The Den of Shadows Quartet - Amelia Atwater-Rhodes [108]
Nissa smiled faintly “I’ll tell him, the next time I see him.”
She disappeared, and Sarah finally relaxed. Remembering the note she was still holding, she quickly skimmed over the words.
Cold as winter, strong as stone;
She faced the darkness all alone.
A silver goddess; a reflection.
A mirage; a recollection.
No return; no turning back.
The past is gone, the future, black.
Serpents gather in their nest,
And she stands above the rest.
Shadows hunt; she hunts the shadow.
The moon is risen; she stands below.
She views her world through the eyes of others.
Black and white; there are no colors,
As she looks down upon a shattered youth.
A shattered mirror shows a shattered truth.
The poem reminded her of the notes Christopher sent to her.
On the back of the paper was a drawing of Nikolas, standing back to back with Christopher … or a reflection of himself. At the bottom of the paper were three words, written in black ink: Midnight; my house.
“I don’t think so,” she whispered.
Robert looked over at her shoulder and read the message. “You going?”
“I already gave him a free shot at me. I’m not really suicidal,” she answered absently.
“Huh?”
“He said he would help your sister,” Sarah snapped. “That doesn’t mean he’s suddenly a good guy. He isn’t particularly fond of me, and if I go there, he will try to kill me.”
“He didn’t act like he wanted to kill you,” Robert pointed out. “And what’s this poetry about —”
“Robert, give it up!”
“I think you’re misunderstanding something —”
“Robert, I’m a vampire hunter. Nikolas is a vampire. He has a million and one reasons to kill me and not one to let me live. Don’t let poetry and a moment of kindness on his part fool you. Nikolas has only one way of dealing with things, and that’s by killing. You heard it when he was talking about Kaleo.”
“The guy who did that to my sister deserves to die,” Robert growled. “I’d kill him too.”
“I’ll deal with Kaleo later. The only one on my hit list right now is Nikolas.”
“No,” Robert said.
“What?”
“No,” he repeated. “If you kill Nikolas, what’s going to happen to Christine?” he demanded. “Kaleo will keep hurting her, and —”
“Doesn’t anyone remember that Nikolas is a killer?” she hissed.
Sarah cut off his answer and left abruptly. Robert didn’t understand, and she didn’t know how to explain to him. Instead she went home and collapsed onto her bed, still holding Nikolas’s invitation.
CHAPTER 26
SARAH RETURNED to wakefulness gasping, struggling to fill lungs with air thick as charcoal ashes, and struggling to clear vision fogged with … she didn’t know. She could see, but the sight seemed imperfect and she could not tell why.
“Sarah Tigress Vida, stand up.”
Her mother’s voice, formal and cold, instantly cleared Sarah’s mind despite the disorientation she could not seem to shake. She felt off-balance as she found her feet, trying to keep herself from shaking. She sought uselessly to smooth her wrinkled jeans.
Adianna stood behind Dominique, her face pained as she sought Sarah’s gaze. Sarah opened her mouth to speak, but Dominique cut her off before she could say a word.
“I want no excuses,” Dominique stated flatly. “I am not a fool, and I have known what has been going on since the start of these events.” At these words, Adianna’s gaze fell. “You were warned, and you had more than one chance to halt this … disgusting infatuation. Now this.” Dominique threw to the ground Nikolas’s poem-invitation.
“Mother —”
Dominique held up a hand to halt her daughter’s words. “I might have turned a blind eye upon your association with the vampires at your school, since you would have in time come to your senses, but this … lying about this killer, protecting him,” Dominique spat, “this I can not forgive.”
Succinctly and in order, Sarah’s crimes were listed. Befriending her prey