Winter's Kiss (26 page)

“Mikael was not lying when he said that Mia had forsaken her kin and become one with the werewolves. The Law Keepers would not be able to capture her here. Only if she were to head out unprotected by Dmitri and the other werewolves would they be able to seize her.” He paused and frowned harder, his look turning pensive a moment, and then his features relaxed. “It is rare for such crimes to be punished in a way less than death.

Hyperion threatened war to save his sister from such a fate, and she has been exiled.”

“Your lord? What happened to the man she loved?”

“He died.”

The look in Winter’s eyes said it was the truth. Death seemed inevitable if they tried to continue their relationship. Winter would never forsake his kin. They had done so much for him.

“You’re leaving because of your bloodline… your duty… aren’t—”

“No,” he said, cutting her off, and touched her cheek. His fingertips rested lightly against her and she could feel him trembling. His eyes held such overwhelming love and pain. “Nika. I do not want to leave, but—”

“Then don’t!” She seized his shoulders, holding them tight, and frowned at him. “Don’t leave.”

He took hold of her wrists and brought her hands away from his shoulders. His hands captured hers, his thumbs brushing them lightly.

sentence you to the compound as punishment to me. I do not want that kind of life for you. I want you to be happy, and free, and that means leaving you… for now at least.”

The last four words were spoken with hesitation but the hope in Winter’s eyes soothed her heart. He wanted to return to her. Although the thought of him leaving hurt her, she was willing to wait as long as it took for him to return. She would work hard to attain a good position here so none would question her love for Winter. Even though her heart screamed for her to tell him not to go for her sake, she couldn’t voice the words. He was doing this for her, even though it hurt him to, and she couldn’t make him change his mind. He needed to protect her. She understood that. She wanted to protect him too. If that meant she had to wait centuries for the laws to change or for him to find a way to meet with her without raising suspicion, then she would wait centuries. She would wait forever for Winter. She didn’t want to risk him either.

Raising his left hand, she pressed a kiss to his hand, silently telling him that she understood. Although it hurt her, she wouldn’t stand in his way. He knew this world better than she did. She was sure he would find a way for them to be together.

“Come, we
must
continue.”

“I want to sleep,” she said, comfortable laying on him and being in his arms. She was sure that the sun had to be close to rising now. If she kept him pinned to the floor for long enough, the sun would break the horizon and Winter would grow sleepy. He wouldn’t refuse her then.

“We must continue, Nika. I have given you chance to rest.”

Ignoring his words, she slipped off him and curled up on the dirty training room floor beside him with her head resting on his arm as though it was a pillow. Now that they had stopped talking, she realised just how tired she was. Every muscle in her body throbbed and ached. She could barely move. Her muscles seized up as she lay there, close to Winter, sleep calling her. Her head ached and she was sure that she smelt like trash on a hot day. A little nap. That was all she wanted. She would have a doze for a few minutes and then she would continue training. She really would.

“Just a little longer,” she muttered into his arm.

She frowned and moaned when Winter moved and her head hit the hard floor. He pulled her up off the floor and she smiled inside when he picked her up and carried her towards the door. Too tired to thank him, she rested her head against his shoulder and looped her arms and legs around him. His hands held her backside. She didn’t need to see to know where he was taking her.

The soft bed was bliss beneath her, inviting and warm. She rolled onto her side and curled up, content now that she was away from the rigmarole of training. Her heart said not to sleep. She still hadn’t asked Winter all of the questions that crowded her mind. Her body said different. It was impossible to fight the urge to sleep. It was overwhelming. Closing her eyes, she sighed and then yawned.

“I shall not be long,” Winter said and stroked her cheek.

She tried to say something in
protest
but it came out as an unintelligible mumble and she was too tired to clarify it. She nodded and nuzzled the bedclothes, loving the warm soft feel of them. A smile touched her lips when Winter kissed her temple. The door closed with a click.

Her smile remained.

She understood him now.

Although she couldn’t make him stay, she was sure that he would return.

Winter paused at the door and looked back at Nika. She was still smiling even as she drifted off to sleep. The thought that his kiss had made her smile like that warmed his heart and melted his resolve to leave her. He needed to though, and he had seen in her eyes that she understood why now. He would find a way for them to be together.

He turned away, shutting out the sight of her so he could focus on the matter at hand. Closing the door, he touched it lightly in a fond caress and then walked down the hall, the click of his boots was loud in the quiet corridor. He took a deep breath to erase the scent of Nika from his mind and sighed before shutting down his breathing completely.

Reaching the end of the corridor, he sniffed. A hundred different scents bombarded him but it wasn’t difficult to locate the one that he was searching for. He would never forget that scent, not now that he had smelt the man scared.

The two maids that had shown him and Nika to their rooms passed him, heads bent downward and talking low. They didn’t dare look at him. He glanced down at himself. Fear wasn’t the only thing making them lower their gazes. Striding around the castle half-dressed was probably going to get him reactions like that from most of the residents.

He turned to his right, strode down another hall, and then turned to his left to enter the room where he and Nika had been training. Picking up his shirt, he let his thoughts wander to Nika as he removed his armour and

231

then slipped the shirt on and buttoned it. She had fought well but her skill was far from good enough to fight Willem. He had wanted her there with him when he fought, so Willem could see that she was his and so Nika could find some peace within revenge, but now he wasn’t so sure. If she were there, she would be a liability, a distraction. Knowing that she couldn’t defend herself would play on his mind and steal his focus. He would be worried about her.

He placed his armour back on and then retrieved his sword from the floor and its sheath from the table against the wall. Nika’s pendant was there beside his cloak. He hesitantly reached out and then took his hand back when it was within an inch of the small gold cross. Telling himself not to be so ridiculous, he snatched the chain and held the pendant up in front of him. The cross was intricate, a fine weaving of slender gold threads to make up the shape and a deep red stone in its centre. She had mentioned her mother and father when he had asked her about it. It had been so long since he had seen it that he had forgotten about it, yet in his mind it was an intrinsic part of her, something he remembered from when she was human. He closed his hand around the cross and grimaced as it burned into his palm.

It fell to the floor with a quiet ting.

He stared at the cross-shaped mark on his palm.

Apparently, it was blessed. No wonder he had been so hesitant to touch it. Preservation instincts ran deep in vampires. Even if they didn’t understand why, they knew instinctively when something could hurt them. They were the same as humans in that respect.

He took a small hand towel off the table and bent to pick up the cross. Straightening, he wrapped the cross in the

232

material and stuffed it into his pocket. Perhaps he could get it un-blessed. He was certain that there had to be a way to do that. In its current state, it would be nothing but trouble to him.

He attached the sword’s sheath to his belt and slid the sword back in. The weight of it felt good, heavy enough to make him feel calm and comforted, secure. His hand hovered over the pocket with Nika’s cross in it and he closed his eyes. It would hurt her, it would hurt them both, but he had to do this. It was the only way. He couldn’t allow her to fight.

Leaving the training room, he followed his senses to Mikael. It wasn’t difficult to find him. He pushed an arched wooden door open to reveal an expansive sitting room, lushly furnished. Large paintings adorned the red plastered walls. A fire was roaring in an ornate fireplace.

“We must talk,” Winter said, ignoring Mikael’s company and striding straight towards him. A young man and two women stood and stared at him. They wouldn’t interfere. Fear laced their signatures. Dressed as he was, in his armour and cloak with his sword hanging at his side, he was an intimidating figure to any unarmed young werewolf.

Mikael waved the three young werewolves away. They left in silence. Winter waited for the door to close and the three signatures to move away before he settled himself in a tall-backed leather armchair beside the fire.

“I wish for you to relay a message to your master.”

“A message?” Mikael said and moved to sit opposite him in the other armchair. His rough features shifted into an amused look. “What message is that?”

Winter remained leaning back in the armchair, casual and confident, unafraid of the subtle threats the werewolf was making. His body language reeked of anger and a desire for revenge. If he attempted anything, Winter would cut him down and find the next in command to leave his message with. He was not in the mood for cyclic vengeance. Mikael had hurt Nika and Winter had taken revenge for it. If Mikael attempted to take revenge for his attack, he wouldn’t hesitate. There were others here that he could pass the message to and would trust more. The only reason he was here speaking to Mikael was because he was a man who believed in ranks and duty. Mikael was the superior officer here. It was Winter’s duty to speak to him first and foremost.

“Tell him to look after Nika in my stead and raise her well.”

Those words stuck in his throat, cloying and dry, hard to push out. They hurt when they left him, more than he had expected. A part of him had begun to believe that he would always remain with Nika and would be there to help her adjust to this new world. He couldn’t. He had to return his lord’s horse. He had to leave, for both of their sakes. Now that she was settling here, she was finding her feet again. She wouldn’t be able to find her place here if he remained. She would close herself off to the werewolves and always rely on him. If he left, she would be safe from the Law Keepers and would begin to see this place as her home. She would begin to live again and would grow more confident, would accept herself and her new life.

Mikael was quiet for a moment, studying him so closely that Winter looked away, staring at the fire. He didn’t want the werewolf to see how much this was hurting him and how weak he was when it came to Nika. Affairs of the heart were not something he was used to dealing with. They were more painful and confusing than he had ever thought they could be.

If they were painful and confusing for him, he didn’t want to imagine how difficult they were for Nika.

“Where are you going?” Mikael said, breaking the silence. There was surprising warmth and concern in his voice, intrigue that drew Winter’s attention back to him.

“Before Nika wakes tonight, I will leave the castle and ride out to meet Willem.”

“You are off for revenge then.”

“No. Not wholly revenge anyway.” Winter had to admit that it was in part revenge he was seeking, but at the same time it was so much more than that. It was closure. It was a chance to settle things so he could return home with the soothing knowledge that Nika was at last safe and he could think about things. “I do it to protect Nika and free her of this man.”

“You do it for selfish reasons,” Mikael said and stood.

Winter glared at him but couldn’t find the words to form a denial. Everything he had done since saving Nika in the woods had been for selfish reasons. Who was he to deny the truth?

He stood too and looked into Mikael’s eyes, making sure that he had his full attention.

“We have our differences, and perhaps the bad blood between us and our species will never die, but I have one thing to ask of you too,” he said and a flicker of shock crossed Mikael’s face before he nodded. Winter

swallowed and tried to think of how to say what he needed to. It came to him many ways, but in the end he went with the simplest. “Keep Nika here. Keep her safe.”