Warrior (Relentless #4)(204)

I tried not to be jealous of the affection in her voice when she talked about the faerie. “You like spending time with him.”

She smiled. “Sometimes, but I like being with you more.”

My lips met hers again. “Good answer.”

She rested her head against my shoulder again and surveyed the damage in the room. After a moment, she sighed and sat up straighter. “I guess we should get this mess cleaned up.”

I reluctantly released her and looked around the deserted market.

“I’m sure Chris has already called for a cleanup crew. We should probably put one on speed dial for you.”

She scowled at me, but Jordan’s voice cut off whatever she was going to say.

“Hey, is it safe to come in now? We’re freezing our butts off out here.”

Sara smiled at me. “All good.”

Jordan breezed into the building with Chris behind her, both of them grinning at us.

“Thank God!” Jordan wrinkled her nose at us. “Well, you two look disgustingly happy. And it’s about damn time.”

“Amen,” Chris said. “I called in a crew to help with this mess. I told them they might need extra guys.”

I laughed at the look Sara gave him before she walked away to talk to some of the vendors who had returned to their stalls. She walked around, conversing with them as if she hung out in wrakks every day. I’d never seen her around demons, and it struck me how quickly she put them at ease. I couldn’t hear their conversations, but I saw it in their posture and the smiles and nods they gave her.

I also noticed her outfit for the first time. Dressed in tight black jeans, a black T-shirt, and combat boots, she looked ready to kick ass and take names. I could barely take my eyes off her.

“Hey, Romeo?” A hand waved in front of my face. “I hate to interrupt your ogling, but duty calls.”

I tore my gaze from Sara to glower at Chris. “I don’t ogle.”

“Right.” He shook his head and walked away, stepping over several gru-eels flopping around on the wet concrete. “Jesus, what a mess.”

“You want to give me the rundown?”

He picked up his sword and shook the gore from it before he wiped it on the body of a ranc demon.

“It was quiet here until the gulaks arrived – eight of the bastards with the drex demon. As soon as they saw us, they cornered the three of us in the loading bay and started talking about delivering us to some vampires for cash.”

He waved at Will, who was limping with a strip of cloth wrapped around his thigh. “We fought them off, and Will took a gulak claw to the leg. Jordan was ready to take on the whole lot of them herself, and she might have tried if those damn ranc demons hadn’t arrived with flamethrowers.”

I looked at a dead gulak with bulking eyes and his tongue hanging out. “Skip to the part where Sara made her big entrance.”

“How do you know she didn’t come in quietly like a ninja?”

My eyebrows rose.

Chris laughed. “Honestly, it was kind of hard to see her at first with the wall of gulaks in the way. I heard her fight with one of them, and then I saw her when the rest of the gulaks turned to look. She took down a gulak with her bare hands. I have to say I was pretty damn impressed, and I had no idea it was her at that point.

“After that, all hell broke loose. She knocked over the gru-eel tank, but I was too busy fighting to see what happened. Then it was over, and she was standing there. I knew it was the vigilante, and I went up to her to thank her for helping us. She shocked the hell out of me when she showed me who she really was. Jordan wasn’t surprised, of course.”

“Of course.” I looked over at Sara and Jordan talking to a quellar demon. Those two were as thick as thieves. I wasn’t surprised Sara had confided in Jordan.

“So, you okay with all of this now?”

I raked both hands through my hair. “What do you think?”

“I think there’s a case of Macallan in your future.”

“I think you may be right.”

I watched Sara say something to the quellar demon who was looking at a piece of paper in his hand. Then she and Jordan walked over to join us.

“Giving out your number, Sara?” Chris teased. “He doesn’t seem like your type.”

Her eyes met mine. “He’s not.”

Heat curled in my gut. Mine, growled my Mori.

“You ready to get out of here?” I asked her, looking forward to getting her home and spending some time alone with her.

“Yes.” She glanced around. “It looks like my ride left, so you’re stuck with me.”

A smile curved my lips. For once that accursed faerie had done something right.

“Something tells me he doesn’t mind one bit,” Jordan said slyly.

Sara and Jordan walked ahead of Chris and me to the open door. Jordan went through, but Sara slowed and put up her hands as if she was pushing through a heavy curtain.

I gave her a questioning look when we got outside, and she made a face.

“Demon wards and Fae blood don’t mix.”

Outside, two black Escalades had been pulled up to the front of the building. Chris spoke to Will, who said he was staying with Elijah’s team to help with the cleanup, and then the four of us went to one of the SUVs. Sara and I climbed into the back seat, and I took her hand in mine as Chris started the vehicle.