Warrior (Relentless Book 4)

“Is it him?”

I studied the features of the dead vampire that bore a striking resemblance to Eli. It had been a month since that night in the alley, but I’d never forget that vampire’s face or the hungry way he’d looked at Sara. The picture Chris had sent had given me hope the bastard was dead, even though I wanted the pleasure of ending him myself. But seeing the body up close, I knew I might still get that chance.

“No.” I turned away from the body to look at Chris. “It’s close, but not him.”

“Too bad.” He motioned for two warriors to take the body away. “So what time do we depart this fair city?”

We walked outside to where our bikes sat in the driveway. “Tomorrow afternoon, Wednesday at the latest. Sara needed a few days with her uncle. This isn’t easy for her.”

Chris pursed his lips. “It was never going to be easy, but your girl’s tougher than she looks.”

“That she is.” Knowing that hadn’t made it any easier to leave her today, even for a few hours. I hadn’t seen her since I dropped her off yesterday, but when I’d called her earlier today to let her know I’d be back this evening, she’d sounded so lost. I knew her talk with her uncle yesterday hadn’t gone well. Standing outside her apartment last night, I could feel her pain, and it had been hard not to go to her.

“You heading back already? I thought Maxwell said the pack would watch Sara.”

“He did, but I don’t want to spend too much time away from her now.” I was actually planning to introduce myself to her uncle and to extend an invitation for him to come to Westhorne with Sara. I hoped it would help him and Sara adjust to the changes in their lives. And I wanted to assure him that we would never try to keep her from her family.

My phone rang, and I pulled it out, expecting to see Tristan’s name again. He’d already called me three times since I let him know Sara had agreed to go to Westhorne. The last time I’d seen him this happy was when Madeline was born.

Sara’s name flashed on the screen, and my stomach instantly knotted. She wouldn’t call me unless something was wrong.

“Sara, what is it?”

“Something outside.” She gasped for breath, her terror almost palpable. “They’re trying to get in. The ward is holding, but Nate’s not here. If he comes home and…”

I swore and jumped on my bike. Chris grabbed my arm, and I almost roared at him. “Call Maxwell. Sara’s in trouble.”

I forced my voice to sound calm despite my heart trying to punch its way through my ribs. “We’re coming. Stay right where you are, and do not hang up. I’m going to stay on the phone until we get there. Do you hear me?”

“Maybe I should call Maxwell.”

“No, stay on the phone with me. Chris is calling them now.”

Hearing her voice and knowing she was safe were the only things keeping me from losing it. I yanked on my helmet, activated the Bluetooth headset, and started my bike.

“I’m on my way,” I said as I shot out of the driveway.

“Okay,” she rasped, sounding a little calmer.

God, I never should have left her. If anything happened to her…

“What was that?” I asked when I heard a sound on her end.

“The house phone. Maybe it’s Nate.” I heard her run through the house and pick up the other phone. “Hello?” Then, “Yes.”

There was a loud noise as she dropped the cell phone. “Sara?” When she didn’t answer, I yelled, “Sara, pick up the phone.”

“I’ll do it!” she cried. Her words made no sense until she said, “How do I know I can trust you to let him go?”

“Sara, it’s a trap. Don’t leave that apartment!” I shouted. They couldn’t get to her, so they were using the one thing they knew would lure her outside.

“No! I’ll come,” she said to the person on the other phone. Then there was silence.

“Don’t listen to him. Whatever he’s telling you, it’s a lie.”

Nothing.

“Goddamnit, Sara, answer me!” I bellowed.

There was a muffled sound as she picked up the phone. Her next words were like a knife twisting in my gut. “I’m sorry, Nikolas. I have to go.”

“Do not leave that apartment. I’ll be there in thirty minutes. Whatever it is, we can take care of it.”

“It’ll be too late. They have Nate, and they’re going to kill him if I’m not there in ten minutes. I’ve made a lot of mistakes, but I will not let Nate die because of them.”

“Sara, think about this,” I implored. “They are not going to just let your uncle go once they have you. If you do this, you could die.”

“He’ll die for sure if I don’t go. I’m not going to hide here and do nothing while he’s killed. I couldn’t live with that.” The resignation in her voice scared the hell out of me. “You were right. All I do is put the people I love in danger. It has to stop now.”

“Sara, no, listen to –”

The line went dead.

I called her cell phone, and it went to voice mail. I hit the gas and my bike shot forward. I tried her phone again even though I knew she wasn’t going to answer. Sara would do anything for the people she loved, even if it put her own life in danger.

It had to be Yusri al-Hawwash. A man who would risk the trolls’ wrath would think nothing of hurting Sara or her uncle to get what he wanted. I tried not to think about the other option, that Eli had finally found a way to get to her. The thought of her in his hands made the blood pound in my ears and my stomach churn violently.

I had never known this kind of fear existed until today. “God, please keep her safe. I can’t lose her.”

Torture took on a new meaning for me as I counted down the miles one by one. In my mind, I replayed every conversation we’d had. I saw her eyes flash in anger when we fought, and the way her face lit up when she smiled. I watched her battle a crocotta, defend a troll, heal a dying werewolf. She was unlike anyone I’d ever met, and within the span of a month, she had become everything to me.

I recognized Maxwell’s truck outside Sara’s apartment when I roared up. I leapt off my bike and took the stairs three at a time, bursting through the front door without knocking.

Sara’s uncle and Maxwell were in the kitchen when I stormed into the apartment, and it was all I could do not to punch the Alpha for not protecting her like he’d promised.

“Who are you?” Nate Grey demanded before I could speak.

“Nikolas Danshov. I’m a friend of Sara’s.”

Recognition dawned in his eyes. “She told me about you.” His voice grew hoarse. “Please, find her.”

“I will. Tell me what happened.”

He cleared his throat. “I had some appointments in Portland, and I was on my way home when two men grabbed me at the grocery store. One was German and the other was Middle Eastern. They took me to an empty building on Crescent Street where a man named Haism Bakr was waiting for us. He told me he had business with Sara, and that if I behaved myself, I’d be home in no time. I asked him what he wanted with Sara, but he wouldn’t say. I knew it had to have something to do with the things she told me last night. She said she had to leave because people were after her.”

His voice cracked. “Now they have her.”

It was little consolation that the sheik’s men had Sara and not the vampire. The sheik wanted her to try to cure him, so he’d keep her alive. If he valued what was left of his life, he’d keep her unharmed.

“What happened next?”

“Haism’s men left and came back a little while later with Sara. Then Sara and Haism talked about his employer. He told her the sheik was angry with her because she stopped him from stealing the young trolls. He yelled at her, but she stood up to him. She was so brave, even when…”

Coldness spread through me. “When what?”

Nate’s voice shook. “When the vampire called. She was frightened, but she never showed it to them. Haism said he was giving us to the vampire to settle a debt.”

Oh God, no.

“That bastard, Haism, wanted to frighten her, to make her suffer,” Nate spat. “He was enjoying himself.”

My Mori roared in my head, and I promised it we would kill that man with our bare hands.

“How did you get away, Nate?” Maxwell asked.

“It was Sara. She made a deal with Haism. If he let us go, she’d give him some troll bile she had stashed away. The German man brought me home, and Sara went with Haism and the other man to get the bile.”

Hope sparked in my chest. I didn’t believe Haism would let Sara go when he got the bile, but she was smart and she knew we’d be looking for her. “How long ago did she leave with him?”

“Less than twenty minutes.”

“They could still be here. She’ll stall him to give us time to find her.” I looked at Maxwell. “We need to block every way out of this town.”

“As soon as Chris called, I sent the pack out. They’re covering all the exits and the harbor. The whole pack knows her scent, and my best trackers are trying to pick up her trail.”

“Good.” I started for the door. “Let me know the second they find something.”

“Where are you going?” Nate called after me.

“To get her back and to kill anyone who touched her,” I vowed coldly.

I called Chris as I jumped on my bike. “Yusri al-Hawwash’s men took her. They haven’t been gone long, so they’re still in New Hastings.”

“How do you know they’re still here?”

“Sara promised them troll bile. They won’t leave town without it.”

“Smart girl,” he said. “I’ll be there in five minutes. We’ll find her, Nikolas.”

I hung up and started my bike.

“Nikolas,” Maxwell called from the top of the stairs. “Francis picked up Sara’s scent on the old mining road south of town. He said it’s fresh.”

“I know where that is.” I peeled away from the building before he could say anything else. I called Chris on the way and told him to meet me there.

I spotted a white Cadillac half a mile down the mining road. Pulling up behind it, I saw Francis crouched beside a body on the ground.

“Vampire got him.” He pointed at the mutilated man as he pulled out a cell phone. “More than one by the look of it. I need to let Maxwell know.”

My stomach turned to ice. Only mature vampires could walk in the daylight, even on an overcast and foggy day like today.

Eli was here.

Moving with demon speed, I donned my harness and swords. “When Chris gets here, send him to the cliffs.”

“How do you know where they went?”

“I just do.”

I ran into the woods. The cliffs were Sara and Remy’s special place, and that was where she’d hidden the damn bile.

It wasn’t hard to follow their trail. I stopped to study the two sets of footprints in the dirt, and my rage grew when I saw the smaller set was made by stockinged feet. A little farther on, I found where she had lain on the ground; the same place she had escaped from her bonds and run.

Moving swiftly, I came to a stream. There were blood smears on a fallen log, and I told myself she had cut her feet while running and wasn’t suffering worse injuries.

I kept moving, and suddenly I could smell the ocean.

Then I felt her.

I burst from the trees and stopped dead in the middle of a small field. Ahead of me on the cliffs milled a dozen or more vampires, and in the middle of them stood Sara and Eli.

Red colored my vision when I saw his possessive grip on her arm. I pulled my swords free of the harness and welcomed the rage descending over me.

Sara spun, and her gaze locked with mine.

Solmi! my demon roared.

For a moment, the world faded until there was just her and me and the bond that stretched between us. My eyes greedily drank her in. Bruised and bloody, wearing torn, dirty clothes, she was still the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen.

Eli’s shout broke the spell that held me. “He is only one. Risa, Heath, Lorne – take care of this.”

Three vampires came at me. Circling me, they stayed out of reach of my swords, looking for an opening.

My Mori boiled beneath my skin, wanting blood from those who would harm our mate.

You’ll have it, I vowed as its bloodlust filled me.

A red-haired male moved toward me. His eyes darted to my left as I raised my swords, and I knew he was trying to distract me. We spun away from each other at the same time, and one of my blades cut through skin and bone.

The blond male that had attacked on my left screamed and tried to retreat, but I gave him no quarter. His face was still frozen in shock when his severed head hit the ground.

A female shrieked behind me as the red-haired male came at me again. The look in his eyes told me he was not feinting this time.

Holding my swords against me, I kicked off from the ground in a burst of speed. Flipping backward, I landed behind the charging female. She was moving too fast to dodge the male’s attack, and she screamed again as his claws gouged her face.

The male tried to veer away, but he hesitated too long and my swords were waiting for him. He cried out when the first blade slashed across his chest.

Kill! my Mori growled as my second blade cut deep into the vampire’s gut, eviscerating him. No longer a threat, he sank to the ground, clutching his entrails.

The female made an inhuman sound, and I spun, bringing my swords up as she flew at me. One of her eyes had been destroyed by the male’s claws, but her good eye held enough hatred for both of them. Crazed, she charged like a mindless beast, and I cut her down easily, driving my blade through her heart. Before her body hit the ground, I brought my other sword down in an arc to remove the head of the male that still writhed on the ground.

I faced the remaining vampires, who watched me in wary silence. My eyes went to Sara and the vampire that held her captive. She was pale, and I could sense her fear. But pride and hope shone in her green eyes.

Eli’s voice rang out sharply. “All of you! Finish him.”

“Coward!” Sara screamed at him as the other vampires took a step toward me.

I prepared myself for the attack. A warrior entered every battle knowing it could be his last, and each of us had our own way of facing our possible death. For me, it had always been the knowledge that I’d lived an honorable life, keeping humanity safe from the evils that walked the Earth, and I would die doing what I had been born to do.

But that was before I found Sara, before I knew what it was to live for another person. Her fate rested in my hands now, and if I fell, she’d be lost. I would not let that happen. I’d never faced this number of vampires alone, but then, the stakes had never been so high.

Sara gasped. At the same time, every one of the vampires blanched and took a step back. I didn’t need to look behind me to know reinforcements had arrived. I could smell the werewolves, and I heard the soft whisper of an arrow being fitted to a bow.

I looked at Eli, but my words were directed at all the vampires. “Let her go and we will let you live…for today.”

Eli yanked Sara against him with his claws pressed to her throat. His lips pulled back into a snarl that couldn’t mask the fear in his eyes. “I think not. We both know I could rip her throat out and jump before you reached us.”

My breath caught when he moved closer to the edge of the cliff. He would survive a plunge from that height, but Sara might not. I had to convince him that letting her go was the only way he’d get out of this alive.

“But then nothing would prevent me from hunting you down, and this time I will not stop.”

Eli sneered. “I think sweet little Sara is important to you, and you won’t do anything to jeopardize her life.”

I didn’t respond because he was looking for a reaction to give me away.

“Nothing to say?” Eli laughed and ran his claws down her face. “Will you still have nothing to say when I taste her?”

I knew the vampire was goading me, but that didn’t stop the growl that worked its way up from my chest. The sight of his hands on her was enough to drive me and my Mori insane with rage.

“Stay back, Mohiri,” Eli shouted. “You might kill me, but not before I end her.”

The only thing that kept me in control was the knowledge that Sara’s life depended on me holding it together. “Let her go and you’ll have a chance of getting out of this alive.”

My gaze swept over each vampire. “Is she worth your life – all your lives?”

The vampire closest to Eli said something I couldn’t hear.

Eli snarled at him. “She is mine, and I will not give her up! You heard the Master. Kill her or take her, but the girl is not to be left behind.”

Sara’s voice rang out. “Kill me then. All I ever wanted was to find the one who killed my father, and here you are. Knowing that my friends will rip you to shreds – all of you – after I’m dead is enough for me.”

My shock at hearing that Eli had killed her father was tempered only by the fresh wave of fear her words sent through me. The calm acceptance in her voice filled my veins with ice.

The vampires heard it too, and I could see panic on their faces. Some of them looked around, preparing to run.

“Stand firm!” Eli shouted at them. “You would dare disobey the Master’s orders?”

The vampires rushed to form a shield in front of their leader. Behind me a few wolves let out low growls.

My eyes stayed on Sara, and my body shook as I watched Eli pull her against him and put his mouth to her ear. I could not hear his words, but I saw the revulsion on her face as she responded to whatever he’d said to her.

It killed me to stand there and watch her suffer his touch, but I was acutely aware of how close they were to the edge of the cliff. Eli was as fast as I was, and he’d be over the cliff with her before I could reach them.

“I’ll kill you!” she cried suddenly, trying to pull away from Eli.

He laughed, and Sara stopped struggling. Her eyes met mine, and I saw the resolve in them. She was planning something.

I wanted to shout at her, to tell her no. She had no chance, surrounded as she was by so many vampires.

Eli wrapped his arms tighter around her waist. “Maybe I’ll keep you until I find dear Madeline. I’ve never had a mother and daughter at one time.”

Instead of cowering, Sara taunted him. “You sick bastard! I’m going to enjoy watching you die, Eli.”

Some of the vampires turned to stare at her. Eli sneered and spoke loud enough for all to hear. “You’re brave enough to say that now, but soon you will beg to die. I will use you and drink from you over and over until I have had my fill. And when there is nothing left, I will send you to be with your dear father.”

Blood roared in my ears, and my body felt like a spring coiled too tight. My control was about to snap.

Eli jerked and made a choked sound. He stumbled back from Sara, clawing at the hilt of the knife she had buried in his chest. The same knife I’d given her that day on the wharf.

No one else moved.

Every pair of eyes was riveted on the girl who stood quietly, her face serene as she watched the vampire who had terrorized her gasp his last breath.

I was moving toward Sara before Eli hit the ground. The vampires recovered from their shock, and half a dozen of them came to intercept me. One went down before they could reach me, an arrow protruding from his chest. Chris was as deadly with a crossbow as he was with a sword. He felled a second vampire, leaving me to engage the last four. I took down one before a huge gray werewolf leapt at the throat of another vampire.

I was battling the last two vampires when a terrified scream curdled my blood. I spun toward the cliff in time to see a vampire sling Sara over his shoulder and run for the edge. “Sara!” I shouted, lunging at two female vampires who were harder to kill than their brethren.

A black wolf sped past me toward Sara. My gut twisted with the knowledge that he wouldn’t reach her in time.

An arrow zipped past my head, and the vampire and Sara crumpled to the ground. She pushed his weight off her and got to her feet, looking dazed.

A vampire ran at me, and I drove my sword into her heart as I shouted, “Sara, run!”

She started toward me and jerked suddenly. Her pain hit me, and I stared in horror at the knife embedded in her chest. Blood quickly soaked her shirtfront, and she stumbled.

“No!” I roared, slashing at the vampire that stood between us. The vampire fell, and I turned to the cliff.

Sara was gone.

I dropped my swords and raced to the edge of the cliff. Below in the foaming surf, I spotted something dark and wavy, seconds before it disappeared beneath the surface.

“Sara!” I bellowed as I dove after her.

I sensed her before my body hit the water. My momentum took me down a dozen or so feet. Then I flipped around and began searching for her. The water was deep, but I could see clearly as I cut through it with strong strokes. I swam to where she should have been and dove to the bottom. I turned in a complete circle, confused. I could feel her nearby, but there was no sign of her.

I could stay underwater longer than a human, but eventually I was forced to come up for air. I broke the surface and sucked in large gulps of air before I headed back down.

It took me several seconds to realize Sara’s presence was growing fainter off to my right. An underwater current tugged at me and I followed it, praying it would lead me to her.

The current flowed into a small cove. She was here; I could feel her. But the moment I entered the cove, she vanished. One second I felt her, and the next I felt nothing.

“Sara.” I surfaced and called to her over and over as I searched the cove.

Pain crushed my chest when I finally swam back to the base of the cliff. She couldn’t be gone. I’d know if she was dead. I felt our bond, strong and alive inside me, and the pain lessened. If she was dead, there would be no bond.

Chris was in the water when I got back to the cliff. Wordlessly, the two of us began searching. We’d covered a half-mile radius before boats arrived to help with the search. Maxwell had alerted the authorities that a girl had fallen into the ocean.

A police boat came, equipped with large search lights since it would be dark soon. They were joined by at least a dozen fishing boats and pleasure craft as word spread and the townspeople came out to help. The police organized the civilians, and they began searching several miles up and down the coast.

It was late into the evening when they called off the search for the night. They planned to come back at first light and resume their search. I heard snatches of a conversation about divers and a recovery operation. They already believed she was dead.

The only reason I left the water was that I knew without a doubt Sara was not there. A rope had been lowered to us from above, and Chris and I used it to pull ourselves up.

Erik’s team had shown up before the police, and along with the wolves, they had removed all the vampires before the humans saw them. The team had also set up a temporary campsite in the field near the cliff to use as a base while they searched the woods. Maxwell’s best trackers were out there as well looking for any sign of Sara.

Roland and Peter ran up to me as I climbed over the top of the cliff. Their hopeful expressions fell away when they saw my face.

“Nothing?” Roland asked.

“No,” I replied harshly. I softened my tone when I saw the pain in their eyes. “We’ll find her.”

I spent the rest of the night searching the woods. Roland and Peter refused to go home, changing into wolf form to search with me. By dawn, the two of them were exhausted, and I tried to get them to go home, but they wouldn’t leave. Finally, we went back to the Mohiri campsite where the wolves curled up on the ground and were asleep in seconds.

I was standing on the cliff, watching the boats resume their search, when Chris joined me. He’d been out in the woods all night too.

“We’ve covered at least ten square miles of ground so far. Erik rented a boat so he and Raj can search along the shore.”

“Good,” I replied, barely listening to him. I was racking my brain with the same question that had plagued me all night. How had Sara been there one second and gone the next? It didn’t make sense, and I was going to drive myself insane until I had the answer.

Several hundred yards out, the police boat dropped two divers in the water. Chris watched them for a minute then cleared his throat. “Nikolas, we need to think about the possibility that Sara is –”

“She’s not dead, Chris,” I bit out. “I’d know.”

He fell quiet for a few minutes. “We’ve never really talked about… Is the bond the reason you know she’s alive?”

“Yes.” I looked at him, trying not to see the sympathy in his eyes. “When I’m near her, I can sense her. I felt her in the water, and then she just vanished. I know she’s alive because our bond is still there and it doesn’t feel empty. I don’t know how to explain it.”

He nodded solemnly. “How does someone disappear like that? Could it be some kind of magic hiding her from us?”

“I don’t know.”

I’d thought about that and a hundred other scenarios throughout the night, but I couldn’t find any that were plausible. It would take an extremely powerful glamour to block a Mori bond. Other than the Fae, only a handful of warlocks could be strong enough to pull it off.

Trolls were cousins to the Fae, and they had some Fae abilities, which had given me brief hope that her friend, Remy, had secreted her away to help her. But I could scour this area for a lifetime and never find the trolls’ home. They lived in underground caves that were so well warded they were impossible to locate. I also didn’t think Remy would let Sara’s family and friends suffer unduly, not knowing where she was. He cared about her too much.

Chris pursed his lips. “You should get some food and sleep. You were out all night and you’re still wearing your wet clothes.”

“I’ll sleep after I find her.”

“We won’t stop looking. And you won’t be any good to Sara if you run yourself down. You’re immortal, not invincible.”

I knew he was right, but I couldn’t think about sleep. I had to call Tristan and break the news to him. But first, I had to go see Sara’s uncle. I’d promised him I would bring her home, and I’d failed. He deserved to hear it from me, not someone else.

Erik had brought my bag from the safe house, so I was able to change into clean clothes. I needed a shower, but that would have to wait.

Ten minutes later, I parked my bike next to a familiar blue Toyota outside Sara’s building. Roland’s mother, Judith, opened the door and invited me in.

“Nate’s in the living room,” she said in a low voice. “He’s in bad shape. Max came last night to tell him about Sara.”

She grabbed her coat from a rack in the hall. “I need to go to work. I’ll be back later to check on him.”

I went into the living room where Sara’s uncle sat in his wheelchair, staring out the window. He didn’t look my way when I came in.

“I keep expecting to see her walking along the wharves,” he said hoarsely. “She loves it down there.”

“I know.” I’d watched her walk on them many times in the last month.

He turned his head toward me, his eyes dark with grief. “She told me she would be home after she gave him what he wanted. She lied so I would leave. She knew she wasn’t coming home.”

“She loves you and she wanted to keep you safe.” I moved into the room and sat on the couch across from him. “And she will come home.”

He seemed not to hear my last words. “Maxwell told me you were all there when she…. She wasn’t alone.”

“She wasn’t alone,” I assured him. “I don’t think Sara could ever be alone, no matter where she goes.”

He looked at me as if he was seeing me for the first time. “You’re her warrior friend. You were here yesterday.”

I nodded. “Nikolas.”

He gave me a half smile. “She called you a royal pain in the ass. She also said you were a good person. She trusted you, and Sara didn’t trust many people.”

I wanted to tell him to stop talking about her in the past tense, but my throat tightened painfully. It was a minute before I could speak.

“Mr. Grey…Nate, do you think you could trust me like she does?”

“I don’t know,” he said.

I leaned forward and rested my elbows on my knees. “Will you trust me when I tell you Sara is still alive?”

His eyes widened. It was the biggest reaction he’d made since I’d gotten here. “How can you say that? Everyone saw her get stabbed and fall off a cliff. No one could survive that.”

“Sara did. She’s missing, but she’s not dead.”

“How-how do you know that?”

“It’s a Mohiri thing.” I didn’t think he was ready to hear that his niece was bonded to a male he’d only met yesterday.

Hope flared in his eyes. “Where is she then?”

“I don’t know,” I said honestly. “But I won’t stop looking for her. We have a team of warriors out there searching for her.”

He let out a ragged breath. “I want so much to believe you. When she told me everything the other night, I didn’t take it well. It was a lot to take in…but that’s no excuse. She was upset when she went upstairs. I worked it all out by the time I came home from Portland, but I never got the chance to tell her that none of it changes how I feel about her.”

“She knows, and she loves you too. I was on the phone with her when Haism called to say he had you. All she could think about was getting to you.” It was hard to talk about that phone call, but if it eased her uncle’s mind, it was worth it.

He gave a jerky nod. “She was so brave when she stood up to those men. Maxwell said she was brave on the cliff too.”

I thought about her standing there, surrounded by vampires, telling Eli she couldn’t wait to watch him die, seconds before she killed him. It took a person with incredible strength to go through what she had and to keep her composure through it all.

“She’s a warrior,” I said proudly.

Nate gave me a strange look, and he seemed to be thinking about his next words. “Can I ask you…? Is there something going on between you and Sara?”

“I care for your niece,” I said with deliberate vagueness. “But we’re not together in that way.”

“Okay,” he said, though he didn’t look like he was convinced.

I stood and pulled a white card from my pocket. “This is my cell number if you want to know how the search is going, or if you need anything at all. I’ll be staying at the Beacon Inn.”

I walked over and handed the card to him. “Call me anytime.”

“Nikolas,” he said when I turned to leave. “Judith brought me one of her breakfast casseroles. I wasn’t hungry before, but I think I could eat now. Would you like to join me? I guarantee it’s better than anything you’ll get at the inn.”

I smiled for the first time since that call from Sara yesterday. “Thank you. I’d like that.”

* * *

An hour later, I stood beside my bike, staring down at my phone, dreading the call I was about to make. With a heavy sigh, I left my bike and started toward the wharves. When I reached the one where Sara and I had talked on my first visit to her, I walked to the end of it. Then I dialed Tristan’s number.

“Nikolas, I was just about to call you. How’s Sara doing? Is she nervous about today?”

I closed my eyes for a moment, wishing I wasn’t about to kill the happiness I heard in his voice. “Tristan, something has happened.”

“What?” His tone grew sharp. “Is Sara okay?”

There was no easy way to say it. “Sara’s missing.”

“Missing? What do you mean?” he demanded.

“Yusri al-Hawwash’s men got to her. They took her uncle, and she traded herself for him.” Pain lanced through my chest. “I lost her.”

“How could this happen? Where were you? Where were Chris and Erik’s unit?” Tristan’s voice rose with each question until he was almost shouting.

I told him about the frantic phone call from Sara yesterday afternoon, the fight with the vampires on the cliff, her fall into the ocean, and the search that was underway. Reliving the last twenty-four hours was torture, but it was nothing less than I deserved. I’d promised to keep Sara safe, and I’d failed her and Tristan. I never should have entrusted her safety to someone else. I never should have let her out of my sight.

Tristan’s voice was choked with emotion when he spoke again. “Could one of the vampires have taken her? Or more of al-Hawwash’s men?”

“We killed every vampire on the cliff.” I couldn’t bring myself to think we might have missed one. “One of Haism’s men is unaccounted for, a German male named Gerhard. He left Sara’s uncle at the apartment, but he never met up with Haism. Erik’s working with Dax to track him down. We need to put people on Yusri al-Hawwash to monitor his communications and activity. If he has Sara, I don’t think he will harm her. Without the troll bile, he’ll be desperate for a cure and he might think she can help him.”

“I’ll oversee it myself. The sheik and I have some mutual acquaintances,” he replied, sounding like himself again. “I’m sending everyone we can spare to help with the search. What else do you need?”

I needed to hold Sara in my arms and never let her go again. To tell her I was sorry and to beg her for forgiveness.

“Nikolas, are you still there?”

“I’m sorry. Lost in thought.” As I watched several boats head out of the harbor, I wondered if they were going to join in the search. Or the recovery effort as I knew they were calling it now.

He exhaled noisily. “How are you so sure she survived the fall from the cliff?”

“Because I know Sara. She’s strong and resilient, and if anyone is a survivor, it’s her. And…”

“And what? If you know something, please tell me.”

I rubbed my jaw, which was covered in two days of beard. God, this wasn’t something I wanted to tell Tristan over the phone. It wasn’t something I wanted to discuss with him at all, but he had a right to know.

“I know Sara is still alive because I can feel it.”

“Feel it?” he repeated slowly. “What are you saying?”

“I’m saying Sara is my mate.”

“What?” He made a few sounds of disbelief. “Mate? Are you sure?”

“Were you sure when you met Josephine?” I asked.

“Jesus! I need to sit down.” I heard him sink into his desk chair. “How long have you known? Is that why she finally agreed to come here?”

I took a deep breath of the salty air. “I’ve known since the night we met. Sara doesn’t know about it yet. She was so set against having anything to do with us in the beginning. I wanted to let her get to know me and trust me before I laid something like this on her.”

“That’s good,” he said, sounding like he was still in shock. “But how is it that she doesn’t know? She should feel the bond by now, if it was there.”

“It’s there. Trust me.” I understood his surprise, but I wouldn’t allow anyone to question my bond with Sara. “I told you her control of her Mori is unlike anything I’ve ever seen. I think she can’t feel the bond like other females because she is suppressing her demon. But her Mori does recognize mine, and I think on some level Sara feels it too.”

There was silence for a long moment. “I’m sorry. Nikolas. I’m not questioning your integrity. A month ago, I didn’t know I had a granddaughter, and now I find out she is bonded to you of all people.”

I started to speak, and he said, “I mean, you have never made a secret of your desire to remain single. Now after all these years you bond to an orphan, to my granddaughter. Do you…plan to break the bond?”

“No,” I said tightly. “Only Sara can break it.”

He let out a long breath. “I know I’m handling this all wrong. I can think of no one who would make a finer mate for my granddaughter.”

“Thank you.” I stared down at the rippling water. “I know she’s alive, Tristan. Wherever she is, I will find her.”

He sighed wearily. “I know you will. Now please, bring my granddaughter home.”