Rogue (Relentless Book 3) (32 page)

“This is new for both of us, and we’re going to have to learn to deal with it.”

“Something tells me you’re going to cope with this a lot better than I will,” he grumbled.

I reached up and touched his jaw, and when he looked down, I smiled at him. “We’ll figure it out together. Knowing us, it won’t be easy, but I’ll try if you will.”

“I’ll try, but I can’t promise to have any civil words for the faerie.”

I’d forgotten all about Eldeorin, and I had a feeling he’d left with the others.

“I’ve had a few choice words for him myself. At first I didn’t like his idea of training because he pushed me out of my comfort zone. He always had more faith in my abilities than I had, and he kept pushing until I believed in myself too. He’s been a good mentor and a friend to me, and he always has my back.”

“You like spending time with him.”

I smiled at the note of jealousy in his voice. “Sometimes, but I like being with you more.”

He tilted my face up and kissed me again. “Good answer.”

I glanced around the market, my eyes landing on the dead demons and the empty stalls. As much as I wanted to stay there in Nikolas’s arms, we needed to let the vendors get back to their businesses. “I guess we should get this mess cleaned up.”

He set me on my feet. “I’m sure Chris has already called for a cleanup crew. We should probably put one on speed dial for you.”

Before I could make a retort, Jordan’s voice rang through the building. “Hey, is it safe to come in now? We’re freezing our butts off out here.”

“All good,” I called back.

“Thank God!” She sauntered into the building and grinned at us. “Well, you two look disgustingly happy. And it’s about damn time.”

“Amen.” Chris came up behind her, smiling. “I called in a crew to help with this mess.” His gaze flicked to me. “I told them they might need extra guys.”

Nikolas chuckled, and I rolled my eyes as I left him to check out the damage. There were eleven dead demons, plus the two ranc demons I’d knocked out. There was also a lot of water, broken glass, and six of the black creatures that had been in the tank. Surprisingly, the creatures were still flopping around on the wet concrete. Resilient little buggers, whatever they were. I was going to have to reimburse the owner for destroying his tank. I hoped he wasn’t too ticked off by the mess I’d made.

Demons began to trickle back into the building, most of them vendors who had to see to their businesses. I went around and talked to some of them, assuring them we were going to take care of the damage we’d done to their market. I found the fish vendor, a droopy-eyed sheroc demon, who was only a little put out by the loss of his tank. He said it was worth it to get rid of the gulaks.

“Maybe we’ll get a few months of peace before the next ones come along,” said the apothecary, a short demon with pale skin, a long furred face, and large orange eyes. He gave a sigh of resignation. “There are always more gulak thugs waiting to move in.”

“Just tell them your
talael...
or whatever… is keeping an eye on things here,” Jordan said as she walked up and laid an arm across my shoulders. “She is one fricking badass warrior.”

The vendors nodded fervently.

I asked the apothecary for a piece of paper on which I wrote a number. “Call this if you guys have any more trouble with gulaks. The Mohiri will gladly help you with them.”

He held up his hands when I tried to give him the paper. “The Mohiri do not help our kind.”

“Have you ever asked them for help?”

His orange eyes blinked in confusion. “No.”

I smiled and shoved the paper into his hand. “Maybe you should.”

His furred hand gripped mine. “Thank you,
talael esledur.
”

“You can just call me Sara. I...” I stared down at our clasped hands. “Hey, you’re touching me!”

He yanked his hand away. “I am sorry. I did not know it was forbidden.”

“No, it’s not that. It’s just that I can’t touch demons without hurting them.” I studied his face. “Are you a demon?” I whispered.

He drew me away from the others. “I am a quellar demon, and my people are not affected by your magic.”

“You know what I am?”

He shook his head. “I am not sure. I can sense the Mori demon in you, but I saw you use Fae magic to kill those other demons. And you came here with another Fae.”

I glanced around at the other demons who were watching us curiously. “Um, do you think we could keep that between us for now?”

He smiled. “My people are also known for our discretion.”

Chris raised an eyebrow at me when Jordan and I joined him and Nikolas near the loading bay. “Giving out your number, Sara? He doesn’t seem like your type.”

“He’s not.” I looked at Nikolas, and the warmth in his eyes made my pulse quicken.

“You ready to get out of here?” he asked.

“Yes.” I glanced at the spot where Eldeorin had been standing when Nikolas arrived. “It looks like my ride left, so you’re stuck with me.”

Jordan snickered. “Something tells me he doesn’t mind one bit.”

The four of us went outside to one of the SUVs parked in front of the building. At the door of the building, the three of them stared at me when I slowed to push my way through the thick jelly-like demon ward.

On the other side, I wrinkled my nose. “Demon wards and Fae blood don’t mix.”

I was happy to let Chris and Jordan take the front seat of the SUV, and I climbed into the back with Nikolas. As soon as we were buckled in, his hand found mine, lacing our fingers together and sending a warm tingle up my arm.

Conversation centered mostly around what had happened at the demon market, with Chris and Jordan telling us how the gulaks had cornered them.

“What were you guys doing in a demon market in the first place?” I asked them.

“We discovered Adele has been sending letters to someone there,” Chris said. “We thought it was worth checking out.”

“People still send letters?”

Nikolas nodded. “People who suspect their electronic communications are being monitored.”

“And who have something to hide,” Chris added.

I met Chris’s eyes in the rearview mirror. “Did you find anything?”

“We found the demon she was sending them to. He said he was paid to drop them in a mailbox. Inside the envelope was another envelope with an address and postage. Unfortunately, every time he tries to remember the address he draws a blank.”

“Some kind of memory spell?”

“Looks like it. Adele is proving to be more covert than we gave her credit for.”

I scowled at the seat in front of me. “So I’m learning. And I bet it’s Madeline she’s writing to. Turns out they have been friends for a lot longer than she let on to us.”

“How do you know that?” Nikolas asked.

“I brought a box of Madeline’s things back with me from New Hastings today and –”

“Whoa! Hold up.” Jordan turned in her seat to stare at me. “You went to Maine? Today? How the hell did that happen, and why is Nikolas not freaking out about it?”

“Eldeorin took me there and we didn’t stay long. I found a box of things belonging to Madeline that Nate had mentioned last fall. I was going to give them to Tristan, but I wanted to look through them first.”

“And you were okay with her going there?” Jordan asked Nikolas.

He shook his head. “I didn’t know until after she got back.”

“We were in the middle of discussing it when he got the call that you guys were in trouble.”

Jordan looked from Nikolas to me. “Discussing it. Riiight.”

“What did you find in the box, Sara?” Chris asked.

“Pictures of Madeline and Adele that were taken back in the seventies, and they look pretty chummy in them.”

Nikolas looked thoughtful for a moment. “That would have been just a few years after Madeline left Westhorne.”

Chris nodded. “Looks like we need to pay Adele another visit, Nikolas.”

“Not without me.” No way was I staying behind for this one.

“Or me,” Jordan added.

Nikolas looked at me, and I begged him with my eyes not to start that old argument again. Finally, he said, “We’ll go see her tomorrow.”

I smiled at him and mouthed, “Thank you.”

Dinner that night was a whole new experience for me. Sitting across the table from the man you love and knowing he loves you back, makes everything… better. I could have been eating plain bread and water and I don’t think I would have noticed. Jordan and Chris joined us, and there was more than one teasing comment when one of them had to repeat something they’d said to Nikolas or me. Normally, I’d be embarrassed, but I was too happy to care.

After dinner, I expected Nikolas to say he had to go to the command center. He surprised me by asking me to go for a walk instead. It was a clear night, and the moon cast a silvery glow across the grounds and reflected in the lake as we strolled around it. When we reached the gazebo, the little structure suddenly illuminated with thousands of tiny faerie lights, and I smiled to myself because I knew it had to be Eldeorin’s doing. My faerie friend might shy away from love, but he was a romantic at heart.

“Wow, it’s beautiful here.” I sighed happily as I stood by the rail and looked across the moon-kissed lake.

Nikolas wrapped his arms around me and tucked my head under his chin. “Are you warm enough?”

“Yes.” It was a chilly night, but between his body heat and the warmth coursing through me, I didn’t feel the cold. I was still trying to believe this was real, that we were here together and that Nikolas loved me. He had loved me all along. How blind the both of us had been. How many times one of us could have said the words, but we’d held back. We were quite the pair.

“What do you think would have happened if someone else had found me in Maine? Or if I’d been found when I was little?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, who knows when we would have met? I would have been just another orphan, and you might never have noticed me.” We could have gone decades without ever knowing what we were to each other.

Laughter rumbled in his chest and he pulled me closer, if that was possible. “I’m pretty sure I would have noticed you.”

His husky words and his warm breath against my temple sent a new kind of heat through me, and I began to think about where we would go from here. Nikolas and I loved each other, and there would never be anyone else for me but him. The thought of sex still made me more than a little nervous, but I wanted to take the next step in our relationship, to complete our bond and make him mine forever. Would it happen tonight? My stomach did a series of flips as an image of Nikolas and me together in that way filled my mind.

“Tsk tsk, Cousin. Such naughty thoughts.”

I gasped softly as Eldeorin appeared outside the gazebo, wearing a sly grin. My hands covered Nikolas’s arms, and I waited for him to start yelling at the faerie for his part in my vigilante activities.

“He’s in what we call a waking dream,” Eldeorin said. “He doesn’t know I’m here.”

“What kind of dream?” Aine had put the hellhounds in a waking dream once, and she’d said it felt exactly like real life.

Eldeorin’s eyes gleamed. “A very good one. Not quite as interesting as what you were thinking about a minute ago, but he won’t complain as long as you’re with him.”

My face flamed. I didn’t know if it was from imagining what Nikolas was doing in his dream, or because Eldeorin had guessed my thoughts when he arrived. “How do you know what I was thinking?”

His soft laugh floated toward me. “I didn’t, but I do now.”

I sighed in frustration. “Did you come here just to toy with Nikolas? He’s pretty angry at you.”

“Right now your warrior is feeling
something
, but it’s definitely not anger.”

“Eldeorin!”

He chuckled and stepped forward until he was directly below me. “Love suits you, Cousin.”

My ire faded. “I know.”

“I’m happy for you. You are good together, and I can see how much he loves you.” He laid his hand on the railing. “I came to tell you I must leave for a week or two, but I will return to continue our training.”

“Is everything okay?”

“I have been called home to assist nymph triplets who are experiencing a difficult
liannan
.” He smiled suggestively. “It is a messy job, but someone has to do it.”

I scoffed. “Yes, I’m sure it’s such a burden.”

Eldeorin laughed and backed away from the gazebo. “I’ll see you soon, Cousin.”

“Sara? What just happened?”

I turned in Nikolas’s arms so I was facing him. Confusion was etched across his face as he stared down at me. “Eldeorin paid us a visit. He put you in some kind of dream state.”

Nikolas swore under his breath. “I really don’t like that faerie.”

“Eldeorin’s a bit outrageous, but he does have a good heart.” I reached up to smooth the scowl from his face. “You’ll be happy to know that he’s gone to Faerie for a few weeks.”