“I’m glad to hear that.”

“I haven’t changed my mind or anything,” I rushed to add before he mistook my olive branch for surrender. “I just don’t want us to be at each other’s throats all the time.”

“You want to be friends?” His voice held a note of amusement.

I made a face. “Let’s not get carried away. How about we agree to disagree and take it from there?”

“A truce then?”

“Yes – or a cease-fire.” I had my doubts either would hold up long between the two of us.

He studied me for a few seconds before he leaned forward with a hand extended. “Okay. A cease-fire it is.”

I tentatively reached out my own hand and he grasped it in his larger one. His grip was warm and strong and a tingle ran up my arm at the contact. When he made no move to let go I yanked my hand away and buried it beneath my thigh. If he noticed my quick withdrawal, he made no mention of it.

A yawn rose inside me and I wondered why I was sleepy before I remembered my freezing dunk in the ocean and the power I used on the rats. I almost cringed when I remembered the foulness that had infected those poor animals.

“You look tired.” Nikolas stood and I had to crane my neck as he towered over me. “Go to bed. I’ll let myself out.”

The windows rattled again and I thought of him standing out there in the storm all night just to watch over me. “You can stay in here tonight – if you want to.”

His eyes reflected his surprise at the unexpected offer and I suddenly felt self conscious. It wasn’t like I invited guys over as house guests every other day. Hoping my blush wasn’t visible in the dim light, I said, “You’re already here and it makes no sense for you to be out in that weather when you could have the couch. I’ll get you some blankets.”

I almost tripped over myself to get to the linen closet where Nate kept the spare quilts. When I returned with a quilt and a pillow, Nikolas was standing where I’d left him, his face hidden in shadow. He took the quilt and pillow from me with a quiet “thank you.”

“Um, okay, good night.” I didn’t wait for his reply before I turned to the doorway. I heard the creak of the couch when he sat on it.

“Sara?” His voice was deep and warm and my heart sped up a little as I stopped in the hallway to look over my shoulder.

“Yes?”

“You are still the biggest pain in the ass I’ve ever met.”

I grinned all the way to bed.

Chapter 15

I awoke the next morning to the heavy silence that follows a big storm. Snuggling under my covers with Oscar sprawled across my pillow and Daisy on my feet, I wanted nothing more than to go back to sleep. That is until I remembered everything from the night before and the unexpected house guest who spent the night on the couch. I slipped out of bed, pulled on a hoodie and my moccasin slippers and padded quietly downstairs. In the living room I found the quilt folded up neatly on the couch and no sign of Nikolas. I was not surprised that he had already left. Knowing him, he’d probably had his coffee and dispatched a couple of monsters before the sun came up.

I poured some Cheerios and mulled over the strange turn our relationship had taken last night. I still found it hard to believe that the easy going man who had laughed and roasted marshmallows was the same mercurial person I’d known up till now. I had come downstairs last night expecting a roaring fight with one Nikolas and ended up spending an almost pleasant and somewhat confusing evening with his alter ego. And then I’d offered him a truce… and invited him to stay. I groaned over my spoon. What the hell had come over me last night?

The power was back so that meant school was open. I ran upstairs to get ready then booted up the laptop to check email. Funny, I thought as I waited for the login screen. Any other night I would have missed my internet but I didn’t even notice it was gone last night.

The email from NightWatcher took me by surprise. I hadn’t talked to him in a week and a half – since the night after the crocotta attack. His message was short. He was leaving Maine for his own safety and if I still wanted to meet him, I had until Saturday. He said he was sorry but things were getting too scary for him to stick around. He felt like we had to meet before he took off. I cursed the timing because it was going to be damn near impossible to get away to see him now, but I replied that I would get back to him that night with an answer.

I worried about it all the way to school and I finally decided by the time I reached the school yard, that the only way to make it happen was to include Roland and Peter. They were waiting for me on the step with expectant expressions but I brushed them off and told them to meet me in the library for study period. They had said they wanted to help and now I was going to find out if they were good to their word.

When third period came around I hurried to the library to get a table as far from the front desk as possible. My mind was completely preoccupied with replaying everything that happened yesterday and last night as I followed my usual path through the stacks. That explained why I did not see the boy crossing in front of me before I plowed into him and knocked us both sideways.

“Sorry,” I breathed as I grabbed a shelf to keep myself from falling on my butt.

“Don’t worry about –”

I spun and faced the boy as recognition hit us at the same time. I hadn’t seen much of Scott in the last few weeks and I noticed that his face had healed completely from our fight. That did little to alleviate the guilt I still carried for what I’d done to him, especially after learning what lived inside me and how much worse I could have hurt him if I had not restrained myself.