Warrior (Relentless Book 4)

I took half a dozen strides toward the coffee shop before I realized what I was doing. I should have turned around and gone back, but I kept walking. Once I sensed Sara, the invisible cord that stretched between us drew me to her. I knew entering the shop was a bad idea before my hand touched the door, but that didn’t stop me. Ignoring everyone else in the shop, I settled in a chair that gave me a clear view of Sara on the far side of the room.

Neither Sara nor Samson seemed aware of my presence as she finished writing and handed the notepad to him. He smiled broadly, and there was no mistaking the adoration in his eyes as he said something that made her blush prettily and look down at her lap.

My fingers clenched the arms of the leather chair as I watched him flirt openly with her, and I knew I’d be across the room in seconds if he touched her. Coming here had been a mistake, but I couldn’t leave if my life depended on it.

Sara said something. Then her shoulders stiffened and she stared out the window at the street. I wondered again if she could sense me as I did her, and I felt a thrill of satisfaction when her head turned and her gaze swept the room as if she was looking for someone.

Her companion shifted, and my eyes narrowed on him as his hand moved toward her arm to get her attention. My Mori pressed forward, and I fought the urge to leave the chair.

And then I felt her gaze on me, and I forgot about the other male as I met her indignant stare. Her chin lifted defiantly and her lips pressed together, telling me she was not happy with me being there. My pulse quickened in response. God, even when she was angry, she was beautiful.

She stared at me until Samson spoke to her. I felt the loss of her gaze when she turned it toward him. They talked, and she kept her face turned away from me, although he looked my way several times.

I waited for her to look at me again, but she seemed determined to ignore me. It didn’t bother me at first, but the longer they sat there talking as if I wasn’t in the room, the darker my mood got. By the time they got up and walked out without a glance in my direction, I was ready to bite the head off the first person who looked at me wrong.

After a minute, I went outside and strode to my bike. Straddling it, I gripped the handlebars, trying to rein in the storm brewing inside of me.

“Khristu!” I swore loudly as I fought my angry demon. I wasn’t happy either, but there was nothing I could do about it right now. I should have stayed away. I’d seen a few newly bonded males lose it because they couldn’t control their demons. I would not do that to her.

I was still there five minutes later when Chris called to tell me Sara had just gotten home. Knowing she was no longer with Samson eased my agitation a little, but I still wanted to pummel something. I started my bike and headed out of town. One of Erik’s guys had set up a punching bag in the basement of the safe house, and I had a feeling he was going to need to replace it after I was done with it.

* * *

Maxwell’s northern wolves arrived in Portland Saturday night, and by Monday there had been two confrontations between the new wolves and our warriors. The additional wolves sent the vampires into hiding, and the city was quiet for the next few days.

Chris and I continued to watch Sara, who stayed closed to school and home. There was no sign of Samson, but I noticed her werewolf friends were sticking closer to her than usual. She didn’t look too happy about their constant presence, and I wondered what was up with the three of them. They had been acting strange since they walked out of the mall on Sunday with Sara covered in what appeared to be orange drink. I’d been tempted to ask what happened, but the scowl on her face had warned me against it.

On Tuesday, Sara’s uncle left on a trip. I didn’t like the idea of her alone in the building, but it wasn’t as if her uncle could have protected her from a vampire. Between Chris and me and the werewolves, we’d keep her safe.

I was halfway to New Hastings Wednesday afternoon when Chris called.

“Are you on your way here?” he asked.

I chuckled. “You in a hurry to get back to the city?”

“No.” He let out a groan. “Sara gave me the slip at school and took off.”

My stomach lurched, and I hit the gas, making the bike leap forward. “Goddamn it, Chris! She’s an untrained orphan. How the hell did she get away from you again?”

“I was waiting for her in front of the school like I do every day, and she must have gone out the back,” he said apologetically. “Her friend Roland is gone too. Peter swears he has no idea where they went.”

I sped around an eighteen wheeler. “How long?”

“About twenty minutes. I’m riding around now, looking for her. She couldn’t have gone far without a bike or car.”

“Are you sure she didn’t go home?” I asked, though I knew better. Sara, what the hell are you up to?

“I knocked and there was no answer, so I went inside. She’s not there.”

I let out a few choice expletives.

“Listen, she probably just wanted some space,” he said in a conciliatory voice. “You know she’s not happy with us hanging around all the time. Peter said Roland went after her, and I doubt they’ll find much trouble here in the middle of the afternoon.”

“You forget that trouble seems to have a way of finding them,” I ground out. “Keep looking for her. I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.”

When I got to town, I rode straight for the waterfront. The first thing I saw was Peter sitting in a car outside her building. He paled when I pulled up beside him.

“I don’t know where she is, so please don’t yell at me,” he blurted out before I could speak. “Roland figured she was up to something, and he said he was going to follow her. He told me to wait here for him.”

“Where would she go around here?”

He shrugged. “There aren’t a lot of places Sara would go. She likes to go down to the wharves, but she doesn’t need to sneak away to do that. I checked, and they’re not down there. And neither of them is answering their phones.”

“Give me your phone number,” I ordered, and he rattled off the number. I punched it into my phone and called his. “Now you have my number. Call me if she shows up.”

“Where are you going?”

“I’m going to ride around and see if I can find her.”

I rode slowly through the streets, trying to feel her presence. With each minute that ticked by, my frustration and worry grew. Where could she have gone without a vehicle? If she was around here, I should have felt her by now. Did her disappearance have anything to do with the last time she took off, or was Chris right and she just needed to be alone?

Half an hour later, I looked at the dark sky. A storm was brewing, and a bad one by the look of it. She’s too smart to stay out in bad weather, I told myself as I turned back to the waterfront.

Peter was still in his car, and he shook his head when I pulled up. At that moment, a gust of wind hit me and it began to rain. It was growing darker by the second.

Fear started to gnaw at me. Abandoning my bike, I began to pace. Where are you, Sara?

My Mori fluttered, and I sucked in a sharp breath. I spun and looked down the waterfront at the two figures emerging from the darkness. A mixture of relief and worry-fueled anger filled me, and I strode toward them, not knowing if I was going to hug her or shout at her. Maybe both.

My nose twitched when I got within a few feet of them and picked up the strong smell of fish and brine. Then I noticed the two of them were drenched from head to toe.

“What the hell happened this time?”

Roland started to answer, but Sara cut him off. “Nothing,” she replied with a stubborn set to her jaw.

“Iisus Khristos!” I said under my breath, ready to pick her up and carry her inside whether she liked it or not. “I’ll take her from here,” I said to Roland.

Her tough stance faltered. “I don’t think so!”

Relief flashed in Roland’s eyes, even as he protested weakly. “I’m not sure that’s such a good –”

“Sara and I need to talk – just talk. And judging by the look on your face, I think you agree with me.”

He looked away, telling me all I needed to know.

“Roland?” Confusion and hurt laced Sara’s voice when she faced her friend.

“You won’t listen to me,” he replied weakly. “Maybe it will be good for someone else to…”

She stared at him for several seconds before she pushed past us. “Traitor,” she uttered without looking back.

“Sara, wait.” Roland started after her, but I put a hand on his shoulder. I expected him to push me away. Instead, he just watched her walk toward home. “She won’t forgive me for this.”

“Yes, she will.” It was easy to see how much Sara cared about her friends. She was upset right now, but she wouldn’t hold this against him.

“Maybe I should talk to her.”

“I think it would be better for everyone if I talked to her.” We followed her. “Do you want to tell me where you two went and why you came back smelling like the harbor?”

He shook his head. “You’ll have to ask Sara. If I tell you, she won’t be happy, and I’d rather have you mad at me than her.”

We reached the bottom of her steps, and he looked like he wanted to say something else. But whatever it was, he decided against it and ran to Peter’s car instead.

I ascended the steps and reached for the doorknob, expecting to find it locked. I was surprised when it opened under my hand.

Sara was in the main hallway pulling off her wet coat and shoes, and she didn’t look up when I entered. “Make yourself at home,” she called coolly over her shoulder before she disappeared up a set of stairs at the end of the hallway. A few seconds later, her three-legged Beagle emerged from the living room and followed her as if I wasn’t there.

I shot off a text to Chris to let him know Sara was home, and then I removed my leather jacket and threw it over the back of a chair in the kitchen. Water dripped from my hair onto my shoulders, so I went in search of a towel in the bathroom on the main floor.

I was rubbing my hair dry when a shower came on overhead. My hands stilled as my mind suddenly filled with an image of her standing beneath the steaming water.

My Mori fluttered in excitement. Solmi!

“Khristu!” I threw down the towel and stormed to the living room, trying to banish my wholly inappropriate thoughts. It was natural for a bonded male to be sexually attracted to his mate, but there was nothing normal about my relationship with Sara. She was young and innocent, and she deserved better than me behaving like a horny teenage boy.

I took a tour of the apartment to redirect my thoughts. It was a nice place, comfortable and simply decorated. Sara’s uncle obviously lived on the main floor where the wide doorways provided easy access for his wheelchair. Dax’s background check had revealed that Nate Grey had been in the Army until he’d been injured by a roadside bomb in Bosnia. Now he wrote military novels and was the legal guardian to his niece. From everything I’d heard and observed about him, he was a good man who cared for Sara as if she was his daughter. She might have grown up without her parents, but she had never been without a parent’s love.

Studying the titles in the bookcase in his office, I noticed we shared a similar interest in books, and I grabbed one to read while I waited for Sara. But after forty minutes had passed with no sign of her, I wondered what was taking so long. The water had stopped long ago, and I could hear no sounds of someone moving around upstairs. She wasn’t happy to have me here, but she wouldn’t…?

I laid aside the book and noiselessly went up the stairs to the third floor that had been split into an attic and a spacious loft bedroom. On the far side of the room, I saw a bed, a desk, and a closed door to what was most likely a bathroom. There was a couch and several overflowing bookcases and not much else. On the walls hung several framed photos of her friends and one of a man who had to be her father, judging by the resemblance.

The Beagle lay on a rug by the bed, and it lifted its head to look at me when I walked over to listen for sounds on the other side of the bathroom door. Water sloshed quietly, telling me Sara hadn’t taken off at least, though she was obviously in no hurry to talk either. If my headstrong mate thought I would get tired of waiting and leave, she was in for a disappointment. I wasn’t going anywhere.

I walked across the room, intending to go downstairs, but I was drawn to the bookcases instead. There was so much I didn’t know about Sara, and my curiosity got the better of me. Unlike her uncle’s collection of books about war, Sara’s was made up mainly of well-worn classics such as Brontë, Hemingway, Fielding, and Wilde. On the bottom shelf of one of the bookcases, I was surprised to discover an impressive collection of vinyl records from the sixties and seventies. I pulled out a Fleetwood Mac album and stared at it as if it would reveal the secrets of the girl I still knew so little about.

I put the album back on the shelf and turned to the stairs again when a book on the couch caught my eye. An artist’s sketchbook? Unable to resist, I picked it up and opened it to a drawing of a crow perched on what resembled the desk across the room. The detail in the sketch was incredible, from the shape of the feathers down to the intelligent gleam in the bird’s eyes. In the bottom right corner of the page were the initials S.G.

Enthralled by this other side of Sara, I forgot my intent to go downstairs and sat on the couch with the sketchbook on my lap. A few seconds later, a gray tabby jumped up to lie beside me, purring loudly as it began to wash behind its ears. I smiled as I turned to the next page where a drawing of the three-legged Beagle came alive on the page. After that it was Roland and Peter, her uncle, a bog creature, an imp in a ragged loincloth, a werewolf.

My hand hovered over the page when I uncovered an eerily accurate drawing of a troll, and I wondered where on Earth she had found a picture to draw from. There weren’t many books that could boast a true depiction of the fiercely reclusive creatures.

I turned the page, and my breath caught at the next drawing. It was me, emerging from the shadows with a sword in hand, and I knew immediately it was from the night we met. She had drawn me strong and lethal, but there was also a calm reassurance in my expression, as if she’d had no doubt I would save her from Eli. As if she’d had complete faith in me before we –

“Hey! What do you think you’re doing?”

I looked up and sucked in a sharp breath at the sight of Sara standing across the room, wrapped in a white towel that barely came to mid-thigh. Water glistened on her bare shoulders and arms, and her hair hung in wet curls around her face. Heat shot through me, and my body immediately responded to my beautiful mate.

Her voice rose. “Get out of my room and keep your hands off my things.”

“You took so long I thought you’d tried to run off again,” I drawled in an effort to hide my aroused state before it became embarrassing for us both. Not an easy feat with her standing there in all her half-naked glory.

An angry blush spread across her skin, and she clenched the top of the towel to her chest. “Well, as you can see, I am still here. Now do you mind leaving my room so I can get dressed?”

“Of course.” I knew I was invading her space, but she looked so adorably flustered that I couldn’t help but smile.

I stood, leaving the sketchbook open on the couch. “Your drawings are quite good. Has anyone ever told you that?”

She scowled at the mention of her work. “I don’t show them to anyone. They’re private.”

So many secrets. It was time to start unravelling the mystery that was Sara Grey. I’d almost forgotten the reason I was here tonight. I’d give her the privacy she wanted…for now. But we were going to talk at some point.

“I’ll see you downstairs shortly,” I said before I descended the stairs.

At the bottom, I took a deep breath and shook my head at how easily she affected me without even trying.

Rain battered the windows as I walked into the kitchen, and I felt the building shake from the gale force wind. I listened to the storm, relieved that Sara was safe here with me and not out in that weather.

It hit me then that, for the first time since we met, I wasn’t worrying about her safety. I smiled wryly because I knew it wouldn’t last. Best to enjoy it while I could.

My stomach growled, reminding me I hadn’t eaten since breakfast, and I guessed Sara was probably hungry too. There were several restaurant magnets on the refrigerator door, so I assumed she liked them all. Pizza sounded good, so I pulled out my phone to see if they were still delivering.

Just as I was about to dial, another gust of wind hit the building. The lights flickered and went out, plunging the apartment into darkness. I went to the window and peered out, but there wasn’t a light to be seen. It looked like the whole waterfront was black, which meant the rest of the town could be without power as well.

Fetching a pillar candle I’d seen on a shelf in the living room, I lit it and set it on the kitchen counter. Then I checked the contents of the refrigerator to see what I could put together for dinner. Our choices were limited with no power, so it was good that I knew how to make a decent sandwich.

I heard her coming down the stairs as I assembled our meal.

“What are you doing?” she asked from the kitchen doorway.

“Dinner. I would have ordered in, but it looks like power is out all over town. So sandwiches it is. Hope you like roast beef.”

“Um, thanks… I do,” she replied, clearly confused by my actions.

I hid my grin. So this was what it took to put her off her guard. If I’d known it was this easy, I would have fed her weeks ago.

Schooling my expression, I laid the sandwiches on the table where she had already placed a bag of potato chips and two glasses of soda. She sat as I placed the candle between us then took the chair across from her.

It took me a minute to notice how quiet she was, and when I looked up, I caught her watching me shyly, her teeth tugging at her lower lip. Our eyes held each other’s for several seconds before she blushed and looked down at her plate.

I stared at her, a smile slowly curving my mouth. Maybe she wasn’t as unaffected by me as she let on. Pleased by the thought, I turned my attention to my own sandwich.

I let her enjoy her meal for a few minutes before I asked the question she had to be expecting. “You want to tell me where you disappeared to today, and why you came back smelling like you went for a swim in the bay?”

She stopped eating and met my gaze defiantly. “It was personal business I had to take care of…and I did go for a swim in the bay. Satisfied?”

“Not even close.” I hadn’t expected her to confide in me, but I wasn’t giving up. Whatever she was involved in might not be dangerous, but going off alone was. I wished I knew what she thought was so important she had to risk her safety for it.

As much as I wanted answers, the stiffness in her shoulders told me I would not be getting them tonight. Watching the candlelight play across her hair as she pretended to focus on her meal, I came to a decision. We were alone and not arguing for once, and it didn’t look like she was about to kick me out. Why not take this opportunity to get to know her better? I couldn’t think of a better way to spend the evening.

“Aren’t you going to yell at me or something?” she asked as I bit into my sandwich.

I hid my amusement. “Will it make you tell me what you were doing today?”

“No.”

A part of me was happy she refused to answer because it allowed me to say, “Then why don’t we just have a pleasant meal instead?”

She stared at me, but I pretended to ignore her, enjoying myself immensely. I’d thrown her off with my change of tactics, and she was trying to figure out what I was up to. Sara had secrets, but it was obvious she was no game player. I liked that about her. It was a refreshing change from most of the women I’d known over the years.

I thought about one girl in particular with bittersweet fondness. Tristan’s little sister, Elena, had been beautiful and precocious, and a master at feminine games. She’d believed herself in love with me, even though I had only ever treated her as a sister, and she’d been persistent in her efforts to get my attention. Sara didn’t share many traits with Elena, but she had definitely inherited Elena’s tenaciousness.

“You remind me of someone I knew a long time ago,” I said. “She was stubborn to a fault, too.”

Her eyes narrowed. “If you say it was Madeline, I’m going to throw my pickle at you.”

I thought about the girl who had been gone for many years. “Not Madeline, no. Her name was Elena, and she was actually Madeline’s aunt, though she died before Madeline was born.”

Sara’s scowl faltered. “Was she your girlfriend or something?”

I shook my head, still lost in the past. “No, Elena was like a sister to me. She was beautiful, but willful and very spoiled.”

“Are you calling me spoiled?”

Her indignant tone drew a chuckle from me, which only made her scowl. I fought not to laugh again because I suspected she really would throw her food at me.

“Okay, maybe not spoiled, but definitely obstinate.”

“Pot, meet kettle,” she muttered. “What happened to her?”

My humor faded. “She ignored the rules that were there to protect her and went off by herself alone. She was killed by vampires.”

I remembered that dark day as if it was yesterday. Elena’s friend Miriam had come to me in tears to tell me Elena had ridden out alone hours ago and wasn’t back. I alerted Tristan, and we rode out after her with every available warrior. We split into four groups to spread out the search, and it was my group that found Elena – or what the vampires had left of her.

The fire was still smoking when we got there, and several of the younger warriors had retched at the sight of the body the vampires had torn apart and tossed into the fire like garbage. Her body was charred, but I recognized pieces of Elena’s favorite blue riding habit and her mare tied to a nearby tree.

I couldn’t let Tristan see her like that, so I’d put out the fire and wrapped her body for transport back to the stronghold. To this day, I could still smell the burnt flesh and see the bloody bits of clothing scattered over the ground. I could still see the grief etched on Tristan’s face when I’d brought his beloved sister’s body home to him.

A look of horror replaced Sara’s chagrin. “Oh, I’m sorry,” she said quietly.

“It was a long time ago.” I regretted bringing it up. The last thing I wanted was to upset Sara, who had lost her father to a vampire.

“So does Madeline have any family left?” she asked, surprising me.

“She still has some living relatives; her sire, for one.”

Sara made a face. “Sire? That sounds so…impersonal.”

I sat back in my chair and smiled at her. She’d grown up as a human, so it would take some time for her to get accustomed to our ways.

“It’s just a title. Mohiri families are as close as human families, maybe more so since we do not grow old and die naturally.”

“So you and your parents all look the same age? Don’t you find that weird?”

“We don’t think of age the same way mortals do. Humans see it as a way to mark one’s passage through life. Physically, we don’t age once we reach maturity.”

Her brow furrowed, and I wished I knew what she was thinking. “So, my grand…Madeline’s father is still alive,” she said slowly. “Does he know about me?”

I thought about Tristan, who called every other day to ask about his granddaughter. “Yes, and he is looking forward to meeting you.”

I could sense her withdrawing. “He will wait until you’re ready to meet him,” I told her.

“A patient Mohiri, who would have thought it?” she replied dryly.

“A Mohiri has all the patience in the world when something is worth waiting for,” I said as she picked up our plates and carried them to the sink.

She started washing a plate. “I guess it helps that you guys are immortal, huh?”

I moved to stand beside her, and I couldn’t resist leaning in close. “So are you.”

She jumped. “Don’t do that!” she sputtered, and I chuckled at the blush that rose in her cheeks.

I took the plate she was washing and dried it, deliberately standing so close to her that our arms touched. Since the night I’d met Sara, my Mori and I had been in turmoil. Being near her helped, but it was never enough. Touching her, breathing in her scent, soothed my restless demon and me as nothing else could.

I was drying the last dish when I felt a shiver go through her, making me notice how chilly it was in the apartment. My Mori regulated my body temperature, but Sara’s demon was too young to do that yet. Without power, it was going to get cold in here. Somehow, I didn’t think she would be open to letting me warm her with my body heat, as pleasurable as that sounded.

“The temperature is going to drop a lot tonight,” I said as she reached for her flashlight. “Does that fireplace in the living room work?”

“Yes, it’s gas.”

Perfect. I headed for the living room. “Go put on something warm, and I’ll start the fire.”

“So what, we’re going to sit by the fire and roast marshmallows now?”

I smiled at the picture that presented. “You have anything better to do?” I called over my shoulder.

In no time, I had a good blaze going in the fireplace. Her retort about roasting marshmallows prompted me to check the kitchen cupboards, and I smirked when I found an unopened bag in the pantry. I grabbed the bag and two long metal skewers from a drawer, and went back to the living room. Tossing the bag on the coffee table, I sat on the floor near the fireplace and stared at the flames as I waited for her to return.

“Where did you find marshmallows?”

The delight in her voice warmed me as no fire could. “Top shelf in the pantry. Want one?” I asked, already preparing one for her.

“Yes!”

I held the marshmallow over the flames until it turned brown, and then I passed the skewer to her. “Here.”

She smiled her thanks and blew on the glob of melted confection while I roasted one for myself. We sat in companionable silence for several minutes, and I couldn’t remember the last time I had felt so relaxed and content.

When she finally spoke, her question wasn’t one I’d expected. “Have you always done this – hunting vampires? Do all Mohiri become warriors?”

“Most do, though we have some scholars and artisans,” I told her, pleased by her sudden interest. “Being a warrior is in our blood, what we are born to do. I have never wanted to do anything else.”

“What’s it like growing up there? Do you live in houses or on some kind of military base? Do you go to school or start training when you’re little?”

“We live in fortified compounds all over the world. The larger compounds look like private campuses, and the smaller ones are basically well-fortified estates. It is not safe for a Mohiri family to live outside a compound because they would be vulnerable to vampire attacks,” I said meaningfully. “Families live together, and the living quarters are large and comfortable. Children attend school until they are sixteen, and physical training begins when they reach puberty.”

She didn’t look convinced, and I wanted her to see that life with our people would be rich and fulfilling. “It’s a good life. There is a deep sense of belonging among the Mohiri, and everyone who comes to live with us is happier than they were living among humans.”

Sara grew silent and pensive, and I wondered what was going through her mind. When the phone in the kitchen rang suddenly, she rushed to answer it. Based on her side of the conversation, it was her uncle calling to check on her. I noticed she didn’t mention my presence when he expressed concern about the storm.

No sooner had she hung up from his call than the phone rang again. This time it was Roland, and based on her comments, he wasn’t happy she was alone with me.

She ended the call and came back to the living room. “Everyone’s checking up on me.”

“The werewolf cares for you,” I said, earning a glare from her.

“He’s my best friend, and he has a name, you know.”

I shrugged. “We don’t make a habit of being on a first name basis with weres, and I’m sure you know they feel the same about us. It’s just how it is.” It still amazed me how close she and the werewolves were, and how protective the pack was of her, even after discovering what she was.

Her chin lifted. “Well, I am Mohiri and I have loads of werewolf friends, so you’ll just have to get over it.”

Hearing her call herself Mohiri sent warmth radiating through me, and I didn’t realize I was smiling until she snapped, “What?”

“That’s the first time you’ve admitted what you are.”

“It doesn’t change anything,” she replied crossly. But her denial lacked the force it would have had a few weeks ago.

“It’s a start.” I smiled at her, and she looked like she was going to make a retort, but she fell silent. “What else would you like to know about the Mohiri?” I hoped her curiosity won out over her determination to have nothing to do with us.

She frowned like she was contemplating what question to ask. “Who is in charge of everything? Do you have a president or a king or something?”

“Not exactly.” I explained the Council and how they met every month to discuss important Mohiri business. When she asked if I wanted to join the Council someday, I couldn’t keep the scowl off my face. “Never. I have no time for bureaucracy and not enough patience to endure the long meetings. I am a warrior, and that is all I aspire to be.” Or it was.

“Didn’t you just say you guys have lots of patience?”

“When something is worth waiting for. I care very little for political matters.”

She gave me a knowing smile. “Something tells me that sentiment doesn’t make you popular with the folks in charge.”

“They are good at their job, and they know that I’m good at mine. We differ in opinion sometimes, but we all work to the same end.”

Her hands toyed with the pillow on her lap. “What do they think about you hanging around some town no one’s ever heard of, wasting time with an orphan instead of out doing your warrior business?”

Did she really believe her life meant so little to us? To me? “You think you’re a waste of our time?”

She shook her head. “I didn’t say I’m a waste of time, but there must be other orphans who need rescuing more than I do. And since I won’t change my mind about leaving, it doesn’t make sense to stick around.”

Being near her and keeping her safe were the only things that made sense in my life anymore, but I couldn’t tell her that. “There is an immediate threat here. We were tracking vampire activity in the area before we found you; it was what brought us to Portland that night.”

My answer seemed to satisfy her because she let it go. Then her brow furrowed slightly and she asked, “Where are you from? You have this faint accent I can’t place and sometimes I think you’re speaking another language.”

“I was born in Saint Petersburg, and I lived there for the first sixteen years of my life until my family moved to England and then America. My accent is usually noticeable now only when I’m aggravated.” Which was most of the time lately.

“And what’s Chris’s story? Is he your partner?”

“I normally work alone, but we sometimes work as a team. Christian and I have known each other for many years.” As soon as I said that, I realized it might have been true at one time, but no more. In fact, I couldn’t remember the last job I’d worked without Chris.

“Christian. It suits him better than Chris.”

My lip twitched. In truth, few people called Chris by his full name, and he preferred the shorter version. “I’m sure he’ll be pleased to hear that.”

Her eyes gleamed impishly. “Well, I aim to please.”

I made a noise between a laugh and a snort, liking this playful side of her.

Her teeth worried her lower lip. “Listen, I know you’d rather be off hunting monsters even if you guys feel like you need to be here. And I know you think I’m a pain sometimes, but –”

“Sometimes?” I gave her a pointed look.

She rolled her eyes. “What I’m trying to say is that even though you are way too bossy and you can be an arrogant ass sometimes, I guess you’re not all bad.”

Surprise and pleasure rolled through me. Her statement was hardly a declaration of affection, but it was a long way from the animosity she’d shown me a few weeks ago. She didn’t see me as a mate, but maybe she would accept me as a friend. I’d be whatever she needed until she was ready for more.

“I think that’s the most backhanded compliment I’ve ever gotten,” I quipped. “And I will say that you are without a doubt the biggest pain in the butt I’ve ever met.”

“The biggest pain, really?”

She grinned at me, and I couldn’t resist saying, “Yes, but I do like a challenge.”

For a long moment, she stared into the flames, and when her eyes returned to mine, I saw uncertainty in them.

“I don’t want to fight with you anymore,” she said.

Apparently, tonight was full of surprises. “I’m glad to hear that.”

Her eyes widened a little as if she’d realized what she’d said. “I haven’t changed my mind or anything. I just don’t want us to be at each other’s throats all the time.”

“You want to be friends?” I asked, enjoying the adorable look on her face as she tried to explain herself.

She wrinkled her nose. “Let’s not get carried away. How about we agree to disagree and take it from there?”

“A truce then?”

“Yes – or a cease-fire,” she suggested.

She could call it whatever she wanted, because I knew we had taken a step forward tonight. I didn’t expect it to be all smooth sailing from here, but it was progress.

I extended my hand to her. “Okay. A cease-fire it is.”

She hesitated for a second before she put her hand in mine. The familiar bolt of recognition shot through me, and I wondered if she felt it too.

Her hand pulled away from mine, and I reluctantly let her go. Take it slow, I reminded myself when I saw her tuck her hand beneath her leg. The last thing I wanted was to make her nervous and undo what we had started to build.

She hid a yawn behind her other hand, and I noticed for the first time how tired she looked. I didn’t want to leave her, but staying would be selfish, especially when she needed sleep.

Standing, I smiled at her. “You look tired. Go to bed. I’ll let myself out.”

A gust of wind shook the building, and her eyes went to the window. “You can stay in here tonight – if you want to.”

I couldn’t hide my surprise. I knew her offer was completely innocent, but it warmed me anyway.

She blushed and averted her gaze as if she was afraid I’d see more into her invitation.

“You’re already here, and it makes no sense for you to be out in that weather when you could have the couch,” she blurted. “I’ll get you some blankets.”

I stayed where I was as she jumped up and ran from the room. A minute later, she came back carrying a quilt and a pillow, and she quietly handed them to me.

“Thank you,” I told her.

She nodded jerkily. “Um, okay, good night.”

She was out of the room before I could say anything else, her nervousness thick in the air. I was happy she had asked me to stay, but I didn’t want her to feel uncomfortable about it.

“Sara,” I called after her.

She stopped and looked back at me over her shoulder. “Yes?” she asked breathlessly.

“You’re still the biggest pain in the ass I’ve ever met.”

Her smile made my heart squeeze. God, she had no idea how captivating she was, or what she did to my insides when she looked at me like that. I heard a soft chuckle as she turned away and climbed the stairs to her room.

I stretched out on the couch and fell into the best sleep I’d had in weeks.