“Crazy, I know, but it’s not like I had a choice. Eldeorin has very different ideas about training.”

“I’ll say.”

I chewed my lip. “Now that you know everything, what do you think I should do?”

“About Eldeorin? Doesn’t sound like there is much you can do.”

“No, about Nikolas. If I tell him, he’ll be so upset and he’ll worry every time Eldeorin shows up.”

“That’s putting it mildly.” She rubbed her chin. “I don’t know. It’s a tough call.”

“What would you do?”

“I’d keep quiet and go kill some vampires.” She shrugged. “But I don’t have a Nikolas to consider. I honestly don’t know what I’d do in your shoes.”

I sighed heavily. “You’re no help.”

She pursed her lips. “Okay, let’s look at it another way. You took out two vampires who killed a kid and were probably going to kill that whole village. You saved a lot of lives, and you burned off some of that power that’s been making you miserable.”

I nodded.

“If there’s nothing Nikolas can do to stop Eldeorin from training you, then it’s probably best not to say anything right now.”

“I guess.” I looked at the doorway as Nikolas walked through it. His eyes found me, and a small smile touched his lips. One of the warriors called to him, and it was easy to see the way the others looked to him to lead them.

My eyes were drawn back to the doorway as two more warriors came in. They were both tall, but one towered over everyone in the room. His features and coloring were Middle Eastern, and he wore his black hair tied back in a short ponytail. He was by far the biggest warrior I’d ever seen, and maybe the surliest if his scowl was any indication. I watched him absently hold the hilt of the sword sheathed at his hip, and I wondered if he was one of the foreign warriors sent here by the Council to help hunt the Master.

“That guy must be six-seven at least. What do you think?”

Jordan didn’t reply and I gave her a sideways look, only to find her staring at the large warrior.

“Hello? Earth to Jordan.”

“Mmm.”

A smirk spread across my face. “Is it love at first sight?”

That got her attention and she fanned herself. “I think you mean lust at first sight. That has to be the hottest male I’ve ever seen.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Hotter than Nikolas?” Not possible.

She tilted her head and studied the man as if she hadn’t heard me. “There is something about him, something...”

“Dangerous?” I offered, thinking he was one man I wouldn’t want to face in a dark alley.

“Yeah. He looks like he could take out a nest of vampires by himself.”

“You don’t think he’s kinda scary looking?”

She exhaled slowly, her eyes never leaving the warrior. “He’s perfect.”

I nudged her with my shoulder. “Are you sure it’s not love?”

Her rich laugh drew the attention of some of the warriors, including the new one. He aimed his scowl in our direction and stared at her for several seconds before looking away again.

“I don’t think he likes us,” I said.

“Not yet.” She winked at me. “Did you see the size of that sword?”

I felt my eyes widen before the two of us dissolved into laughter. Every eye in the room turned our way. Nikolas gave me a questioning look, but all I could do was shake my head and laugh.

Chapter 14

“Very good, Sister.” Aine clapped as I sent small controlled waves across the lake. I passed my hand through the water and a five-foot waterspout formed a few feet from me. I held it for a minute then let it collapse. It was hard to believe that a week ago I couldn’t use my power without causing a near disaster.

Aine’s eyes shone. “You have improved so much these last few days.”

“That’s because you are a great teacher.” I couldn’t imagine someone sweeter or more patient than my sylph friend.

“Am I not a great teacher as well?” asked Eldeorin, appearing at Aine’s side.

“The jury’s still out on that,” I retorted as a mixture of excitement and trepidation stirred in my stomach at the sight of him. It had been a little over a week since our trip to the Mexican village, and Eldeorin had made good on his promise to continue my “education” as he put it. Every second day, he appeared to whisk me away on one of his training sessions, which always ended with me killing something.

First, it had been the drex demon in New Orleans, a nasty scaly thing that resembled an upright crocodile and disabled its victims by injecting them with venom that created severe hallucinations. I’d had to follow that thing as it dragged a young man into the bayou, not one of my more pleasant experiences. After the demon was dead, Eldeorin had helped me get the man back home again, and he’d assured me the guy wouldn’t remember the experience because of the aftereffects of the venom.

Next, we’d gone to Miami to hunt some vampires that had been preying on the residents of a retirement community. What Eldeorin hadn’t told me was that there were five vampires living in a newly formed nest in a nearby industrial park. Luckily for me, the vampires were all less than a few months old, and I had relatively little difficulty taking them out. Still, it would have been nice to have had a heads-up. When I’d said that to Eldeorin, he’d replied that I needed to learn to think on my feet because I never knew what I’d be facing out there.