“Are you okay?”

I tried to smile at Nikolas and failed miserably.

“We’ll find him. It’ll just take a little longer than we thought.”

Madeline straightened her perfect chignon. “So you are Mohiri after all. I’m glad you found our people, Sara.”

“Actually, it was Nikolas who found me.” I laid my hand on the couch between us and he covered it with his. The action did not go unnoticed by Madeline, and her lips parted in surprise. Neither Nikolas nor I bothered to answer the question in her eyes. As far as I was concerned, she’d lost the right to know about my life the moment she’d deserted my dad and me.

“What will you do now?” she asked, and I could almost hear the “with me” at the end of the question.

“We’ll keep looking,” Nikolas answered. “Keep fighting.”

“We found you. We’ll find him, too.” I let go of Nikolas’s hand and we both stood at the same time. “We should be going.”

Madeline walked us to the door. “Sara, for what it’s worth, I really did love your father. And I loved you, too. I still do.”

I held out my hand and she hesitated before she took it. “Thank you for talking to us. I hope Orias can find a way to help you.”

Her eyes glistened and she held my hand a few seconds longer than was necessary. “Thank you.”

“Goodbye, Madeline.”

Nikolas opened the door and I gave my mother one last look before I walked through it.

Chapter 21

My whole body sagged the moment the door shut behind us. Talking to Madeline about the past had been harder than I’d expected. Add to that my disappointment that she couldn’t help us, and I was feeling like I’d been put through an emotional wringer.

Jordan ran up to us. “What did she say?”

“Not here,” Nikolas said. “We’ll talk outside.”

Rain was coming down in torrents when we left the building, and we made a mad dash for the vehicles. As soon as we settled into our SUV, the others looked at us expectantly. I sat back during the drive to the airport and let Nikolas tell them about our conversation with Madeline.

We were all subdued by the time we piled out of the vehicles at the airport hangar. Nikolas went to speak to the pilot, and I found a seat at the back of the small jet. I reclined my seat and closed my eyes, hoping that would discourage anyone from trying to talk to me. It had been a long day, capped off by a huge setback, and I needed a little time to process it all.

“Sara?” I opened my eyes as Nikolas settled into the seat next to mine. His expression told me there was more bad news.

“We’ve got some bad electrical storms moving through the area, so we’re grounded for a few hours, at least. Geoffrey’s team has a safe house nearby, and we’re going to wait out the storm there. It’s more comfortable than an airport hangar.”

“Okay.”

He reached over and brushed a strand of damp hair out of my face. “You did well tonight. I know that was harder for you than you’re letting on.”

“It was,” I admitted quietly.

He nodded perceptively, and I knew he wasn’t going to press me until I was ready to talk about it. I followed him out of the jet and back into the SUV where Geffrey, Jordan, and Chris waited for us.

The drive to the safe house took less than ten minutes despite the heavy rain that was causing traffic backups. Geoffrey pulled into the two-car garage, and one of the other SUVs parked beside us. The last one had to park in the driveway. I hoped the house was bigger than it had looked from the street because it was going to be crowded with all of us. All I needed was a quiet corner where I could stay out of everyone’s way until it was time to leave.

The house turned out to be a lot bigger than I’d expected, with five bedrooms, three bathrooms, and a finished basement where the warriors kept their computer equipment. In every room we walked through, there were weapons and gear that made Jordan’s eyes go round with envy. She asked the warriors a ton of questions about their operation, and they all sounded happy to answer. I left her talking to one of them about swords to explore alone.

On the main floor I found a small den with a black leather couch, which was just what I was looking for. I left the light off and the door open, took off my jacket, and curled up on the couch with a sigh, drawing comfort from Nikolas’s presence in another part of the house. The rain pelting the window drowned out most of the voices and sounds from the rest of the house, leaving me alone with my thoughts.

A chapter in my life had ended tonight, but I didn’t feel the closure I’d thought I would get after confronting Madeline. I didn’t understand how she could have loved my dad as much as she obviously had and still walked away from him. I would do anything to hold onto the people I loved. I’d give up my life for Nikolas, and I’d fight any person or thing that tried to take him from me. She should have made my dad listen to her when she went back to warn him. She should have done anything to protect us. There wasn’t a compulsion strong enough to override the love I had for Nikolas.

I turned on my side so I could watch the rain running down the window. I’d always loved storms. There was something about their raw power that made me feel more alive and bolstered me when I was down. Maybe it was the undine in me. I wished this storm would help ease the weight that had settled in my chest since I’d left Madeline. I had been so sure finding her would give us what we needed to free us from the Master forever. But we were no closer to finding him now than we ever had been. For months my main goal had been to find Madeleine, and I didn’t know what to do anymore.