Refuge(91)

“Oh.” My body relaxed. “I like him, too. He took a little getting used to, but he’s really sweet when he wants to be. I wish I could go back and meet him before he got sick.”

“That’s the thing. The Desmund I saw last night was very much like the one I used to know. When I say he’s a different person, I mean he is almost like his old self again. It’s as if he has been miraculously cured.” Tristan’s shrewd stare made me fidget. “You did this, didn’t you?”

“I – ” I broke off, uncertain how to proceed. If I told him what I’d done, would he be angry with me? I’d healed hundreds of creatures over the years, but using my power on a person was not the same and neither was dealing with magic. No one had ever healed a Hale witch victim, and here I was thinking I could do it because I’d battled a single witch and won. Just because I succeeded did not mean I’d had the right to take that risk with Desmund in the first place.

“I’ll take that as a yes.” He ran his hand through his hair. “You don’t have to talk about it now, but we will have to discuss it soon. What you’ve done . . . do you know what it could mean for others like Desmund?”

Until that moment, all I’d cared about was helping Desmund; I never thought about what it would mean if it actually worked. The idea that I could help other warriors suffering from the same fate made me feel like I might have a purpose here after all.

Tristan stood and waved at the door. “Go on; get ready for your party. We’ll talk more about this later.”

“Okay,” I said, relieved he was not angry with me.

“Sara,” he called as I opened the door. “I don’t think Desmund realizes what has happened or what you’ve done for him. I want to thank you on his behalf.”

Tears pricked my eyes. “You don’t have to thank me. He’s my friend, too.”





* * *


I tugged on the hem of the borrowed white shirt that hugged my body a little tighter than I was used to. Maybe borrowed was not the right word. Coerced was probably a better one. I almost shook my head in disgust. I could command hellhounds, but I could not stand up to a teenage girl when she got it into her head that I needed a party outfit. The jeans weren’t too bad though, even if they hung a bit low on my hips. I still couldn’t believe Jordan had ordered them online for me days ago along with the cute brown leather boots I was wearing. She was pushy and sneaky. I wished I could take her to New Hastings and introduce her to Faith Perry and the other mean girls at my old school. They wouldn’t know what hit them.

“Any of you girls want a beer?” called our host, Derek, over the music as he approached with two unopened beers in his hands.

I held up my bottle of water. “I’m good, thanks.” When we got here two hours ago, I’d had a couple of beers, but I wasn’t much of a drinker.

“I’ll have one of those.” Jordan took one of the offered beers with a smile that made the good-looking twenty-three-year-old grin like a teenage boy. I hid my smile behind my water bottle. I had been a little worried about being around human men again, especially now that my elemental powers were growing. At first, some of the guys, including Derek, showed interest, but after I gently deflected their flirting, they moved on. They didn’t go too far. Half of them were falling over themselves for Jordan who looked amazing and had a sexy, confident air men couldn’t resist. She loved their attention, and I was happy to stay back in the shadows and enjoy the party.

“How about you?” Derek offered the second beer to Olivia.

“Mark is getting me something,” she told him, pointing at Mark, who was talking to Terrence and Josh on the other side of the room.

Jordan said something to Derek, and I took the opportunity to nudge Olivia and confirm a suspicion I’d had all evening. “Hey, what’s up with you and Mark? You two have barely left each other’s sight tonight.” I knew they had been best friends for years, but it was obvious there was something else going on between them.

Olivia blushed and her eyes sparkled. “We finally decided to start going out. We’ve been joking about it for a while and last night we just . . . kissed. My first kiss and it was amazing. I’ve been crazy about him forever, and I never realized he felt the same way.”

“That’s awesome, Olivia.”

She sighed blissfully, her eyes following Mark. “I still can’t believe it.”

When Mark joined us a minute later, I watched the warm looks that passed between them as he pulled her out for a dance. An ache formed in my chest. It wasn’t that I was jealous of them or even wanted a boyfriend right now. I just couldn’t help thinking how different my first kiss was from Olivia’s and how happy she was, while I was . . . I wasn’t quite sure how I felt. Rejected? Confused? Hurt?