Warrior (Relentless #4)(32)

The play of emotions across her face made me want to pull her to me and comfort her. I went to busy myself by checking on my bike. Sara was injured and most likely suffering from mild shock; she didn’t need to deal with my lack of control on top of that.

“Sara!”

Her friend Roland ran toward her, and I was glad to see he had found his clothing. When he reached her, he moved to hug her, but she held up a hand to stop him. His smile was replaced by concern. “Are you hurt?”

“Yes, but I’ll live,” she replied.

“I nearly lost it when I saw it attacking you,” he said in a shaky voice. “I studied crocotta, but I never thought I’d see them around here. Fuck! They were strong. You were incredible, fighting it off like that.”

Yes, she was, I agreed.

“I wouldn’t have lasted much longer without you guys.” She glanced around. “Where is Peter, by the way? There’s no way I’m going out there looking for him again.”

Roland laughed. “He went to find his clothes. There was no one home when he got there, so he grabbed a lug wrench and headed back. He was coming up the road when he saw us getting attacked.”

Sara was quiet for a moment. Then she turned to me. “How did you know?”

“One of our men called to tell me a crocotta had been seen in the Portland area,” I said. “I knew that they could track you, even if the vampires couldn’t.”

“But how did you know where we were?”

Chris chuckled. “I put a tracker on your friend’s truck at the pizza place a few days ago.” Her eyes widened and he said, “You didn’t think I was going to run around town all week looking for you, did you?”

Roland looked angry, but we would not apologize for taking a measure that had ended up saving their lives. I’d do it again, as many times as I had to, to keep Sara safe.

Their friend Peter ran up to us. “I think we got them all. No worries about one of them reporting back to whoever sent them.” He stared at the truck. “Damn! What the hell happened to the truck?”

“You three are like a disaster magnet.” Tonight had proven that this town was no longer safe for Sara. The best place for her was Westhorne. Surely she would agree after what had happened here.

I rooted in the compartment on my bike for my phone before I remembered it was in my jacket pocket. I walked over to Sara and retrieved my phone. “I’m going to call for a pickup,” I said to Chris.

Sara gave me a puzzled look. “A pickup for what?”

“Not what, who,” I answered. “Look around. It’s not safe here for you.”

Her lips pressed together, and she moved closer to Roland. “I’m not going anywhere.”

It bothered me that she moved toward another male for support, but I pushed it aside. Her safety was more important than my jealousy. “Be reasonable, Sara. You need to be with people who can protect you.”

“We can protect her.” Roland hugged her against him with one arm.

“I can see that,” I replied dryly. “Why is it both times she’s been attacked were when you’ve been protecting her?”

Roland’s eyes narrowed. “Are you implying something?”

Was he serious? “Look around you.”

He scowled at me. “No one could have expected a large pack of crocotta to show up like that. And you couldn’t have held off that many alone either.”

“No, but if she was with her own people, she wouldn’t have had to worry about that.”

“Her people?” he repeated angrily, and I could tell I had touched a nerve. “We’re her friends. We care for her more than a bunch of strangers.”

“They wouldn’t be strangers for long,” I argued. “And she can train to protect herself.”

“Stop it!”

I looked at Sara, whose eyes were flashing angrily.

“Stop talking about me like I’m not even here,” she yelled at us. “I’m not leaving New Hastings, so drop it.”

Her short outburst seemed to drain her, and the fire went out of her eyes as she sagged wearily against Roland. I immediately regretted upsetting her.

“Sara, I think you should come home with us tonight,” Roland told her.

She looked at the dead crocotta. “But you guys got them all.”

“Yes, but you’re covered in blood and your clothes are all ripped up. You don’t want Nate to see you like this.”

She looked down at her ripped and bloody clothes, and sighed heavily. “You’re right. Nate can’t see this.”

I wasn’t happy about her refusal to leave, but I thought it was a good idea for her to stay with the werewolves tonight. Of course, I had every intention of going with her. My Mori was quiet now, but neither of us was going to let her out of our sight tonight.

I looked at the truck and the mess of crocotta parts. “Is there anyone around here who can clean this up before the locals see it? If not, we’ll bring in someone.”

“Yeah, I’ll call someone.” Roland pulled out his phone and made a call. When he hung up, he said, “My cousin Francis will be here in a few minutes with a crew to take care of this. We’ll take Sara to my house.”

“Chris and I will come with you to make sure there’s no more trouble,” I said, expecting an argument.