Refuge(30)

“A warrior raising a little girl?”

He cut into his salmon. “My sister, Beatrice, would have taken Elena, but she was in South America at the time. I lived in a family compound in Virginia back then, and it was more of a community than this one. There were other children for Elena to play with and women to go to when I needed advice. It was a lot more suitable for a child than travelling the world, and Elena had a very happy childhood there.”

“Nikolas told me very little about her,” I said softly. “But it sounded like he cared about her a lot.”

Tristan nodded. “I am not surprised he mentioned her. Nikolas came to our compound when Elena was nine, and he spoiled her like the rest of us did. She was like a little sister to him, and he took her death very hard. He blamed himself even though I and everyone else told him it was not his fault. My sister was beautiful and used to people doting on her. She was precocious and charming, but she was also willful, and I blame myself for that. She never should have left the compound alone, and she died because of it.”

“Why did Nikolas blame himself?”

“As I said, Nikolas loved Elena like a sister, but Elena, she adored him and she constantly tried to get his attention. By the time she was sixteen, most of the boys in the compound believed themselves in love with her, but she only had eyes for Nikolas. He knew how she felt and he always deflected her attentions gently, but she was determined to have him and nothing would dissuade her. Her schemes to get him alone grew more creative every day until even I began to tease him about us one day being brothers if he was not careful. If only I had known the lengths she would go to be with him, I might have intervened before her games got out of control. I might have saved her.”

“What happened?”

“Elena knew how protective Nikolas was of her. She concocted a plan to sneak away from the compound, and she had her friend Miriam go to Nikolas and tell him Elena had run away. Miriam confessed later that they were hoping the thought of losing Elena would make Nikolas realize his true feelings for her. But Miriam could not get to Nikolas because he was giving a report before the Counsel at the time. By the time she found him, four hours had passed and she was in a panic because it was nearly dark. Nikolas raised the alarm, and a group of us rode out after Elena. We picked up signs of vampires, and we split up to cover the area faster.”

Tristan paused, and I saw raw pain on his face as he continued. “It was Nikolas who found her. What they did to her . . . it was beyond inhuman. After they had finished their fun, they burned what was left of her until my beautiful little sister was unrecognizable. They left her horse unharmed and tied to a tree, a message to us that her life meant less than an animal’s.”

“God . . . ” I had seen what vampires left behind of the people they killed. I also knew they took special delight in killing young Mohiri.

“Nikolas took her death as hard as I did, and he blamed himself for not making her understand that there could never be anything romantic between them. He stayed out for months until he had hunted down every vampire in a hundred-mile radius. I tried to convince him that he was not at fault and that no one blamed him for her death, but he would not listen. He was different after that, harder. A year later, I left Virginia and came here to build this place, and he came with me. We both wanted something that did not remind us of Virginia, which is why we made this into a military stronghold instead of a community.”

“I’m sorry about your sister,” I said, not knowing what to say about someone who’d been dead for so many years. “It’s no wonder Nikolas gets so overbearing and angry with me all the time.”

“Sara, do not compare yourself to Elena. Don’t get me wrong, I loved my sister with all my heart, but I was not blind to her faults. Elena was beautiful and spirited, but she was also spoiled and selfish. You have done some reckless things in the past, but you are also very loyal to your friends and you have a kind heart. Sahir tells me you bring raw meat treats for the wyvern when you visit the hellhounds, even though that creature would likely try to kill you given the chance.”

“He can’t help what he is, and I know he must get lonely in there, especially not being able to fly. Don’t worry, I don’t expect him to eat out of my hand or anything, and I’ll be keeping my distance. I like my body parts where they are.”

We laughed and turned the conversation to other things. He wanted to hear more about my life, so I described what it was like growing up with Roland and Peter. And Remy. I told him about Roland’s recent trip to the cave and how much it meant to get the message from Remy.