Refuge(42)

I turned to glare at him, and I was startled to find his gray eyes inches from mine. “You. . . ” I stammered and leaned away from him, causing his mouth to curve into a familiar smirk. “Let me guess, no one else will eat with you.”

He gave me a lazy smile that made my stomach do things it definitely should not be doing. “I seem to remember you being a lot nicer the last time we had dinner together.”

“Like I had a choice,” I retorted, thinking of my last night in New Hastings. “You guys wouldn’t let me out of your sight that night.”

“Actually, I was thinking about the night of the storm when the power went out.”

Images of that night – eating sandwiches by candlelight, sitting by the fire talking – flooded my mind, and the room suddenly felt too warm. I looked away from him. “People change,” was all I could think of to say. I could feel Jordan’s eyes on us as she listened to our exchange, and the last thing I wanted to do was spar with Nikolas in front of an audience. I reached for my tray.

“I hear you’re having some difficulty in training.” His statement stilled my hand. “I thought perhaps you might want to talk about it.”

He knew more about me than anyone here, but he was the last person I wanted to have a heart-to-heart with. “No thank you.”

Nikolas was completely unfazed by my rejection of his offer. He smiled at Jordan. “Jordan, right?” She nodded mutely. “I hear you’re pretty lethal with a blade.”

I watched her blush and turn from a bold, outspoken warrior-to-be into a flustered teenage girl who had finally met her idol. “She is,” I said, not sure why I felt the need to come to her rescue. “You should have seen her last night, taking on those lamprey demons. If it wasn’t for her, we probably would have been demon chow. She – ”

I stopped when I sensed the tension flowing off Nikolas and I remembered how he used to get whenever I was in danger. Well, I was no longer his responsibility, so he was going to have to get over it.

Apprehension filled Jordan’s eyes at his stiffness; she had obviously never witnessed one of Nikolas’s dark moods before. I wanted to tell her “I told you so,” but instead I elbowed Nikolas in the ribs a little harder than was necessary. “Quit scowling before you scare off my new friend.”

His eyes remained narrowed on me for a moment. Then his face relaxed and the tension seeped out of him as he picked up his burger. “I certainly wouldn’t want to do that. At least this one doesn’t shed.”

I started to make a retort when I saw one corner of his mouth lift and I knew he was playing with me. It was a side of him he didn’t show much – to me anyway – and I wasn’t sure how to respond. He bit into his burger, looking pleased with himself.

“Just ignore him,” I said to Jordan, even though I knew how ridiculous it was to expect that of someone who looked at Nikolas with a mix of fear and reverence. “He has to ruin at least one meal for me before he disappears on another one of his missions.”

“You didn’t hear?” he asked and his smug look gave me a sinking feeling in my stomach. “Maybe you would have if you hadn’t disappeared this afternoon.”

“Hear what?”

“I’m not going anywhere for the next month at least.”

“What? Sick of hunting already?”

“No, I just have another job at the moment. I’m your new trainer.”

My first thought was that he was joking to get another rise out of me. But then I saw that he was serious, and I shook my head in denial. “I am not training with you.” Callum suddenly didn’t look so awful anymore. I looked around the room for Tristan, to have him set things straight, but he was nowhere to be seen.

“It was Tristan’s idea,” Nikolas informed me as if he knew who I was looking for. “He thinks it might help you to work with someone you know.”

“Since when do you work with trainees, or follow orders for that matter?” I hoped this was his idea of a joke. “Don’t you have more orphans to rescue?”

“After you, I have a much greater respect for the people who usually handle those jobs,” he drawled. “I agree with Tristan on this. We need to try a different approach with your training.”

“A few days ago, Tristan mentioned a guy in India who he thought might be able to help me.”

“Janak?” Nikolas chuckled, and I wanted to elbow him again. “Janak’s a nice guy, but way too soft for this. One session with you and he’d be on the first plane back to India.”

I folded my arms and glowered at him as he dug into his burger again. If he thought he could just show up out of nowhere, push his way back into my life, and throw insults at me, he obviously did not know me as well as he thought he did. “So, what is your brilliant plan, to harass me until I get so pissed off that I sic my demon on you?”