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A hallucination? Surely. She was concussed, after all. But … but … it looked so real. Just like the monsters she’d seen as a child.
Koldo materialized at the side of Nicola’s bed, consuming her attention and overwhelming her thoughts. Any other time, surprise would have jacked up her heartbeat. Because really, she didn’t think she would ever get used to watching a man appear from thin air. But there were currently very strong drugs in her system, preventing any kind of adverse reaction.
“Do you see that?” she demanded.
“What?” he replied, looking around.
The monkey was gone, she realized. “Never mind.”
He peered down at her and frowned. “I was granted permission to return, to leave the thorn in my side for another hour, and check on you. Apparently, I’m a beast to be around. And I find you injured?” There was a thread of anger in his tone. “Why are you injured?”
“I hit my head when I passed out,” she admitted.
“And why did you pass out?” He leaned over and traced calloused fingertips across her forehead, exactly where she’d hit it during her fainting spell. A sharp lance of pain caused her to wince, and he drew back, a gleam of shame in his eyes.
A part of her mourned the loss of him, pain or not. He’d just given her a nonmedical-related touch, and it was the first she had received since Laila’s admission here. She’d liked it. A lot.
He was so warm. So vibrant.
So … necessary.
“Well, it’s kind of a funny story.” Suddenly nervous, she twisted the sheet on her bed—and maybe the drugs weren’t so strong, after all, because her heart skipped a beat. “You see, you had just given my sister that drop of liquid and disappeared, and she had just started screaming—”
“As I told you she would do.”
“Yes, but I wasn’t exactly prepared and …”
Understanding dawned, lightening those golden eyes to a bright, otherworldly amber. “You worried.”
“Well, yeah. Did I mention Laila was screaming?”
His lips pursed. With irritation? she wondered. Yeah. Definitely with irritation. He looked ready to murder her. It probably wouldn’t help his mood if she told him that he suddenly reminded her of a male model flashing Blue Steel. Or Magnum. And that he was really, really, really good-looking. Like, superbeautiful.
I have to watch less TV on the nights I can’t sleep.
“We’re not off to a good start,” he said.
“I’m sorry.”
The apology earned her a short, curt “Do better.”
“I will.”
“See that you do.”
So bighearted of him. “So, what did you give her?”
A pause, then, “I’m not ready to share that information.”
Judging from the hardness of his tone, he might never be ready. “Well, are you ready to tell me what you are? Besides a soldier, I mean.”
“You still have no guess?” he asked, his features darkening with disappointment.
She bit her lip. “I’ve been busy.”
“Lesson number one,” he said. “People give priority to what’s important to them.”
“That’s true, but I have to work two jobs. I’ve had to care for my sister. I’ve had to sleep whenever possible.”
“And you couldn’t spare a minute here, and a minute there? Of course you could have! Instead, you give me excuses.”
And excuses weren’t allowed in Mr. Koldo’s classroom, obviously. He was going to be fun to hang with, wasn’t he? “Oh, yeah, well, how am I supposed to do the peace-and-joy thing if you continue to be mean to me?”
He jolted a step backward, as though shocked. “I’m not mean.”
She peered at him, doing her best to radiate mock sincerity. “Koldo, do you know the definition of the word mean?”
“‘Nasty. Unkind. Cruel.’“
“Maybe for some. But the Nicola Lane definition is ‘pain in my rear.’“
He rubbed the back of his neck. “I will endeavor to be nicer, then.”
She suddenly felt a little guilty for teasing him. He’d taken her seriously. “Will you at least give me a hint? Maybe tell me where you go when you vanish?”
“I go to the spirit realm,” he said, watching her intensely.
“So … you’re a ghost?” As she’d first suspected?
He flashed his teeth in a fearsome scowl. “Ghosts do not exist.”
Wow. “O-kay.” There was a glimpse of the Viking pillager from the elevator. The one who had a major beef with lies. “So you’re not a ghost. Got it.”
“There are no ghosts,” he reiterated sharply. “Human spirits go up or down, but they never linger or come back. What people consider ghosts are actually familiar spirits and familiar spirits are dem—” Sighing, he scrubbed a hand down his face. “Never mind. I have more to teach you than I realized.”
A bead of worry she’d told herself she wouldn’t feel joined the guilt. “You won’t change your mind, will you?”
Annnd he flashed his teeth in yet another fearsome scowl. “How could I? A bargain was struck.”
And he was always a man of his word. She’d already known that about him, and had to stop inadvertently insulting his sense of honor. He might stick around no matter what, but she wanted him as happy as she was supposed to be while he was doing it. “Why do you want to teach someone like me, anyway?” Nicola had nothing to offer in return. “And what do you want to teach me? I thought you only wanted me to do the calm, peace, joy thing.”
He looked away, saying, “Perhaps I know what it’s like to suffer one travesty after another, desperate for hope but discovering none.” He studied her sister for a long while. “I just pray Laila proves to be as accepting as you.”
“Would that help her? Save her for more than a few weeks?” A whisper. A desperate rasp.
“Honestly? Only she knows the answer to that. I can teach her what I teach you—and no, I won’t share the details yet. You’re drugged, and will forget the most important parts. I’ll do everything I possibly can to make her feel calm, at peace and joyful.” A flicker of doubt in his eyes, followed by … anger? He shook his head and added, “But will she listen?”
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