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Terrance laughs at that. Parker looks green with guilt, and Nick is glaring at me for some reason. I’m not sure what crawled up his ass, but I know there’s a lecture he wants to give me about something. That should be fun.
“Talk to Maya,” I say, meeting Nick’s scowl with a frown before turning back to Director West. “Maya, Nadine, and that other werewolf guy know everything that happened here since I woke up. Maya will tell you. She was in the cell next to mine.”
Director West narrows her eyes in thought, then nods once. “Very well.” She gives me another curt smile. “Go get some rest, and we will come to visit you soon.”
“Thanks.”
“Just one thing before you go,” Nick says, stepping forward, his glare as severe as ever. “What the hell were you thinking, Nora? We were supposed to be partners on this. You promised if I let you help me, you wouldn’t go off on your own. Why the hell didn’t you call me?”
I’m surprised that I detect as much hurt as anger in his voice. It makes it impossible to jump on his case back. My anger has to find a different target. Good thing Henry is standing across the room with Nadine. Two of my least favorite people in the world. “You can blame Henry for that,” I tell Nick.
Everyone looks in Henry’s direction. And thanks to Henry’s super vampire hearing, he hears me say his name and returns my gaze. I glower at him. “It was his compulsion that forced me into this mess. I was just out having a burger when Elijah and Mark tracked me down. Once I learned they wanted to kidnap me and bring me to the sanctuary, I had no choice but to let them. Henry compelled me to do everything I could to find Nadine. Coming to the sanctuary, even kidnapped, would accomplish that. I guess the compulsion didn’t know the difference between me finding her and being in a position to rescue her.”
In a flash, Henry is standing in front of me, face crumpled with regret. He isn’t going to find forgiveness from me anytime soon. I glare at him before ignoring him completely, and turn back to Nick. “I wanted to bolt. Itriedto call all of you for help, but the compulsion wouldn’t let me. Somehow, the magic knew that if I called you guys, you’d come rescue me, stop the kidnapping, and I might not get to the sanctuary to find Shandra. My fingers literally couldn’t dial the numbers to call for help. The only thing I could do was leave that message for Oliver, because he wasn’t online at the time. I knew he wouldn’t get the message right away. I’d have time to go to the sanctuary and find Nadine first before you all could come rescue us.”
Henry makes several choking noises throughout my speech, and when I’m done, opens his mouth, trying to find the right words for an apology. I hold up a hand. “Nope. Don’t want to hear it. I’m too raging pissed for an apology right now. Just get out of my face before I ask Terrance to hulk out on you.”
He looks like he wants to argue, but Terrance’s low growl scares him enough that he snaps his mouth closed, gives me a sad nod, and goes back to Nadine. I turn my attention back to Nick. This time, I do find the will to scowl at him. “I didn’t ditch you. We made a deal to work together. First of all, I’m not stupid. Second, I don’t break my promises, and third, promise or not, I don’t punk out on the people who trust me.”
Nick narrows his eyes at me, but then breaks into a smile. “Acceptable explanation, Spitfire. And all things considered, you made a hell of a partner.”
I chuckle. “You weren’t so bad yourself, Cowboy.”
He laughs. It seems playful banter is sort of becoming our thing.
“All right.” His gaze shifts to Terrance. “Get her home and in bed.”
Terrance puffs out his chest proudly at the order. I get the feeling he likes being in charge of my care. I won’t admit it out loud, but I like it, too. “We’re going,” I say. “I just have to say good-bye to Oliver first.” I glance around but don’t see him. “Where is he, anyway?”
Everyone’s faces fall, making my heart kick up into a panic. “What? What happened?Where’s Oliver?”
Director West sighs. “Oliver’s fine. He’s outside.”
“Pouting,” Nick adds.
“Pouting? Why?”
Nick rolls his eyes. “He’s blaming himself for Elijah stabbing you. For not using his magic sooner to get into the warehouse as soon as the location was discovered.”
“What? That’s ridiculous. He’s a hero for breaking the shields on this place at all.” I somehow find the energy to stomp outside. “Oliver!”
I find him sitting on the curb in front of the parking lot, looking completely forlorn. “Ollie. Stop it right now. No blaming yourself.”
He looks up with pain-filled eyes. “I stood by for three hours, Nora, watching those sorcerers try to break the wards on the sanctuary.Threehours. You were hurt because I was too scared to use my magic. He could have killed you.”
“Oh, hush.” I sit down on the curb beside him and bump my shoulder against his. “I got hurt because ofElijah. And because Henry compelled me. Blame them from now on. That’s what I’m doing. It’s much more satisfying, I promise.”
When Oliver still can’t manage to nod or smile, I drop the play from my voice. “Why were you too scared to use your magic?”
His face becomes desperate, as if he’s pleading with me for understanding and forgiveness. “I knew I was powerful enough to break the wards, but I haven’t used my magic in years. I’m not trained. I was afraid I wouldn’t be able control my power, just like the night I killed those guys in the park. I was worried I’d blow up the entire building with you inside it. It wasn’t until Parker came running out, with Shandra in his arms, unconscious, and said Elijah was still in there but you refused to come out without the werewolves, that I panicked enough to help.”
“So you were protecting me,” I insist. “You didn’t want to use your magic because you didn’t want to risk hurting me. There’s nothing shameful in that. And then you did break those wards when no one else could. You got everyone inside to help me. Who knows what else Elijah would have done if you hadn’t come when you had.”
“Yeah, but—”
“Plus, it was you who tracked my phone, wasn’t it? After you got my message, you tracked my phone and found the sanctuary, didn’t you?”
Oliver flinches in surprise and finally smiles a little. Grinning back, I pull him into a hug. I’ve hugged more people in the last day than I have my entire life. Oliver squeezes me back and is blushing slightly when I let him go. “Youfoundme,” I tell him. “Then you broke the wards. You’re as much the big damn hero of the day as I am. I couldn’t have done it without you.”
