Warrior (Relentless #4)(223)

“I should go see how Sara’s doing,” I said. “She’s been up there all day.”

“Okay. I’ll see you in a day or two.”

I ended the call and climbed the stairs to the second floor. Down the hallway, I could hear the soft murmur of voices coming from Emma’s room. It was a good sign that Emma was still talking, but Sara had to be tired.

Ten minutes later, Sara left the room and closed the door quietly behind her. She saw me waiting for her and walked straight into my arms, hugging me like she was afraid to let go. When her tears came, I rubbed her back and told her how amazing and strong she was.

When she stopped crying, she let me lead her into her room. I shut the door, and we lay together on the bed, talking in low voices so we didn’t disturb Emma.

“I don’t know what I’m doing,” she said as she toyed with the buttons on my shirt. “Emma’s been through hell. What if I say the wrong thing to her? Maybe we should find someone to help her.”

I stroked her hair. “She trusts you, and she feels safe with you. I don’t think anyone else can do more than that.”

She let out a shuddering breath. “I’m so glad you’re here with me.”

“Wouldn’t be anywhere else.”

We stayed like that for the rest of the night. The next morning, Sara went back to Emma and convinced her to talk to Chris about the vampire activity in Las Vegas. Emma gave him a lot of helpful information, including the location of two nests no one had known about.

Unfortunately, she could tell us nothing about the Master, although she told Sara she was sure she must have met him. Eli had taken her everywhere with him in the first few years she was a vampire. According to Emma, the Master compelled every vampire to forget him when they left his house.

A day later, Sara, Jordan, Chris, Emma, and I finally boarded the jet for the flight to Boise. Emma sat timidly in her seat, but Sara was full of happy energy and couldn’t sit still until the pilot told us to take our seats. She sat beside Emma, and the two of them talked quietly.

I sat two rows ahead of them, reading a Tom Clancy paperback one of the guys at the safe house had given me. The story was engrossing, but not enough to keep my mind off what was going to happen between Sara and me when we got home. I smiled, glad no one could read my mind.

“It can’t be.”

Sara’s shocked voice had me out of my seat and beside her in seconds. “What’s wrong?”

Emma shrank away from me like I’d yelled at her. I realized I was glaring, and I looked at Sara instead.

Sara held up a notepad with a trembling hand. “This,” she said breathlessly. “This is his house.”

“Whose house?”

Her eyes were lit with excitement. “The Master’s.”

“What are you talking about?” I took the notepad and stared at the drawing on the paper. It was a large stone house with turrets and a lot of windows. Sara had drawn it in great detail.

I looked at Sara. “Did she tell you that?”

Sara’s voice shook. “No. I drew it from memory, from a memory I took from the vamhir demon before I killed it.”

“You took the demon’s memory?” asked Jordan, who had crowded in behind me.

Sara and I hadn’t talked about what had happened when she was connected with the vamhir demon. All she’d told us was how the vampires had found the safe house, and that the vamhir demon hadn’t known who the Master was.

Sara stared past me as if she was remembering something. “I asked it about the Master and it showed me this house. I forgot about it with everything else that happened.”

Chris patted my arm, and I handed him the notepad. He stared at it for a long moment. “How do you know this is the Master’s house?”

Sara lifted her shoulders. “I don’t for sure, but something feels off about it. Emma feels it, too.”

“It gives me the creeps, and it seems familiar,” Emma said in a small voice.

“I told you what Emma said about the Master being so paranoid that he compels other vampires to forget him. Eli took her with him when he visited the Master and she was compelled to forget.” Sara’s face was slightly flushed when she looked at me. “But no one can erase your mind that completely, and I think I found a memory he missed.”

Chris let out a breath. “Jesus, if that’s true…”

The conviction in Sara’s eyes was all the proof I needed. We could be holding the first tangible lead to the Master since we’d learned of his existence. It might take a while to track down the house, but Dax could do it.

I looked at Chris. “We need to get this to our guys as soon as possible.”

“Already on it.”

He and Sara took pictures of the drawing with their phones. “I’m sending this to David,” Sara said. “If anyone can find this house, it’s him and Kelvan.”

Somehow, I didn’t doubt that.

The mood for the rest of the flight was one of nervous excitement. More than ever, I wanted to get Sara home. I let out a relieved sigh when we touched down in Boise.

Seamus and Niall were waiting beside a large black SUV when we pulled into the hangar. Seamus smirked at Sara. “Look who finally decided to come home.”

“I heard it was too boring here without me,” she retorted with a grin.