Warrior (Relentless #4)(134)

Without hesitation, she said, “I’d want –”

“Sara!” shouted Roland as he tore around the corner of the building.

“Roland!” A sob tore from her throat, and she threw herself at her friend who hugged her as if they hadn’t seen each other in years. As soon as Roland let her go, Peter wrapped her in a hug.

“How did you guys get here?” she asked tearfully when Peter had set her on her feet again.

Roland’s smile faded. “Nikolas called me last night and told me you needed us. He had a private jet pick us up in Portland this morning. He told us about Nate. I’m so sorry, Sara.”

She pressed her lips together and nodded.

“I’ll let you three catch up.” Seeing them together, I knew her friends were exactly what she needed now.

Sara caught my hand as I turned to leave. “Thank you,” she said hoarsely as a tear escaped and ran down her face.

I wiped the wetness away and gave her a tender smile. “I’ll be close if you need me.”

I had to force myself to leave her, even though I knew she was in good hands. All afternoon, my thoughts returned to her, and I worried how she was doing. It had to be unbearable, knowing Nate was close by and waiting to hear when he was going to die. The sooner we took care of that, the better. After working on him for two hours, I was sure we’d gotten all we could from him. Keeping him alive was only prolonging Sara’s pain.

That evening, I ate a quick meal in the dining hall, keenly aware of Sara’s absence. As soon as I finished, I headed for her room to check on her. No one answered my knock so I went to Roland’s room, which was right across the hall from hers.

“Hey, what’s up?” he asked.

“Is Sara with you?”

“No. She was tired after dinner and went to lie down for a while.”

I went back to Sara’s door and knocked again. When there was no answer, I opened the door and looked inside. The bed was rumpled, but there was no sign of her.

Worry gnawed at me and I headed back downstairs. Maybe she’d gone to the menagerie again. She seemed to find comfort in being with the hellhounds.

I reached the first floor, and nearly collided with Tristan in the main hall.

“Nikolas,” he said in a rush, and his fearful expression set off alarm bells in my head. “Ben just called. Sara knocked him out and locked herself in with Nate.”

I didn’t wait to hear what he said next. My heart pounded against my ribs as I sped down to the lower level. I burst into the outer room and found Ben sitting on the floor, still looking slightly dazed from the jolt Sara had given him.

“She’s in there,” he said weakly, pointing at the door to the cells.

I tried the door, but it was locked. “Where are the keys?”

“She took them.” Ben rested his face in his hands. “What the hell did she do to me?”

Tristan caught up to me, carrying the other set of keys. He unlocked the door, and the two of us ran to the cell at the end of the hallway.

The cell door was locked, and inside the room, Sara stood a foot from the vampire that was still chained to the wall. The vampire’s cocky sneer had been replaced by a look of fear. I understood why when I saw blue sparks move through Sara’s hair.

“Sara, no!” Tristan shouted. “Whatever you’re planning to do, you have to stop.”

“I’m going to kill a vampire,” she replied thickly.

Tristan gripped the bars in the window. “Listen to me, Sara; you don’t want to do this. Killing a vampire is one thing, but if you kill Nate, it will haunt you forever.”

“He’s not Nate. He’s a monster,” she said as her hair began to float around her shoulders.

“Yes, he is, but you will see only Nate’s face when you remember this,” Tristan told her. “Nate would not want that for you.”

“I –”

“Sara, open the door,” I said in a gentle but firm voice.

Her hands began to glow in response. The vampire shrank away from her, his eyes wide with terror.

She laid her hands on his chest, and he screamed.

Grabbing the keys from Tristan, I fitted one into the lock. I had to stop her. No matter what she said, she would never come back from killing Nate.

The door swung open and I moved toward Sara, only to be hit by a blast of power unlike anything I’d felt from her. I slammed into the wall by the door with enough force to make my ears ring.

I opened my eyes and was nearly blinded by the brilliant white sphere that now encased Sara and the vampire.

“Jesus Christ,” Tristan uttered as I got to my feet.

“Sara.” I started toward her, and I made it two feet before I came up against a pulsing wall of energy that burned me the longer I pushed at it.

Tristan grabbed me by the shoulders and dragged me backward out of the room. “Nikolas, stop. You’re only hurting yourself.”

I pulled out of his grasp. “She’s in there with a goddamn vampire. I have to get to her.”

Turning back to the room, I tried to look at the ball of light, but it was like staring into the sun. I couldn’t see Sara or the vampire, and that scared the hell out of me. All I could do was stand here helplessly and imagine the worst.

“Sara’s doing this, whatever it is,” Tristan said.