“He’s fine. He’s down the hall.” The chair scraped and Nikolas sat beside the bed blocking the sunlight. His expression was hard to read. I couldn’t tell if he was going to take my hand or yell at me.

“Is this normal after you do that?” he asked quietly. “Passing out?”

“After a healing? It doesn’t usually knock me out like that, but I’ve never healed a werewolf before.” I stifled a yawn. “Usually I’m okay if I rest for an hour or so.”

“You do this a lot?”

I gave him a tired smile. “More times than I can remember. I’ve been doing it since I was six.”

He looked thoughtful for a moment. “That day on the wharf, you asked me if Mohiri had other powers. You wanted to know if we could heal others.”

“Yes.”

He ran a hand through his hair and I noticed he was wearing the same clothes he had on yesterday. “I don’t know of any Mohiri who can do what you did last night. Is that what you did with those two monsters in that cellar?”

I nodded. “I’ve used it before to calm animals but I had no idea it would actually work on hellhounds.” I thought about the two hounds with a touch of awe. “What happened to them? You didn’t –?”

“They tried to follow you so Chris and Erik had them restrained. They’ll be transported to one of our facilities until we figure out what to do with them.” He smiled for the first time since I woke up. “We couldn’t have a pair of hellhounds running amok around Portland.”

“What kind of facility? I don’t want them hurt.” I could only imagine the tortures those hounds had suffered already in their lives.

“No one will harm them.” Nikolas shook his head and let out a short laugh. “They are yours now. Once a fell beast imprints on a new master they are incredibly loyal. They will only answer to you.”

“That’s what the witch said.” He raised an eyebrow and I told him the Hale witch was in the cellar but didn’t try to stop me.

He rubbed his hand over his jaw and I saw that he needed a shave. I felt the craziest urge to reach out and touch his face but I stopped myself just in time. That healing must have really messed me up.

“A lot happened in that cellar last night. Do you want to talk about it?”

“No.” I turned my face away so he couldn’t see the horror and revulsion in my eyes. I’d let that thing take over my body. All my life I’d kept the demon subdued in a corner of my mind, never knowing what it was or understanding its real strength – until last night. I suppressed a shudder at the memory of how quickly the demon had grown, filling my skin and occupying my mind until I almost forgot I still existed. It was locked behind its walls again but I would never forget how close it had come to imprisoning me instead. I would never let it have that kind of power over me again.

“Every Mohiri struggles with their Mori at some point in their lives. For most it happens when they are younger and lack the training to manage the demon impulses. You have such control over your Mori that it must have been very frightening to let your guards down the way you did. But don’t let your fear make you forget why you did it. You saved those trolls.”

I pressed my lips together tightly and fought the tears that burned behind my eyelids. After Nikolas had wrestled me from the demon, the first thing I saw was Remy kneeling in a corner with his three little cousins in his arms. The gratitude in his eyes and the happy cries of the little ones should have made it all feel worthwhile. I was happy Minka and the others were home safe again and we had prevented a bloody troll rampage, but coming so close to losing myself to the demon had changed something in me. I would still give my life to protect the people I loved but I did not think I could ever give up my mind that way again… for anyone.

“You are stronger than the demon,” Nikolas said as if he could see into my head and read my fears. “I knew that when I met you. But hearing how you fought off the Hale witch and then last night, watching you with the werewolf, I realize you have power I can’t comprehend. You saved more than one life last night. People here are calling you a hero.”

I shifted and stared at the ceiling, remembering how Roland had looked when I walked into that room. “Some hero,” I choked out. “Roland wouldn’t have needed healing if I hadn’t gotten him almost killed in the first place.”

“What happened last night wasn’t your fault, Sara. We found out who was behind all this. His name is Yusri al-Hawwash and he is a billionaire oil sheik who found out two years ago he has Alzheimer’s. He’s been searching everywhere for a cure and he was looking for trolls long before you sold that bile. He’s a desperate man with unlimited resources.”

“But he would have looked somewhere else if I had been more careful.”

“That still does not make you responsible for his actions.” He moved closer. “Look at me.”

I turned my head to meet his insistent gaze. “Yes, you have made mistakes but you are not to blame for the greed and deeds of another. Your fault lies in taking too much on yourself. You have to learn to trust people and stop trying to take on the world alone.”

I sighed heavily. “My life was a lot less complicated a month ago. Maybe now things will start to settle down again.”

It was Nikolas’s turn to sigh. “I wish that were true but after what I saw last night; I think you might be in more danger than we first thought.”