job tonight. He’d formed a friendship with Nate over the last month. Now he had to interrogate and most likely torture the vampire that used to be his friend.

As soon as Tristan left, I pulled out my cell phone and called the one person who could help Sara through this. Roland was her best friend, and he’d known Nate his whole life. As much as I wanted to be the one she turned to, she needed Roland more now.

“Nikolas?” Roland said slowly. “Did you dial the wrong number?”

“No.” I lowered my voice. “Something has happened.”

“What?” he demanded. “Is Sara okay?”

“Sara is okay, physically at least.”

His voice rose. “What the hell does that mean? What happened to her?”

“What’s going on?” asked a voice in the background that I recognized as Peter’s.

I let out a deep breath. “It’s Nate. He just showed up here as a vampire.”

“Oh, f*ck no!” he cried. I heard him repeat what I’d told him to Peter. “Did you…?”

“We have him locked up for now, but we’ll kill him in a few days.”

“Oh, God. This’ll destroy her. She’ll blame herself.”

I stared at the closed door to her room. “That’s why she needs all of us now. Can you come here?”

“Yes,” he said without hesitation. “It might take us a day because of the holiday.”

“Don’t worry about that. I’ll send our jet to pick up you and Peter in Portland,” I told him. “I’ll have someone call you to let you know when to be there.”

“Okay. Tell Sara we’ll be there as soon as we can.”

I hung up and called Claire to ask her to arrange for the jet to pick up Sara’s friends in Portland. Then I turned off my phone and entered the room again.

Kicking off my shoes, I lifted the quilt and lay down behind Sara. She whimpered when I curled my body around hers, and the sound tore at my heart.

“I’m so sorry, Sara,” I whispered against her hair.

The nightmares began an hour later. All I could do was hold her as she tossed fitfully and called out for her father and Nate. In the early hours of the morning, she cried Nate’s name and began to sob uncontrollably against my chest. I rubbed her back and whispered soothing words to her until she quieted again.

The sky was light when I eased her out of my arms and left the bed. She was finally sleeping soundly after her restless night, so I hoped she’d sleep for a few more hours.

I hated to leave her, but there were things that had to be done. Nate’s arrival last night proved the Master knew Sara was alive and at Westhorne, and he wasn’t playing around. We had to find out what Nate knew, and then we had to come up with a plan to keep Sara safe.

I met Jordan in the hallway. She was carrying a covered tray, and she came up short when I stepped out of Sara’s room.

“I thought Sara might be hungry,” she explained.

“She’s still asleep, but she might want some food when she wakes up. Maybe you could stay with her while I take care of a few things.”

“Sure.”

I opened the door and closed it behind her. Then I went in search of Tristan, who was in his office, looking like he’d been put through the wringer.

“How’s Sara?” he asked as soon as I entered.

“She had a rough night, but she’s sleeping now. Jordan’s with her.” I sank into one of the chairs in front of his desk. “Did you find out anything from Nate?”

“No, and I don’t think we will. It looks like he was compelled by a much stronger vampire, his maker most likely.”

I nodded. The vampires knew we’d question Nate, and they wouldn’t have wanted to take a chance of us learning something important from him. He’d been nothing more than a way to hurt Sara since the Master couldn’t get to her.

“They know where she is,” I said.

“Yes.” Tristan rested his arms on the desk. “We might have to consider moving her to a different location.”

“So you think it’s no longer safe here for her?” I’d asked myself that question a number of times last night, but I wanted to hear his thoughts.