Warrior (Relentless #4)(76)

My Mori’s cry of joy was followed by a fierce surge of possessiveness as it sensed our mate. It was all I could do to stay in control as I walked down the hallway to the kitchen.

I stood in the doorway and stared at the girl sitting on a chair with her arms cradling her head on the table. Her long chestnut hair spilled across her arms, hiding her face, but I’d know her anywhere.

She stirred and lifted her head. “How did he take –?”

Her eyes met mine, and I forgot how to speak.

“Nikolas,” she whispered.

My chest constricted as a storm of emotions battered me. She’s home; she’s safe, I said half to myself and half to calm the demon straining to get to her. Holding on to my control by a thread, I spoke more sharply than I meant to.

“Where were you?”

She flinched and hugged herself. “Don’t look at me like that. It’s not like I stabbed myself and jumped off the damn cliff!”

Her pain hit me, and my Mori ceased its struggle. In the next heartbeat, I was on my knees in front of her, touching her face and drowning in her shimmering green eyes.

All these weeks, I’d thought of the things I’d say to her when I found her, but I forgot every one of them when she burst into tears. I gathered her to me and wrapped my arms around her shaking body. Burying my face in her hair, I breathed in her scent and felt my world right itself again.

Her sobs became quiet hiccups, and still I couldn’t let her go.

“Pozhaluysta, prosti menya,” I pleaded hoarsely. “I promised to keep you safe, and I didn’t. I’m sorry.”

“No.” She pulled away, and I forced myself to let her go. “If you hadn’t shown up when you did, Eli would have…”

“Don’t think about that.” She’d suffered enough at the hands of that bastard. I wasn’t going to let him torment her from the grave.

My shock over her sudden reappearance began to wear off, leaving one burning question. Where had she been all these weeks?

“We’ve been searching that area ever since you disappeared. Where were you?”

“Seelie,” she answered quietly.

My brows drew together. I could not have heard that right. “Come again?”

“Turns out I have friends there.” Her teary smile was like the sun, driving away the darkness that had hovered over this place since she’d disappeared. “It’s kind of complicated.”

“Why does that not surprise me?” Something told me I needed to sit for this one, so I grabbed the closest chair and pulled it over in front of hers.

“Well, let’s have it. I’m dying to know how a Mori demon ends up in a world where no demon would dare to tread.”

She smiled. “Well, it all started the day I met a sylph… Actually no, it started before that with my great-great-great-great-grandmother.”

I stared at her, and her mouth turned down.

“Look, I told you it was complicated.”

“I’m sorry.” I had no idea what she’d been through in the last three weeks, and the last thing I wanted to do was cause her more distress.

She chewed her lip. “I’m honestly not sure where to start. Just before I met you, a sylph came to visit me.”

My mouth fell open, and she nodded. “I know. Believe me, I was pretty surprised to see an elemental outside my house. She told me her name was Aine, but she never said what she wanted. We talked for a few minutes about my healing power, and then she left.”

Her eyes darkened. “I remember falling off the cliff and hitting the water, and then I woke up in a bed in a strange room with vines on the walls and a dirt floor. Aine came in and told me I was in Seelie. She said some selkies found me in the water and called for her help. Aine said only Fae magic could heal me, so they had to take me to Faerie. I-I guess I was in pretty bad shape.”

I knew the exact moment they had taken her. I’d never forget how it felt when she vanished in that cove.

Nate came into the kitchen as she spoke. He had the look of a man who had been given a miracle and was afraid to believe it was real. I knew exactly how he felt.

“Aine told me my great-great-great-great-grandmother, Sahine, was undine. Sahine chose to become mortal, and married a human. Only females can be undine, and all of her descendants were male and human – until me. That’s where my healing power comes from. I inherited it from Sahine.”

My mind spun, and it was all I could do to hide my shock. Sara was part Fae? She had Fae magic and a Mori demon inside her. How was that possible? I’d seen a demonstration of her magic when she’d healed Roland. A demon could never withstand that kind of power. Yet somehow hers had.

Things I’d puzzled over began to make sense. In particular, Sara’s unprecedented control of her Mori. She must use her power to keep the demon subdued without harming it. I wondered if she even knew she was doing it.

It also explained why she didn’t appear to feel our bond like she should. I didn’t know what this would mean for us. With proper training, she could become comfortable with her demon. Or she might never open herself up to her Mori.

“Aine didn’t want me to leave Seelie,” Sara said, jerking me from my thoughts. “She said demons won’t be happy to have a half Fae around.”

Nate paled in alarm. “You didn’t tell me that part. Does this mean you’re in more danger?”