Page 40 of The Darkest Night

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Nikolai stood stifflyin a coppice east of where Rose Blake was being buried.

His gaze remained locked on Mae’s lonely figure where she stood by the graveside, amidst her lost friend’s relatives and acquaintances. She was wearing a black pant suit and scarf, her eyes hidden behind sunglasses. He could tell she’d been crying from her pinched expression and cracked lips.

Alastair cocked his head where he perched on Nikolai’s shoulder, his eyes shining shrewdly. Nikolai swallowed a sigh. There was no hiding his interest in the woman they had come to New York to save.

The way his pulse quickened and his belly grew hot were surefire signs he’d formed some kind of physical attraction to the Witch Queen.

Nikolai’s face tightened. Not that he intended to act on it. There was no time to indulge in foolish feelings. Not when the fate of the world was at stake.

He’d kept away from Grandview in the aftermath of the attack that had followed Mae’s awakening, seeking refuge in the few places he knew the long arm of the Dark Council couldn’t reach. From the rumors circulating in the magic underworld, Oscar and his henchmen were still in town.

Nikolai knew they were watching Mae’s every move. Now that her soul had been roused, they could not act recklessly like before; even though she didn’t have full control of her powers yet, the Witch Queen was still a formidable foe. Hence why he’d decided to keep a close eye on her since she’d left the hospital.

He’d been relieved to see Violet and Miles Nolan visit her last night, even though he’d found it strange that they’d sneaked in and out of a second-floor window to do so. It hadn’t taken him long to find out their names, nor that they belonged to the Chicago coven and not the New York one like he’d originally thought. As for the fox he’d spotted with them, he was pretty sure it was the creature who’d fallen out of the portal above the hospital two nights ago.

He was debating the best time to make contact with them when a voice rose behind him.

“You know stalking is illegal, right?”

Nikolai closed his eyes briefly and sighed. He turned and met Violet Nolan’s cool stare. “You guys really need to stop creeping up on me. What if I’d blasted you with my magic?”

“Oh, please,” Miles Nolan scoffed. “You couldn’t take both of us on.”

Nikolai decided to overlook that statement.

His gaze dropped to the fox staring intently at him and Alastair. “Is that her familiar?”

“Yeah.” Violet relaxed slightly when she realized he wasn’t a threat. The witch hesitated. “She named him Brimstone.”

The fox surprised everyone by sitting on his haunches and grinning at Nikolai, bushy tail thumping the ground in lazy swings.

“That’s new,” Miles said dully. “Why didn’t he do that the first time he met us?”

“What’d he do the first time he met you?” Nikolai asked.

“He maimed us,” the sorcerer said glumly.

His boa constrictor bobbed her head in agreement. Nikolai bit back a smile.

“He likes you,” Violet murmured.

Nikolai squatted and reached a hand out to the familiar. “I’m a likable guy.”

Brimstone inched forward and sniffed his fingers before giving them a careful lick.

The power inside the creature washed across Nikolai, a crimson tide that resembled his mistress’s magic. Alastair flew down from his shoulder and landed next to the fox. The two familiars studied each other solemnly before gently bumping heads.

“I gave you half my pizza,” Miles told Brimstone accusingly.

The fox huffed. He suddenly stiffened.

They followed his gaze as he rose on all fours, his hackles rising and a growl that sounded too loud for his body rumbling from his chest.

Mae was running up the slope toward the tree line north of the burial site.

Chapter 20

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