Refuge(50)

“Lucky me,” I muttered, and I heard him laugh softly. “Where did you go?”

His laughter died. “It was a job, clearing out some nests. Nothing you want to hear about.”

“You were looking for the Master, weren’t you?”

“You don’t need to worry about him anymore.”

I stopped abruptly. “I’m not a child, Nikolas, and I deserve to know what is going on. If you can’t be open with me, you can go find someone else to train.”

I spun back toward the stronghold, but he grabbed my arm and let out an aggravated sigh. “I see you are still the same pain in the ass.”

I kept my face turned away from him as a smile played around the corners of my mouth. “Takes one to know one.”

“We found where we believe Eli was staying in Portland, and there were signs that the Master could be in Nevada. It’s not surprising since Vegas is the perfect place for vampires to blend in and hunt. We hit a nest in Henderson and that led us to two more nests near Vegas, but none of them gave us anything useful about the Master. Whoever he is, he is well hidden and his followers have no idea where he is.”

I faced him again. “So, what happens now?”

His smile returned. “Now we train while someone else looks for him. A Master is no small matter, and the Council has made it a priority to find him. They’ve already sent extra teams to the US dedicated to hunting him. It is only a matter of time before he is found.” He didn’t say it, but I knew he would join the hunt again if the Master was not found. As upset as I was with him, I didn’t want to think of him out there facing such a powerful vampire.

We resumed walking and a few minutes later, I saw a glimmer through the trees and knew exactly where we were going. I ran ahead and burst out of the trees onto the rocky shore of the lake I had been trying to get to for weeks. It was bigger than it looked on the map and, except for the water lapping gently at the shore, not a ripple marred its glassy surface. The woods around the lake teamed with life, and I could hear birds and frogs and insects. A ways down the shore, a doe stood alert, watching us for signs of a threat. It was just as serene and lovely as I’d imagined it would be.

“This is incredible,” I said as Nikolas caught up to me. “I can’t believe people don’t come here all the time.”

“Not everyone loves the woods as much as you do.”

I looked back at him. “Then why did you bring me here?”

“Because I’m not like everyone else.” He sat on a large rock and waved at another rock near him. “Let’s talk.”

I hesitated for a long moment before I took a seat on the rock. “I thought we were going to train.”

“We will, but first I want to talk about your training. Callum told me you don’t seem to want to use your Mori strength or speed.”

“You talked to him about me?” I wasn’t sure why it bothered me, but I did not like the idea of them discussing me.

“Of course. I needed to understand the problem so we can fix it.”

The problem was that I did not want to be fixed, but I didn’t say that. Nikolas, like the rest of the Mohiri, had some mysterious connection with their Mori that I couldn’t comprehend and he would not understand why I didn’t have or want the same thing. “You think you know what my problem is?”

“I have several theories. The first is that you are so used to suppressing your Mori that you don’t know how to do anything else. Demons are afraid of Fae magic, which explains why your Mori doesn’t fight for control like mine would if I kept it locked away. You need to learn to loosen your control just as you would exercise any muscle. It takes practice.”

I loosened my hands which I had unconsciously clenched in my lap. “That’s it then?”

“That is one theory.” Nikolas rested his elbows on his knees bringing him closer to me, and his eyes held mine as if he was reading my thoughts. “My other theory is that you are afraid.”

I swallowed hard and tried to look away but couldn’t. “Why . . . would I be afraid?”

“I was there in the wine cellar, Sara, and I saw what happened when you let your demon out. I also saw the fear on your face when I asked you about it the next day. It terrified you how close the demon came to controlling you. But that would never have happened.”

A shudder ran through me, and I tried to block the memory of the demon moving beneath my skin, controlling my body and filling my mind. “You’re wrong,” I whispered hoarsely. “It almost did.”

“No, it didn’t. Look at me,” he commanded. “I would not have let it take you.”