Warrior

by Karen Lynch

“Sara, it’s time to come back now,” I ordered more calmly than I felt.

  “Your friends need you. Roland needs you.” I need you.

  There was no reaction. She stood woodenly, her eyes blank. I’d hoped Roland’s name, if not my voice, would snap her out of it. Her Mori was strong for one that had been repressed its whole life, and it was fighting to stay in control. The longer it did, the more Sara would slip away into madness.

  I won’t lose you. I slapped her across the face hard enough to make her head snap back.

  Nothing.

  Grabbing her shoulders, I shook her hard. “Goddamnit! You will not do this. Do you hear me?”

  She blinked, and for a second, something stirred in her eyes. Her body twisted in my grasp, and she – the demon – tried to pull away from me.

  I wrapped my arms around her. Her Mori was strong, but it was no match for me. “That’s it, Sara, fight. Follow my voice. Come back to me.”

  She let out a growling roar as she struggled to break my hold. The demon was scared because she was fighting.

  Holding her closer, I put my mouth to her ear. “You were right, Sara; you are not weak. In fact, you are one of the strongest, most infuriating people I have ever met. You fight monsters, you befriend trolls and beasts, and you face horrors that would break a lesser person. And you walk headfirst into danger to protect the ones you care about. You are loyal, stubborn, and foolhardy and, though you don’t believe it, you are a warrior.”

  She stopped struggling and stood quietly in my arms.

  I pressed forward. “Few Mohiri could have done what you did tonight, giving up yourself to save those trolls. You did what you had to do, and now you have to come back to us. To Roland.”

  “Roland?” she rasped.

  “That’s right,” I said hoarsely. “Your friend, Roland. He needs you now.”

  She began to shake. I remembered clearly the first time I’d lost control of my own Mori. Barely five years old, I was terrified when the demon had filled my mind, taking over my body. At that age, my Mori was weak, and my mother had talked me through it. I couldn’t imagine the struggle Sara was going through with her much stronger demon.

  I pulled back and looked into her eyes. My breath caught when I saw green specks in the black irises.

  “That’s it, moy malen'kiy voin. Fight.”

  A violent shudder went through her, and when her eyes met mine again, they were the perfect shade of emerald green. “What happened to Roland?” she asked.

  I wanted to crush her against me and yell at her to never do that to me again. Instead, I rubbed her arms and looked into her confused eyes. “Roland and Peter ran into some guards and Roland was shot.”

  “What?” Fear filled her eyes. “Is he okay?”

  “He was alive when I left him. Peter is calling Maxwell.”

  “He was…” She jerked away from me, and I let her go. “Where is he? I need to help him.”

  “If anyone can help Roland, it’s Maxwell. He’ll know what to do.”

  My words were meant to calm her, but they only seemed to agitate her. Fear and desperation crossed her face, and she pushed past me and ran for the door.

  “I have to find him!”

  All I could do was follow her. In the outer room, the hellhounds perked up when she raced past them, and one let out a soft whine.

  “Stay,” she ordered as she tore up the stairs.

  The hellhounds lowered their heads to the stone floor.

  Shock rippled through me. No one but a hellhound’s master could command the beast, yet this pair had just submitted to Sara as if they belonged to her.

  I saw her go outside and say something to Erik and Raj. Then she was off and running down the front steps. At the bottom, she turned to look up at me. Her chest heaved as if she couldn’t draw air into her lungs.

  “I have to go to him. Please. He needs me,” she cried.

  I went to her. “Roland is with his people. If anyone can help him, they can.” I hated hurting her, but she needed to hear the truth, to prepare herself for the worst. “The men had silver ammo, most likely to protect themselves from the vampires they were working with.”

  She took a step back, shaking her head frantically. “No, no, you don’t understand. I can help him.”

  I grabbed her by the shoulders before she could run again. “He took a direct hit in the chest, Sara. The pack will do what they can for him, but this type of injury is almost always fatal to werewolves. I’m sorry.”

  “No! I won’t let that happen!”

  Sobbing, she pulled away from me, pain radiating from her. “I know I’ve been nothing but trouble to you and you have no reason to do this for me, but I have no one else. Please help me, Nikolas.”

  Her desperate plea gutted me. She had no idea there was nothing I wouldn’t do for her.

  I turned to the house. “Erik, I need your bike.”

  He tossed his keys to me. I took Sara’s hand to lead her to the motorcycles. I gave her a helmet and grabbed one for myself. Straddling Erik’s bike, I started it and waited for her to climb on behind me. She pressed herself against my back and wrapped her arms tightly around my waist.

  I broke the speed limit all the way to New Hastings, even though I knew what we’d find when we got there. Neither of us spoke until we reached the Knolls.

  “Brendan’s. That’s where they’ll take him,” she said when I slowed at the turnoff.

  I’d gotten to know the area over the last month, so I knew where Brendan’s farm was. Minutes later, we drove along the edge of the driveway, which was packed with vehicles. Lights shone from every window in the big two-story house, and a small crowd of people stood on the front porch talking. Everyone quieted and stared at us when we pulled up.

  Sara jumped off the bike before I shut it off. She ran up the steps and found her way blocked by the young hotheaded wolf named Francis.

  “Haven’t you done enough?” he railed at her. “You are not welcome here.”

  “I have to see him.” She tried to push past him, and one of the other men grabbed her shoulder to hold her back.

  “Let me go!” she cried.

  My Mori growled dangerously.

  “Take your hand off her.”

  I forced myself to walk calmly to Sara so I didn’t go over and rip the arm off the man who dared to touch her.

  The man let her go and narrowed his eyes at me. The others moved closer to him, scowling as if they could intimidate me.

  I tensed and prepared to pull Sara behind me in case one of them made a move toward us.

  “What’s going on here?” rumbled Brendan from the doorway. Several of the men hung their heads under his glare.

  Sara ran to the Beta wolf. “Brendan. Please, I need to see Roland!”

  The older wolf’s eyes and voice were kind when he laid a hand on her shoulder. “I know how much you care about him, but you can’t go in there right now. It’s not safe.”

  “Not safe?” she repeated tearfully.

  “The silver went in too deep. It’s too close to his heart, and we can’t get to it. He’s half mad with the pain, and he doesn’t know anyone right now. He’d tear you apart.”

  A long mournful howl came from inside the house, and every person on the porch shuddered.

  “He can’t heal,” Brendan told her, his eyes dark with grief. “A couple of hours at the most.”

  A wave of her pain hit me, and I almost closed my eyes against the force of it.

  “No!” She pushed past him into the house. “Roland is not going to die!”

  Brendan let her go and shook his head sorrowfully. “She loves that pup like a brother. This is going to kill her.”

  “This is all her fault,” Francis spat.

  “Francis!” Brendan gave him a look that brooked no argument. “Roland is old enough to know better. Do you really think that little girl could force a werewolf to do anything against his will?”

  The younger wolf had no reply to that.

>   “Is there no chance?” I asked Brendan, though I already knew the answer.

  “None.” He wiped his eyes with his shirt sleeve.

  Silence fell over the porch. A few of the wolves laid their hands on the shoulders of those next to them, seeking solace in each other’s touch. I’d always heard that werewolf packs were closely knit, but I’d never experienced it firsthand until today. Every member of this pack would grieve the loss of one of their own. Even Francis bowed his head in sorrow.

  Another agonizing howl tore through the silence. A woman began to cry quietly.

  A boy appeared in the doorway, his eyes wide with excitement. “She’s gone in with Roland!” he cried in a high voice.

  “Who?” Brendan asked.

  “Sara. She said she’s gonna save him!”

  I shoved past the wolves, ignoring their shouts of outrage.

  Brendan stepped aside to allow me entry, and I ran to where a crowd was gathered outside an open door on the first floor. I pushed through them, earning more than one growl until Brendan barked, “Let him pass.”

  I reached the room and took in the sight of the black werewolf chained and thrashing on a mattress in the corner. Sara called to him, and he went nuts, straining to break the chains that held him.

  I grabbed her around the waist and pulled her from the room.

  She turned and smiled at me. “It’s all right. I just tamed two hellhounds, remember?”

  Her eyes held mine, begging me to have faith in her. I didn’t know what Sara had done to those hellhounds, but she had done something to make them her own. My gut told me I was about to find out what that was.

  I released her, and she sat on the floor a few feet into the room, close enough for me to grab her if the wolf somehow managed to break his chains.

  “Roland, do you know who I am?” she asked him softly.

  He growled and bared his fangs.

  “I see. Well, that won’t do at all,” she said calmly as if she wasn’t sitting less than ten feet from a crazed werewolf. “I know you’re in a lot of pain, and we’re going to deal with that soon, but first I think we need to have a talk. Or I’ll talk and you can listen. How does that sound?”

  Another growl.

  She shifted, settling her hands in her lap. “I know I said that Remy was my first friend here, but you were always my best friend. The best times of my life have been with you and Peter. Remember when we used to have slumber parties, and Brendan let us camp out in the hayloft that one time? We told ghost stories until we were all too scared to sleep, and we ended up sneaking back into the house after everyone else went to bed. Or the time you nipped some of Brendan’s whiskey, and we got drunk for the first time. I never touched that stuff again.”

  Someone chuckled softly, and I looked behind me at Brendan who smiled fondly at Sara.

  She continued to speak in warm, gentle tones, remembering humorous stories from their childhood and all the mischief the two of them and Peter had gotten into. Every now and then, someone else would smile and nod, and I saw how rich and happy Sara’s childhood had been, despite all she had suffered.

  “Roland?”

  The wolf’s yellow eyes were fixed on Sara. He whined, making me realize how quiet he had become. He no longer growled or struggled to break free. He was as enraptured by her voice as the rest of us.

  “You were pretty shocked to learn about Remy, weren’t you? But he’s not my only secret. Remember the other day after the marina when I said there were things I had to tell you about me? Do you want to know what it is – what I can do?”

  Secret? Marina? What was she talking about? What else could she possibly be hiding?

  She got to her knees and moved toward the wolf.

  In a second, I had her by the arm. “What are you doing? That’s an injured werewolf. He’ll rip you apart.”

  Her eyes never left the wolf. “No, he won’t. You always ask me to trust you. Now it’s time for you to trust me.”

  Every part of me screamed to hold on to her, to keep her safe. But her plea and the quiet confidence in her voice loosened my fingers until she pulled from my grip. I held my breath as she crawled toward the wolf, stopping just short of the mattress.

  “I know it hurts a lot, but I’m going to make the pain go away now. You know I would never hurt you, don’t you?”

  My whole body tensed as she reached out to touch one of the wolf’s paws.

  “There you are,” she crooned. “You had me worried there.”

  The wolf lifted his head and made a mournful sound before he collapsed back onto the mattress. Whatever Sara had done, the fight had gone out of him.

  “Shhh,” she said softly as she laid one hand over the wound on his chest.

  I held my breath, waiting to see what she would do.

  After a long moment, she placed her other hand on his chest. The wolf watched her trustingly, and I wished I could see her face. What was she doing?

  Her hands began to glow.

  What the –? I stared, transfixed, as the white glow from her hands grew brighter. Whispers broke out behind me, but I couldn’t take my eyes off the sight before me if my life depended on it.

  “I think this is going to require a bit more contact,” she said. She began to lower herself to the mattress.

  I took a step forward.

  A hand on my shoulder stopped me, and Brendan whispered, “Wait.”

  I clenched my jaw as I watched Sara lie beside the wolf and slip her arms around his body. Her back was to us, and she looked so small pressed up against the large werewolf. My heart thudded in my chest when he wrapped his hairy arms around her. His jaws were too close to her bare throat. One bite could snap her neck.

  Sara began to glow again, and this time it wasn’t just her hands. Her arms and torso emitted the same white light that grew until it nearly blinded me.

  Minutes passed, and Sara and the werewolf stayed in their tight embrace, bathed in light. People whispered, some sent up prayers. All I could do was watch the miracle I knew was taking place before my eyes.

  At last, the light faded, leaving Sara sagging against the wolf.

  “Now you know my secret,” she said.

  No one moved or spoke.

  The bloody paw resting on Sara’s shoulder flexed, showing one-inch black claws. I tensed and called on my Mori speed so I could reach her if the wolf attacked.

  The wolf let out a low whine. Seconds later, the paw became a human hand.

  Shouts broke out behind me, and Brendan blessed himself. “Holy Mary, Mother of God!”

  I went to Sara and lifted her into my arms. I stepped back as Judith rushed over to lay a blanket over Roland, whose naked chest bore not even the trace of a scar.

  “Mom?” he said sluggishly before he closed his eyes and slept.

  Judith’s shoulders shook as she tenderly brushed damp hair away from her son’s face.

  “Is Sara okay?” Maxwell asked from the doorway.

  I gazed down at the closed eyes of the girl in my arms. Was it normal for her to be like this after she did…whatever that was?

  She mumbled incoherently and curled into me. The emotions that welled in my chest were indescribable.

  “I think she’s just exhausted. Hopefully, all she needs is some sleep.”

  Brendan nodded. “She’s earned it, poor thing. I had no idea you Mohiri could do that.”

  “We can’t.”

  My words hung in the air between us. Brendan’s eyes widened, and Maxwell stroked his beard thoughtfully. Behind them, people pressed as close as they dared to see what was going on in the room.

  Judith stood and came to me, brushing her hand against Sara’s cheek. “You brave, wonderful child,” she said in a voice filled with awe. “Thank you.”

  Her eyes were wet when she looked at me. “Take her upstairs. Second door on the left.”

  Brendan cleared a path to the stairs. I followed him, carrying my precious burden, ignoring the stares and whispers around us. I did
n’t blame them because I was still reeling from what I’d witnessed.

  Upstairs, I found Peter waiting for us in the hallway. His face was pale and drawn, but his eyes were filled with hope. “Is it true? Is Roland…?”

  “He’s okay,” I said, and he sagged against the wall.

  “And Sara?”

  “She’s sleeping.” I carried her past him to the room Judith had mentioned. Laying her on the bed, I pulled a thick quilt over her.

  “I wanted to give this back to you.”

  I turned to Peter, who stood in the doorway holding my cell phone. Walking over to him, I took the phone and stuck it in my back pocket.

  He cleared his throat. “Thanks for what you did tonight. We would have been goners if you hadn’t pushed us down.”

  I nodded, but I wasn’t ready to let him off the hook that easily. “Why did you come there when I told you to stay put until we took out all the guards?”

  “Remy said his cousins were in trouble, and Sara said they were going in. Roland and I couldn’t let her go without us.”

  My brows drew together. “Two werewolves couldn’t stop one girl?”

  It was his turn to frown. “Dude, you ever try to stop Sara when she’s set on something? And she had the troll on her side.”

  “Point taken.”

  He looked past me at Sara. “All this time, we never knew…”

  “She’s good at keeping secrets.” How closely she must have guarded this one. Only the fear of losing her best friend had made her reveal her ability.

  “Peter?” Maxwell called from below.

  “I better go,” Peter said. “Tell Sara I’ll see her tomorrow.”

  He ran downstairs, and I stepped into the hallway to call Chris.

  “Nikolas, where are you?” he asked as soon as he answered. “Erik said you left with Sara.”

  “We’re in the Knolls with the pack.”

  “The Knolls?” He paused for several seconds. “How is Sara holding up?”

  “She’s good and so is Roland. They’re both sleeping.”

  “But he took a silver bullet to the chest. I was there when the wolves came to get him. Even they didn’t think he’d make it.”

  “Let’s just say he had a guardian angel.” I ran a hand wearily through my hair and decided this was a story that needed to be shared in person. “I’ll tell you about it tomorrow. Are you still at the house?”