Rogue (Relentless Book 3) (38 page)

“Thank you.” She closed her eyes and tears spilled down her cheeks. “Thank you.”

I sat there helplessly as she cried. I wanted to go to her, but I was afraid of startling her and undoing the progress we’d made. After several minutes, she used her sleeves to wipe her face and looked at me with less fear in her eyes.

My stomach chose that moment to rumble, and I laughed softly. “I’m starving. I’m going to ask one of my friends to bring me some breakfast. Would you like to join me?”

Her eyes immediately went to the tray of cold food Jordan had left on the nightstand. She stared at it helplessly, and I realized she hadn’t eaten food in many years.

She smiled tremulously, and my chest constricted. Jordan had once called me a waif, but Emma fit that description perfectly. She was at least two inches shorter than me and slender, and her complexion was pale because it hadn’t seen the sun in many years. But even as her sad brown eyes tugged at my heart, I could see strength in her. The fact that she was smiling and speaking to me coherently after the trauma she’d been through was evidence of that.

Jordan came in with another tray bearing two plates of scrambled eggs, sausage, and toast, which she placed on the bed beside me. I shifted to make room then patted the bed in invitation. Emma waited until Jordan had left the room again before she timidly joined me on the bed. Her trust in me after all she’d been through was humbling.

At first, she toyed with her eggs, but after a few minutes she began to nibble on a wedge of toast. By the time I was finished she had eaten two pieces of toast, a good start for someone who hadn’t eaten in a very long time.

Neither of us spoke while we ate, but I could sense her becoming more at ease with me. Sometime during the meal, the others left us alone and Emma looked relaxed for the first time. When we were done, I placed the tray on a small table in the hallway and went back to sit with her.

After a lengthy silence she whispered, “I never wanted to hurt anyone.”

“You didn’t do those things, Emma. The demon did.”

“It was my hands, my body.”

I reached over and took one of her cold hands in mind. She flinched but didn’t pull away. “The demon took control of your body. You are not responsible for anything it did. My uncle went through this too and he felt guilty even though he knows none of it was his fault.”

“Your uncle?” Hope filled her eyes and her voice. “There are others like me?”

“Just you and him so far. I’m still new at this.”

“Why? Why me?”

I let out a slow breath, trying to think of the best way to answer. “I wasn’t going to,” I said honestly. “I was trying to get the demon to tell me how it knew where we were. But then you showed me some memories and I wanted to help you.”

She stared at our joined hands. “My family, I can’t go back.”

“No.” It was best not to give her false hope when it came to them. Emma could never go back to her old life.

Her breath hitched. “Where will I go?”

“You can stay with me.” I squeezed her hand. “Once you feel better you can decide what you want to do. I’ll help you.”

“Thank you.”

“You don’t have to thank me, Emma. I have a feeling you and I are going to be great friends.”

She fell silent again, and I wondered for the hundredth time what was going through her mind. She had to be dealing with so much emotionally – things I couldn’t even fathom.

“Are you tired? Would you like me to leave you alone for a while?”

Her fingers gripped mine. “No, don’t go. Please.”

“Okay. I’ll stay.”

She released my hand and began tracing a seam in the comforter with her finger. Minutes passed before she spoke again. “The night it happened, I wasn’t even supposed to go out. There was a boy I liked and he had a band. I wanted to go with my friends to hear them play, but my parents said I couldn’t go. So I snuck out.” She sniffled and swiped a finger under her eye.

As she described the night she’d met Eli, I remembered my own encounter with him in Portland. The similarities between Emma’s experience and mine were eerie, and proved that Eli had definitely had a favorite type. We were both young brunettes and had a similar build. He’d stalked both of us at a club where we’d gone with friends to hear a band. Nikolas and my friends had saved me from a fate worse than death. Emma had not been so lucky.

Once Emma started to tell her story, it flowed out of her in a torrent of words and tears. Eli had played with her for a week before he had finally changed her. He’d chosen her because she was young and innocent-looking, and she would be the perfect lure for other teenagers. Even after she’d become a vampire, he’d used her for months until he finally tired of her. She didn’t go into graphic detail, thankfully, but I heard enough to imagine the horrors she’d gone through.

Eli had been her maker and he’d been strong, so he’d controlled Emma completely. It wasn’t until his death that she had been free to go where she wanted. So she’d come to Las Vegas because there were a lot of other vampires here.

“Did you ever meet Eli’s master? I asked the demon, but it wouldn’t or couldn’t say.”

“I know I must have because Eli took me everywhere with him, but I don’t remember him. Eli told me his master was afraid of the Mohiri torturing the information out of a vampire. So he compelled everyone to forget him. Except Eli.” She sighed heavily. “I’m sorry. I wish I could be more help after all you’ve done for me.”

“Don’t worry about it. It was a long shot anyway.”

Emma got off the bed and went to look out the window. “I had a little sister, Marie. She was ten when I disappeared. I guess that would make her thirty-one.” She leaned her forehead against the glass and I saw her shoulders shake. “My baby sister is almost twice my age now. She’s probably married with children and I’m still seventeen.”

“I’m sorry, Emma. I wish...”

“I know,” she said softly. “You gave me back my life. I should be happy with that.”

“It’s okay to not be happy right now. But someday you will be. And if you want, we can find out where your sister is and how she’s doing. Your parents too.”

She came back to sit on the bed. “You can do that?”

I let out a small laugh. “Not me, but I have a few friends who can find almost anyone.”

“I’d like that.” Her eyes took on a faraway look, and I knew she was thinking about her family and her old life.

“Do you want to talk about them?”

She nodded sadly.

We talked for hours. She told me about her family and friends and growing up in Raleigh, North Carolina. I told her about my dad and Nate and my friends. When I described New Hastings she got a wistful look in her eyes and said she’d always wanted to live near the ocean. Every summer her family would rent a house for two weeks in Virginia Beach, and it had been her favorite place to go.

We had more than our love of the ocean in common. Emma’s favorite hobby had been painting, and she’d even hoped to study art in college. I’d dabbled in painting at one point, but drawing was my thing, even though I hadn’t done much of it lately. I found a pencil and a notepad and drew her as we talked about everything from art supplies to our favorite subjects. I mostly did drawings of people I knew and creatures I’d met. She preferred landscapes, especially the coast.

At noon Jordan arrived with sandwiches. For dinner, she brought us plates of chicken and pasta. After each meal, I stacked the plates on the table in the hall, and Emma and I continued talking.

By nine o’clock that night, Emma began to show signs of fatigue. I convinced her to try to get some sleep, and told her I’d be close by if she needed me. I left her room, rubbing my tired eyes, and found Nikolas in the hall waiting for me. Wordlessly, I walked into his arms and hugged him tightly. All day I’d been strong for Emma, but with Nikolas, I could let my guard down and show the toll today had taken on me. He held me and rubbed my back as I cried quietly into his shirt.

The next morning, Emma was in better shape, emotionally and physically. Jordan went out with Chris to buy a few changes of clothes for us, and Emma was more comfortable once she’d cleaned up and put on fresh clothing.

After lunch, she agreed to talk to Chris about her knowledge of the vampire comings and goings in Las Vegas. I’d asked Chris to talk to her because he was more easygoing and less intimidating than the other warriors. I sat with them as he questioned her about vampire numbers and locations of nests. At first she was hesitant until we assured her that none of the things she’d done as a vampire would make us think less of her. She did not remember who the Master was, but she knew a lot about the vampire activity here, and she shared it all with us.

When the interview was over, Chris gave her a warm smile. “Thank you, Emma. I know that had to be very difficult for you. The information you gave us will help save a lot of lives.”

“I’m glad,” she replied timidly, looking like a tiny bit of the guilt she carried had been lifted from her shoulders.

That evening Nikolas took me aside and told me we were leaving Las Vegas in the morning. The Mohiri were sending more teams into the city in a coordinated attack on the vampires, based on the information we’d gotten from Emma. Nikolas didn’t want me or Jordan anywhere near the city when that happened.

“What about Emma? We have to take her with us.”

“I talked to Tristan about her, and he said she is welcome at Westhorne if she wants to come with us.”

I hugged him so hard he laughed. When I asked about Oscar and our things in California, he said Raoul was taking care of everything.

I went to tell Emma the news. She wasn’t as excited as I was, and I knew it was because she was afraid of being around that many Mohiri after spending the last two decades as our mortal enemy. It took a lot of persuasion to get her to agree to give it a shot since I couldn’t tell her exactly where we were going until we got there. I told her how beautiful and safe it was there, and that she could leave whenever she wanted. I made sure she knew it was her choice and whatever she decided, I’d still help her. Finally, she gave me a small smile and said she would go with us.

When we boarded the Mohiri jet the next day, I was so excited about going home I could barely sit still. The four warriors who had come from California with us were staying on in Vegas, so it was just me, Nikolas, Jordan, Chris, and Emma on the plane. Even when the pilot told us there would be a short delay because of air traffic, it couldn’t dampen my mood. In a few hours I’d see Nate, Tristan, and Desmund. I couldn’t wait to see Sahir and hug Hugo and Woolf.

Chris laughed as I left Jordan in the front row and moved down to sit with Emma in the middle. “Are we going to have to tie you to your seat so we can take off?” he teased.

“When the pilot says we’re leaving, I’ll be the first one buckled in.”

A minute later, the pilot’s voice came over the intercom to tell us to take our seats.

Emma was quiet beside me. I knew she was still nervous about Westhorne, so I buckled in next to her to keep her company during the flight. Once we were in the air, I pulled out the notepad and pencil I’d taken from the house and doodled on it as we talked about Westhorne.

“Is that where we’re going?” she asked.

I looked at the outline of a building I’d been sketching. It was a large house and made of stone. I was halfway through adding what looked like a turret.

“It looks sort of like a castle,” Emma commented.

“It does, doesn’t it?” My brow furrowed as I studied the partial drawing. Where had I seen this house before? I dredged through my memories and came up blank. Strange. I’d obviously seen it somewhere. Why else would I draw it?

I put my pencil to the page and continued to finish the turret. Soon, my hand was flying over the page until the finished picture lay before me. There were four turrets in all, and the front of the building had ten windows and a large door that I’d drawn in detail down to the carved door knocker.

Emma picked it up for a better look. “This is really good. I don’t know why, but it kind of gives me the willies.”

“Yeah, me too.” I stared at the drawing. The longer I looked at it, the more I felt like tearing the page from the notepad and crumpling it up. Something tickled the edge of my memory, but every time I tried to focus on it, it slipped away.

“You know” – Emma held the drawing away from her to study it from a different angle – “for some reason, I feel like I’ve seen this place before.”

Her words were like a key unlocking a memory that I hadn’t known was there. Suddenly, an image of the house appeared in my mind. Only it wasn’t my memory I was looking at. It belonged to the vamhir demon I’d pulled it from two days ago. The same demon that used to live inside Emma. The same demon that had gone with its maker, Eli, to see his master.

“It can’t be.” I took the notepad from Emma with shaking hands.

“What’s wrong?” Nikolas appeared beside me. His eyes immediately went to Emma who shrank away from him.

“This.” I held the drawing up for him to see. My initial shock was passing and excitement was building in my chest. “This is his house.”

Nikolas frowned in confusion. “Whose house?”

“The Master’s.”

Emma gasped. Chris and Jordan crowded in behind Nikolas.