Warrior (Relentless Book 4)
Warrior: Chapter 28

I closed my apartment door with a weary sigh and walked into the bathroom, pulling off clothes as I went. I needed a shower and a clear head before I went to see Sara again.

I’d spent the last two hours with Tristan, making plans for Sara’s and my departure from Westhorne tomorrow morning. We were leaving nothing to chance. Instead of driving to Boise, a helicopter would pick us up here and take us to the airport. Chris and Erik would accompany us, and six more warriors would be waiting for us at the hangar. Sara and I were taking the jet to Saint Petersburg where a heavily armed escort would take us to Miroslav.

The plan was perfect except for one thing. Sara still wasn’t talking to me. I’d gone to her room twice, and though I knew she was inside, she refused to answer the door. This morning she came out to see Roland and Peter off, but she’d disappeared again before I could catch her. I knew she was hurting and angry, and I wished I could give her time to accept what had to be done. But the longer we stayed here, the more dangerous it was for her.

The first thing I had to do when I saw her was apologize for being an insensitive ass yesterday. She blamed herself for the vampire attack, and I’d basically told her she wasn’t strong enough to stay and fight with everyone else. My fear for her had overridden my judgement, and I’d said all the wrong things. Sara was one of the strongest people I knew, and I’d tell her that as many times as I had to until she believed me.

I left the bathroom and walked into the bedroom, toweling my hair dry. I pulled on a pair of jeans and searched the dresser for my favorite blue T-shirt. Strange. I was sure I’d seen it there this morning. Frowning, I grabbed a gray one instead, pulled on a pair of shoes, and turned to leave the bedroom.

I came up short when I spotted a white envelope laying on my pillow. I stared at it suspiciously as I walked over to pick it up. When I saw my name written on the front, my suspicion turned into foreboding. I didn’t need to know Sara’s handwriting to know this was from her.

With a sinking feeling in my gut, I took out the single sheet of paper and unfolded it.

Nikolas,

I know you’ll be angry when you read this, but please try to understand why I have to do this. I don’t blame you and Tristan for being worried about me, but I can’t just run away and hide this time. If the Master can’t replace me, he’ll hurt someone I care about. I can’t live with that.

I know where Madeline is, and I’m going to make her tell me what she knows about the Master. I’m not going alone, and I have people helping me. I promise I’ll call you as soon as I talk to Madeline.

I hate leaving with things the way they are between us, but please believe this has nothing to do with us or our bond. I don’t want to leave at all, but I have no choice. I won’t bother asking you not to come after me because I know you too well.

I’ll miss you.

Sara

P.S. Please tell Seamus and Niall I’m sorry.

I read the letter a second and third time before the meaning of it really hit me. Sara had taken off to replace her mother. Half the vampires in the country were hunting her, and she was out there alone.

Fear slammed into me, and my legs threatened to give out. Sara, what have you done?

I ran from my place and burst into Tristan’s apartment without knocking. He and Chris were having dinner, and they jumped up in alarm.

“Sara’s gone.” I held up the letter. “She went to replace Madeline on her own.”

Tristan came over, and I handed him the letter.

“Oh, dear God,” he breathed as he read it. “How could she know where her mother is?”

“I don’t know, but we have to stop her,” I ground out.

“I left her with the twins no more than half an hour ago,” Chris said. “They were going to the menagerie.”

He read the letter over Tristan’s shoulder. “What does she mean by ‘tell Seamus and Niall I’m sorry’?”

I turned to the door. “I think we’re about to replace out.”

“Why is she with Seamus and Niall?” Tristan asked as we ran across the lawn.

“I asked them to stay near her until we leave. I didn’t want to take a chance of someone sneaking past our security again.” I think a part of me also worried she might try something like this.

The menagerie was dark when we reached it, and we could hear the twins yelling and swearing before I opened the door.

“Get us out of this goddamn thing,” Niall bellowed when we found him and his brother locked in the wyvern’s cage.

Chris went to the office to turn on the lights and release the cage locks.

“Where is Sara?” I demanded, afraid I already knew the answer.

“The lass got the drop on us,” Seamus said as the cage door clicked open. “I’m sorry, Nikolas.”

“Bloody hell.” Niall grunted in disgust as he tried to wipe something from his pants. All he succeeded in doing was making green streaks of what I suspected was wyvern dung.

“She and that blonde hellion played us,” he griped. “She used that faerie magic on us, took our radios, and dragged us in here.”

“How long ago?” They couldn’t have gotten far on foot, and we’d know if they’d tried to take one of the vehicles.

Seamus glanced at his watch. “Thirty minutes.”

I turned to Tristan, but he was already on his phone.

“Dax, alert all the sentries that Sara and Jordan are out in the woods,” he ordered. “And send whoever you can replace out here to help us search for them.”

The four of them followed me outside and into the woods. We spread out to search, and I used my Mori speed to run toward the road. There was only one road in and out of Westhorne, and the girls would have to take it to get to town.

My demon sight allowed me to see in the dark, and I reached the road in no time. I followed it for several miles, expecting to sense Sara at any moment, but I couldn’t feel her. Was it possible they’d arranged for someone to pick them up? What if someone had grabbed them? A chill went through me as I realized she might be miles away already.

I sped back to the stronghold. Minutes later, I tore down the driveway on my bike. The guard on the gate saw me coming and opened it before I reached it.

Butler Falls was five miles away, and the girls would have to go through it to reach the highway. Sara wasn’t going to stay in town long, knowing I’d be looking for her. There were no buses or taxis in or out of the town, so they must have had a ride lined up. I’d learned not to underestimate Sara when it came to making a getaway.

My hands tightened on the handlebars. Obviously I hadn’t learned that lesson well enough or I never would have let her out of my sight.

I had covered half the small town by the time Chris found me. Together, we searched the rest of town. It was soon apparent the girls were not here. I would have sensed Sara by now.

“Boise?” Chris asked when we stopped at a gas station to plan our next move.

“Yes. Let Tristan know where we’re going. I’ll call Dax.”

The security guy picked up immediately. “I take it you haven’t found them.”

“Not yet. I need you to monitor all the flights, trains, and buses out of Boise for Sara and Jordan.”

Dax laughed. “Is that all? I’ll need to pull in some help.”

“I don’t care how many people you have working on it. This is your first priority.”

“Got it. Anything else?”

“Check car rental places too. They might replace a way to rent a car.”

I looked over at Chris. “Chris, you and Callum brought Roland and Peter to the airport this morning, right?”

He lowered his phone. “Yes.”

“Do we know if they got on the plane?”

Chris frowned. “No, we dropped them at the front entrance.”

I swore softly. “The four of them are together.”

“You sure? It sounded to me like Roland was glad you were taking Sara away.”

“This is Sara we’re talking about. Roland would do almost anything for her.”

“You’re right.”

I put my phone to my ear again. “Dax, can you replace out if Roland Greene and Peter Kelly got on their flight today? Claire will know the flight number.”

“Sure thing.”

“Thanks. Chris and I are heading to Boise. Call me as soon as you have something.”

I hung up and called Roland’s and then Peter’s numbers. Neither of them answered, adding to my suspicion they were with Sara.

Chris reached for his helmet “You know what I don’t get? Why does Sara suddenly think she can replace Madeline when no one else can?”

“I’ve been trying to figure that out myself. She said in her note that she had people helping her.”

I knew Sara had been involved in the online underworld community when she lived in Maine, but I’d assumed she’d given all that up when she came to Westhorne. Could she have been secretly searching for her mother all along? And if Sara did manage to replace Madeline, did she really expect her mother to tell her about the Master when Madeline could have called her father and given him that information?

“Sara’s always been very resourceful,” Chris said. “No telling what she’s up to.”

“That’s what I’m afraid of.”

It took us forty-five minutes to reach Boise. We spent an hour checking out places in the city where Sara and Jordan could be while we waited to hear from Dax. I drove by the train and bus stations and went up to the front entrance of the airport terminal, but I couldn’t pick up Sara’s presence at any of them.

Frustration and worry were riding me hard by the time Dax called to inform me Roland and Peter hadn’t boarded their flight to Maine. It offered some comfort to know Sara wasn’t alone. But Jordan and the werewolves could do little against the Master if he found them before we did.

“I’m going to text you the boys’ cell numbers. See if you can track their phones.”

Dax snorted. “If? Give me five minutes.”

It took him less than four minutes to locate the cell phones. “They’re headed east on I-84, and they’re two hours ahead of you. My guess is they’re going to Salt Lake City. I’ll let you know if they change direction.”

“Thanks, Dax. Let Tristan know we’re going to Salt Lake. Do we have anyone down there now?”

“I think we have two guys there. The rest came here after the attack.”

“Tell them we’re coming that way and to be on the lookout for Sara and Jordan.”

“Will do.”

I let Chris know where we were going then let out a deep breath. Finally, a break. If we made good time, we could close the distance and catch up with them tonight. All I wanted now was to replace Sara. We’d work out the rest of our problems when I knew she was safe.

Four hours later, we passed the city limit sign for Salt Lake City, and I called Dax to replace out where the boys’ phones were.

“They’re at an RV park just north of town,” he said.

“An RV park?”

“Looks like the place has cabins for rent. Maybe they figured no one would look for them there.”

“Okay. We’ll check it out.”

It didn’t take long to replace the park. As soon as I saw the middle-aged couple sitting by a fire outside their RV, I knew Sara and her friends must have stashed their phones on the vehicle to throw us off their trail. And we’d fallen for it.

Disappointment and worry gnawed at me. What if they’d dumped the phones in Boise and we’d been on a wild goose chase this whole time? They could be anywhere by now.

“What do you want to do?” Chris asked when I voiced my concerns to him.

I thought for a moment. “It’s late. If they’re here, they’ve likely found a hotel room for the night. I’m going to drive past every hotel in the city and see if I can sense her.”

“Try the cheaper places first,” he suggested. “I doubt they’ll stay at one of the bigger hotels.”

The airport wasn’t far from us and there were a number of hotels in that area, so we headed there first. We circled half a dozen hotels with no luck. I knew it was a long shot, but I didn’t know what else to do.

My Mori quivered.

I inhaled sharply. She’s here.

The sensation faded. Heart pounding, I found the closest intersection and pulled a U-turn, my tires leaving marks on the asphalt as I raced back the way I’d come.

Find her, I begged my Mori.

I felt it again, stronger this time. Up ahead on the left I could see a sign for a Motel 6. That had to be it. The closer I got to it, the stronger her presence was.

Horns blared as I cut across several lanes of traffic to get to the hotel. I pulled into the parking lot, and suddenly her presence began to fade again.

I peeled out of the lot and back onto the street, but I couldn’t tell what direction she’d gone. I couldn’t lose her. I might never replace her again.

I drove without direction, changing course only when I sensed her again. It happened three times, and then she was gone.

For the next two hours, I searched in an ever-widening circle, but I didn’t sense her. My mind and body felt weighed down when I finally admitted to myself that I’d lost her again.

Chris and I stayed at the safe house that night. I would have driven around all night if he hadn’t pointed out that I’d drop from exhaustion in a few days if I didn’t slow down. He was right. I would have driven myself into the ground if I’d been left alone. I wouldn’t help Sara that way.

I didn’t get much sleep either way. I lay in bed wondering what had brought Sara to Salt Lake City. Did she think her mother was here? I hadn’t seen Madeline in over fifty years, so I had no idea what she could be up to or why she’d be here. Madeline had never cared for Idaho or the mountains, always saying she wished we lived somewhere sunnier. I could see her living in a place like California, but not Utah.

I was still mulling it over the next morning as I resumed my slow search of the city. Short of sensing Sara nearby, there was little to go on. One of the local warriors knew a warlock in the city who might be able to do a locator spell if she was still here, and I had an appointment with him that afternoon.

When my phone rang midmorning, my pulse jumped when I saw Tristan’s name, and I prayed he had good news.

“Tristan, tell me you have her.”

“No, but she’s okay. She just called a few minutes ago.”

Relief filled me. “What did she say?”

“She wanted us to know that she was with Jordan, Roland, and Peter, and the four of them were on their way to see Madeline.” Tristan let out a slow breath. “She said Madeline was a few hundred miles from her. Could she really know where her mother is?”

“She seems to think she does. What else did she say?”

“She said as soon as she talks to Madeline, she’ll call us to come get her and Jordan.”

I stared at the mountains rising up behind the city. If Sara thought she was a few hundred miles from Madeline, then Madeline couldn’t be in Salt Lake City. What was a few hundred miles from here?

“I asked her if she wanted to talk to you, and she said she knew you weren’t here.”

“She knew I’d come after her,” I said. “Did you trace the call?”

“I tried, but she blocked me somehow,” he said in frustration. “She left her phone and laptop here, so someone must have helped her, someone who knows how to hide from us. She planned this well. She said she’d call back in a few days and hung up.”

“She was here in Salt Lake last night. I sensed her, but she disappeared before I could replace her.” I rubbed at the dull ache that had started in my chest after I’d come so close to Sara and lost her. Was it possible she could sense me the way I sensed her? That would explain how she had evaded me last night.

“Then she could still be there,” Tristan said hopefully. “I’m going to send back the unit that came from there. They know the city, and they’ll be able to help you search. We’ll replace her, Nikolas.”

“I know,” I said fiercely.

The question was, would we replace her before she found trouble?

* * *

“I can’t believe it. Someone finally took that bastard down.”

“Are you serious? Do you know I hunted him for four damn years without a glimpse of him?”

“Well, he’s dust now.”

“Who is dust?” I asked, walking into the safe house, back from chasing down another dead end. It was our second day in Salt Lake, and I was certain Sara was no longer in the city. The warlock I’d seen couldn’t replace her with a locater spell, which meant she’d most likely left the area. And I didn’t have a single lead on where she could be.

Two warriors from the local unit stood in the living room. Martin, a cheerful Englishman with a buzz cut, grinned at me.

“Stefan Price. Someone took him out last night in New Mexico.”

My eyebrows shot up. Killing Stefan Price was on the bucket list of half the warriors in the country. It was right up there with killing a Master, because he was almost as elusive and as deadly as one. Whoever had bagged him was going to bask in the glory of that kill for years.

“Who killed him?” I wondered if it was someone I knew.

“No one knows,” Martin replied. “The Albuquerque guys said it happened at Orias’s place out in the desert, and it was some female warrior. The rumor is she’s Mohiri, but she couldn’t be one of ours.”

“Why not?”

“Well according to a witness, she was short.” Martin chuckled. “Have you ever seen a short Mohiri female?”

“Only one.” My stomach fluttered. No. It can’t be her. “What else did they say about her?”

Martin scratched his chin. “Not much. Just that she was short with long dark hair. Oh, and she supposedly had a werewolf with her. She was probably a were– Hey, what’s wrong?”

I pulled my phone from my pocket as I raced upstairs. “Chris, where are you?”

“Down in the control room. What’s up?”

“Sara’s in Albuquerque. I’m leaving in two minutes.”

I grabbed my saddle bag and stuffed my clothes in it. We always kept a few changes of clothing stored on our bikes in case we had to go somewhere in a hurry.

Like chasing down runaway mates.

Chris appeared in the doorway. “Albuquerque? How do you know?”

I picked up my bag and looked at him. “Did you hear Stefan Price was killed last night?”

“I just heard. What does that have to do with Sara?”

“Sara killed him.”

The thought of her anywhere near that monster sent chills down my spine. Her power was growing, but she wasn’t strong enough to take down a vampire that old. Still, I knew in my gut it was her.

“Sara?” Chris followed me when I left the room. “Why would you think she killed him?”

I stopped at the top of the stairs to face him. “Martin said a Mohiri female took Price down. A short Mohiri girl with long dark hair and a werewolf.”

Chris stared at me. “Jesus.”

“Grab your stuff. We’re going to New Mexico.”

I’d driven all over the country, sometimes going for twenty-four hours at a stretch, but the trip to Albuquerque was one of the longest rides of my life. I couldn’t stop thinking about Sara facing down Stefan Price. Had she really killed him? Had she been afraid? Hurt? Very few people could emerge unscathed from a fight with a vampire as strong as Price.

I tried not to think of her wounded and in pain somewhere. Instead, I wondered what could have brought her to Orias’s of all places. Orias was one of the most powerful warlocks in the country, so the Mohiri knew him well. We kept an eye on anyone who could raise a higher demon, which was where warlocks got most of their power.

Unlike most warlocks, who were very selective in their clients, Orias dealt with anyone who could pay his exorbitant fees, and he prided himself on his discretion and his clean business establishment. He mostly did protection spells and glamours, and he liked to gather information that others might replace valuable. He had proven to be a useful source of information to us on occasion, so as long as he stayed clean, we had no problem with him.

Why would Sara need to see such a powerful warlock? Had she gone to him looking for a locator spell for Madeline? Those spells were difficult and expensive. Where would she have gotten the money to pay for it?

We didn’t stop when we reached Albuquerque, heading directly for Orias’s place in the desert. The warlock was wealthy enough to live in a California mansion, yet he chose to live out in the middle of nowhere. When asked about it, he always said being around too many people and other magic affected his work. Out here, away from civilization, he did his best work.

I’d been to Orias’s more than once, a good thing since he kept the place well-hidden with his glamours. I knew I was there when I crossed the small wooden bridge that marked the front of his property. As soon as my tires hit the dirt on the other side, a large two-story adobe building came into view.

Normally, the building was lit up, but it was oddly dark tonight with only one light shining from his office on the second floor. There were no cars out front either, which meant he was not seeing clients tonight. Good. I was in no mood to wait.

The front door was unlocked, mainly because few people were stupid enough to attack a warlock like Orias in his home. Chris and I passed through the dark waiting area, walking down the short hallway and up a flight of stairs to the second floor.

Orias’s door was open, and he called to us before we reached the top of the stairs.

“Nikolas Danshov and Christian Kent, what an honor to have you in my humble establishment again.”

I laughed and entered his office where Orias and his assistant Paulina were going through financial statements. She excused herself when we entered. Everyone believed she was just the receptionist, but Paulina helped Orias run this place. She enjoyed playing the receptionist role during business hours.

“Humble indeed,” I said.

Orias chuckled. Tall with long black hair and a hawkish appearance, he looked like a thirty-five-year-old man of Native American descent. Looks could be deceiving. I knew he was well over one hundred years old, possibly even as old as me.

He stood and extended a hand to us then waved to the visitor chairs. “Please, have a seat and tell me what I can do for you, although I can guess the reason for your visit.”

I gave him a questioning look, and he smiled.

“When a vampire like Stefan Price dies in your place of business, you expect the Mohiri to show up and ask questions.”

“Is that why you’re closed tonight?” Chris asked.

The warlock made a face. “We are closed because that little incident scared the hell out of my regular clients. They are afraid to come because Stefan had many followers who are no doubt upset about his untimely passing. No one wants to be here in case the vampires come looking for answers.”

“You don’t seem worried,” Chris said.

Orias shrugged. “I’m not happy about the situation. Having someone die on the premises is not good for business, as you can see. But I don’t think I have anything to fear from the vampires. No one has ever attacked me and lived to speak of it.”

I watched Orias closely. He spoke and acted as if this whole thing was merely an inconvenience, but I could see uneasiness and anger simmering below the surface of his cool façade. Something – or someone – had unsettled the normally composed warlock. I knew only one person who had an infallible ability for attracting the kind of trouble that came with fangs and claws.

“Tell us what happened last night,” I said, careful to hide my personal interest. “I take it Price was a client of yours?”

He cleared his throat. “Stefan used my services a few times over the years. He never bothered to make appointments, so I don’t know why he came last night.”

“And the girl?” I asked casually.

“Girl?”

I raised an eyebrow.

“Oh, the girl, the one who killed Stefan.” He gave me a rueful smile. “Forgive me. It’s been a long twenty-four hours.”

I nodded. “Was she a client as well? Who was she?”

“She was a new client, yes,” he said after a short hesitation. “I’m afraid I can’t give you her name. Client confidentiality.”

“Tell us what happened between her and the vampire,” I said. It wasn’t a request. He was being evasive about the girl, which made me more determined to replace out who she was.

He leaned forward and clasped his hands on the desk. “I didn’t see the actual fight. I was here in my office, and I heard shouting. By the time I got to the waiting area, Stefan was dead and she was standing over him. They wrecked my waiting area and frightened off all my clients.”

Only many years of experience kept me in my chair. Orias was being deliberately vague, and I wanted to shake the whole story out of him.

“Did she say anything after she killed the vampire?” Chris asked.

“Yes. I asked her if she knew who she’d just killed, and she said no. Then she left.”

“That’s it?” I asked the warlock. “Was the girl injured in the fight?”

He frowned. “Why are you so interested in the girl? I thought you were here because of Stefan Price.”

I met his gaze directly. “Word has it she was Mohiri, and we always like to know where our people are.”

He opened his mouth, and a strained look crossed his face.

“Believe me, gentlemen, I wish I could tell you more, but the nature of my, um, contract with her, prevents me from sharing her identity with you.”

I almost growled my frustration at him. He had always been more than willing to help out the Mohiri when we asked for it. What was different about this time?

“Can you tell us where the girl went when she left here?” I asked.

He shook his head. “That I do not know. I’m sorry.”

My hands gripped the arms of the chair. Sara had been here last night. I knew it, and Orias knew it. What I didn’t know was why he wouldn’t just say it.

“Thank you, Orias,” Chris said, giving me a sideways look. “If you don’t mind, we’d like to ask Paulina a few questions before we leave.”

He smiled, looking almost relieved. “Of course. Send her up when you’re done.”

We said good-bye to him and went back to the waiting area where Paulina sat behind the reception desk, working on her computer.

“All done?” she asked pleasantly.

“Almost,” I said. “May we ask you about last night?”

“Certainly. What would you like to know?”

I looked at the room that bore no sign of a fight. Orias must have used magic to repair the damage.

“What can you tell us about what happened here last night? More specifically, about the girl who killed Stefan Price.”

Paulina folded her hands in her lap. “The girl and her friends came in asking to see Orias. They didn’t have an appointment, but he agreed to see them.”

“Friends?” Chris said.

She nodded. “There was another girl and two young men.”

My breath caught. I was right. Sara was here last night.

“Do you know why they wanted to see Orias?”

“No. They were in his office for about half an hour, but he never told me what they wanted. They were leaving when Stefan Price arrived.”

She smiled apologetically. “I couldn’t see much from over here, but I heard him say something about a child out without her protectors. He grabbed the dark-haired girl and threw one of the boys across the room. Next thing I know, there’s a werewolf coming through the door, and the girl has Stefan on his knees. Then Stefan was dead with a knife sticking from his chest. It all happened so fast.”

My stomach knotted. “Were any of them hurt, other than the vampire?”

Paulina thought about it. “I don’t think so. Orias gave the girl a towel, but that could have been to wipe Stefan’s blood off her hands. If she’d been badly injured, he would have healed her.”

Chris sat on the corner of her desk. “Did they say where they were going when they left here?”

“No. Oh wait. I think someone mentioned Los Angeles. Does that help?”

“More than you know.” I smiled at her. “As always, you’ve been a big help.”

“My pleasure.” She motioned for us to lean in. “Between you and me, I’m glad she killed him. I hate vampires, and that one always scared the hell out of me. Orias wouldn’t like to hear me say that about the clients.”

“About that,” I said in a low voice. “Do you know why Orias wouldn’t tell us about the girl? He didn’t care about you telling us.”

She frowned. “He’s been acting strange ever since they left. I don’t know what happened up in his office, but it’s almost like he can’t talk about it. I asked who they were, and he just shook his head and went back to his office.”

I looked at Chris, who shrugged. What could Sara and the others have said to the warlock to keep him from talking? He was a businessman above all else, but where would they have gotten the kind of money it would take to buy his silence?

I straightened and held out a hand to her. “Thank you, Paulina.”

“Anytime, Mr. Danshov. I hope you replace your girl.”

“I will.”

Chris and I waited until we were a mile away from Orias’s before we said anything.

“Did you replace that whole thing as strange as I did?” he asked.

“Yes.” I maneuvered around a large pothole in the dirt road. “But at least we know where the four of them are headed next.”

Chris made a sound. “I still can’t believe Sara took down Price. But if she hadn’t, we might never have known they were here.”

“That’s true.” She and I were going to have a long talk when I found her, but for now I was relieved she was okay and that I knew where to look for her next.

I glanced at the time. “It’s a good eleven hours to LA. We can be there by 9:00 a.m.”

Chris’s groan filled my headset. “Nikolas, we just drove for nine hours straight. I need food and a few hours of sleep before I hit the road again. So do you.”

“If Sara’s in LA, we need to –”

“Sara’s proven pretty resourceful so far,” he cut in. “And she has Jordan and two werewolves with her. She’ll be in better shape than you if you keep up this pace. Let’s stay in Albuquerque tonight and head out first thing in the morning. I’ll call the LA units and let them know to be on the lookout.”

I opened my mouth to argue, but he said, “I won’t pretend to know how hard this is for you, but you’re acting with your heart now and not your head. You haven’t eaten since this morning, and you’ve barely slept since we left home. If you leave for LA now, you’ll spend tomorrow passed out in one of the safe houses. Not even your Mori can keep you going indefinitely.”

I ground my teeth together. Chris’s reasoning was sound, but that didn’t make me feel better about it. All I could think of was replaceing Sara. All my Mori wanted was for us to replace our mate.

“We leave at dawn,” I told him.

“Dawn,” he agreed.

We ate and then went to the Albuquerque safe house. It was smaller than most and a bit crowded, but it wasn’t like we’d be there long. Chris bunked on a couch in the control center, and I took the couch in the living room. I made myself comfortable and closed my eyes, willing sleep to come. The sooner it did, the sooner I could wake up and get on the road again.

I was dozing off when my phone rang, jerking me awake. I reached for it where it lay on the coffee table and stared at the unfamiliar number for a moment before I answered.

“Hello?”

“Hello?” I said again when no one spoke.

There was a breath on the other end, followed by a hush.

I shot to a sitting position. “Sara? Is that you?”

There was no answer. I couldn’t sense her, but I knew it was her.

“Sara, talk to me,” I pleaded softly.

We hadn’t spoken since the morning in the medical ward, and my heart squeezed painfully from the need to hear her voice. I didn’t care if she yelled at me, as long as I could hear for myself she was okay.

“Sara?”

The line was silent, and I knew she’d hung up. I sat in the dark, hoping she’d call back, but after half an hour I lay down again. I finally fell asleep with the phone in one hand and my other hand rubbing at the hollow ache in my chest.