Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen

O leg waited in the car as his driver Seban called for a cleanup crew in the alley and took care of paying off the human authorities that needed to be bribed. A light rain was falling over the city, and he thought about Tatyana running through the rain. She’d been wearing a dressy coat, but it didn’t look warm, and he made a mental note to tell Lorala to buy another, heavier, garment for her.

Had she lived in another century, he would have enjoyed hunting foxes or trapping ermine so a furrier could make her a coat from animals he’d provided, but she was a modern woman and women in the twenty-first century did not appreciate furs as older centuries did.

Oleg hadn’t worn fur since he was human. He found it too warm for his element.

“Finished, boss.”

“Good.”

The driver’s door clicked shut, and Seban turned to look at him. “I called Mika when I was finished with the police. He said they’re gone.”

“Both of them?”

“Yes.”

“Good.” He would have been surprised if Tatyana had left her mother when she ran.

“Mika wanted to know if he should follow them, but if they’ve had a head start?—”

“It’s fine.” He plucked at the freshly pressed pants Seban had procured for him. A crisp cotton shirt had taken the place of his cashmere sweater. He’d have to order a new one since he’d liked the texture of the one that burned. “Take me to the house.”

“Are you sure?”

Oleg glanced at Seban, then flicked his fingers, pinching back the burst of flame that wanted to escape. “Just go.”

The human turned around and put the car into gear.

Oleg supposed it was natural for the man to be skeptical. Seban had been Oleg’s personal driver for three decades, and he remembered when his boss had spent more time in Sevastopol. Even after he and Luana had grown distant, they were not truly estranged.

Vampire unions could take many shapes, and while his and Luana’s mating had once been highly passionate, Oleg had been supportive of her desire to have some distance after several hundred years. They remained close, but their sexual relationship ended so their blood bond could wane.

Seban drove through the city as it grew quiet and cold. The tourists had returned to their hotels. All but the hardiest clubs were shutting down. It was three in the morning, and Oleg spotted a blue moon hanging low in the sky as his car turned on familiar streets toward the oceanfront villa Luana had loved.

She was a water vampire and had always reveled in her element. She wanted waterfalls flowing through the house and massive fountains in the garden. Oleg had spared no expense creating the perfect getaway for his mate and delighted when she was pleased.

He’d created a mosaic fountain in the entryway that was one of his finest works, but he hadn’t crossed the threshold of Luana’s house in over a decade.

When Zara had secured Luana’s affections, Oleg had been relieved.

His mate was happy. In time, their blood bond would recede and Oleg would finally be free of the woman who had been his dream, his nightmare, and his obsession for centuries.

Fate, of course, had other plans.

They pulled up to a white mansion with classical Greek columns and arches that surrounded the three-story building. The whitewashed walls glowed in the moonlight, and the scent of the Black Sea surround him.

Seban opened the door, and Oleg stepped onto land he’d bid farewell to centuries before.

Mika was standing in the doorway of the house, his arms crossed over his chest. “This night didn’t go the way I expected.”

Oleg patted him on the shoulder as he walked inside. “Wouldn’t it be worse to be bored?”

“Seban told me to let her and the mother go.” Mika was sitting on an immaculately kept lounge chair on a veranda that overlooked waves crashing over rocks. “Why?”

Just because the house had been empty for a year didn’t mean it wasn’t well-kept. Perhaps someday he might want to visit this place again. It was isolated enough for his liking, and the upper stories were completely light safe. There were extensive rooms built into the bedrock as well as passages leading back to sea caverns where Luana and Zara had enjoyed their private swims.

He also suspected they’d lured humans there at times, but that was none of his business as long as they cleaned up after themselves.

“She saw me kill the humans.”

“Yes, I sensed a bit of pent-up tension at work there from the pictures Seban sent.” Mika leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. “Feeling better?”

Slightly.

He had been tense, but it had nothing to do with Zara this time. It was the tidy little human with her facts, her figures, and her stubborn determination to lodge herself in his mind that was throwing Oleg off.

“I’m fine.” He’d prefer to be fucking the woman and sinking his teeth into her neck, but that could come later when she wasn’t afraid of him. “Do you have concerns, Mika?”

“I have concerns that you let her run off like a scared rabbit. Why on earth didn’t you wipe her memory?”

It wouldn’t have worked.

He didn’t tell Mika that. “I’ve decided that I want to take her as a mistress, so I’d prefer she know my true nature.”

It wasn’t un true. But Oleg also didn’t want any other vampires to know that Tatyana’s mind was becoming resistant to vampire manipulation. If immortals thought she couldn’t be fooled, she would become a danger to them.

“You want her as a mistress ?” Mika gaped. “We’re using her as bait.”

“We can continue using her as bait. I’ll just depend on you to protect her so she’s not damaged.”

Mika shook his head. “We’re talking about Zara. I can’t guarantee anything.”

“I think you can if you want to keep me happy.” Oleg leaned forward and took the glass of wine that a silent servant set down. “She’s going to be working intimately with us. I decided it was more convenient for her to know my true nature.”

“That was definitely one way to show her,” Mika said. “You ripped off several limbs in front of the woman and killed nine men.”

“Who were trying to rob us,” Oleg said. “And they were not interested in just her purse.”

Now Mika looked amused. “She still might see that as an overreaction, but maybe I’m misreading her. No doubt young accountants are accustomed to violent and deadly retribution for common street crimes.”

“The human world would be far safer if thieves had to fear death if they assaulted a woman.” Oleg shrugged. “Their deaths will not sit on my conscience, semu.”

The old nickname seemed to cut the tension between them. Mika sighed and sat back in the lounge chair. “This is a great house.”

“It really is.” Oleg looked around. “And without Zara here, it’s quite peaceful.”

“I’m hearing whispers from Istanbul.”

“What kind of whispers?”

“Zara hasn’t been seen in two nights.”

Oleg’s eyebrow went up. “That coincides with your putting the word out that Tatyana was working with us, correct?”

“Correct. Are you sure we shouldn’t be chasing the woman right now?”

“Relax.” Oleg snapped his fingers, and the servant appeared at his side. “They took their car, correct?”

“Yes, and headed northeast toward Simferopol.”

“Then they’re going to her grandparents’ old farm, I imagine.” He kicked his feet up on the edge of the stone table as his wineglass was refilled. “It’s in the Feodosia region, correct?”

“Yes. We already have people in the area. I’ll call them and tell them to keep an eye on the place until we get there.”

“Good. Let my little wolf catch her breath and try to convince herself she didn’t see what she saw tonight.” Oleg looked out toward the low-slung moon on the edge of the horizon. “I’ll find her soon enough.”

Two nights later, Oleg sat in the back of an old Land Cruiser as Seban drove it up a narrow dirt track that wound between bare almond groves and trimmed lavender fields. The land was cool and quiet, but the rolling fields that rose up from the Black Sea coast were green even as winter approached.

“It’s no wonder that they went into debt to pay the taxes on this place,” Oleg said.

“It’s beautiful country.”

“Human inheritance laws are cruel.” He didn’t know the details, but it irritated him that Tatyana had been forced to use her money to pay the taxes on land that her grandparents had farmed for decades.

“Human governments are corrupt,” Seban said. “That’s why I prefer working for vampires.”

“Even when I create messy situations for you?” The corner of his mouth turned up.

“But I never have to worry that you’ll fire me.” Seban glanced in the rearview mirror. “If you’re not happy with me, you’ll just kill me. All my worries will be over.”

“And your grandchildren would receive excellent educations.” Oleg nodded. “Remind me to update the employee benefit handbook when we get back to the citadel.”

Seban chuckled. “I have a feeling that kind of benefit isn’t going to appeal to a woman like her.”

“It might. She’s a practical one.” He saw a yellow light at the top of the barn as they crested a hill. “No mirrors hanging from the trees?”

“No, but all the lights are on in the house.”

“And thorns in the windows, no doubt,” Oleg murmured. Come now, volchitsa, do you think you can rid yourself of me so easily?

Seban pulled into the yard between the house and the barn and brought the car to a stop. “Cross on the door.”

“Maybe they’re just religious.”

Seban chuckled. “Do you want me to come with you?”

“No. Stay in the car, but you don’t have to keep it running. Call Mika. Tell him I’m here.”

Oleg had dressed himself in a sweater the color of birchwood and a pair of brown wool pants. Lighter colors made him appear more human, and he needed to set Tatyana at ease.

He walked calmly to a wooden gate set into a stacked stone wall, noting the bowls of water set on either side.

Consecrated water did nothing to Oleg. In fact, he used it to cool his fire when he worked on mosaic pieces in churches.

He cleared his throat and made sure to step loudly when he opened the gate. He could smell the faint scent of gunpowder nearby and suspected that an old farm like this would have at least a shotgun or a rifle on hand.

A gun wouldn’t kill him unless it managed to precisely sever his spinal cord at the neck, effectively decapitating him, but gunshot wounds were painful and took elemental energy to heal. He’d just burned up one favorite sweater and didn’t want to wreck this one as well.

“Tatyana Vorona.”

The faint sound of a shotgun racking.

Oleg smiled and raised both hands. “You can’t kill me with a shotgun, and I’m not here to harm you.”

“Why are you here?” she yelled through the closed door.

“I can hear you very well,” Oleg said. “You don’t have to yell. My hearing is excellent.”

The door to the old farmhouse swung open slowly, and Tatyana appeared in the doorway.

“Why are you here?”

Oleg was momentarily speechless. Gone was her professional armor of poorly fitting business clothes and fashionable new suits. She was dressed in a plain white T-shirt, a black hoodie, and a pair of worn jeans. Her golden hair glowed in the yellow electric lights, and her blue eyes were fixed on him.

She looked younger. And she looked fierce.

Oh, I will have you, my little wolf. You will most definitely be mine.

“Are you here to kill me?” Her voice was flat and emotionless.

“Why would I kill you? You work for me. Have you betrayed me?”

“No.”

“Good. So whatever you think you saw?—”

“I saw you bare your fangs, rip out the throats of nine men, and set them on fire with flames you pulled from nowhere,” Tatyana said. “Tell me I was imagining it.”

She might smell afraid, but she wasn’t showing it. He liked her bravado, and it was a little bit disturbing how attractive she was carrying a weapon. He glanced at her feet to see a pile of freshly hewn wooden stakes piled near the door.

They couldn’t kill him, but he was impressed by her effort.

“You weren’t imagining anything.” Oleg opened his jaw, rubbing his beard as he let his fangs grow long. He tilted his head back so she couldn’t miss his extended canines in the darkness. “Your mind wasn’t tricking you, Tatyana Vorona. But you knew that already.”

She gulped, but her gaze never wavered. “I want out.”

“Out of what?”

“Out of our contract. Out of SMO. I don’t care about the money; I’ll return it. I want nothing to do with you.”

“It’s a little bit late for that,” Oleg said. “Zara already knows you’re working with me.”

Her face grew pale. “How? Was she watching my house? Did she steal my backup computer?”

It would have been easy for Oleg to let her believe that. He could be the protector then. He could trick her into thinking that all this was for her own good and that despite his monstrous nature, she could trust him.

“No.” Oleg decided that she’d be more persuaded by the truth. “Mika put the word out days ago that you were working with us to find the money Zara stole. I’m sure that’s why someone broke into your house.”

The barrel of the shotgun rose, and Tatyana’s face grew red. “You were going to use me as bait.”

“Yes.” He took a step closer. “I’m still going to use you as bait, but you won’t be unprotected. Neither will your mother. We were watching this house before you even arrived.”

“Why?”

“I protect my assets. And you are one of my assets now.” Oleg lifted his chin. “And, of course, bait is useless if a trap isn’t well-set.”

A voice called from inside the house. “That I will believe.”

“Mama,” Tatyana barked, “be quiet.”

Oleg smiled. “You’re right. She doesn’t trust charming men. And I don’t think you do either.”

The barrel of the shotgun dipped a little bit. “Are all those men dead?”

“Yes.”

“And you don’t feel bad about that, do you?”

He took another step forward. “Not even a little bit. I warned them. Twice.”

She nodded a little bit. “And you’re a… what? What are you?”

He took another careful step. “I am Oleg Sokolov, immortal lord of Kievan Rus, sired of earth and born to fire, vampire heir of Truvor the Red… and your boss.”

Tatyana’s face leached of the bright color her temper had provoked. “Zara is your child, isn’t she? And she’s a vampire too.”

“Unfortunately yes.”

“And she stole money from you. Thirty million dollars.”

Oleg nodded. “It’s probably closer to fifty million, but it’s not the amount that’s the issue. It’s the fact that she stole, and she cannot be allowed to get away with that. Not in my world.”

Tatyana nodded for a long time, staring at him without saying anything; Oleg could see a thousand questions racing through her mind.

“Invite me in.” He walked up the steps to the old wooden porch. He could smell her now. Smell her mother. Smell the memories in the house and the sour scent of fear in the air. “I’m not going to hurt you. I’m going to protect you. I can tell you have questions, and I’m willing to answer them. But you have to invite me in.”

Her eyes lit up. “You can’t come in, can you? You can’t enter my house without an invitation, so if I?—”

Oleg stepped his foot over the threshold, and Tatyana gasped. “I can come in.”

She cursed under her breath.

“But I won’t without your permission,” he continued, “because I prefer it.”

“Invite him in,” Anna called from inside the house. “You’re letting the cold in, Tanya. Just invite the vampire in.”

Tatyana lowered the shotgun and set it by the door, then stepped to the side and said nothing, her jaw clenched in anger.

“Come in, Mr. Sokolov,” Anna said. “I’ll make some tea.”

As Oleg walked past Tatyana, he leaned down and whispered in her ear. “You know, I don’t mind the garlic but it’s not my favorite perfume.”

“Fuck you,” Tatyana whispered.

“Oh, volchitsa.” Oleg smiled. “I do look forward to your teeth.”