Authors note:..Um did I mention this is my first published ff story? well it is...I feel like my chapter breaks are a little awkward, and I apologize
Disclaimer: I own nothing, all character and mentioned plotlines are the wonderful work of Karen Lynch
I looked through the dresser to find something to wear upon coming out of the communal shower down the wall (this many beds and two bathrooms in one house. who thought that was okay?) and I was graced with too big women's clothes in half and men's clothes in the other half. This whole being way shorter than everyone else thing was getting old. I was going to have to start packing changes of clothes every time we went out on a mission! I grabbed a tank top that looked like it would fit okay and a pair of sweat pants.
I stood under the steady stream of the shower and tried to let it wash my brain. I knew things with Nikolas were going to get worse before they got better. He seemed okay now, but once his mind caught up to everything that had happened I doubted he would be. He was tortured! He was fed from. He was.. molested? By a vampire ghost of the little sister he never had. What the hell was i supposed to do about that? The entire ordeal was so absolutely messed up. How was I supposed to help him heal? A part of me wanted to go and claim what was mine, wash away the dirty memories with our own passion. But that sounded like it would only procrastinate any true healing. I was worried my presence would be more damaging than good. Yes, our Mori's couldn't stand to be apart, especially now. But then it also made sense that he would need space from me and our physical contact. Grieving for a woman that had hurt us both may make him feel guilty, like Tristan. I washed my face and groaned in frustration. What I wanted from him, and how I could help him didn't seem to be matching up and it put my mori on edge to think about not staying close with him for a little while. And it made every other part of me panic. I was tempted to stop my shower and run back to him now at the thought. I took a few deep breaths and continued on washing away the grime that my tangle with Elena had left. I hadn't showered properly since...Since California. The thought made me wrinkle me nose and pour a little more soap into my hand.
When I got out and had dressed in my borrowed clothes (the top was snug on my breast, and the sweatpants were about a foot too long so i had to cuff them. classy.) I threw my hair up into a top knot and searched the cabinets for lotion, toothbrush, q tips. necessities. I found them all and relished in being properly clean for the first time in days. I checked in on Nikolas before heading back downstairs and he was sleeping deeply. Healing the vamhre demon had caused both Nate and Emma to sleep for a full day, but I doubted Nikolas would need as much, with his warrior strength and the fact that the demon hadn't gotten a good hold on him yet.
The Party downstairs was still in full swing. Well, as swinging as the mohiri got while still being on guard. If this was a compound like the institute, I'm sure they would relax a little bit more. Well, maybe not since the compound had recently been attacked. I caught sight of Jordan in the kitchen and made my way over to here. I was not surprised to find her doling out shots to a few more of the guard that i recognized. I nodded my hello to them and they all raised their shot glasses to me before downing them. I laughed. The fridge was stocked with food, but i really wasn't in the mood to prepare anything. "Do you think that anywhere near here would be able to deliver like..." I looked around the room at all the warriors. "50 pizzas?"
Seamus and Niall grinned at me and I saw Chris across the room pick up his phone. I mouthed pizza at him hopefully and he nodded and gave me a clear view of his dimples. With my forage over I leaned on the island next to Jordan. She was rehashing parts of the battle with Grant and I listened in, eager to here more about the different parts of the battle that hadn't involved me. I looked at how some of the other Warriors responded to Jordan, and saw the admiration on their faces. My firend was an excellent warrior already, and had earned these men's respect. My heart swelled with pride at the thought. Chris joined us a moment later.
"It turns out the local pizza shop will not deliver 60 pizzas without payment first. Trust issues" I laughed and waved at the twins as they headed out the door, presumably to get the pizzas. The talk around me had hushed suddenly and I tuned back in as Jordan looked at me expectantly.
"Huh?" nice. very graceful. Jordan shook her head.
" I was giving the floor to you to tell about ending the Master."
"Oh." I was aware of the stares in the room but felt uncomfortable delving too deep into my fairy half with so many people. Some of them knew i could do things, like heal, some of them had been told stories about my extra capabilities, but confirming it myself still felt unwise. "I chased her onto the ice and...killed her." My voice lacked the joy of Jordan's stories, but i was still unsure of my own feeling on killing Elena. Chris threw an arm around my shoulders and squeezed. He was there, he knew. A couple of the guys stared at me incredulously, and Jordan jumped to my defense.
"Her mate was presumed dead, she went full on rage." A couple of the guys raised their eyebrows and my cheeks warmed at Jordan's unintended share. Jordan realized what she had just said and scrunched up her face in apology.
"Well they were bound to find out as soon as he was up and moving anyway."
I knew she was right but in no way did it quash the embarrassment of knowing all of these guys knew that Nikolas and I had had sex. Grant quickly changed the subject to yesterdays raid and a few of the guys that hadn't been there were eager to know the details.
"I'm sorry." Jordan whispered to me. I shrugged it off and tried to let my face go back to normal. Chris laughed at me.
"Being Mated is an extremely important to the Mohiri. Personal, yes , but also very very clear to the community at large. And trust me, as soon as sleeping beauty up there is awake he is going to make it very apparent to everyone in this room who it is you belong to."
I hoped that wasn't true. We needed to get back to the privacy of the institute asap. Ugh...but if Nate is there, yeah he's going to be thrilled to learn that we had had sex. oh my god, Nate! I grabbed Chris's arm, "What does Nate know? Does he know we were taken? " Chris nodded and grabbed his phone, already on the same page. I forgot to call Nate! And i'm sure Tristan hadn't, and clearly neither had Chris.
Nate picked up on the second ring. "Nate!"
"About damn time you called! Desmund called me two hours ago to let me know that you were safe and told me he would give me details later! I've been dying over here!" I winced at his euphemism.
"I'm sorry! I was tired and Nikolas is healing and there's so much going on! I'm so sorry!" I made my way over to the staircase to fill him in on everything that had transpired the past two days. Well, almost everything. I definitely left the whole mating business out and some details about my time with Elena that I felt I could spare him. He was stunned about Elena.
"I wondered why Tristan hadn't called. huh. I guess its good that Desmund is with him now. " I nodded and didn't really want to delve into my own feeling of grief and heartache for Tristan over the phone right now. I hung up when the pizza arrived. The twins looked comical bringing in pizza boxes stacked thirty high each. The entire room surged around them, most of the warriors taking a pizza for themselves. These guys usually ate well and after a day in battle, I worried that the pizzas wouldn't be enough. I snagged my own pizza box and jogged up the stars to check in on Nikolas.
My heart stopped when he wasn't in bed. How long had I been downstairs? An hour, hour and a half at most. My Mori began to panic when i heard the bathroom door open and watched Nikolas step out with a towel wrapped around his waist.
He smiled at me and promptly took the pizza box form my hands. "Hey! You better be sharing!" He gave me a wolfish grin as he put the box on the bed. I opened it up to grab a slice and turned around just in time to watch Nikolas drop his towel and pull some clothes out of the top drawer. I immediately choked on the first bit of pizza and averted my eyes. Nikolas laughed outright and continued to get dressed. I peeked at him from under my lashes, still to shy to full on explore all he had going on. His body was amazing, all hard lines and taught muscle. Once he had pulled his pants on I looked a little more brazenly at his chest and that lovely sparse trail of hair that led to- "You look like your'e going to eat me."
My cheeks warmed, but the statement left me cold, remembering Elena. I took a second bite of pizza just to have something to do. He joined me on the bed and grabbed a slice. I could feel his eyes on me as we both ate. He was trying to gauge my mental state, the same as I was trying to gauge his. It felt too fresh to talk about. After my third slice of Pizza I stared to feel the weight of the day on me. The past few days really. My adrenaline had run out, and my inner turmoil could keep me from sleep no longer. Nikolas had finished the rest of the pizza and set the box on the floor. "Come here." He pulled me in close and settled us on the bed with my head on his chest and his fingers in my hair. I wanted to cry at the beauty of this tender moment with this person i came so close to losing. But i didn't, my exhaustion wouldn't let me. Go to sleep, Sara. Ill be right here.