Warrior (Relentless #4)(35)

He shook his head. “It’s your call.”

The waitress brought our coffees, and I took a drink of the strong black brew. “I have to tell Tristan about the crocotta.”

Chris made a face. “Good luck getting him to stay in Idaho after this. And once he gets here and learns about you and Sara…”

I set my cup down and rubbed my jaw. “I’ll just have to be persuasive.”

He laughed softly. “Like I said, good luck with that. When are you going to call him?”

“In a few hours. If I wake him up, he’s going to think it’s an emergency, and there’ll be no talking to him.”

“Good idea.” He sipped his coffee. “I assume you’re going to stay here, for today at least.”

“Yes.” There was no way I could leave her so soon after the attack.

“I’ll head back to Portland then and see what Erik is up to. I called him last night and told him about the attack. He couldn’t believe it when I told him there were six crocotta.”

I scowled at the memory of all the crocotta bodies in the road. “I think I’ve seen a pack that big only once before.”

He gave me a grim look. “Whether it’s Eli or someone else behind this, they’re not messing around.”

“I know.”

“If it gets too dangerous and she won’t leave, we might not have any choice but to make her go.” He stared intently at me. “Are you prepared to do that if it comes to it?”

“She might hate me for it, but her safety comes first.”

“Then we’ll have to make sure it doesn’t come to that.” Chris pushed his cup away and got out of the booth. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

I paid the bill and left the diner several minutes later. I’d seen a small hotel near the waterfront, so I decided to get a room where I could shower and recharge for a few hours before I called Tristan.

Chris knew Tristan well. After I told Tristan about the crocotta attack, it took me well over an hour to convince him to stay at Westhorne. He thought being her grandfather, he could somehow convince Sara to leave everything she knew behind. It wasn’t easy, having to remind him that most of Sara’s dislike for the Mohiri stemmed from her resentment toward her mother. She would not welcome Madeline’s sire, even if he was nothing like his daughter. And if she was able to get past that, she would not leave her uncle.

It was almost noon when I ended the call with Tristan. My first thought was of Sara and how she was doing today. It would take her a day or two to fully recover from her injuries, and I wished I had thought to leave some gunna paste with her in case she needed it for pain.

Remembering I had Judith’s number, I called her to check on Sara.

“She’s doing great. She’s in no pain and healing incredibly fast. I doubt she’ll have any scars at all in a day or two.”

I released the breath I was holding. “Is she still there?”

“You just missed her. She left with Roland. I believe he’s giving her driving lessons.”

“Driving lessons?” The thought of her doing something so normal after last night made me smile at her resilience. “Is she okay to drive?”

Judith laughed. “I hope so. That’s my only car.”

I was smiling when I hung up, relieved Sara was recovering well from last night. I spent the rest of the day combing the town and surrounding woods for any signs of trouble. I doubted there would be more crocotta, but I was taking no chances where Sara was concerned.

Several times I ran into pack members in wolf and human forms, but we acknowledged each other without any conflict. It was clear from their expressions that they were not happy about my presence in town, but their Alpha must have ordered them to stand down.

Later that night, I walked from my hotel to the waterfront to keep watch for a few hours and to reassure my Mori and myself that she was okay.

I’d expected her to be asleep, but light shone from the third floor of the building where I believed her bedroom to be, having seen her in the windows up there on several occasions. A few minutes later, the third floor lights went out and the curtains moved in one of the windows.

My eyesight sharpened, and I saw her outline clearly as she looked down at the waterfront. I couldn’t see her expression, and I wondered if she was afraid to sleep, expecting another monster to come out of the darkness. Facing that many crocotta would give some warriors bad dreams.

Every other time I’d kept watch, I’d made sure to stay out of sight, but tonight I wanted her to go to sleep knowing she had nothing to fear. I stepped into the circle of light from the street light so she could see me clearly.

For a long moment, she looked at me without moving. Then, the curtain fell back into place and she disappeared.

I stayed in the light for another minute before I melted back into the shadows.





*


I left New Hastings the next morning with the intention of returning that night, but the escalating situation in Portland demanded my presence in the city. On Sunday night, the body of a young woman was found in a dumpster near the university. Her ravaged throat told us our vampire problem had grown.

Maxwell must have gotten word of it because suddenly Portland was crawling with werewolves. There were a few clashes when our warriors encountered some of the younger wolves who didn’t like our presence in Portland. I had to go out and diffuse several of the conflicts.