Refuge (55 page)

It should have made me ecstatic that we would
be together, but all I saw was a future where I was a virtual
prisoner. “So, I’ll be back to having a bodyguard again,” I said
bitterly. “Why don’t we invite Chris along, too, and it’ll be just
like old times?”

“We can bring Chris if you’d like,” Nikolas
replied, deliberately ignoring my angry sarcasm. “He likes to
travel abroad.”

“What if I
don’t
like to travel abroad?”

“You can hardly say that when you’ve never
left US soil,” Nikolas pointed out with infuriating certainty. “I’m
sure we can find plenty of places you will enjoy. We can even bring
your two beasts if you want.”

“This would be the best way to keep you
safe,” Tristan added, and I felt my freedom slipping away. “I
promise we will do whatever we can to end this and bring you home
soon.”

“But what about Nate? I just got him back. I
can’t leave him like this, especially if he’ll be in danger
here.”

Tristan gave me a reassuring smile. “I’ve
already told Nate he has a home with us as long as he wants to
stay. But if he wants to go with you, he has that option.”

“How can you expect me to run away like a
coward and leave everyone else here to face this?” I cried
desperately. “Please don’t ask me to do that.”

Tristan shook his head. “No one here would
ever call you cowardly, Sara, especially after what you did last
night. But being a warrior means you must also know when to
retreat. This is one of those times.”

My throat constricted painfully, and I could
only nod mutely. I did not trust myself not to cry if I spoke.
Neither of them said it, but the message was clear; it didn’t
matter how well I’d fought. I still wasn’t good enough in their
eyes. They weren’t planning to send the other trainees away, even
after Olivia and Mark had died.
Because they think I am the only one too weak to
protect myself.

I turned toward the door. “Sara, please
understand,” Tristan called after me, but I refused to stay there
another second.

“I’ll talk to her. She’ll come around,”
Nikolas said in a lowered voice.

I turned back and glared at Nikolas through
angry tears. “I will never be okay with this or having no control
over my own life. If you don’t know that, then you don’t know me at
all.”

I chewed my bottom lip thoughtfully as I
surveyed the bounty spread out on my desk: seven hundred dollars in
cash, fourteen large diamonds, and a tiny vial of troll bile. The
cash wouldn’t get me far, even if I stretched it, but I’d already
been in touch with one of my old contacts about the diamonds and he
said he could get me a hefty price, after they were authenticated
of course. The only problem was it would take a few days to set it
up and I wasn’t sure how much time I had.

The troll bile would fetch enough money to
allow me to disappear for a long time if I wanted to. But it would
also draw way too much attention. I decided to hang onto it and use
it only in an absolute emergency.

My eyes went to the email from David two
hours ago that was still open on my monitor.

We found her. I’m running some checks now to verify
the information, but so far it looks solid. She’s in Albuquerque,
but I’m not sure how long she will stay there. Are you sure you
want to do this?

He’d done it. He’d actually found Madeline.
Now, it was my turn. I was going to track her down and make her do
something good for once in her life. The way I saw it, she owed me.
My mother was the only one who supposedly knew the identity of the
Master. She was going to tell me who he was and then I would tell
Tristan, who would take care of the rest. It didn’t matter that
neither of them knew of my plan yet. In fact, that was exactly how
I wanted it.

I scooped up the glittering diamonds and
dropped them into a small pouch, which I stuffed in a pocket of my
old backpack along with the money and the troll bile. I scanned the
room as I thought about what I needed to bring with me. I needed to
travel light and fast, so a few changes of clothes and some
toiletries were all I could manage.

I looked longingly at my laptop and sighed.
It was thin and light and it would fit in my backpack, but I could
not risk the possibility of Tristan’s security guys tracking it
somehow. David was setting me up with a clean laptop and some
burner phones, and letting me know where to pick them up. I had to
have a way to communicate with him and know what was going on out
there. It helped to have a friend with his talents, especially on
this mission. Of course, I needed to get out of here first, and
that was going to be tricky. I still hadn’t worked that part out
yet.

A knock at the door pulled me from my musing,
and I rushed to throw the backpack in the closet. “Come in,” I
called after I picked up a book and lay down on the bed.

Roland poked his head in before stepping into
the room. “We’re leaving tomorrow and you’re hiding in your
room?”

I laid the book on my chest. “Sorry, I didn’t
mean to ignore you. It’s just been a rough few days and I wanted to
veg for a while.”

He cocked an eyebrow. “You mean you wanted
some time alone to plan your little getaway.”

“What?” I swallowed nervously. “What are you
talking about?”

“Nikolas told me he’s taking you away. He
said you were upset.”

“So?” I avoided his gaze so he couldn’t see
the hurt in mine. I hadn’t seen Nikolas since I’d left him that
morning. A few hours ago, he’d knocked at my door, but I didn’t
answer. He’d known I was here the same way I knew it was him on the
other side of the door, but he left after a few minutes. I hated
putting distance between us, and I felt his absence like a gaping
hole in my chest. But he knew me too well and I’d never be able to
hide my intentions from him. If he got wind of what I was planning,
he’d have me on a plane for parts unknown tonight. I couldn’t let
that happen.

Roland snorted loudly. “I know you too well
to expect you to go meekly along with that. Fess up. What’s the
plan?”

I struggled to keep an innocent expression.
“There is no plan, Roland. I’m just reading. See?” I held up the
book for emphasis.

“You know, I’d find that story a whole lot
more believable if that book wasn’t upside-down.”

I glanced at the jumbled text in front of me
and flushed.

“Busted.” He sat on the foot of my bed and
fixed me with a serious look. “You can’t really be thinking of
running off on your own after what just happened?”

Abandoning all pretenses, I tossed the book
aside and sat up. “It’s because of what happened that I have to go.
We have to stop this Master before more people get hurt. I’m going
to find Madeline and make her give up his identity.”

“What makes you think you can find her when
the rest of the Mohiri can’t?”

“Madeline is smart, and she’s watching for
the Mohiri and the Master. One sign of them and she is in the wind
again.” I smiled self-confidently. “She won’t be looking for
me.”

“Yeah, but first you have to find her, and
she’s managed to stay out of sight for ten years.”

“No one stays out of sight unless they are
living totally off the grid, and I know for a fact that my dear
mother has not been living in a cave. My friend, David, has been
tracking her for a month, and it didn’t take him long to pick up
her trail.”

Roland frowned. “David, the hacker guy? If he
knows where she is, tell Tristan and let him deal with it.”

“No.” I got off the bed and began pacing the
room. I wasn’t going to sit back anymore and do nothing. I
couldn’t. Besides, Madeline was too smart for that and she’d see
her father coming from a mile off. “Like I said, she’ll be watching
for him. And I’ll be damned if I let them ship me off to
God-knows-where while everyone else puts themselves in danger. You
know me, Roland. I can’t live like that.”

“But you can leave Nikolas? I saw the way you
looked at him last night. You love him, don’t you?”

I stopped pacing and swallowed past the lump
in my throat. “Yes. But it’s not enough.” The idea of leaving
Nikolas was tearing me up inside. I loved him more than I’d thought
it was possible to love someone. But if I stayed and let him
protect me the way he wanted to, I’d soon feel smothered and I’d
eventually start to resent him. For this thing between us to work,
we had to see each other as equals. That would never happen if we
did things his way.

Roland pointed to one of the pictures above
my desk. “What about Nate? You’re going to leave him, too?”

I sank down in my desk chair and put my head
in my hands. “It’s not like I want to leave him, Roland. I almost
lost him, and it kills me to hurt him like this. But I’m doing this
for him, too. He’s a prisoner here as long as the Master is out
there. After last night, I don’t think he’s safe anywhere.”

“You’re set on this, aren’t you?”

“Yes.” Once I set my mind on a course, there
was no changing it, and he knew it. The last thing I wanted was to
leave Nikolas and Nate, or Tristan or Jordan or Desmund. But this
wasn’t about what I wanted. I knew with every fiber of my being
that I
had
to
do this.

“Fine. Then I’m going with you.”

Hope flared in my chest, and I jerked my head
up to stare at him. But just as quickly as the hope had ignited, I
stamped it out. As much as I didn’t want to do this alone, I could
not drag him into it. “No, I can’t let you do that.”

He crossed his arms and his mouth formed a
stubborn line. “If
I
don’t go,
you
don’t go.”

“But what about your mom and school? You
can’t miss your senior year.”

“Mom will understand . . . eventually. And
school sucks without you.”

I chewed my nail anxiously. I was more than a
little nervous about what I planned to do, and it would be a lot
less scary with Roland by my side. There was no one I’d trust more
with my life than my best friend. Well, almost no one. I forced
myself not to think about Nikolas.

“Okay.”

It was Roland’s turn to get up and pace.
“Sara, are you sure you want to do this?”

I set my shoulders and met his blue eyes
filled with worry. “This vampire killed my dad and tried to take
Nate from me. He’s tried more than once to kill me. He declared war
on my family, and I am not going to sit around and wait to see what
horrible thing he does next. This time, I’m taking the fight to
him.”

“That’s what I’m afraid of,” he muttered. “So
let me see if I have this right. We’re going to hunt down your
mother
and
a
vampire Master while half the blood suckers in the country are
looking for you? Not to mention the Mohiri?”

The last four months, I had been hunted and
terrorized and I had witnessed more brutality and death than anyone
should see in a lifetime. I was tired of being afraid, tired of
feeling weak, tired of crying. Roland was right; we were going to
be constantly looking over our shoulders. I’d just have to make
sure to stay a few steps ahead of them all. And the last thing the
Master would expect is for me to leave the stronghold and go out on
my own. If we were lucky, we could find Madeline and be back here
before he even knew I was gone.

“That’s the plan.”

Roland groaned. “You forget one very
important thing,” he said dejectedly. “That vampire is not all you
have to worry about. Nikolas is going to come after you, and he’s
going to be royally pissed. There’s gonna be hell to pay if either
of them gets their hands on you?”

“Have a little faith, Roland.” I lifted my
chin and smiled at him. “They’re going to have to catch me
first.”

Rogue, the thrilling final chapter of the
Relentless trilogy.

Sara tried it their way and it didn’t work.
Now she is taking matters into her own hands.

The Master thinks he has her running scared,
but Sara’s done being afraid.

This time, she’s coming for him.

If you enjoyed Refuge, please consider
leaving a review on Amazon or Goodreads. You can also drop me a
line at my website or Facebook or Twitter. I’d love to hear from
you.

http://www.karenlynchnl.com

https://www.facebook.com/KarenLynch.Author

https://twitter.com/karenlynchNL

Now, read on for excerpts from books by two
of my favorite authors: Hope(less) by Melissa Haag and Grimnirs by
Ednah Walters.

First and foremost, I like to thank my
family and friends for their encouragement and unfailing support.
Thank you to my amazing cover artist Nikos for his patience and
ability to know what I want before I do. Thank you to my friends in
my writing group, Prolific Pens, for your support and for helping
to keep my creative batteries charged. Thank you to my editor,
Kelly, and my wonderful beta readers: Anne Marie, Teresa, Rachel
and Melissa. A special thanks to two amazing authors: Melissa Haag
and Ednah Walters for their advice and guidance and most
importantly, their friendship. And last but not least, thanks to my
brother, Alex, for being a surly old dragon and providing a little
extra character for this story.

When she is not at her job as a computer
programmer, Karen Lynch can be found writing, reading and baking. A
native of Newfoundland, Canada, she currently lives in Charlotte,
North Carolina with her cats and two crazy loveable German
Shepherds: Rudy and Sophie.