Refuge (52 page)

THIS WAS NOTHING like the tender first kiss
we had shared. It was hard and urgent, and it sent a shock wave to
the center of my being. I gasped and he deepened the kiss, sending
heat unfurling in my stomach and melting the bones in my body until
my legs couldn’t support me anymore. He tightened his hold, and my
arms moved of their own volition to wrap around his neck.

As soon as I kissed him back, the tension
drained out of him and his mouth became soft and searching. I
responded in kind, my heart swelling with love. My body felt like
it had been starved for oxygen, and being with him was like taking
a deep breath of air. I felt my Mori sigh contentedly and whisper
solmi
, and I
trembled when it reached out and embraced Nikolas’s Mori for the
first time. An answering shiver ran through Nikolas. It was
wondrous and frightening to know how deeply connected we were in
that moment.

“Damn. Get a room, you two!” Jordan
exclaimed, breaking the spell holding us. My whole body grew warm
in embarrassment, and I pulled abruptly away from Nikolas. The
bewildered look he gave me as he let go told me I wasn’t the only
one deeply affected by the kiss.

Jordan let out a whistle. “Wow, I think you
guys melted the snow.”

“Shut up,” I muttered, scowling at her. I
darted a glance at Roland and Peter, but it was impossible to read
their expressions when they were in wolf form. I refused to look at
Chris, whom I suspected was enjoying the whole thing despite his
weakened condition.

“You missed all the fun,” Chris quipped
hoarsely to Nikolas. He teetered, and I moved to support him again,
but Nikolas nudged me aside and took my place.

Jordan poked me in the side as I walked past
her. I stopped, and she leaned in close to my ear. “Two swords.
Smoking hot.”

Blushing furiously, I went to help the boy
witch up from where he had fallen when Jordan let him go to fight
the vampires. He was still shaky, and his eyes darted around him in
fear.

Nikolas’s face hardened when he noticed the
Hale witch for the first time. “I can guess what happened,” he said
harshly.

“No, you can’t, my friend. You really can’t,”
Chris wheezed. “Now, can you please get me somewhere I can lie down
before I pass out?”

“It looks like you all could use a trip to
the healers,” Nikolas replied. His eye narrowed when he spotted my
torn and bloody sleeve.

“It’s just a scratch. I can hardly feel it,”
I lied. Now that my adrenaline levels were coming down, my arm was
starting to hurt like crazy. “We have to go find the people who
were out on patrol. They ran into this guy,” I pointed to the
witch, “and we need to get to them as soon as possible.”

“We will find them,” said Tristan in a voice
I barely recognized. I turned to see him, Celine, and Desmund
behind me looking like they were in a lot better shape than me and
my friends. Tristan’s mouth was a hard line, and I could feel his
tightly controlled anger. “I am relieved to see you are all safe.
Go to the healers and I’ll talk to you when I get back. Maybe we
can piece together exactly what happened here tonight.”

I chewed my lip, hating what I had to say
next. “It was Michael. He helped the vampires.”

“Michael?” Tristan could not have looked more
shocked, and he wasn’t the only one. I understood how they felt. It
was hard to imagine the sweet, quiet boy hurting anyone, let alone
betraying us to our enemy.

Jordan made a sound of disgust. “Little
bastard led us right to them. If he’s not dead, I call dibs on
finishing the job.”

Tristan shook his head in disbelief. “Why
would Michael do that?”

“It’s not his fault,” I said, and everyone
stared at me like I had lost my mind. “The vampires got to him
somehow and convinced him they had his twin brother, Matthew. They
promised to let him go if Michael helped them.”

“Still no excuse to betray everyone you
know,” Jordan replied irately.

“He’s messed up, Jordan.” I understood her
anger. Michael’s betrayal cut me deeply as well, but he was
obviously delusional and in a lot of pain. The saddest thing was
that no one had seen it and helped him before it was too late.

“Where is he now?” Celine asked, and I was
surprised she sounded almost civil toward me.

I told them where we had entered the woods
and gave them a brief overview of how we had ended up in there.
“One of the vampires hit him pretty hard, and I’m not sure if he’s
alive. We had to leave him.”

“We’ll find him if he’s still out there,”
Tristan said grimly. “You go to the healers. Nikolas, we could use
your help if we have men down out there.”

Nikolas nodded, and Jordan took his place
supporting Chris. His eyes met mine for a moment, and I knew he was
making sure I was okay before he left. It wasn’t until I smiled and
nodded that he turned away and the four of them headed toward the
woods.

Left alone, our group limped toward the main
building. We passed dozens of vampire corpses, revealing the sheer
size of the force that had attacked us. Most of the vampires had
been new, or the outcome would have been a lot different. At least
we knew now why so many people had disappeared in the last month.
The Master built a disposable army to send against us. What they
lacked in speed and strength, he’d hoped they would make up for in
numbers and the element of surprise. It had almost worked.

Tears pricked my eyes, and I looked away from
the bodies. My life used to be about healing and helping others.
Now it was all about killing and destruction. My chest ached and I
longed for the days of watching movies at Roland’s house and
hanging out at the cliffs with Remy. Back then my greatest worry
was keeping my secret from Nate and my friends. Now I was afraid of
losing one of them.

The main hall was pristine and untouched.
Thankfully, none of the vampires had been able to breach the
building. Even so, I would not be able to rest until I saw that
Nate was okay.

“Sara!” Nate raced down the stairs, and the
sight of him safe and unharmed made the last two hours seem like
some unreal nightmare. He was shaking when he pulled me into a
bone-crushing hug. “I saw you out there with those things, and I
thought . . . ”

“It’ll take more than a few vampires and
their pets to take us down,” I said with as much lightness as I
could muster. He could never know how close he had come to watching
us all die. I’d dragged him into this new world, and I had to
shelter him from as much of it as I could.

Two younger warriors appeared behind Nate
eying the witch. “He stays with me,” I told them. They started to
protest, but I stood firm. “We need him to help the people he hurt.
Don’t worry, he won’t hurt anyone else.” I gave the boy a pointed
look. “Will you?”

The witch shook his head and stared at the
floor. I’d be afraid to meet the eyes of the people whose home I
had attacked, too. He looked so young and vulnerable despite the
tattoos, and it pulled at my heart for a few seconds. Then I
remembered Olivia and Mark and I hardened again. Sometimes, the
lines blurred between good and evil, and this was definitely one of
those times. I wanted to hate him for what he’d done, but he was
just a boy scared for his own family. I sighed inwardly. It was
another reason why I would never be a good warrior.

Roland and Peter disappeared upstairs to
change back and dress, and the rest of us went to the medical ward.
The healers were busy tending to several injured people when we got
there. No one was happy to see the witch, but I assured them he was
no longer a threat. We deposited Chris in one of the rooms, and
then Jordan and I went to get treated for our own injuries. The boy
stayed with me, and he was very subdued, trailing behind me
quietly.

A healer gave me some pants and a
long-sleeved top to change into, and I went behind a screen to pull
off my wet clothes. I longed for a shower, but I settled for warm,
dry clothes and washing my face in the sink. I wasn’t going
anywhere until I knew the fate of the warriors out in the
woods.

Nate stayed with me while the healer treated
and wrapped my arm and gave me some of the dreaded gunna paste. He
and the healer wanted me to rest, but there was no way I could lay
still with so many people hurt and missing. I promised to take it
easy and went in search of Chris. I found him resting in a bed with
his color almost restored. His face lit with a smile when I
remarked on how much better he looked.

“Gunna paste never fails.”

I made a face at the taste still lingering in
my mouth. “We’re lucky they have lots of it on hand.”

His gaze flicked to the witch, and he grew
sober. “You saved my life out there.”

“Now we’re almost even,” I returned lightly.
“Besides, what is family for?”

Jordan came in with Roland and Peter, and I
could not help but smile when I heard the three of them sharing
battle stories like old friends. Maybe they had more in common than
just me. The boys told how us they had chased the blond female for
a good three miles before they took her down. They came back
looking for us and followed our scents to the river.

Jordan and I took up the story and told them
about our swim in the river and everything that had happened after.
She grew very quiet when I talked about Olivia and Mark. She didn’t
let her guard down much, but I could tell she was hurting a
lot.

It was over an hour later when Nikolas and
the others returned carrying Seamus, Niall, and Ben, who were taken
to a ward where the healers could tend to them all at once. I
grabbed the boy witch by the arm and pushed past everyone crowding
outside the door. Desmund stood just inside the doorway and the
pain on his face told me how bad it was before I looked at the men.
If anyone knew what they were suffering it was him.

I had to hold back a cry when I saw the
twins’ pale faces and blank staring eyes. Beside them, Ben moaned
and pulled at his hair until two healers restrained him. I shoved
the boy forward. “Fix them,” I ordered in a choked voice.

The healers working on Ben backed up when we
approached the bed. Everyone else gave us a wide berth as we stood
by the bed and the boy laid a hand on Ben’s forehead. The effect
was almost immediate. Ben’s hands fell to his sides, and in less
than thirty seconds, his moaning stopped and color began to return
to his face.

The boy lifted his hand from Ben’s face. “He
will sleep now, and when he wakes he will be well.”

I released the breath I was holding, and we
moved on to Seamus and Niall where the boy repeated whatever he had
done to Ben. Soon all three were sleeping peacefully. After my work
to heal Desmund, it was hard to believe how easily the boy reversed
the damage he had done.

Two guards stepped forward to take the boy
who looked at me fearfully. I gave him a reassuring nod, and he let
them lead him away. Tomorrow, I’d talk to Tristan about helping the
young witch’s family. No matter what he was, he was still just a
scared kid and a victim in all of this, too.

After the boy left, a healer told me they’d
found Michael. He was suffering from head trauma and internal
injuries, but they believed he’d make it. Part of me wondered if it
would not be more of a kindness for him to die. He would never be
the warrior he dreamed of being; he’d be lucky not to end up in a
cell for the rest of his life. He would have to live with the
stigma of being a traitor and the knowledge that he had betrayed
his people for a brother who had died a long time ago.

Tristan assigned a guard to watch over
Michael, even though the healers had heavily sedated him. I watched
Tristan look down at the unconscious boy and shake his head
sorrowfully. His troubled expression told me he was wondering how
they had gone wrong with Michael.

It looked like all the injured had been
treated when Terrence and Josh arrived carrying a gravely injured
Sahir. I hovered outside the room while the healers went to work on
him. Josh told me they had found him in the menagerie and it looked
like he had been attacked as he was setting the creatures free. “We
found two vamps fried to a crisp beside him. Looks like the wyvern
took care of them.”

Another agonizing hour passed before the
healers announced Sahir was going to make it. I sagged against the
wall from relief and exhaustion, and I was still there when Nikolas
came looking for me a few minutes later.

“You should be in bed.”

“I’m fine,” I argued weakly.

“You’re practically asleep on your feet,” he
said firmly. “There is nothing else you can do here tonight. If you
don’t rest, you’ll end up in here yourself.”

“Okay,” I relented and pushed away from the
wall somewhat unsteadily. He moved in to pick me up, and I put up a
hand to stop him. “I can walk.” I scowled at his dubious
expression. “I’m tired, Nikolas, not weak.”

He laughed softly. “Sara, no one who knew you
would ever accuse you of being weak. Come on, I’ll walk you to your
room.”

It was barely ten o’clock, yet the building
was quiet as we made our way to my room. “They’re outside, cleaning
up,” Nikolas explained when I commented on the empty halls. I
shuddered at the grisly job the warriors had ahead of them,
disposing of all those bodies and collecting our dead. In addition
to Olivia and Mark, we had lost three warriors tonight, and their
friends were out there right now clearing the battlefield instead
of mourning their loss. God, I just wanted this horrible night to
be over.

“You’re sure you would not feel better
staying with Nate tonight?” Nikolas asked as we climbed the stairs
to my floor.

I want
to stay with you.
I wished I could say the words,
but I didn’t want to sound needy or for him to take it the wrong
way. Besides, he was probably going to be busy tonight and he
didn’t need to be distracted by me.