Rogue (Relentless Book 3)
: Chapter 9

VOICES THREATENED TO drag me away from the wonderful dream I was having, and I fought consciousness to stay in the dream world. I knew I wasn’t really back in my old living room in New Hastings, sitting by the fire with Nikolas and listening to the storm rage outside. I had no idea why my mind brought me back to that time and place, but I was warm and content and reluctant to leave.

The voices tugged at me again, and I felt the coldness of the real world pressing down on me. My eyes opened and Greg’s uncle’s living room slowly swam into focus. I saw Roland and Greg talking in low voices across the room and Peter dozing in a chair. The clock on the TV said it was 4:00 a.m., and I wondered groggily why everyone was still up. Jordan’s voice came from the direction of the kitchen, and it took me a few seconds to realize she was talking to someone. Who was she on the phone with at this hour?

When I heard a low male voice answer Jordan, alarm filled my muddled brain. I tried to move beneath the pile of blankets, but my tired body refused to cooperate. Panic filled me, and I let out a small cry.

“Shhh,” someone murmured in my ear.

I stilled as several realizations hit me at once. The first was that I was warm for the first time in days. The second was the absence of the hollow ache in my chest. The third was that I was lying on my side with my back pressed against a warm hard body.

“Nikolas?” I whispered.

“I’m here.”

My breath hitched and a lump formed in my throat. I had no idea if I was crying because I was upset that he’d finally caught me, or because I was so happy he was here. My illness had made me weak and emotional, and I shook as the tears came.

“Don’t cry.” His arms tightened around me, pulling me closer. It took me a few minutes to get my emotions under control.

“How do you feel?”

“Rotten,” I rasped. “What’s wrong with me?”

“I don’t know, but we’ll figure it out.” Beneath his reassuring tone, there was an edge of worry that frightened me.

I shifted in his arms, needing to see him. He lifted me easily, turning me toward him.

Eyes the color of dark smoke met mine, and I fell into their depths. I had missed him so much, and the need to touch him, to make sure he was real, overwhelmed me. I reached up to caress his jaw, which was covered in a day’s growth of beard. My fingers grazed his full lips, and they parted slightly, sending warm breath across my skin. I touched his brow, smoothing out the furrows, hating that I had put them there.

“I’m sorry I didn’t call.”

His eyes softened, and he leaned down to press a tender kiss to my forehead. My stomach fluttered and warmth coursed through me. I closed my eyes and rested my head against his chest as his arms circled me protectively.

“It’s okay,” he said against my hair. “Go back to sleep.”

When I woke again, his warmth was gone, and fear that it had all been a dream twisted my gut. A hand stroked my hair, and I realized I lay with my head on Nikolas’s lap. He spoke and his voice was a balm for my fear.

“Tristan is sending two healers with the jet. I don’t want to wait until we get her home.”

“Good idea,” Chris replied, his voice devoid of his usual good humor. “Do they have any ideas what it could be?”

“There are several species of demon with venom that can cause some of these symptoms, but according to Jordan, they didn’t come into contact with any of them.”

“Tell us again what happened at the party,” Chris said, and I listened as Jordan related the events of that night exactly as they had happened.

“She didn’t eat or drink anything except the Glaen, and the only demons I remember her touching were the ranc and the gulak. The only other demon that got close to us was an incubus.”

Nikolas tensed. “An incubus?”

Jordan snorted. “Sara would have fried his man parts if he’d touched one of us, trust me. My girl doesn’t mess around.”

“How was she after she drank the Glaen?” Chris asked. “It’s a powerful drink from what I hear.”

“She was kind of silly like she was drunk, but not staggering. She even hugged me.”

“Sara hugged you?” Roland said. “That must have been some good stuff.”

“Could her Mori be sick from the Fae drink?” Chris suggested. “She’s only half Fae after all.”

I felt for my Mori, and I could sense no pain from it. It seemed to be content now that Nikolas was here.

“My Mori is fine,” I rasped.

Nikolas’s hand stilled. “How are you feeling?”

I took stock of my symptoms. I was freezing again, and every joint in my body ached. My stomach rolled, my head hurt, and my skin felt dry and itchy and stretched across my muscles. I shifted and everything hurt. “Same. Thirsty.”

Jordan appeared at my side, holding a glass of water with a straw in it. “Here.” She put the straw to my lips and I drank slowly, afraid to disturb my already unsettled stomach.

“Better?” she asked, and I noticed how pale and tired she looked.

“Yes.”

She stayed by my side. “Are you mad at me?”

“No, why?” It took a moment for me to understand. “You called him?”

She nodded. “You were so sick. I didn’t know what else to do.”

“You did the right thing,” I said, and she smiled wanly. I poked my hand out from under the blankets to touch hers. “Thanks, Jordan.”

Her smile fell away, and she set the glass down to take my hand in both of hers. “Sara, your hand is like ice!”

A fit of shivering overtook me and my teeth began to chatter. “C-can’t get w-warm.”

She jumped to her feet. “Nikolas, look at her. I think she’s turning blue from cold.”

Seconds later, I was sitting on his lap with his arms around me. Jordan arranged the blankets over us and I curled into him. But no matter how close I got to him, I couldn’t get warm. It felt like I was cold from the inside out, and my body shivered so violently it hurt.

Nikolas said something to Jordan, and she ran out of the room. I clung to him desperately, afraid that I was dying. I’d never feared death, but that was before I found him. I’d spent so much time running from him, but I didn’t want to run anymore. I couldn’t bear the thought of leaving him now.

He stood and let the blankets fall to the couch. I cried against the cold as he strode into the bathroom where Jordan had filled the large claw-foot tub with hot water. Carefully, he set me down in the tub. I tried to stay upright, but my body was so weak I slid down into the water.

Nikolas grabbed my shoulders and lifted me forward so he could sit behind me, positioning me between his legs so I was chest deep in the water with my back against his chest. Water sloshed out onto the floor, but I was too cold to care, and I was only vaguely aware of Jordan throwing down towels to soak up the mess.

Steam rose up around us as Nikolas tried to rub warmth back into my arms, which were quickly growing numb. I could feel the heat of the water, but it did nothing to warm me. I sobbed from pain and frustration and the fear that this really was the end.

“Stay with me, Sara,” Nikolas said hoarsely, and the helplessness in his voice broke my heart. I wanted to turn and hold him, but I was too weak to move.

“I’m scared.”

He spoke gruffly in my ear. “I did not chase you halfway across the country to let you leave me again. You are one of the strongest, most stubborn people I’ve ever met, and you are going to beat this. Do you hear me?” I didn’t reply and he asked more forcefully, “Do you hear me, Sara?”

“Yes,” I said through chattering teeth. I summoned the last of my strength, determined to never leave him again.

“Look!” Jordan cried.

The others crowded into the bathroom behind her. “What is that?” Roland asked.

I opened my eyes and stared down at the glittering particles appearing around us in the water. The specks of light multiplied and moved toward me, clinging to every part of me that was under water. I watched in weary fascination while it covered me in a warm golden glow. A sigh escaped my lips as the familiar heat sank into my skin, my muscles, my bones, and every frozen part of me.

“It’s her magic – or the water magic,” Jordan said. “I’m not sure which.”

“Whatever it is, it’s helping.” Chris moved closer. “Her color is improving.”

I let my head fall back against Nikolas’s chest as exhaustion weighed down my body. He wrapped his arms around me. “That’s it. Hold on, Sara. The healers will be here soon.”

I must have passed out because the next time I opened my eyes, I was warm and dry and wrapped up in blankets on the couch again. A face swam before my eyes, and it took a few seconds to focus on the woman who looked vaguely familiar.

“How do you feel?” she asked as she touched my forehead and peered into my eyes.

“How do you think?” I mumbled, earning a smile. I remembered her from Westhorne. “You’re Margot.”

“That’s right. Now tell me where it hurts. Are you still cold?”

“I’m warm now, but my head is killing me. And I feel like I want to throw up, but I can’t.”

She nodded. “According to the others you haven’t eaten much in days. You need nourishment and liquids to help keep your strength up.” She reached behind her for a red duffle bag. “I’m going to hook you up to an IV, and then we are going to transport you to the jet. We’ll have you home in no time and we’ll get you all fixed up.”

“Okay.” I started to ask where everyone was when I heard the low rumble of male voices from the kitchen.

“Hey, you’re awake.” Roland appeared at the foot of the couch. His blue eyes were dark with worry and dark shadows lay under them. “You scared the shit out of us. Please don’t do that again.”

I summoned a weak smile. “I’ll see what I can do.”

Blinding pain shot through my skull, robbing me of my breath and my voice. I pressed my hands to my head as explosions of light went off behind my eyes and waves of agonizing pain rippled through me. A whimper escaped my lips, and I doubled over as hammers pounded my skull mercilessly. I prayed for unconsciousness because if I had to endure this much longer, I would go insane.

Nikolas called my name, but he sounded far away. People spoke in urgent voices that were hard to hear above the roaring in my head. In the back of my mind, the walls around my Mori fell and it cried out in pain. I tried to put the protective walls back up, but my power would not respond.

A new voice broke through the haze of pain around me. It was warm and rich, yet commanding. “Let me help her, warrior, if you want her to live.”

I tensed when a cool hand touched my forehead and then gasped as the stabbing pain rapidly drained away. A sob escaped me, and it was a minute before I opened my eyes to see Eldeorin smiling down at me.

“Hello, little Cousin. I told you I’d see you again soon.”

“H-how did you replace me?”

His smile dimmed. “Your pain is like a beacon to any Fae within fifty miles of here. I was away from the city or I would have come sooner.” His hand stroked my cheek and each touch sent a wave of soothing energy through me. “I’m going to take care of you now.”

“You healed her?” Roland asked.

“No, I merely eased her pain. I will take her to Faerie where we will tend her.”

Nikolas stepped forward, towering over us. “She stays with me.”

Eldeorin did not cower or flinch from Nikolas’s anger. He continued to stroke my face as if nothing had happened. “Sara needs to be around my kind. She is going through liannan.”

“Liannan?”

“Think of it as the Fae equivalent of puberty. Her powers are experiencing a growth spurt, and her body cannot handle the sudden changes. If she was full Fae and had grown up among our kind, this would have happened slowly, over months or years, and she would have been better able to deal with it. We were not sure she could even enter liannan since she is half Mohiri and lives outside of Faerie. Only exposure to our kind or a prolonged visit to Faerie should trigger liannan. I did not sense it in her when we met, and our brief encounter was not sufficient to cause it.”

“What about Glaen?” Jordan asked him.

“What do you know of Glaen?”

“Sara drank a bunch of it at a demon party a few nights ago. She started getting sick a day later.”

Roland came to stand beside Jordan. “Don’t forget the times she glowed when she was asleep before she drank the Glaen. No way was that normal.”

Eldeorin nodded thoughtfully. “It sounds like she was already approaching liannan. Consuming that much of our drink at one time could be a catalyst to someone like her.”

“Will she be okay?” Roland asked, his voice strained.

Eldeorin gave me a reassuring smile. “Yes, but she needs proper care.”

Nikolas looked at me with a closed expression. “What kind of care?”

“She will need to be near our kind, at least until she passes through the most difficult stage. The best place for her is Faerie.”

“For how long?” Nikolas asked.

“I cannot say,” Eldeorin replied. “It may take weeks or months.”

Something unreadable flashed in Nikolas’s eyes. “Do whatever it takes to help her.”

“No,” I rasped. “I don’t want to go to Faerie.” As much as I’d love to see that beautiful place, I did not want to leave Nikolas again.

Nikolas sat on his haunches so his face was close to mine. “You’ll get better faster there.”

“I can get better here. Eldeorin will stay here with me. Won’t you?” I asked the faerie, silently pleading with him to say yes.

“I will stay if that will put you at ease, Cousin.”

“Thank you.” I tried to sit up, but my body was too weak to obey me. Nikolas stood and lifted me into a sitting position. His jaw hardened when Eldeorin sat beside me holding my hand, and I remembered what Desmund had told me about Mohiri males not liking another male touching their bond mate. I reached my free hand toward him, and he entwined his fingers with mine. Tugging gently, I made him sit on my other side so I could rest my head against his shoulder.

The tension in Nikolas’s body eased, and he looked at Eldeorin. “It’s not safe to stay in this apartment. Can you come to our stronghold?”

“That would be unwise. I and others of my kind will have to be near Sara for weeks. I don’t think a prolonged Fae presence at a Mohiri compound would be received well. And we don’t know yet how Sara’s liannan might affect your people.”

“None of our safe houses are big enough to hold all of us,” Chris said. “We could take a large house for a few months and bring in some people to help with security.”

Eldeorin shook his head. “That is not necessary. I have a place we can use, and it is big enough to accommodate all of us without Fae and Mohiri affecting each other.”

“Is it safe?” Nikolas asked skeptically.

“It is glamoured and well-fortified with faerie protections. No vampire would dare attack it.”

Nikolas’s thumb rubbed soothing circles on the back of my hand. “Where is this place?”

“It is near Santa Cruz.”

“We can be there in an hour on the jet,” Chris observed.

Nikolas stood, releasing my hand. “Chris, call the pilot and tell him to be ready to leave within the hour. Jordan, pack your things and Sara’s.”

Roland came forward. “We’re coming too.”

“Be ready to leave here in five minutes.”

I looked around the living room. “Where is Greg?”

Greg came out of the kitchen and approached me. His hair needed a brush and he looked like he hadn’t slept in days.

He knelt beside me. “You need help that I can’t give you, Sara. I wish I could after what you did for me. But just say the word and I’m there.”

A selfish part of me didn’t want to let him go because I didn’t know when I’d see him again. But he’d been through hell the last month, and he needed to try to get back to some kind of normal life.

“You need to be with your family. I’ll talk to you again soon.” I grabbed his hand before he could stand. “And you better call me. Don’t make me come looking for you.”

His eyes warmed. “I’m putting you in my speed dial, I promise.”

Eldeorin stood over me. “Now, Cousin, let’s get you ready to travel. I could have the two of us there in seconds, but I have a feeling neither you nor your warrior would be happy with that.” He laid his hands on either side of my face and they glowed like mine did when I did healings. Heat suffused my face, quickly spreading throughout my body. “This will keep you comfortable for the journey. I won’t need to be in physical contact with you the entire time, but I will stay close.”

“All packed,” Jordan called.

Nikolas scooped me off the couch, and I protested that I could walk even though my limbs felt like warm jelly from Eldeorin’s blast of power. He ignored my objection and carried me outside to the waiting SUVs that were guarded by two more warriors. They turned around when we drew near, and I was surprised to see Seamus and Niall. I expected harsh words from the twins after the way I’d left them, but they wore their usual boyish smiles. I gave Nikolas a questioning look and he smiled.

“They volunteered to come. I think they found Westhorne too tame after you left.”

“Never a dull moment, lass,” Niall quipped, walking toward us.

Seamus grinned. “What’s this I hear about you giving a beatdown to some gulak demons?”

Cold exploded in my chest, and I stiffened in Nikolas’s arms. “Vampires,” I choked out. I had no idea how I knew it, but there were eight vampires coming at us fast. “Eight.”

Nikolas tensed and Seamus and Niall drew their swords. Behind us I heard our weapons bag hit the ground and the soft whine of metal as more swords were drawn. I found myself suddenly passed from Nikolas’s arms to Eldeorin’s. “Get her out of here,” Nikolas ordered before he spun away to take the sword offered to him by Jordan.

“No!” My cry was lost on the wind as the city disappeared into a black void I had experienced once before. Seconds later, Eldeorin stood in front of a large white mansion with a fountain in the middle of the well-lit driveway. I struggled in his arms, but I was as weak as a kitten. “Take me back. We can’t leave them there alone.”

“Calm yourself, Cousin,” he soothed as he walked toward the mansion. “You cannot help your friends in your condition. It would only endanger them if you were there because they would try to protect you.”

“Then leave me here and go back and help them, please.”

He stopped at a set of double doors. “Your safety is my only concern. Do not fret. Your friends can handle a few vampires.”

The doors opened and a short person in a white uniform ushered us inside. Eldeorin strode across the marble foyer and up a wide flight of stairs. At the end of the hallway, he opened the door to a large bedroom and set me down on the high four-poster bed.

Terrified for Nikolas and my friends, I slid off the bed, but my legs crumpled underneath me. Eldeorin caught me and lifted me back into the bed. The cold in my chest had been replaced with squeezing pain that made me gasp for breath. “I have to go back. Please take me back.”

Eldeorin laid a hand on my forehead and muttered something in a language I did not understand. My mind filled with a warm fog that beckoned me and made me want to close my eyes. “No,” I sobbed, fighting as the fog closed in around me.

“Sleep, little Cousin,” Eldeorin said softly before blackness descended and I heard no more.

* * *

I awoke slowly to the cries of gulls and the roar of waves against the shore. A light breeze tickled my face and carried a slight ocean tang along with the sweet scent of roses. My eyes opened to a sunny room decorated in delicate shades of blue and white, and I looked around in confusion. Where am I?

A curtain fluttered and I stared at the open balcony doors past the foot of the queen-sized bed I lay in. I had no memory of how I’d gotten to this place. The last time I’d woken up in a strange room, I’d discovered I was in Seelie, but I didn’t think they had oceans in Faerie. I rubbed my temples, trying to focus and remember what had brought me here and, more importantly, where I had come from. My mind refused to penetrate my foggy memories, and I sank back against the soft pillow. Why can’t I remember? My eyes travelled around the unfamiliar room. I must be dreaming. That’s it. Time to wake up now.

I pushed the covers off me and stared at the long white nightgown I wore. Now I knew I must be dreaming because I’d never wear something like this. I slid out of bed and had to grab the mattress to steady myself when a wave of dizziness hit me.

“Sara, you’re awake!” Someone caught me from behind and turned me to envelope me in a warm hug.

“Nate? What are you doing here?” I pulled back to look around the room again. “Where are we?”

His brow furrowed. “What do you remember?”

“I. . .” I tried to focus on my memories, but it was like a thick curtain hid them from me. “I don’t remember anything.”

The bedroom door opened and a beautiful girl with long red curls entered carrying a tray. A smile lit her face when she saw me. “Welcome back, Sister!”

“Aine?” I looked from the sylph to Nate. “What’s going on? Why can’t I remember anything?”

She carried the tray to the balcony and set it on a table there. Then she came over and picked up a soft blue robe lying across the foot of the bed. “You have been very ill, and I came to help tend to you,” she explained as she helped me into the robe. “I brought you some food. You have not eaten for some time, and it will help you get your strength back.”

The mention of food made me aware of my growling stomach. I let Aine lead me out to a small table on the balcony that had a breathtaking view of the ocean. The house we were in sat atop a small cliff, and I could hear waves crashing against the rocks below. Aine sat me in a comfortable chair in the sun and settled a blanket over my lap before she moved the tray of food toward me. I knew it was faerie food as soon as I tasted the cold frothy milk. Nothing in this world tasted as good as faerie food.

Nate and Aine joined me at the table. “How do you feel?” Aine asked as I devoured a pastry.

I washed the pastry down with some milk. “Better. I still don’t remember how I came to be here – wherever this is – or how I got sick.”

“Is that normal?” Nate asked Aine.

She smiled. “It will all come back to her very soon. It is normal to be confused when you first awake from the healing sleep, especially when it is a long one.”

I stared at my uncle and faerie friend talking as if it was an everyday occurrence, and I started to understand how Alice had felt down the rabbit hole. “How long was I asleep?”

“Almost a week. Eldeorin said you were very ill and distressed, and he had no choice but to put you in a sleep.”

I blinked at her. I’d been asleep for a whole week? “Eldeorin?”

“You don’t remember Eldeorin?” Her brows drew together delicately. “It must have been a very powerful healing he did on you. Eldeorin is one of our most gifted healers. You are fortunate he found you when he did.”

A hazy image of a blond man emerged from the fog around my mind. It slowly came into focus, and I recognized the mischievous blue eyes and smiling mouth. He was standing at the edge of a bar in a night club, watching me. There was something not right about the club and it made my skin crawl. Why would I go to a nightclub of all places?

The veil blocking my memories fell away, and I gasped as everything came back to me at once. LA, Greg, Draegan, my illness, Nikolas. Oh God! We’d left them surrounded by all those vampires.

Fear threatened to suffocate me and my hands gripped the arms of my chair until my knuckles turned white. “Where is Nikolas? Where are Roland and the others?”

Aine laid a warm hand on mine. “Calm yourself, Sister. Your friends are all safe.”

I looked at Nate and he nodded. I searched their faces, afraid they were only trying to placate me.

Aine touched my face. “I would not deceive you.”

“Why aren’t they here?”

“They are here, but we’ve had to keep them away from you, and we put protections on this room to contain your power. Your liannan made your magic uncontrollable, and it would not tolerate anyone but Fae being near you. After two days, your werewolf friends and uncle were able to sit with you.”

“And Nikolas?”

“No demon could enter this room without your magic lashing out at them.”

My chest tightened. “What does that mean? I can’t go near him?”

“Once you are in control of your magic again, it should be safe.”

“Should be? You don’t know for sure?” I didn’t want to think about what it would mean if I couldn’t be with Nikolas. Or the other people I’d come to care so much for.

Aine shook her head. “Sara, there has never been another like you, and we did not know you could even go through liannan. It is progressing very quickly, and you have moved through the most difficult stage in a week. It normally takes months.”

I remembered how sick I’d been before Eldeorin had arrived to help me. “I can’t imagine going through that for months.”

“Your symptoms were more severe than is normal for liannan. Eldeorin thinks it is because of the Mori. Your magic grew, but it had nowhere to go because half of you is inhabited by a demon.”

“So where did it go?”

She pushed my plate toward me, and I picked up a piece of fruit that looked like one I’d eaten in Seelie. “The healing sleep allowed your body to adjust and make room for the magic. Do you not feel it inside you?”

I stopped eating and focused on the well of power at my core. It felt the same, but stronger, and it pushed against the walls holding it back. Tendrils of magic escaped, and I grabbed them and sent them back. I checked on my Mori and found it huddled fearfully, but safely, at the back of my mind. It’s okay, I sent it soothing thoughts. I won’t let it hurt you.

“Sara?” Nate said, and I realized I’d been quiet for several minutes.

“I’m fine.” I summoned a smile for him.

“You appear to be in control of your power again,” Aine said. “How do you feel?”

“I feel like me, but different. It’s hard to explain.” I sighed and found myself on the verge of tears again. “I can’t stop crying. What’s wrong with me?”

She smiled. “Liannan does that to you. I cried for weeks when I had mine.”

“Weeks?” It was hard to imagine sweet, smiling Aine crying.

“It will pass. How is your control?”

I tested my power again. “I think it’s good.”

“There is only one way to know for sure. Please, do not move from this spot.” Aine stood and went into the bedroom. I heard the door open, and I started to rise when I felt the soft caress of butterfly wings against my mind. Nikolas!

I was halfway out of my chair when static began to crackle across my skin. No! I fell back into the chair and grabbed for the power fighting to break away from me. Suddenly, Nikolas’s presence was gone and my power receded. Tears burned my eyes, and I found it hard to breathe as the reality of what had just happened hit me.

Nate scooted his chair over and put an arm across my shoulders to draw me close. “It’s going to be okay. You just woke up. In a day or two, you’ll be back to your old self again.”

My heart ached at the thought of having Nikolas so close and not being able to see him. But Nate was right; I was still very tired and weak. I just had to get through the next few days and everything would be okay. I refused to think about any other outcome.

A phone rang in the bedroom, and Nate went to answer it. He came out onto the balcony, handed it to me, and said he’d come back later.

I knew who was on the other end without hearing his voice. “Nikolas?” My voice cracked.

“I’m here,” he said. “Don’t cry.”

My tears spilled over. “I’m sorry.”

“You have nothing to apologize for. The faeries explained what is happening with your power.”

“I could have killed you.” Saying the words made them real, and my body began to shake.

“But you didn’t.”

I sniffled and wiped my eyes with the back of my hand. “I don’t know how long it’ll be before I can see you again.”

“I know.” He exhaled slowly. “I’m not going anywhere, and we can talk like this whenever you want to. You just focus on getting better.”

“I will.”

“Good. Now tell me, how do you feel?”

“A bit weak.”

“But you aren’t in any pain?”

“No pain,” I assured him. “Aine said I’m over the worst of it.”

His voice softened. “She told me that, too.”

A yawn hit me. I couldn’t believe I was still tired after sleeping for a week. I covered my mouth to hide it.

“You need to rest.”

“I’m fine,” I blurted, not wanting him to go.

He chuckled. “Liar. Get some sleep. We can talk again when you wake up.”

“Okay,” I conceded unhappily.

We hung up and I rested my head against the tall back of my chair. Nikolas was safe and I could talk to him even if I couldn’t see him. That would have to be enough for now.

“Well, it’s about time you got your lazy butt out of bed.”

I jerked awake from my nap as Roland strolled out onto the balcony with Peter trailing behind him. The sight of them instantly raised my spirits. “Hey, guys.”

The boys sat across from me, and their eyes immediately locked on the plate of uneaten pastries and fruit. I pulled the plate out of their reach and shook my head. “Faerie food.”

Aine appeared in the doorway and laughed at their crestfallen expressions. “Heb says he has never seen anything like a werewolf’s appetite. I will have him prepare a meal for you boys.”

Roland watched Aine leave. “Why didn’t you ever tell us your faerie friend was so hot?”

I rolled my eyes. “She’s a sylph. What did you expect?”

Peter stretched out his legs. “You look pretty good for someone who’s been asleep for a week. Feeling better?”

“Hundred percent better than the last time I saw you. I’m still a bit tired, but Aine said that’s normal. I can’t believe I slept for a whole week.”

Roland’s smile faded. “Eldeorin said you were in pretty bad shape and he had to put you to sleep to calm you down.”

“I was upset because we left you guys there with all those vampires.”

Peter snorted. “We totally kicked their asses. I don’t think those suckers expected to replace a bunch of warriors and two werewolves waiting for them. It didn’t even last five minutes.” He and Roland took turns telling me about the fight I’d missed.

“Those Mohiri don’t mess around, especially Nikolas,” Roland said. “That man is downright scary in a fight.”

“How’s he been?”

Roland made a face. “Imagine a polar bear with a sore tooth. Now imagine sharing a house with one.”

“Please, get better soon so he’ll stop growling at everyone,” Peter begged, making me laugh.

I steered the conversation away from Nikolas because I was tired of being weepy. “What about Greg? Did he go home?”

“He’s staying with his cousin and aunt in Dallas for a week before he heads back to Philly,” Roland said. “He calls every day to check on you.”

Peter leaned forward in his chair. “Before we left LA, Greg told Nikolas that he’d better take care of you, or else.”

I could easily picture Greg going toe-to-toe with Nikolas. “What did Nikolas say?”

“He said Greg didn’t have to worry about you anymore, and then Greg said you would always be his concern. Nikolas wasn’t too happy about that.”

Uh-oh. “What did he do?”

“Nothing. Chris got between them and said the plane was ready to go.” Peter smirked at me. “And Roland told Nikolas you’d never forgive him if he hurt Greg.”

Roland let out a snort. “I said you’d kick his ass.”

I would have done it too, but Nikolas would not have hurt Greg no matter how annoyed he got. He protected humans; he didn’t harm them.

“So what has everyone been doing for the last week?”

Roland grinned. “Hanging out in style. This place is crazy. Do you know they have a movie theater and a game room downstairs?”

“I must have missed that part of the tour,” I replied dryly. “When did Nate get here? Is Tristan here, too?”

“They came the day after we did,” Roland told me. “Tristan couldn’t come in to see you, but Nate’s been in here every day. Tristan had to go back to Westhorne, but he said he’d be back when you woke up.”

There was a knock on the bedroom door and a diminutive person with curly red hair and a goatee arrived bearing a tray laden with food. At least I thought he was a man until I saw the pointed ears and realized he was actually a dwarf. He set the tray on the table and smiled when Roland and Peter dug into the thick burgers. Bowing to me, the dwarf left without saying a word.

“You gotta try this, Sara,” Roland moaned through a mouthful of food. “Heb makes the best burgers you’ve ever tasted.”

“Heb?”

“The dwarf. He does all the cooking here.”

Peter nodded in agreement. “That faerie food’s not gonna fill you up. Have one of these.”

I picked at one of the pastries on my plate. I didn’t really have much of an appetite, even for the delicious faerie food. “I’m good.”

Roland took one of the burgers and laid it on my plate. “Eat,” he ordered.

“I’m not hungry.”

“Yes, you are. You’re just moping because you can’t see Nikolas.” He shook his head. “You spent a week running from him, and now you’re upset because you can’t see him for a few days. You really are a normal chick after all.”

I took a French fry from the tray and lobbed it at him. “Shut up.”

He ducked and the fry flew over the railing. “Look on the bright side. You get to spend the next few days with Pete and me in this big ass mansion, eating anything you want. Before you know it, you’ll be all better and leading Nikolas on another merry chase across the country.”

I shook my head. “No more chases.” I was done running.