Refuge(43)

He took time to finish off his burger before replying, and I knew he did it just to provoke me. What really bugged me was that it was working. I wanted to yell at him and run away from him at the same time, but I refused to let him see how much he was able to get to me.

“If that’s what it takes, but I think something else will work better for you.”

“What?” As much as I wanted to pretend not to care, I couldn’t hide my curiosity.

He stood and picked up his tray. “Get some sleep tonight because training starts tomorrow.” Before I could argue or ask him again what he meant, he walked away. I stared after him until Jordan exhaled sharply, reminding me I was not alone at the table. I turned back to find her watching me with something akin to awe in her expression.

“You are the luckiest female on the planet right now. You know that, don’t you?”

“Really? How do you figure?” I felt decidedly more cursed than lucky and wondered how I was going to get out of this training. Why would Tristan suggest such a thing, knowing how I felt about Nikolas?

“You’re shitting me right? Nikolas Danshov is going to give you private lessons. Look at him. Do you really expect me to believe that you aren’t the least bit attracted to him?”

I shifted uncomfortably. “I never said he wasn’t good looking. It’s just that he can be very intense and bossy and he’s a lot to take sometimes.”

Jordan rested her chin in her palms and let out a gusty sigh. “Yes, please.”

“You wouldn’t say that if you knew him. Nikolas is like an iceberg.” She raised an eyebrow, and I shook my head. “I don’t mean he’s cold. I mean you only see what’s above the surface. Underneath there is a lot more to him than you realize, and it’s not always pretty.”

Jordan gave me a sly smile. “Well, it sounds like you are going to be spending some serious one-on-one time with him. What I wouldn’t give to be shut up alone in a room with that man.” Her smile widened to a grin. “I can’t wait to see Celine’s face when she hears about this.”

I scowled to hide the heat threatening to fill my face. “I hate to ruin your fantasies, Jordan, but I am not training with Nikolas, privately or otherwise.”

“Not what it looks like to me.” Her eyes gleamed as she reached for my cold pizza. “I told you no one says no to Nikolas.”

“Shut up,” I snapped, but it only made her grin more.





* * *


“I can’t believe you finished the first draft already. I hope you’re not staying up all night working.”

Nate laughed into the phone. He was usually stressed toward the end of a first draft, and hearing him sound so relaxed meant the book was going well. “I’ve discovered I work way too much when I don’t have you around to make me stop.”

I tapped my pencil against the drawing of Hugo and Woolf I’d been working on when he called. “So, it’s been quiet there?” I didn’t need to elaborate because Nate knew what I was asking.

“Very quiet. Brendan dropped by two days ago to visit and told me they think it’s safe here now. But they are still keeping an eye on things.”

“I still hate you being there alone. I wish I knew if the troll ward still worked.” The ward I’d put on our building to protect it was supposed to last as long as it was my home. I still considered the apartment home even though I was here, but I didn’t know if the spell took the meaning literally or figuratively. It wasn’t like we could get someone evil to try to enter the apartment to test it. “You started using the Ptellon nectar though, right?”

There was a short pause. “Not yet. If Brendan thinks it’s safe – ”

“Nate, you promised!”

“I know. I’m just having trouble with the idea of taking something I know nothing about.”

I repressed a sigh of frustration. Nate had accepted the existence of the supernatural world, but he still couldn’t handle it all. Every time we spoke, I asked him about the Ptellon blood I gave him to help keep him safe from demons and other nasty things, and every time he said he would start using it. Even knowing the dangers out there, he would rather not ingest something with magical properties.

“I know what it is. You have to trust me, please. If you only knew what I went through to get that stuff.” I’d never told him about my little adventure at the marina. With everything else going on at the time, I didn’t think he needed to hear about a pack of possessed wharf rats. “It will make me feel a lot better if you take it.”

I heard his chair squeak as he shifted position. “I’ll do it. I just need to talk myself into it.”