Warrior (Relentless #4)(219)

“We’ll make sure this one doesn’t get loose again,” Geoffrey said firmly. “Not sure if she’s worth keeping, though.”

“Why?” Sara asked.

He shrugged. “Some vampires break. Most don’t. After a while you can tell the ones that will.”

Jordan entered the kitchen. “Then why waste your time with her?”

“Because they can’t take the chance of not getting information out of her,” I explained.

“Wait,” Sara called as Geoffrey and Evan dragged the vampire away. “Maybe I can get something out of her.”

Geoffrey gave her a skeptical look. “How?”

I shook my head. “No.”

I knew what it would take to get this vampire to crack, and Sara was too softhearted to do what needed to be done, even to a vampire. She had a weapon we didn’t have, but that wouldn’t help when she remembered this tomorrow or a year from now.

She gave me a puzzled look. “Nikolas, you said they need information. And it’s not like she can hurt me.”

I laid my hands on her shoulders. “You don’t have the stomach for torture, and that’s what it will take.”

“Maybe not.” She chewed her lip. “I could connect with the demon.”

My stomach rolled as fear shot through me. “Absolutely not. Do I need to remind you what happened the last time you did that?” The memory of her lying on that cell floor after she’d healed Nate would haunt me for the rest of my life.

“No,” she said slowly. “But I’m a lot stronger than I was that time, and I know what to expect now.”

“No.”

She laid her hands on my chest. “I know you’re worried, but I’ve come so far since that thing with Nate. I’ve spent months working with Aine and Eldeorin, and I know what I can do.”

My heart, my Mori, and every instinct yelled at me to take her away from here. In that moment, I relived every torturous hour spent waiting for her to wake up and not knowing if she would. The only thing that had made it bearable back then was knowing she had saved Nate. This wasn’t the same. This was a random vampire who might have information we wanted. It wasn’t worth the risk.

I looked into her eyes, which pleaded with me to trust her. She was confident she could do this, just as I was sure of myself as a warrior. And her power was much stronger than it had been back then, not to mention the control she’d displayed a few minutes ago.

“Sara has powers and abilities you’ll never be able to comprehend. Don’t underestimate her, warrior.”

Eldeorin’s words came back to me. As much as I hated to agree with him on anything, he was right in this. As a Mohiri, I couldn’t understand her power, and that scared me because I’d never know if she was ready to face a situation like this one. I had to trust her to know.

I rested my forehead against hers. “Promise me you’ll be careful.”

“I promise.”

“I mean it, Sara.” I pulled back to look into her eyes. “If I have to sit by a hospital bed for another two days, I really will lock you up.”

“That won’t happen. Trust me.”

Her smile did not reassure me. I let go of her shoulders and stepped back.

“What do we need to do?”

She waved at the kitchen floor near the island. “Just lay her here on the floor, and I’ll do the rest.”

I turned to Geoffrey. “Do as she asks.”

He shot me a look that said he expected some answers later. When I nodded, he and Evan laid the vampire where Sara wanted her.

Sara looked at the vampire and then at me and the other warriors. “I need some room to do this. Can you all move to the living room?”

I was the last one out, and I stood outside the archway, refusing to go a step farther. Jordan stood beside me while the other warriors crowded in behind us, curious to see what Sara was going to do to the vampire.

Ignoring her audience, Sara knelt on the floor and placed her hands on the vampire’s chest. Immediately, her hands began to glow, causing gasps and exclamations behind me.

The vampire opened her eyes, and I took a step into the kitchen. Sara’s glow intensified, and the vampire’s face contorted into a hideous silent scream.

“What the f*ck?” Jackson croaked.

My body tensed and my stomach turned to rock as I waited for what would come next.

The glow coming from Sara’s hand expanded until her whole body was encased in soft white light. Unlike before, when her power had exploded from her, it billowed out from her in undulating waves like a giant soap bubble that slowly enveloped her and the vampire.

“What the hell is that?” someone asked.

“What is she?” Geoffrey breathed.

Jordan looked up at me, her eyes wide with awe. “I heard about it, but I never imagined…”

“I know.”

My eyes went back to the two shapes that were still visible but distorted through the bubble. Sara didn’t move, but every now and then the vampire twitched as if it was being electrocuted.

Minutes ticked by. What was happening in there? Sara hadn’t actually talked to the vamhir demon inside Nate; she’d seen and heard its memories. Was she doing that now, or was she trying to talk to it? Was it even possible for her to communicate with the demon in that way?