Refuge(132)

“I didn’t come down here to talk about Nikolas,” I snapped. I’d come here with a purpose, and I would not let him distract me from it. “Did you have something to say to me?”

He shrugged and his chains clinked. “I have many things to say to you. Where would you like to start?”

“How did this happen to you?”

The question seemed to take him by surprise, and he stared at me for a moment before answering. “I met a beautiful redhead who told me she was going to change my life forever.” One corner of his mouth lifted and he leered at me suggestively. “She did not disappoint.”

I swallowed dryly. “What was her name?”

“Why? So you can hunt her down like a good little vampire killer?” he scoffed.

“Something like that.” And make her tell me who her Master is before I kill her.

“Sorry to disappoint you, kid, but I’ll take that secret to the grave . . . which should be any day now if your guardians have anything to say about it.”

“Why?” I burst out. “Why would you protect someone who sent you here to die?”

He scowled at me. “You would never understand the loyalty and love I have for my maker. She made me strong and gave me back my legs. That was all I ever wanted. I certainly never wanted to be saddled with a sniveling, ungrateful little brat who did nothing but hurt the people who cared about her. Your father died because of you. Even your own mother could not bear to be around you.”

“That’s not true! My dad and Nate loved me, and I loved them and would have done anything to keep them safe.”

“Well, judging by my current accommodations, you aren’t doing such a bang-up job.”

Tears clouded my vision, and I blinked them away. “I never meant for you . . . for Nate to get hurt. I know you don’t care, but I wanted to tell you that.”

He let out a humorless laugh. “You’re right; I don’t care.”

“Then I guess we don’t have anything else to say to each other.” I took a deep tremulous breath and inserted the key into the door lock.

“What are you doing?”

I opened the door and slipped inside, closing it behind me with a loud click that echoed down the empty hallway. Dropping the keys on the floor, I faced the vampire that watched me warily. Be strong and remember you’re doing this for Nate. You owe him this.

“Like you said, I’m a vampire killer,” I said emotionlessly.

“And you are going to kill your own uncle?” He asked with a sneer, but there was less confidence in his voice now.

The rage that had been simmering inside me bubbled to the surface. “You aren’t my uncle. You’re the demon who stole his body.”

“Everything that was your uncle is in me. Do you really want to destroy all that is left of him?”

I clenched my fists and took a step closer. “You might have his memories and his face, but you don’t have his soul. There is nothing left of him in you.” As soon as I said the words, I knew they were true. Even after I’d seen him with fangs bared, even as I stood outside his cell, a tiny part of me believed, or hoped, that Nate was not truly gone forever. Cold acceptance settled over me.

“What are you going to do? Are you really going to put a blade through my heart, your uncle’s heart?” he asked, still trying to make me believe he was Nate.

“It’s not Nate’s heart anymore,” I replied flatly walking toward him. “And I don’t need a knife.”

“What do you mean?”

“You have Nate’s memories, so you know what I am. Do you know why demons are so afraid of the Fae?”

Fear crept into his eyes for the first time and his Adam’s apple bobbed.

“I’m not just a vampire killer; I’m a one-of-a-kind demon slayer. You took Nate from me, so you have the honor of being my first kill. Well, not my first kill, but the first like this.”

His eyes bulged as electricity crackled in the air around me.

“First, I’m going to take care of you. Then, I’m going to leave here and hunt down your maker and your precious Master, and I’m going to kill every blood sucker that gets in my way.”

Muffled shouts from the outer room drew my attention from the vampire. It sounded like Ben had awakened and called in reinforcements. If I was going to finish this, I had to do it now.

I turned back to the vampire. “Nate, wherever you are, please forgive me for not keeping you safe.” Despite my resolve, tears spilled down my cheeks as I called forth my power.

“Sara, no!” Tristan yelled through the window in the door. “Whatever you’re planning to do, you have to stop.”