Warrior (Relentless #4)(64)

Judith stood and came to me, brushing her hand against Sara’s cheek. “You brave, wonderful child,” she said in a voice filled with awe. “Thank you.”

Her eyes were wet when she looked at me. “Take her upstairs. Second door on the left.”

Brendan cleared a path to the stairs. I followed him, carrying my precious burden, ignoring the stares and whispers around us. I didn’t blame them because I was still reeling from what I’d witnessed.

Upstairs, I found Peter waiting for us in the hallway. His face was pale and drawn, but his eyes were filled with hope. “Is it true? Is Roland…?”

“He’s okay,” I said, and he sagged against the wall.

“And Sara?”

“She’s sleeping.” I carried her past him to the room Judith had mentioned. Laying her on the bed, I pulled a thick quilt over her.

“I wanted to give this back to you.”

I turned to Peter, who stood in the doorway holding my cell phone. Walking over to him, I took the phone and stuck it in my back pocket.

He cleared his throat. “Thanks for what you did tonight. We would have been goners if you hadn’t pushed us down.”

I nodded, but I wasn’t ready to let him off the hook that easily. “Why did you come there when I told you to stay put until we took out all the guards?”

“Remy said his cousins were in trouble, and Sara said they were going in. Roland and I couldn’t let her go without us.”

My brows drew together. “Two werewolves couldn’t stop one girl?”

It was his turn to frown. “Dude, you ever try to stop Sara when she’s set on something? And she had the troll on her side.”

“Point taken.”

He looked past me at Sara. “All this time, we never knew…”

“She’s good at keeping secrets.” How closely she must have guarded this one. Only the fear of losing her best friend had made her reveal her ability.

“Peter?” Maxwell called from below.

“I better go,” Peter said. “Tell Sara I’ll see her tomorrow.”

He ran downstairs, and I stepped into the hallway to call Chris.

“Nikolas, where are you?” he asked as soon as he answered. “Erik said you left with Sara.”

“We’re in the Knolls with the pack.”

“The Knolls?” He paused for several seconds. “How is Sara holding up?”

“She’s good and so is Roland. They’re both sleeping.”

“But he took a silver bullet to the chest. I was there when the wolves came to get him. Even they didn’t think he’d make it.”

“Let’s just say he had a guardian angel.” I ran a hand wearily through my hair and decided this was a story that needed to be shared in person. “I’ll tell you about it tomorrow. Are you still at the house?”

“Yes. The rest of Erik’s guys just got here, and they’re collecting the bodies for disposal. The human guards are still out. We’ll call in the authorities to handle them after we’re done here.” Sounds on the other end told me he had walked outside. “By the way, you’ll never believe what we found in the cellar.”

“A pair of hellhounds?”

“How did you…?” He sighed. “Sara?”

I smiled. “Where are they?”

“Still in the cellar. We had to close them in there because they tried to follow you. I take it then we’re not putting them down.”

It was our policy to destroy any creature that posed a direct threat to humans, and hellhounds definitely fit into that category. They were savage beasts, bred and trained for one thing. But the two I’d encountered in that cellar were as tame as pets.

I just tamed two hellhounds, remember?”

Werewolves, trolls, hellhounds. It seemed no creature was immune to her charm. What would it be next? Dragons?

I looked at Sara, who slept with a tiny smile on her lips. There was nothing I wouldn’t do to keep it there.

“Arrange a pickup for them. We’ll figure out the rest later.” I lowered my voice. “Before you dispose of the vampires, take a photo of each one. I’m the only one who’s seen Eli, and I want to know if that bastard is one of them.”

“You think he’s involved in this?”

“I don’t know, but this seems like too much of a coincidence to me.” I clenched my free hand. “Sara has vampires hunting her, and now we have humans and vampires working together to steal trolls that just happen to be friends of hers.”

His breath came out as a hiss. “I’ll take the pictures myself and text them to you.”

We talked for a few minutes more about the cleanup operation, and then we hung up. I was confident Chris would handle everything in Portland, and that left me free to be with Sara. I entered the room again and quietly shut the door before I pulled a chair over beside the bed.

Her hand lay on top of the quilt, and I covered it with mine, taking advantage of the opportunity to touch her. In my youth, I’d laughed at the way my sire held my mother whenever he returned from a trip. He would raise his eyebrows and tell me that one day, if I was as blessed as he was, I would understand. I finally grasped the meaning of his words.

In sleep, Sara looked young and vulnerable, making my protective instincts flare. But I also knew that behind her innocence lay a strength she’d chosen to keep hidden from the world.