Warrior (Relentless #4)(199)
I was never so glad to live in a house with faerie protections. I couldn’t have done my job properly if I was worried about Sara’s safety all day long.
The next morning, Chris and Jordan left just after dawn for San Francisco, and I spent the better part of the day working. I’d planned to have dinner alone with Sara at the house since Chris and Jordan weren’t expected back until tomorrow. But we had three teams out on jobs, which meant fewer of us to monitor them.
When Raoul offered to do a food run, I knew my dinner plans would have to be put on hold. But there was no reason why Sara couldn’t join us at the command center like she’d been doing almost every day.
I knocked on her bedroom door, and she called for me to come in. Opening the door, I smiled at the sight of her sitting cross-legged on the bed, surrounded by books and papers. I wondered what she was up to. She hated being idle and didn’t seem to care much for TV, something we had in common.
“Do you want to come next door with me instead of spending the evening here alone? Raoul is ordering from that Italian place you like.”
Her face lit up. “That sounds awesome.”
She moved to get up, and a cat meowed. I walked to the bed, looking at the black and gray tabby I hadn’t noticed on her lap. Something about the animal looked familiar –
“Is that the cat you had back in Maine?”
She touched the cat’s head. “Yes, his name is Oscar.”
“How did your cat get here?” I’d been so busy the last week she’d probably told me someone was sending her cat and I’d forgotten.
“Eldeorin took me to the apartment today and I brought Oscar back with me.”
“He did what?”
A chill went through me. I had to have heard her wrong. There was no way Eldeorin would take her to Maine where she’d almost died at the hands of vampires.
“It was safe, Nikolas,” she said in a rush. “Eldeorin was with me and I didn’t go outside.”
Safe? Nate had been turned in that apartment, which meant the Master knew about it and was probably watching it somehow. She’d been taken from there once and I’d almost lost her.
My Mori growled furiously at the thought of our mate in danger, and my voice rose along with my anger. “What the hell is wrong with him? He knows New Hastings is not safe for you.”
She laid the cat aside and stood on the other side of the bed.
“Is any place safe for me? Other than here where I’m surrounded by Faerie wards, is there any place I can go and be safe? It’s a dangerous world for everyone now, not just me.”
“Everyone else’s safety is not my concern.”
“And everyone else doesn’t have built-in vampire radar or power like mine. I’m not defenseless, Nikolas, far from it. I’ve killed more vampires than most trainees do before they become warriors. I’m not saying I’m invincible, just that I’m a lot stronger than you think I am.”
“I know you’re strong, Sara. Khristu!” I raked a hand through my hair, not wanting to think about all the vampires she’d had to kill since I met her. “But we’re not talking about a few vampires looking for you. A Master wants you dead. Every time I think about that, it makes me want to forget my promise and take you far away from here.”
Her anger faded, and she came around the bed to stand in front of me. She laid her hands on my chest as if she knew her touch was exactly what I needed.
“There is always going to be some vampire or demon that wants us dead because of what we are. They’ve been trying for a while now, but we’re still here. I have no plans to go anywhere. Do you?”
“God, I wish it was that easy.” I took her shoulders in my hands, wishing there was a way to make her understand what I was trying to protect her from. “Even with all the things you’ve seen, you still have no idea how much evil is out there and how bad it can get. And I don’t want you to ever have to see that.”
She opened her mouth, closed it, and opened it again. “About that. There’s something I’ve been wanting to talk to you about.”
The second the words were out of her mouth, my phone rang. I didn’t want to answer it because her expression said she was about to share something important with me. A glance at the screen told me it was Raoul, and he wouldn’t call unless it was important.
I gave her an apologetic look as I put the phone to my ear. “Nikolas here.”
“Nikolas, we’ve got trouble in San Francisco. Chris’s team got hit by a bunch of gulaks at the wrakk.”
I swore silently and kept my expression neutral, not wanting to alarm Sara. “When?”
“Just a few minutes ago. They’re in some kind of standoff now. You want me to take some guys and head up there?”
“No, I’ll be there in five minutes. Tell Elijah to assemble his team.” I wasn’t worried about Chris. He could handle himself. But I’d sent Jordan out today. If anything happened to her on her first job, I didn’t think Sara or I would forgive me.
“What’s wrong?” Sara asked when I hung up.
“One of our teams called in and said they ran into some trouble,” I said calmly. “I’m going to take another team to back them up. It’s nothing you have to worry about.”
“What team?”