Refuge(124)

The three men took their seats again. Nikolas was the last to sit, and I saw the doubt in his eyes. I didn’t know if it was the bond or our history together, but he was getting way too good at reading me. Soon it would be impossible to keep anything from him.

I exited the room and turned toward the main hall. I didn’t know why, but something told me to go that way and intuition was all I had right now. When I rounded the corner, I saw the open front door and my steps picked up. I neared the door and heard male voices outside, one of whom was Tristan. Wintry air hit me when I reached the door, but that did not deter me. The same gut feeling that had made me leave the table, told me I needed to go out there and see who was on the other side of the door.

The cold sucked the air from my lungs when I stepped outside, and I wrapped my arms around me for warmth. The night was dark because the moon had not yet risen, but there was enough light around the entrance to see Tristan standing at the bottom of the steps with Ben, and they were alone and facing the driveway as if they waited for someone. Maybe it was someone from the council. It must be someone important to make Tristan leave dinner and stand out in the cold to wait for them.

The sound of a vehicle reached me before I saw headlights coming up the long driveway. Soon a white van with the name of a Boise airport shuttle service on the side pulled up and stopped a short distance from the steps. I watched as the driver got out and slid open the back door on his side, which faced away from us. There was a murmur of voices and creaking sounds and finally the crunch of feet on snow as he shut the door and came around the front of the van. He was alone and empty-handed, and I stared at him in confusion. What was he doing? Who had he been talking to?

Movement drew my attention from the driver, and I let out a loud gasp at the man coming around the corner of the van in a wheelchair.

“Nate!”

It all made sense now, why he hadn’t answered his phone today; he had been flying out here to spend the holiday with us. My heart threatened to explode from happiness.

A wide smile split Nate’s face, and he stopped beside the driver. “I hope I’m not too late for dinner.”

“You are just in time, my friend,” Tristan said graciously. “Why did you not tell me you were coming? I would have sent our plane for you.”

I laughed and flew down the stairs. Later, I would scold Nate for travelling against the doctor’s orders. Right now, all I wanted to do was hug him. Then he was going to get all the turkey dinner he could eat followed by the biggest piece of pumpkin pie he’d ever seen. I was going to feed him so well he would never want to leave.

It hit me just as my feet touched the bottom step, the sensation that someone had stabbed an icicle into my chest. Gasping, I skidded to a stop beside Tristan and stared in confusion at Nate, and then in dawning horror at the van driver who had stepped behind Nate’s wheelchair.

Oh God no.

“Vampire!” I screamed.

Tristan grabbed my arm, and Ben drew his sword. The driver’s eyes went wide and he whirled to look behind him. Nate sat calmly in his chair.

The chair creaked as Nate leaned forward. I watched mutely as he put one foot then the other on the ground. His gaze met mine, and his mouth curved upwards in a smile that did not quite reach his eyes.

“No,” I uttered, choking on the word.

He stood and my world crumbled around me.





Chapter 20





“WHAT? NO HUG for your uncle?”

Pain obliterated the coldness in my chest, closing my throat and making it impossible to speak. This is not happening. This is a horrible dream.

He took a step and threw his arms in the air. “Look, I can walk again. Aren’t you happy for me?”

Tristan let go of my arm, and before I knew what was happening, he and Ben had Nate restrained between them. Nate did not struggle, but fangs grew from his mouth as he continued to smile at me. “I have a message for you from the Master. Eli was his favorite and he was very upset to lose him. The Master thinks it’s only fair that, since you took one he loved, he should take someone you love.”

Roaring filled my ears, and I staggered backward. I did this. I’d brought these monsters into our lives. I’d killed Eli, and now Nate had paid the price for it. Because of my actions, the person who had always loved me, the one I should have kept safe, was gone. Grief suffocated me and I gasped for breath, even as I wished it would kill me so I didn’t have to live with this pain.

My legs buckled and someone caught me from behind. “I’m here, malyutka,” Nikolas said against my hair. I stiffened and tried to pull away from him. Nate was gone because of me; I did not deserve to be held or comforted. Nikolas had warned me I was going to get Nate or one of my friends killed if I wasn’t careful. How could he stomach being near me, knowing what I’d done?