Refuge (15 page)

Tristan stopped to talk to someone, and as
soon as he and Nikolas turned their heads away from us, I was out
of there. I ducked through the crowded room in an effort to put as
much distance as possible between me and Nikolas. If I confronted
him now, I might start yelling at him and end up looking like an
idiot in front of everyone.

At the door, I looked back and saw Nikolas
wearing a surprised scowl as he searched the room.
Not very nice when people just take
off like that, is it?
I thought with intense satisfaction
and left before he saw me.

If I knew one thing about Nikolas, it was
that once he set his mind on something it was almost impossible to
shake him. I had seen the look in his eyes, and he was not going to
let me give him the slip that easily. He also had an uncanny
ability to find me, which was great when I was in danger, but not
so much when I wanted to avoid him.

I set off for the main building, hoping that
the people in the arena held Nikolas up long enough for me to make
my escape. I felt like a sulking child, running away from him, but
between last night and the shock of seeing him again, my emotions
were all over the map, and I just couldn’t deal with him right
now.

I took ten steps before I realized the only
place I could hide in the main building was my room, and I had no
desire to spend the afternoon cooped up inside. Changing direction,
I headed to the menagerie instead, and I let out a long breath when
the heavy door closed behind me. Hugo and Woolf ran to the front of
their cage and began to whine. “Hey, you two,” I greeted them as I
unlocked the door to their cage with the key Sahir had given me.
“Looks like you get me for the whole afternoon.”

HUNGER FINALLY FORCED me to come out of
hiding. After I cleaned up, I headed for the dining hall, hoping I
wouldn’t run into Nikolas there. It was his first day back after a
mission, so he and Tristan were probably locked away in Tristan’s
office.

My anxiety lessened when I entered the dining
hall and saw that Tristan was not at his usual table. I let out the
breath I hadn’t known I was holding and went to get a tray.

I’d always had a healthy appetite – to the
envy of the other girls at my high school – and now I knew I could
thank my Mohiri genes for my high metabolism. Those girls would
positively hate me now if they could see the stack of pizza on my
plate.

I was on my second slice of pizza when Jordan
pulled out a chair across from me and laid down her tray of burgers
and fries.

“What do you want?”

She tucked loose strands of blond hair behind
her ears and fixed me with an appraising stare. “I think I may have
misjudged you, kitten. You could have left the theater last night,
but you stayed even though you had no weapons and a good chance of
becoming demon chow. That took guts.”

“I don’t run away
.” Liar. You’ve been running from Nikolas
all day.
“And my name is Sara, not kitten.”

“Noted.” She picked up one of her burgers and
took a huge bite that would have scandalized every teenage girl I
knew back home. She took a few minutes to polish off the burger
before she spoke again. “You don’t scare easily, do you? Too bad
you can’t fight, because you’ve definitely got a pair.”

“Gee thanks, I guess.”

“No, seriously. Olivia’s a decent fighter but
she still jumps at her own shadow, and the guys wouldn’t know what
to do if they saw a real monster. But I saw you last night. You
jumped right in even after you were hurt, and you taunted those
lampreys to draw them off us. That was kinda badass.”

“Or stupid.” I picked up my third slice of
pizza. “Anyway you were pretty cool yourself. That was some
impressive sword work. I probably would have chopped off my own
head.”

Jordan grinned widely, and her whole face lit
up. I’d been right in my assessment of her a few days ago. She was
beautiful when she wasn’t glaring at everyone. “That was the most
fun I’ve had . . . like
ever
!”

“Too bad you weren’t in Maine with me two
months ago. You would have had the time of your life.”

Her hand paused in lifting a fry to her
mouth. “You really did all those things you told the others about,
didn’t you?” I nodded. “Damn. You really got to see Nikolas in
action?”

I waved my slice of pizza. “What is the
fascination everyone has with him anyway? So he’s good with a
sword. Big deal.”

Jordan looked at me like I was slow-witted.
“Nikolas is better than good, Sara. He’s the best. He does whatever
he wants, and they let him because he so damn good. Plus, no one
could stop him anyway. No one says
no
to Nikolas.”

“So everyone keeps telling me. I hate to
burst your bubble, but he’s just a man who walks on the ground like
everyone else.” I dropped my uneaten pizza back on my plate and
pushed it away. “It’s no wonder he’s so arrogant with the way
everyone here worships him.”

“Ha! I dare you to say that to him.”

I gave her a small smile. “Wouldn’t be the
first time.”

She plucked a slice of pepperoni from my
pizza and ate it. “Yeah, well I’ll believe that when I see it. I
think – ”

I sensed him a second before I saw Jordan
blush and look down at her plate in a rare show of timidity. There
was barely time to notice that the dining hall had grown oddly
quiet before the chair next to me moved and Nikolas laid his tray
on the table. “You don’t mind if I join you, do you?” he asked then
sat before either of us replied.

I turned to glare at him, and I was startled
to find his gray eyes inches from mine. “You. . . ” I stammered and
leaned away from him, causing his mouth to curve into a familiar
smirk. “Let me guess, no one else will eat with you.”

He gave me a lazy smile that made my stomach
do things it definitely should not be doing. “I seem to remember
you being a lot nicer the last time we had dinner together.”

“Like I had a choice,” I retorted, thinking
of my last night in New Hastings. “You guys wouldn’t let me out of
your sight that night.”

“Actually, I was thinking about the night of
the storm when the power went out.”

Images of that night – eating sandwiches by
candlelight, sitting by the fire talking – flooded my mind, and the
room suddenly felt too warm. I looked away from him. “People
change,” was all I could think of to say. I could feel Jordan’s
eyes on us as she listened to our exchange, and the last thing I
wanted to do was spar with Nikolas in front of an audience. I
reached for my tray.

“I hear you’re having some difficulty in
training.” His statement stilled my hand. “I thought perhaps you
might want to talk about it.”

He knew more about me than anyone here, but
he was the last person I wanted to have a heart-to-heart with. “No
thank you.”

Nikolas was completely unfazed by my
rejection of his offer. He smiled at Jordan. “Jordan, right?” She
nodded mutely. “I hear you’re pretty lethal with a blade.”

I watched her blush and turn from a bold,
outspoken warrior-to-be into a flustered teenage girl who had
finally met her idol. “She is,” I said, not sure why I felt the
need to come to her rescue. “You should have seen her last night,
taking on those lamprey demons. If it wasn’t for her, we probably
would have been demon chow. She – ”

I stopped when I sensed the tension flowing
off Nikolas and I remembered how he used to get whenever I was in
danger. Well, I was no longer his responsibility, so he was going
to have to get over it.

Apprehension filled Jordan’s eyes at his
stiffness; she had obviously never witnessed one of Nikolas’s dark
moods before. I wanted to tell her “I told you so,” but instead I
elbowed Nikolas in the ribs a little harder than was necessary.
“Quit scowling before you scare off my new friend.”

His eyes remained narrowed on me for a
moment. Then his face relaxed and the tension seeped out of him as
he picked up his burger. “I certainly wouldn’t want to do that. At
least this one doesn’t shed.”

I started to make a retort when I saw one
corner of his mouth lift and I knew he was playing with me. It was
a side of him he didn’t show much – to me anyway – and I wasn’t
sure how to respond. He bit into his burger, looking pleased with
himself.

“Just ignore him,” I said to Jordan, even
though I knew how ridiculous it was to expect that of someone who
looked at Nikolas with a mix of fear and reverence. “He has to ruin
at least one meal for me before he disappears on another one of his
missions.”

“You didn’t hear?” he asked and his smug look
gave me a sinking feeling in my stomach. “Maybe you would have if
you hadn’t
disappeared
this afternoon.”

“Hear what?”

“I’m not going anywhere for the next month at
least.”

“What? Sick of hunting already?”

“No, I just have another job at the moment.
I’m your new trainer.”

My first thought was that he was joking to
get another rise out of me. But then I saw that he was serious, and
I shook my head in denial. “I am
not
training with you.” Callum suddenly
didn’t look so awful anymore. I looked around the room for Tristan,
to have him set things straight, but he was nowhere to be seen.

“It was Tristan’s idea,” Nikolas informed me
as if he knew who I was looking for. “He thinks it might help you
to work with someone you know.”

“Since when do you work with trainees, or
follow orders for that matter?” I hoped this was his idea of a
joke. “Don’t you have more orphans to rescue?”

“After you, I have a much greater respect for
the people who usually handle those jobs,” he drawled. “I agree
with Tristan on this. We need to try a different approach with your
training.”

“A few days ago, Tristan mentioned a guy in
India who he thought might be able to help me.”

“Janak?” Nikolas chuckled, and I wanted to
elbow him again. “Janak’s a nice guy, but way too soft for this.
One session with you and he’d be on the first plane back to
India.”

I folded my arms and glowered at him as he
dug into his burger again. If he thought he could just show up out
of nowhere, push his way back into my life, and throw insults at
me, he obviously did not know me as well as he thought he did. “So,
what is your brilliant plan, to harass me until I get so pissed off
that I sic my demon on you?”

He took time to finish off his burger before
replying, and I knew he did it just to provoke me. What really
bugged me was that it was working. I wanted to yell at him and run
away from him at the same time, but I refused to let him see how
much he was able to get to me.

“If that’s what it takes, but I think
something else will work better for you.”

“What?” As much as I wanted to pretend not to
care, I couldn’t hide my curiosity.

He stood and picked up his tray. “Get some
sleep tonight because training starts tomorrow.” Before I could
argue or ask him again what he meant, he walked away. I stared
after him until Jordan exhaled sharply, reminding me I was not
alone at the table. I turned back to find her watching me with
something akin to awe in her expression.

“You are the luckiest female on the planet
right now. You know that, don’t you?”

“Really? How do you figure?” I felt decidedly
more cursed than lucky and wondered how I was going to get out of
this training. Why would Tristan suggest such a thing, knowing how
I felt about Nikolas?

“You’re shitting me right? Nikolas Danshov is
going to give you private lessons. Look at him. Do you really
expect me to believe that you aren’t the least bit attracted to
him?”

I shifted uncomfortably. “I never said he
wasn’t good looking. It’s just that he can be very intense and
bossy and he’s a lot to take sometimes.”

Jordan rested her chin in her palms and let
out a gusty sigh. “Yes, please.”

“You wouldn’t say that if you knew him.
Nikolas is like an iceberg.” She raised an eyebrow, and I shook my
head. “I don’t mean he’s cold. I mean
you
only see what’s above the surface.
Underneath there is a lot more to him than you realize, and it’s
not always pretty.”

Jordan gave me a sly smile. “Well, it sounds
like you are going to be spending some serious one-on-one time with
him. What I wouldn’t give to be shut up alone in a room with that
man.” Her smile widened to a grin. “I can’t wait to see Celine’s
face when she hears about this.”

I scowled to hide the heat threatening to
fill my face. “I hate to ruin your fantasies, Jordan, but I am not
training with Nikolas, privately or otherwise.”

“Not what it looks like to me.” Her eyes
gleamed as she reached for my cold pizza. “I told you no one says
no
to
Nikolas.”

“Shut up,” I snapped, but it only made her
grin more.

“I can’t believe you finished the first draft
already. I hope you’re not staying up all night working.”

Nate laughed into the phone. He was usually
stressed toward the end of a first draft, and hearing him sound so
relaxed meant the book was going well. “I’ve discovered I work way
too much when I don’t have you around to make me stop.”

I tapped my pencil against the drawing of
Hugo and Woolf I’d been working on when he called. “So, it’s been
quiet there?” I didn’t need to elaborate because Nate knew what I
was asking.

“Very quiet. Brendan dropped by two days ago
to visit and told me they think it’s safe here now. But they are
still keeping an eye on things.”

“I still hate you being there alone. I wish I
knew if the troll ward still worked.” The ward I’d put on our
building to protect it was supposed to last as long as it was my
home. I still considered the apartment home even though I was here,
but I didn’t know if the spell took the meaning literally or
figuratively. It wasn’t like we could get someone evil to try to
enter the apartment to test it. “You started using the Ptellon
nectar though, right?”