Page 59 of The Storm
The speaker on the keypad crackled. “Yes?”
Renata looked around the entry, but she could see no cameras or modern surveillance equipment.
Max bent down. “Tell the watcher Maxim and Leontios have arrived from Istanbul.”
“Along with our mates,” Leo added.
“A moment.”
A buzzing sound signaled their welcome. Renata pushed the gate open, reaching for the bag she’d hastily packed.
“We were expecting you, brothers.” A different crackling voice. “We did not know you were bringing your mates. They are most welcome.”
The speaker went silent, and Renata held the gate as Max, Leo, and Kyra grabbed their luggage. Leo, as usual, was treating Kyra as if she were made of glass. Renata tried not to roll her eyes. Her sister-in-law was a capable woman with a strong mind. She’d fooled Renata on first meeting but had quickly revealed an iron will and an excellent understanding of human nature. Renata approved of her new sister wholeheartedly. The two women were as different as night and day, but then so were Leo and Max.
Leo cosseted his mate, but Renata couldn’t find fault. They were too happy. Too adoring of each other. Kyra had lived most of her life with a wolf at her back. If it gave Leo pleasure to pamper her, Renata would never criticize.
Max grunted beside her as he threw a second backpack filled with books over his shoulder. “What did you pack in here? Is this my bag or yours? I don’t remember packing anything this heavy. Why aren’t you carrying this?”
Ah, her doting lover. “I packed your travel desk and the manuscript you were working on in Italy. You haven’t had time to work on it since we got back to Istanbul.”
“You think I’ll have time here?”
She slipped her hand into his. “We are here until he is gone, aren’t we? In times of waiting, it is good to have things to do.” Renata could feel Max’s eyes on her. “What?”
“I love you.”
The warm weight of his words settled in her chest. “I know.”
They walked up the driveway through an alley of linden trees, taller oaks dotting the property. The house was set back from the road, three stories tall with golden windows shining in the dusk. The front door opened and two figures appeared in silhouette.
“Is that Volos?” Leo asked.
“I think so.”
“He cut his hair.”
Renata said, “Well, it has been roughly one hundred years. He might have wanted a new look.”
Both Leo and Max looked at her as if she were speaking a foreign language. Only Kyra offered her the ghost of a smile.
“He is coming,” Kyra said.
The scribe that approached didn’t say a word. He appeared middle-aged, and his face was lined. His hair was a rough crop of grey and brown, and he wore a trimmed beard. He paused a few feet before he reached them and stared, first at Renata and Kyra, then at Max and Leo.
“Volos,” Max said. “It is good to see you well.”
Volos nodded to them, then he bent down and reached for Renata’s suitcase. He hoisted it over his shoulder, then reached for Max’s bag. “I’ll get the others if you want to leave them here,” he muttered.
“It’s fine,” Leo said. “Thank you, brother.”
Volos nodded and turned back to the house. Max took one of the bags from Leo’s shoulder and kept walking.
“He’s a talkative one,” Renata said.
“Just you wait,” Max said. “Compared to the rest of them, Volos is a comedian.”
* * *
