Chapter 33

Night came quickly in the forest, and Katya was drinking heavily as everyone sat eating and talking around the cooking fires.

Katya"s eyes slipped to where Izrayl was chatting with Cerise but looked away quickly. She didn"t know what had gotten into her. Flirting with a volk krovi was just plain dangerous, no matter how cute he was. He had a shitty attitude, but it kind of heightened his appeal.

Katya groaned inwardly at her stupidity. It had been drilled into her to kill his kind, not flirt with them. Maybe Baba Zosia was right, and she was turning into a harlot. Or maybe there was a volk krovi walking around with amazing black hair and wicked amber eyes and a killer smile who could turn a seventy-year-old nun into a harlot just by walking past.

Focus!Katya yelled at herself. She decided to blame her lack of sex, the night, the fires" gold light, and the vodka singing through her brain. It would be really great if he stopped smiling at her knowingly, then looking away.

Bastard. Katya took another sip of vodka. She was standing out of the fire circle, leaning against one of the caravans.

Trajan and Anya were sitting next to each other, their sides just touching. They reminded Katya of nervous high school kids who didn"t know whether to hold hands in public. Cute, in a bizarre way. A Grecian death spirit crushing on a mortal Russian shamanitsa? That was a world of drama waiting to happen.

"You seem to be lost in thought," a deep voice said from behind her. Shit! She hadn"t even seen Izrayl move.

"Big thinker I am," Katya slurred and stumbled backward a little. He placed his hand on the small of her back to steady her.

"Easy there, hunter," he said, and Katya heard the humor in his voice. "I never picked you for a big thinker. You"re more like me. You"re a doer." She turned around slowly to face him. His long braid hung over his shoulder, and she fought the urge to touch it.

"Won"t do you," she blurted out. She thought that would offend him, but Izrayl only laughed.

"I bet a one-legged leper could do you right about now."

"Not recommended." Katya shook her head.

"I can"t imagine a leper would be your type anyway. Or a volk krovi, for that matter. You"ve made it pretty clear what you think of them."

"You wouldn"t know what my type is," she said, taking another drink.

Izrayl fixed golden eyes on her, and her legs swayed again. He reached out and took the red mug out of her hands.

"You"ve had enough of this for one night," he said without taking his gaze off her. "We have a big day tomorrow. You should think about going to bed."

"I will have someone escort you to your kennel."

"So you"re a bitch even when you"re drunk," Izrayl said bluntly.

Katya felt guilty when she saw the hurt look on his face.

"Shit, I"m sorry. I"m kind of a bitch most of the time. Don"t mean to be, but I don"t play very well with others. I"m supposed to hate you. If my father was alive… Fuck. I"d be in sooo much trouble."

Izryal grinned. "Lucky he isn"t then."

"Doesn"t matter. I can still feel his disapproval from the afterlife." Katya tried to walk forward and ended up tripping right into Izrayl. He was laughing as he caught her again before she hit the grass.

"You"re kind of adorable when you"re off your face," Izrayl said, propping her up against him.

"You"re nicer when I"m drunk," she murmured.

"Don"t tell anyone," he replied. "You really should go to bed. I can help you… Don"t give me that look. No funny stuff, I swear. Believe it or not, I don"t take advantage of girls when they are drunk."

Katya gave him a wonky smile before it fell from her face. "Izrayl?"

"Yakaterina."

"See that tree? Head for it because I"m about to throw up." He carried her behind the tree, and she fell forward to vomit, his warm hands gently holding the hair from her face.

"This"s so fucking embarrassing," Katya groaned.

"It"s amusing for me, though. Now when you are difficult, I can go, "Hey Katya, remember the time I held your hair as you threw up?" and then it will force you to talk to me."

"You could just say hello," Katya said sarcastically before heaving once more.

"That hasn"t worked so far." Izrayl helped her once she had stopped. "Let"s take you home." Katya lost her footing, and Izrayl swung her up in his arms.

"Let"s do this the easy way, and don"t even think about fighting with me, or I"ll dump you on the ground and leave you there."

"Okay," she mumbled.

Izrayl walked up the stairs of Aleksandra"s caravan and placed Katya gently on her bed. Katya clutched her head and squeezed her eyes shut. When she opened them, he was holding out a cup of water.

"Thank you." Izrayl gave her the cup before folding his arms and leaning against the doorframe. Katya sipped some and placed it on the nightstand.

"Will you please stop looking at me like that?" Katya asked, laying back on her pillows.

"Like what?" Izrayl asked innocently.

"Like you"re laughing at me. It"s rude."

"Only because you aren"t in on the joke."

"Because I am the fucking joke." Katya grabbed the quilt, and he helped her pull it up to her chin.

"Why are you meant to hate volk krovi?" he asked softly.

"Cos, my father said they killed my mother. So he made me…kill them back," Katya slurred.

"Did you find her murderers?"

Katya shrugged. "He told me the volk krovi killed her. Made me hate them. I don"t even know if it was true anymore."

Izrayl"s golden eyes softened. "Don"t worry, I"m not like other volk krovi."

"I knooooww, and I hate it already," Katya complained.

Izrayl"s smile turned mischievous, and heat zinged through her blood. His smile widened as if he sensed the change in her.

"I would give you a kiss goodnight, but I"m not keen on vomit breath."

"What makes you think I want you to kiss me? I"m not that drunk," Katya snapped.

Izrayl slowly leaned down to her face. He was so close she felt his breath on her lips.

"Despite your prejudice against my kind, I think you"re curious," he whispered. "Goodnight, little hunter." He disappeared out the door, leaving her staring stupidly after him.