Rogue (Relentless Book 3)

“YOU ARE A genius!” I threw my arms around the headrest to hug Chris.

“I have my moments.” He pressed a button on the phone and Adele’s voice came over the speaker.

“Orias, would you be a dear and make sure our Mohiri friends didn’t leave a little gift for me?”

“Your wards should take care of that.”

She chuckled softly. “It never hurts to be thorough.”

Static filled the line and I held my breath. A few seconds later it cleared and Orias’s voice came to us as clear as day. “If they did leave something, it’s no longer working.”

We heard the sound of a receiver lifting and someone dialing a number. “Darling, you will never believe who just left my office,” Adele gushed. “Nikolas Danshov. And your daughter.”

There was a short pause. “Yes, your daughter, Sara. Why did you never tell me you had a child?”

Another pause. “I understand wanting to leave the past behind, but you could have told your oldest friend. God knows we’ve shared everything else.”

Madeline said something I couldn’t hear and Adele laughed. “She doesn’t look like you, but she certainly has your fire. And she is an inquisitive little thing. She wanted to know all about my friendship with you.” Adele sighed. “I didn’t have much choice. She showed up with pictures of us from that summer in San Diego. I could hardly lie about them.” Pause. “Of course, I didn’t tell them about that. How can you even ask?”

Tell us about what? What did Adele know about Madeline that she wasn’t telling us?

“No, I think you should stay where you are for now. No one knows I own that place, and they’d never expect you to go there.”

“Where?” I wanted to yell at the phone.

“Orias’s glamour is good for another month at least. Here, talk to him yourself.”

There was a rustling sound and the warlock spoke. “Madeline, stop worrying. None but a faerie could see through my magic.”

Jordan and I exchanged glances, and she smirked at me.

“Haven’t my glamours kept you hidden all these years?” He listened to something she said, and I wished we could hear her. “As I’ve told you many times, no one’s magic is strong enough to undo that. I’m the strongest warlock I know, and I’ve been trying for years. No, I’m not giving up. I’ll let you know if I come up with anything.”

There were more background noises and the sound of a door closing. Adele spoke again. “Stop worrying, darling. Orias and I have your back as always. Now I have to go and open the club. I’ll catch up with you in a few days. Night.”

Adele hung up the phone and there was a minute of silence before she sighed heavily. She picked up the phone again and dialed. “Roc, make sure we have enough Glaen in stock. We almost ran out last night and the faeries won’t drink anything else.”

When she started to talk about liquor inventory, Chris turned off the recording and looked at Nikolas. “What do you think?”

Nikolas put the SUV in drive and pulled away from the club. “I think we need to take a closer look into Adele’s real estate holdings.”

I chewed my lip as I replayed Adele’s conversation in my head. There had to be a clue there somewhere. Would it have killed her to say the name of the city at least? “Why would Adele say that no one would expect Madeline to be wherever she is? Is there a place Madeline would not want to go?”

“Wherever the Master is would be my first guess,” Jordan said.

Chris stuck the phone in his coat pocket. “Madeline wouldn’t be foolish enough to hide near the Master. She’s evaded him this long by being smarter than that.”

“She doesn’t want us to find her either, so maybe she’s hiding near one of our strongholds,” Jordan suggested. “Hell, maybe she’s in Boise.”

Nikolas nodded. “That is a possibility. We should narrow our search to places near our compounds; see if Adele has property in any of them.”

Chris pulled out a different cell phone and called Raoul. I half listened to his conversation because I was still going over what we’d heard. When Chris hung up, I took out my phone and called David. Jordan gave me a questioning look, and I held up a finger as David answered.

“Sara? Everything okay?”

“So far, so good.” We caught up for a minute before I got to the reason for my call. “Listen, how much did you and Kelvan dig up on Adele? Do you know if she owns any property outside of LA?”

“Yeah, we found a couple, actually.”

My pulse quickened. “Really? Where?”

“Let’s see.” He tapped his keyboard. “There are three that we know of. She owns a night club in New York, another one in San Diego, and a warehouse in Miami.”

“What about houses?”

“Yes, she has a large house in San Diego.”

I repeated what he’d told me to the others. “Anything else?”

“No, that’s it. Why the sudden interest in her holdings?”

“We think Madeline is hiding out in one of Adele’s places, and it’s a property no one knows about.”

David sighed. “That doesn’t give us much to go on.”

“Would it help if I said I have absolute faith in your abilities?”

This time he laughed. “I work for peanuts and flattery. Let me check with Kelvan and call you back.”

“Okay. Talk to you soon.”

I hung up and told them what David was doing. We had two very resourceful groups searching for Madeline, and I allowed myself to hope that one of them would turn up a solid lead. My loyalty was with the Mohiri, but if I’d had to bet, I would have put my money on David and Kelvan.

Chris tapped his fingers on the center console. “Something else I’d like to know is what Orias has been trying to undo for years for Madeline.”

“I’d like to know that myself,” Nikolas replied. “Orias is a powerful warlock. If he can’t undo something, it must be very strong magic.” He looked at me. “By the way, what was he talking about back there when he said you put a gag on him? And what did you do to his demon?”

“Oh, that.” I gnawed on my lower lip. “I might have made him take a binding oath that prevented him from telling anyone we were there.”

“What kind of oath?”

“You ever hear of the White Oath?”

Nikolas and Chris shook their heads, and I explained the oath to them. “It’s something I learned from Remy.”

Both of them looked at me with new respect, and Nikolas said, “And what did you do to upset his demon?”

Jordan scoffed. “That bastard had the rest of us tied up, so Sara took his demon hostage until he let us go.”

Chris turned in his seat. “You took an upper demon hostage? This I have to hear.”

“It wasn’t like I actually saw the demon. Orias already had it trapped in a lamp. I took the lamp and shook it up a little. Demons really don’t like Fae magic.”

“No, I would guess not.” Nikolas kept his eyes on the road, so it was hard to tell what he was thinking.

“How do you fit a demon in a lamp anyway?” Jordan asked. It was something I had wondered myself.

“It takes a spell cast by a very crafty and powerful warlock,” Nikolas told her.

“If Madeline is using his glamours, how was Sara’s friend David able to get that picture of her in Vancouver?” Chris said almost to himself.

“Orias told us his spells only last a month because they are so strong. Maybe we were able to catch her as one was wearing off.” That also explained how Madeline kept disappearing and they’d lose her trail for a few weeks.

Chris nodded. “Makes sense. Let’s hope she is between glamours when we find her or we’ll never be able to recognize her.”

“No problem. I can see through his magic.”

Nikolas looked over his shoulder at me. “You can?”

“I can see through all glamours. I thought you knew that.”

He cocked an eyebrow. “You forgot to share that piece of information with us.”

Oops.

Jordan leaned forward. “She saw right through the glamour Orias had on his place in New Mexico. The rest of us couldn’t see a thing, and we thought she was nuts when she said there was a building there.”

Nikolas shook his head. “Sara, when we get home, we’re going to have a long talk about all the things you’ve forgotten to mention.”

Jordan and I shared a look. She smirked at me and mouthed the words pillow talk, which made us both laugh. Up front I heard Chris say, “Don’t look at me. You’re the one who told Tristan it was okay for the two of them to stay together.”

We were still laughing when my phone rang.

“Tell me you have something.”

“It might not be anything,” David replied. “Kelvan’s doing some more digging.”

“And it might be everything.” I looked at the others who were watching me. “David, can I put you on speaker? It’s just the four of us here.”

He hesitated for a moment. “Uh, okay. So here is what we found. In the last year, Adele has flown to Las Vegas twice by private charter. She stayed there for three days on one trip and five on another.”

“Maybe she just likes to gamble,” Jordan said.

“Maybe,” he agreed. “What I do know is she didn’t stay at any of the big hotels during her trips, and she doesn’t strike me as a person who would charter a jet only to stay in a cheap hotel.”

“She’s not.” I tried to contain my excitement. “Where do you think she stayed?”

“We think she has a residence there. If anyone can find it, Kelvan can. You can’t hide much from him once he’s on your trail.”

Chris spoke up. “How long do you think it will take?”

David let out a whoop. “I think this is a new record for him.”

I could barely breathe. “He found something?”

David spent the next ten seconds typing before he answered. “Adele owns a luxury condo in Las Vegas, overlooking the Strip. She bought it three years ago under the name Elizabeth Cummings.”

“What makes you think this woman and Adele are the same person?” Nikolas asked.

“Elizabeth Cummings is one of the identities Adele used before she took her current one. Succubi have to create a new identity every few decades, especially if they are a businesswoman like Adele. She went by Elizabeth Cummings back in the forties.”

“How the hell did you find that?” Chris cut in. “Even our records on her don’t go back that far.”

David chuckled. “Yours don’t, but demons have their own archives.”

“You guys are scary sometimes, you know that?” I said. “I’m really glad you’re on my side.”

I could tell David was grinning when he replied. “We decided it was more fun to use our power for good instead of evil.”

Jordan was practically jumping on her seat. “So, are we going to Vegas?”

Nikolas and Chris looked at each other, and some kind of silent communication passed between them. Chris shrugged and Nikolas sighed. He adjusted the rearview mirror so he could see me.

“Sara, if I asked you to stay at the faerie’s place while we check this out, would you?”

He could not be serious. “What do you think?”

He scowled at me, and I smiled back. At least I was honest about it.

“Chris, call and get the jet to pick us up at LAX,” Nikolas said in a not-so-happy voice.

“We could drive to Vegas before the jet gets here.” Now that we had a solid lead on Madeline, I didn’t want to sit around waiting.

“There is no way I am taking you to Las Vegas without an easy means of escape.” Nikolas’s tone brooked no argument. But he wasn’t beating his chest and ordering me to stay behind, which was progress for us.

David’s voice came out of my phone speaker. “Now that you have that settled, I’ll be off. I’ll text you the address for the condo.”

“Thanks, David. You’re the best.”

“Yeah, I hear that a lot,” he joked before he said goodbye and hung up.

* * *

Four hours later, we flew into Las Vegas, and my mouth fell open when I got my first look at the sea of lights below us. “It’s so bright.”

Nikolas leaned in to peer out the window over my shoulder, and a little tremor ran through me. Ever since last night at the gazebo, butterflies had taken up residence in my stomach. All it took was the slightest touch from him to set them off.

“And dangerous,” he said in a low voice, his warm breath caressing my cheek. “I must be out of my mind for agreeing to bring you here.”

I turned my face and met his eyes inches from mine. On impulse, I gave him a quick kiss on the lips. “Thank you for not trying to make me stay behind.”

His eyes turned that smoky gray color that always melted my insides. At least I wasn’t the only one affected by our nearness.

“Okay, you lovebirds, no making out in the jet,” Jordan said from across the aisle. “We’ve got work to do and all you two can do is make eyes at each other.”

The pilot came over the intercom and told us to prepare for landing. My stomach dipped, but it had nothing to do with Nikolas or the plane’s descent. After months of searching and almost giving up hope, I was finally going to confront Madeline and get the answers I was looking for. After she told us who the Master was, the Council would send their forces after him. That vampire had wrought so much pain and grief in my life, and a part of me wanted to be there to see his fall. But a larger part of me had no wish to ever lay eyes on him. I just wanted him gone from our lives forever.

We landed at McCarran Airport and taxied up to a private hangar where three large SUVs waited for us. When we disembarked, a black Mohiri male with a shaved head came over to greet us. His name was Geoffrey and his team of six was one of two that had been here for the past year. Apparently, there was enough vampire activity in Vegas to warrant a larger Mohiri presence. Maybe that was what Adele had meant when she said no one would expect Madeleine to be there.

The warriors were all business. Before I knew it, I was in a vehicle with Nikolas, Chris, Jordan, and Geoffrey. The four warriors who had flown with us climbed into the other two vehicles with Geoffrey’s team.

Geoffrey drove, easily navigating the busy streets. “We scouted the address you gave us and saw a female there, but she doesn’t look like Madeline.”

“Madeline is using a warlock glamour to mask her identity,” Nikolas told him.

“Which warlock?”

“Orias.”

Geoffrey let out a whistle, and I began to wonder if there was anyone who hadn’t heard of Orias. “It’s no surprise no one can find her. How are you going to know for sure if it’s her?”

“We have a way to see through her glamour,” Nikolas answered vaguely. Despite what had happened at Westhorne last fall, few Mohiri knew about my Fae heritage. The rest were on a need-to-know basis.

“You got the warlock tied up back there?” Geoffrey joked lightly. “Ah, here we are.”

My breathing fogged the window as I leaned close to it to stare at the glass building that was so tall it appeared to disappear into the Vegas sky. Somewhere up there behind one of those windows was my mother. Not that I was looking for a mother-daughter reunion. But it was surreal to know that in a few minutes, I might actually talk to her for the first time.

“Are you ready?” Nikolas’s eyes were dark with worry.

“I’ve been ready for this for a long time.”

Armed and alert, Nikolas, Jordan, Chris, and I entered the marble lobby along with two of the warriors from the California team. The rest took up positions outside in case there was trouble.

I barely noticed our surroundings as we waited for the elevator to arrive, and by the time we stepped off the elevator on the forty-second floor, my heart was pounding. Nikolas’s warm hand captured mine and squeezed it gently, and I gave him a small smile.

We stopped in front of door 4220, and everyone but Nikolas and I moved away from the door. We’d decided on the plane that the two of us would talk to Madeline while the rest waited outside. Too many visitors might spook her and make her less inclined to talk. She knew Nikolas well and I was her daughter, so she might open up to us. In any case, she wasn’t running this time – unless she sprouted wings.

Nikolas rang the doorbell and I could hear the faint chimes ringing through the condo. I pictured Madeline walking quietly to the door and peering at us through the peephole. Her eyes would grow round in shock when she saw who was on the other side of the door, and she’d pretend no one was home and hope we would leave.

Several long minutes passed. Nikolas knocked this time. “Madeline, we’ve had our people watching this place, so we know you’re in there. We just want to talk.”

Silence.

I moved in front of him. “An hour of your time, and we’ll be out of your life forever. You owe me that much… Mom.” Okay, maybe I put more than a little sarcasm into that word, but really, who could blame me?

The deadbolt clicked and the door opened as far as the metal security guard would allow it. A blue eye peered out at me warily, and I sucked in a sharp breath. “I’m sorry but you have the wrong address. My name is Claire and I have no children.”

“Now that really hurts,” I replied dryly.

“I don’t know who you are, but I’m calling the police if you don’t leave.”

I leaned closer to her and spoke softly. “Before you do that, I think you should know I can see through glamours… even Orias’s.”

Shock and recognition flashed in her eyes before she could hide it. Her lips clamped together, and the door slammed shut. It wouldn’t do her any good. We weren’t going anywhere, and neither was she.

Seconds later, the door opened and I stood face-to-face with my mother.

The photos I’d seen of her had not done her justice. Madeline had a good five inches on me, and her figure was svelte in the blue pants and cream top she wore. Her platinum blond hair was pulled back into a simple chignon that flattered her delicate features and sapphire blue eyes. I could see why any man, including my father, would fall for her.

When I’d met Tristan, I’d thought it was strange having a grandfather who looked only a few years my senior. That was nothing compared to having a mother who looked like she could have been in my senior class. I should have kept the money I’d given Roland and Peter. I’d need it to pay for therapy when all of this was over.

“Come in.” Madeline’s rich voice was laced with anger and resignation as she stepped back to wave us inside.

I went first and Nikolas followed me closely. My mother or not, he wasn’t taking any chances. Normally, I’d tell him he was being overprotective, but I let it pass because just bringing me here was a big step for him.

Madeline locked the door and led us into the living room that was tastefully done in browns and creams, with floor-to-ceiling windows that provided an amazing view of the Strip. She seated herself in a leather chair, and Nikolas and I sat on the matching couch. I looked at her and wondered what I should be feeling, being in the same room with the woman who had given birth to me and abandoned me when I was just a baby. She was Tristan’s daughter and the woman my dad had loved. Yet all I saw was a beautiful stranger. All I felt was cold detachment.

“You look like Daniel.” It was said in a very matter-of-fact way, no emotion coloring her tone.

“I know.”

We stared at each other for a long moment. She looked away first. “It’s been a long time, Nikolas.”

“It has. I’d say you look well, but I can’t see past the glamour.”

Madeline’s brows drew together and she swung her gaze back to me. “And how is it that you can? Did Orias give you something to see past it? Did he tell you where I was? I know Adele would never betray me.”

A small smile touched my lips. “Orias and I are not exactly on the best of terms, and Adele didn’t give you up. She is amazingly loyal to you.”

“Then how did you find me? How can you see me now?”

“Some very resourceful friends of mine found you for me. As for how I can see you, that’s irrelevant.” I saw no reason to beat around the bush, and I got right to the reason for our visit. “You know the identity of a Master and we want to know who he is.”

She started to shake her head, and I said, “He had my dad killed. Your husband. He’s spent the last six months trying to kill me and everyone I love. I know family means nothing to you, but you must have felt something for my dad once upon a time.”

Madeline recoiled as if I’d slapped her. “You know nothing about what I felt for him.”

“You’re right. I don’t.” Anger slipped into my voice. “I don’t know how you can love someone and hurt them so completely. I don’t know how you can stand back while they are murdered and let the one responsible walk free so he can destroy other families. I have no idea what a person who does something like that is feeling. So why don’t you enlighten me?”

“I know you are angry because I left you –”

I couldn’t stop the harsh laugh that burst from me. “I don’t even remember you. My dad gave me all the love I needed until they took him from me. You have the information I need to find them, and that is the only reason I’m here now.”

Silence fell over the room, broken by the soft patter of raindrops against the windows. I looked at the sky and watched dark clouds roll in.

“I loved him.”

I turned back to Madeline. “What?”

“Your father.” Her hands entwined on her lap. “I met him in college. I knew he was human and it could never work between us, but he was… He had a way of making you feel like you were the only person in his world.”

I didn’t know why she was telling me this, but I knew what she meant about my dad. His life had revolved around me, and he’d always made sure I knew how much he loved me. I’d been his world, just like he’d been mine.

“I should not have married him, but I was in love, and I couldn’t think of leaving him. I knew it wouldn’t be long before he realized I was different, so a month before our wedding, I told him what I was.”

Shock rippled through me. “He knew what you were?”

“I told him I was Mohiri, but not about my Mori because I didn’t think he could cope with that. It was a struggle for him to learn about the real world, but he said what I was didn’t matter to him.” Her eyes and voice grew soft. “Even when I said I would not age, he wanted me to stay. So we got married. Those two years were the happiest of my life.”

I didn’t need to ask what had ended her blissful state. I was born in the third year of their marriage.

Madeline looked almost apologetic when she spoke again. “I was content with just the two of us, but Daniel wanted a child. He talked about how wonderful it would be, and I loved him so much that I let myself believe it was what I wanted, too. The day you were born, he was the happiest I’d ever seen him. I thought that would be enough for me to be happy too, but I was wrong. I loved my daughter – you, but being a mother wasn’t something I had ever wanted. I did it for two years, and then I couldn’t handle it anymore.”

“You left your child with a human who had no idea what would happen to her when her Mori emerged,” Nikolas said in a hard voice.

“I could sense no Mori in her,” Madeline replied defensively. “I thought she was human like her father.” She looked at me. “I came back sometimes to see how the two of you were doing, but neither of you knew it. If I’d seen a sign that you were different, I would have gone to your father. You looked happy together.”

“We were happy. Until he was killed.”

Pain flashed in her eyes. “I went to him and warned him he might be in danger. He didn’t believe me. The last thing I wanted was for him to get hurt.”

Bitterness welled in me. “He’d didn’t get hurt, Madeline. He got murdered.”

She flinched and got up to walk over to the window where rain was running down in rivulets now. “Part of me died that day. No matter what had happened between us, Daniel was the only man I ever loved.”

“Did you even care about what happened to your daughter after he died?” Nikolas asked harshly.

Madeline turned away from the window. “Of course I did,” she snapped. “Sara disappeared after her father died, and there was no trace of her. I thought she had died, too, at first. I don’t know why I forgot about Daniel’s brother, Nate, but it was years later when I remembered him.”

I knew why she hadn’t remembered Nate. Aine had hidden me so the vampires could not find me. She’d made everyone forget that Nate even existed. It surprised me to hear Madeline had looked for me, but it didn’t change how I felt about her.

Nikolas leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “Tell us about the Master.”

The agitation on Madeline’s face immediately turned to fear. “I-I can’t.”

“Yes, you can.” I had to force myself not to yell at her. “Why are you protecting him?”

“I’m not protecting him. You don’t understand.” She began to pace in front of the window. “I can’t tell you because I don’t know who he is.”

“You’re lying. A day before my dad was killed, you went to visit a friend of yours in Portland and you told him you knew about the Master.”

She stopped pacing to stare at me. “Jiro Ito? How do you know about him?”

“His son, David, was there and he overheard you talking to his father. You said you knew the identity of a Master, and you needed the money he was holding for you so you could disappear.”

“Jiro’s son was there?” She shook her head. “He misunderstood what I said. I told Jiro that a Master was after me because I’d seen him, but that I didn’t know who he was.”

I folded my arms across my chest. “That makes no sense. If you saw him, you can describe him. And how did you come to see him in the first place or even know he was a Master?”

Madeline looked almost terrified when she returned to her chair. “I was in New York to see Adele, who was opening a new night club there, and I ended up at a party on the Upper East Side. I –” She swallowed and her hands clenched the arms of her chair. “Something happened to me at the party. One minute I was having a drink and the next I woke up in a cage in the basement of a place I didn’t know. There were vampires everywhere, but none of them talked to me until one named Eli came in. He taunted me about being his Master’s new toy. When I heard the word ‘Master’ I knew I was dead.”

“Khristu,” Nikolas breathed.

“A few hours later, they took me upstairs to meet the Master. I remember walking into a room and seeing him sitting by the fireplace. I remember every minute I was tortured by him for two days. I remember wishing to die. But I can’t remember anything about him.”

The fear in her voice was real as she relived the ordeal. “I’m sorry.” No matter what my feelings were for her, no one deserved to go through that. “Did they drug you to make you forget?”

“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.