Refuge by Karen Lynch Page B

dark.
Nikolas raised the alarm, and a group of us rode out after Elena.
We picked up signs of vampires, and we split up to cover the area
faster.”
    Tristan paused, and I saw raw pain on his
face as he continued. “It was Nikolas who found her. What they did
to her . . . it was beyond inhuman. After they had finished their
fun, they burned what was left of her until my beautiful little
sister was unrecognizable. They left her horse unharmed and tied to
a tree, a message to us that her life meant less than an
animal’s.”
    “God . . . ” I had seen what vampires left
behind of the people they killed. I also knew they took special
delight in killing young Mohiri.
    “Nikolas took her death as hard as I did, and
he blamed himself for not making her understand that there could
never be anything romantic between them. He stayed out for months
until he had hunted down every vampire in a hundred-mile radius. I
tried to convince him that he was not at fault and that no one
blamed him for her death, but he would not listen. He was different
after that, harder. A year later, I left Virginia and came here to
build this place, and he came with me. We both wanted something
that did not remind us of Virginia, which is why we made this into
a military stronghold instead of a community.”
    “I’m sorry about your sister,” I said, not
knowing what to say about someone who’d been dead for so many
years. “It’s no wonder Nikolas gets so overbearing and angry with
me all the time.”
    “Sara, do not compare yourself to Elena.
Don’t get me wrong, I loved my sister with all my heart, but I was
not blind to her faults. Elena was beautiful and spirited, but she
was also spoiled and selfish. You have done some reckless things in
the past, but you are also very loyal to your friends and you have
a kind heart. Sahir tells me you bring raw meat treats for the
wyvern when you visit the hellhounds, even though that creature
would likely try to kill you given the chance.”
    “He can’t help what he is, and I know he must
get lonely in there, especially not being able to fly. Don’t worry,
I don’t expect him to eat out of my hand or anything, and I’ll be
keeping my distance. I like my body parts where they are.”
    We laughed and turned the conversation to
other things. He wanted to hear more about my life, so I described
what it was like growing up with Roland and Peter. And Remy. I told
him about Roland’s recent trip to the cave and how much it meant to
get the message from Remy.
    We were in the middle of our dessert when I
remembered something I’d been meaning to talk to him about. “I saw
Desmund again last night.”
    “Did you?” He took a sip from his wine glass.
“And how did it go?”
    “Better than I expected. We both like books
and Tchaikovsky, so he thinks I’m not a total lost cause. We even
played a game of checkers.”
    Tristan’s eyes widened. “You got Desmund to
play checkers? I haven’t seen him play anything but chess since
I’ve known him.”
    “I don’t know how to play chess, so it was
checkers or nothing at all.” I dabbed my napkin to my mouth then
laid it beside my plate. “Honestly, I think the only reason he
played with me is because he’s lonely. Why does he stay up there
all alone like that? I mean, I can tell he’s not well, but he’s not
that bad, is he?”
    Tristan settled back in his chair. “You might
be the first person in a long time to feel some kind of empathy for
Desmund. He goes out of his way to frighten most people away.”
    “Why? He’s obviously intelligent, and he can
be nice when he wants to be. Why does he drive everyone away?”
    “Desmund is not the same man he was before he
became ill. He was charming and outgoing and one of the finest
warriors I’ve ever met.”
    During my time with Desmund last night, I had
seen tiny flashes of the man Tristan described, and it was sad to
think of how much he had changed. “What happened to him?”
    There was a short