Rogue (Relentless Book 3) (35 page)

“He compelled me to forget him.”

My eyes jerked from her to Nikolas. “But we can’t be compelled by vampires. Can we?”

“A Master is not a normal vampire,” Nikolas replied.

“He made sure I remembered everything about my time there, except him.” Madeline’s voice shook. “He said he was going to enjoy playing with me for a long time.”

The air in the room was charged with her fear, and it made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. At that moment, lightning zigzagged across the sky, and I jumped.

“How did you escape?” Nikolas asked her.

“I didn’t. He released me.”

My mouth fell open. “He let you go?”

“Something happened. I don’t know what. I was chained in his sitting room and I heard voices outside. Then he came in and said something that made me go to sleep. I woke up in Central Park filled with an overwhelming urge to run.” She swiped a finger under her eye. “The first thing I did was go to Portland to warn Daniel. I’ve been running ever since.”

Nikolas shook his head. “Madeline, why didn’t you go home? Tristan would do anything to keep you safe.”

She sniffed delicately. “Whatever
he
did to me made me afraid to trust anyone, especially the Mohiri. Adele is my closest friend, and I can’t even trust her completely. He stole that from me. He released me from my chains, but he still robbed me of my freedom. Until I can get rid of this compulsion, I’ll never be free.”

Orias’s conversation with Madeline suddenly made sense to me. “Orias is trying to find a way to break the Master’s compulsion, isn’t he?”

“He’s been working on it for ten years, but nothing can break it.”

“The only thing that can break a Master’s compulsion is his death,” Nikolas explained.

The weight of his words hit me. “She can’t tell us where he is unless she can break the compulsion, but in order to break it he has to die?”

“Yes.”

Despair settled over me, crushing every hope I’d pinned on finding Madeline. She was supposed to have the answers, to lead us to the Master, but she was as confused as the rest of us. Where did that leave us?

“Are you okay?”

I tried to smile at Nikolas and failed miserably.

“We’ll find him. It’ll just take a little longer than we thought.”

Madeline straightened her perfect chignon. “So you are Mohiri after all. I’m glad you found our people, Sara.”

“Actually, it was Nikolas who found me.” I laid my hand on the couch between us and he covered it with his. The action did not go unnoticed by Madeline, and her lips parted in surprise. Neither Nikolas nor I bothered to answer the question in her eyes. As far as I was concerned, she’d lost the right to know about my life the moment she’d deserted my dad and me.

“What will you do now?” she asked, and I could almost hear the “with me” at the end of the question.

“We’ll keep looking,” Nikolas answered. “Keep fighting.”

“We found you. We’ll find him, too.” I let go of Nikolas’s hand and we both stood at the same time. “We should be going.”

Madeline walked us to the door. “Sara, for what it’s worth, I really did love your father. And I loved you, too. I still do.”

I held out my hand and she hesitated before she took it. “Thank you for talking to us. I hope Orias can find a way to help you.”

Her eyes glistened and she held my hand a few seconds longer than was necessary. “Thank you.”

“Goodbye, Madeline.”

Nikolas opened the door and I gave my mother one last look before I walked through it.

My whole body
sagged the moment the door shut behind us. Talking to Madeline about the past had been harder than I’d expected. Add to that my disappointment that she couldn’t help us, and I was feeling like I’d been put through an emotional wringer.

Jordan ran up to us. “What did she say?”

“Not here,” Nikolas said. “We’ll talk outside.”

Rain was coming down in torrents when we left the building, and we made a mad dash for the vehicles. As soon as we settled into our SUV, the others looked at us expectantly. I sat back during the drive to the airport and let Nikolas tell them about our conversation with Madeline.

We were all subdued by the time we piled out of the vehicles at the airport hangar. Nikolas went to speak to the pilot, and I found a seat at the back of the small jet. I reclined my seat and closed my eyes, hoping that would discourage anyone from trying to talk to me. It had been a long day, capped off by a huge setback, and I needed a little time to process it all.

“Sara?” I opened my eyes as Nikolas settled into the seat next to mine. His expression told me there was more bad news.

“We’ve got some bad electrical storms moving through the area, so we’re grounded for a few hours, at least. Geoffrey’s team has a safe house nearby, and we’re going to wait out the storm there. It’s more comfortable than an airport hangar.”

“Okay.”

He reached over and brushed a strand of damp hair out of my face. “You did well tonight. I know that was harder for you than you’re letting on.”

“It was,” I admitted quietly.

He nodded perceptively, and I knew he wasn’t going to press me until I was ready to talk about it. I followed him out of the jet and back into the SUV where Geffrey, Jordan, and Chris waited for us.

The drive to the safe house took less than ten minutes despite the heavy rain that was causing traffic backups. Geoffrey pulled into the two-car garage, and one of the other SUVs parked beside us. The last one had to park in the driveway. I hoped the house was bigger than it had looked from the street because it was going to be crowded with all of us. All I needed was a quiet corner where I could stay out of everyone’s way until it was time to leave.

The house turned out to be a lot bigger than I’d expected, with five bedrooms, three bathrooms, and a finished basement where the warriors kept their computer equipment. In every room we walked through, there were weapons and gear that made Jordan’s eyes go round with envy. She asked the warriors a ton of questions about their operation, and they all sounded happy to answer. I left her talking to one of them about swords to explore alone.

On the main floor I found a small den with a black leather couch, which was just what I was looking for. I left the light off and the door open, took off my jacket, and curled up on the couch with a sigh, drawing comfort from Nikolas’s presence in another part of the house. The rain pelting the window drowned out most of the voices and sounds from the rest of the house, leaving me alone with my thoughts.

A chapter in my life had ended tonight, but I didn’t feel the closure I’d thought I would get after confronting Madeline. I didn’t understand how she could have loved my dad as much as she obviously had and still walked away from him. I would do anything to hold onto the people I loved. I’d give up my life for Nikolas, and I’d fight any person or thing that tried to take him from me. She should have made my dad listen to her when she went back to warn him. She should have done anything to protect us. There wasn’t a compulsion strong enough to override the love I had for Nikolas.

I turned on my side so I could watch the rain running down the window. I’d always loved storms. There was something about their raw power that made me feel more alive and bolstered me when I was down. Maybe it was the undine in me. I wished this storm would help ease the weight that had settled in my chest since I’d left Madeline. I had been so sure finding her would give us what we needed to free us from the Master forever. But we were no closer to finding him now than we ever had been. For months my main goal had been to find Madeleine, and I didn’t know what to do anymore.

I felt Nikolas coming closer and I knew he was searching for me. I was about to call out to him when he appeared in the doorway. He entered the room and crouched in front of me.

“Why are you hiding in here alone?”

I summoned a smile. “If I was hiding, I’d be behind the couch.”

“You’d never hide behind a couch.”

“True. There is no dignity in lying in dust bunnies.”

His smile was barely visible in the light from the window. “Want some company?”

“Behind the couch?”

“Wherever you want.”

The huskiness in his voice made my stomach dip. “Yes,” I said shyly, moving to sit up.

He surprised me by moving to stretch out behind me with his arm under my head. The couch wasn’t that deep, and he pulled me against his delicious warmth with his free arm wrapped around my waist. Heat shot straight to my belly, and I tensed nervously before I relaxed against him.

“Comfortable?” he asked softly, his warm breath caressing my ear.

“Yes.” Comfortable wasn’t exactly the word I’d use to describe how it felt having Nikolas pressed against the length of me. Every nerve ending in my body thrummed with electricity, and my lungs seemed to have forgotten how to work. At the same time, I felt completely safe and loved. It was a heady mix of emotions.

“Do you want to talk about her?”

I was quiet for a moment while I gathered my thoughts. “She wasn’t what I expected. I pity her. Except for Adele, she has no one, and she spends her life running and afraid and regretting the love she gave up. I think of her and I realize how lucky I am to have you and everyone else in my life.”

His arm squeezed me. “That’s not luck. You have so many people who love you because you’re a good person. Madeline was always selfish. She proved that when she left home the way she did, and with her behavior since then. I’m not saying she deserves the things that have happened to her, but I do believe she brought most of them on herself. That you can feel sad for her after all you’ve been through shows how kind you are.”

I thought about his words. He always knew just what to say or do to make me feel better. It was as if he could read my mind sometimes.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Anything.”

“How do you always know when I need you?”

“When you’re hurting, I feel it,” he said gruffly.

“You do?”

“Yes.” He kissed my temple. “So don’t ever try to hide your pain from me.”

“Why can’t I do the same with you?”

“You will, someday.”
When the bond is complete.
He didn’t have to say the words for me to know what he meant. What would it be like to know someone on such an intimate level? To know
him
that way? The thought brought a smile to my lips, and I snuggled closer to him.

“I love you, Nikolas.”

He turned my face toward him until he could press his lips to mine. “I love you too,
moy malen’kiy voin
.”

Lightning flashed and a peal of thunder shook the house as if Mother Nature was giving her approval. Or it was more likely that she was saying, “It’s about damn time.”

All too soon, the world crept into my little cocoon of happiness. I sighed when I thought about starting over in our search for the Master. We were no closer to finding him than we’d been months ago. “What do we do now?”

“I don’t know, but we’ll figure it out together. Like you told Madeline, you found her when no one else could. We’ll go back to California and come up with a plan for what to do next.”

I suddenly felt so world weary, and all I wanted was to see Nate and Tristan and to walk in the woods with Hugo and Woolf. “I don’t want to go back to California,” I said hoarsely.

“Where do you want to go?”

I shifted until I was on my back, looking up at him. “Can we go home?”

The smile that spread across his face stole my breath away. “I thought you’d never ask.”

*     *     *

I awoke with a gasp as ice filled my chest and made it hard to breathe. “Oh God!” I rolled off the couch and stumbled to the door of the dark room. Down the hallway I heard voices, and I ran toward them.

“Vampires!” I cried as I burst into the living room.

Nikolas was standing by the fireplace with Chris and Geoffrey, and the three of them spun toward me at once. Geoffrey looked confused, but Nikolas and Chris leapt into action. Nikolas was at my side in a heartbeat.

“Where? How many?”

“Everywhere,” I choked out. “At least fifteen.”

Geoffrey ran over to us. “How does she know that?”

“No time to explain. Get ready.” Nikolas grabbed the first sword he saw. “Chris?”

Chris stood by the living room window, peering through the closed blinds with a sword in his hand. “Nothing yet.”

“What’s going on?” Jordan ran down the stairs as six warriors spilled from the basement. The moment she saw my face, she snatched a katana from the wall over the fireplace. “Where?”

Nikolas took charge. “We have at least fifteen hostiles incoming. Jordan and Abigail, you’re with Chris. Elijah, you, Joseph, and Noah cover upstairs. Travis and Oliver take the kitchen. Geoffrey and I will cover the back.”

“What about me?” I asked as everyone ran to take up defensive positions.

Geoffrey ran up to me, carrying two swords, one of which he held out to me. “Can you fight?”

I held up my hands. “Not with that thing.”

“Sara, you stay with me.” Nikolas’s eyes were dark with worry. “Do not leave my sight.”

“She needs a weapon.”

Geoffrey had a long silver dagger in a sheath on his leg. I grabbed it just as a crash sounded from the den. At the same time, a window broke upstairs and another broke in the kitchen.

My heart pounded as I raced after Nikolas and Geoffrey to the den just as two male vampires flew through the broken window. Rain blew into the room and glass covered the couch where I’d been sleeping a few minutes before.

Nikolas was on the first vampire before he knew what was coming. His sword carried a ghostly gleam as it swung in an upward arc, eviscerating the vampire before it had time to attack. He brought the sword back down and sliced cleanly through the vampire’s neck.

Beside him, Geoffrey was still fighting his opponent when two more vampires leapt through the window. I watched helplessly as Nikolas glanced over his shoulder at me then moved to intercept the new vampires. I wanted to help him, but I was afraid to distract him by joining the fight. Instead, I backed out into the hallway to give him and Geoffrey room to fight without worrying about me getting caught in the fray.

From all over the house came shouts and screams and the sounds of battle. Over my head, heavy footsteps pounded, followed by loud thumps like something hitting a wall. A moment later, a vampire’s screech was abruptly cut short.

I heard Jordan yell and Chris swear as a door crashed open. Shouts and sounds of struggle filled the hallway, and I knew my friends were in trouble. I couldn’t just stand here while everyone else fought for their lives.

I met my first vampire in the hallway. He came up short as if he was surprised to see me, and then he smiled, revealing his long fangs. I could tell by the gleam in his eyes that he thought I was easy pickings. I dropped into a half crouch and smiled as I crooked my finger at him.
Come and get me.

He didn’t say a word as he sped toward me. He was fast but not mature, and he had obviously never fought a warrior. He went for my throat. I dropped to one knee and brought the dagger up into his ribs. It wasn’t close enough to pierce his heart, but he screamed as the silver burned him. He flew over my head and crashed into the wall. Before he could recover, I was on him, shoving my blade home. His eyes grew wide with shock and his body went limp.

I jumped to my feet and gasped as pain lanced through my shoulder. I winced at the bloody tears in my shirt, and my first thought was I’d better cover them before Nikolas saw them. He was already going to be pissed that I’d left his sight. Shaking my head, I turned to the living room. We were in the middle of a battle for our lives, and I was worried about his feelings.

I pushed all thoughts of Nikolas aside as I ran into the living room. Three dead vampires lay on the floor, and two more vampires were trying to attack Jordan and Abigail. My eyes flew to the missing window, and I spotted movement outside. On the front lawn, Chris battled four vampires and they were gaining the upper hand. Apparently, they didn’t know the rules of fair play.

I vaulted through the window and landed three feet from the fight. Two of the vampires spun to face me, and Chris stared at me with a mixture of shock and worry. He opened his mouth to yell at me, but I was already moving. I dropped my dagger as I released my real weapon. In the words of my mentor: it was time to go all Fae on their demon asses.

“Get back, Chris!” I backed away from him as electricity crackled over my skin. I was pretty good at focusing my magic now, but I didn’t want to take the chance of him being caught up in it.