“Greg’s a solid guy,” Roland said. “He used to watch over Sara like she was his sister. I can’t see him betraying her.”

“Especially after she saved his life,” Peter added.

Nate nodded. “I always thought Greg McCoy was trouble, but he did seem to care for Sara.”

Jordan pursed her lips thoughtfully. “It could have been one of those demons at Draegan’s. They all knew Sara was playing Draegan for the blood contract, and one of them could have known who Greg was and where he was staying. I wouldn’t put anything past that bunch.”

Nate’s voice wavered a little when he spoke. “It’s a good thing you called Nikolas when you did. I don’t want to think about what would have happened to you all if he hadn’t been there.”

“Promise us you won’t take off like that again,” Tristan said. He had hugged me so tightly when I had come in and then told me he was saving the scolding for later.

“I promise,” I replied sincerely.

We were interrupted by the arrival of Heb bearing a tray of finger foods to tide us over until dinner. The dwarf set the tray on the wide glass coffee table, and Roland and Peter immediately dug in. My stomach rumbled, reminding me I hadn’t eaten since that morning.

Nikolas released my hand and leaned over to pile some food on a napkin, which he placed on my lap.

“Thanks,” I whispered self-consciously, feeling the others’ eyes on us. I picked up a canapé and nibbled on it. It was smoked salmon on a little round of toast, and it was delicious. My stomach growled again, wanting me to eat faster, and I plopped the whole canapé in my mouth.

“So what happens now?” Roland asked between bites of food. “Are you all going home?”

Tristan shook his head. “Sara has to stay here to train with the faeries. Jordan and I will return to Westhorne after Christmas. Nate too, unless he wants to stay here.”

Jordan didn’t try to hide her dismay. “I thought I could stay here with Sara.”

“Sara will be busy training, and Nikolas is staying with her. You need to continue your own training.”

“But I can train here with Sara,” Jordan insisted.

I looked from Tristan to Nikolas. “I have to do faerie training and Mohiri training?”

“We’ll pick it up where we left off,” Nikolas said with a gleam in his eyes.

Chris chuckled and winked at me. “I smell payback.”

“You want me to stay, right?” Jordan asked me. “We can train together.”

“Yes.” I couldn’t imagine her not being here after all we’d been through together.

Tristan leaned forward to pick up a canapé. “We’ll see. I’m not sure of the wisdom in keeping you two girls together. You seem to have a remarkable talent for attracting trouble.”

“At least no one could ever accuse us of being dull,” Jordan quipped. “Besides, Nikolas will be here. How much trouble could we get into?”

Everyone but Jordan and I burst out laughing. Chris smirked at Tristan. “You might want to think about sending a unit here for backup.”

Tristan nodded. “You may be right.”

I folded my arms. “Everyone’s a comedian.”

* * *

It was almost midnight when Nikolas walked me to my room. We stopped at my door and I was loath to say good night to him, but too shy to ask him not to go. The thought of being alone with him made my stomach flutter, especially after the way he’d kissed me on the lawn, but I didn’t think I was ready to take it beyond that. Sometimes it felt like I’d known him forever, and other times I felt like I didn’t know that much about him. I knew Nikolas the warrior, but how much did I know about Nikolas the man? From the very beginning, there had been nothing normal about our relationship, and part of me wished we could do something normal like go on a real date and get to know each other like regular people did.

I turned to face him, but before I could speak, he tugged me to him and enveloped me in his warm embrace. I rested my forehead against his chest, savoring his closeness. As tired as I was, I could have stood there like that all night.

“It’s late. You should get some sleep,” he murmured against my hair.

“Stay.” The plea came out before I could stop it and heat flooded my face. “I don’t mean...”

He lifted my chin and dropped a light kiss on my lips. “I know.” Opening the door, he ushered me into my room. The soft click of the door behind him did funny things to my stomach, and I faced him uncertainly.

His soft chuckle took me by surprise. “Get ready for bed. I’ll just stay until you fall asleep.”

I released the breath I was holding, and went to pull a T-shirt and a pair of shorts from the dresser. Excusing myself, I closed myself in the bathroom to change. When I came out, I didn’t see Nikolas at first and I thought he’d left. A sound made me turn, and I found him standing by the balcony door.

His eyes moved over me and he raised an eyebrow. “I wondered what happened to that T-shirt.”

I fingered the hem of the shirt I’d stolen from him and shrugged to hide my blush. “It’s really comfortable.”

He walked toward me, and I retreated until the backs of my thighs hit the bed. Reaching around me, he lifted the covers. “In you go.”

I climbed into bed, and he pulled the covers over me. Then he kicked off his shoes and stretched out on top of the comforter. His arm lifted, and I scooted over to lay my head on his shoulder. He wrapped his arm around me and I sighed, happier than I’d been in weeks.