I nodded in agreement as I took a drink of orange juice to wash down the last of my omelet. Back when I thought I was human, I’d spent half my time learning about the supernatural world. But would I have been the same if my dad hadn’t been killed? I might have lived in blissful ignorance until vampires came looking for Madeline’s daughter or until I discovered I’d had stopped aging.
“Sara, Nikolas was here before you woke up. He wants to see you. I told him you weren’t ready, but you should consider talking to him soon.”
My stomach tightened. “I don’t know what to say to him. Can I have a few days?”
Tristan nodded. “No one is going to rush you, but don’t leave him hanging long. This has not been easy for him either.”
“I won’t. I just . . . I need a little time.” The last thing I wanted to do was hurt Nikolas, but I couldn’t face him yet. I certainly wasn’t ready to talk about our future or this bond between us. I carried my dishes to the sink and washed them. “Does Nikolas know that I’m going back to training with Callum?”
“I haven’t told him yet.” Tristan crossed his arms over his chest. “Did you ask to switch because of what happened between you?”
“Yes, but I really don’t want to talk about that.”
“You know that despite everything, Nikolas is the best trainer for you.”
I hung up the dish towel and leaned back against the counter, chewing my lip. I knew Tristan had my best interests at heart, but I was not going to discuss my feelings for Nikolas with him.
After a moment, he let out an unhappy sigh. “I’ll tell him today.”
* * *
I stayed in my room for the rest of the afternoon and while everyone else was at dinner I snuck out and went to the menagerie. Sahir brought me a covered tray of food, and I suspected Tristan had asked him to keep an eye on me. I sat across from Minuet’s cage and told her about everything while I ate. Since the night she had scented me, she sat on the floor of her cage facing me every time I came to see her, and every now and then, she cocked her head as if I’d said something of particular interest. Sahir kept shaking his head and muttering that he’d never seen anything like it.
When I finished my dinner, I noticed that Alex had crept closer to the front of his cage and sat listening to me talk to Minuet. The thing about a wyvern is that their expression never really changes so you can’t tell if they are just curious or planning to try to fry you. I decided to keep my distance, throwing him pieces of the steak I hadn’t finished. Although he preferred raw meat, he gobbled up the food I tossed him.
Back in my room, I picked up the phone to call Roland, but I couldn’t dial the number. I shared almost everything with him, but how did I explain something I had trouble grasping myself? I hadn’t told Roland yet about kissing Nikolas or my confusing new feelings for him. I loved Roland, but there were some things you just couldn’t share with a boy.
Thoroughly depressed, I reached for my sketchbook. I’d started a new one two weeks ago, and it was already filled with drawings of Hugo, Woolf, Alex, and Minuet. Who would have thought a few months ago that I would be drawing hellhounds, a wyvern, and a griffin from life?
I opened to a new page and picked up my pencil. I thought for a minute about the scene I wanted to capture, and then my pencil began to move deftly over the paper. As I drew, I relived every detail of the bloody encounter in the barn. Jordan and I had won the fight, but I knew it could have gone very badly for us. If the three vampires had arrived together, we would not have been able to take them all at once. If I hadn’t recognized what Seth was in time or if I’d been with someone less skilled than Jordan – like Olivia – we’d be dead now. If my power hadn’t done what I’d hoped it would do, that vampire would have killed me.
The sad truth was that I was a terrible fighter and I didn’t even know basic self-defense. I was years behind the other trainees, and if it wasn’t for good luck and my sporadic bursts of power, I could have been killed last night. Not to mention surviving the lamprey demons. Having power was great when it worked, but what I really needed was to learn to fight.
I was putting the finishing touches on the drawing when there was a knock at the door. When I answered it, Jordan flashed a small smile and slipped past me without waiting for an invitation.
“Hello, Jordan, would you like to come in?” I asked dryly, closing the door behind her.
“Why thank you, Sara. I think I will.” She plopped down in my desk chair, and I went back to sitting on the bed. “So, what excitement do we have planned for tonight?”