Page 115 of Crimson Oath
Her peaceful sanctuary was disappearing.
The American didn’t look thrilled that he was the subject of curiosity. “That’s so annoying.”
“Your profile isn’t exactly low.” The corner of her mouth twitched. “Benjamin Vecchio, son of Giovanni Vecchio, immortal son of Zhang Guo, mate of Tenzin?—”
“Wait, what?”
Tatyana looked up. “She is not your mate?”
Everyone in the camp said they were mated but simply lived separately.
“It’s complicated.” The American looked flustered.
That felt familiar.
Could Oleg be considered her mate now? They had exchanged blood. Not at the same time, but he’d taken hers. Then she’d taken his.
He was entirely possessive, and his attention was unwavering.
The American leaned in and lowered his voice. “Oleg?”
She curled her lip. How did he know?
Vecchio kept his voice low. “Okay, level with me. Does everyone assume Tenzin is my mate?”
He was clearly more concerned with his own love life than with hers. Good.
“Yes,” Tatyana answered. “Is she not?”
“Tell me about Oleg.”
His name coming out of this stranger’s mouth made her want to snarl. Why was he so curious about Oleg?
She changed the subject. “It’s difficult to remain hidden in this world, isn’t it?”
“Which is so weird because the humans aren’t supposed to know about us.”
She rolled her eyes. “Be serious. Don’t you think most of them know?” Tatyana was starting to feel like the entire world had to be aware of something so obvious. Maybe she’d just been walking through the world, oblivious, before she crashed into Zara.
“I think there are a lot of people who don’t know a thing.”
They trailed off into small talk about how he’d grown up and what they were both doing when they found out about vampires.
Did she lie? A little bit, but the American was far too nosy. He didn’t deserve to know her entire backstory.
Then the man brought up Oleg.
Again.
“So Oleg isn’t your sire?”
“What the hell business is it of yours? How rude do you have to be to ask questions like this?” It was like talking to a child. She only realized she’d spoken in Poshani when Rumi and Desiree laughed and the American looked confused.
“No.” Tatyana tried to speak calmly. “Praise God, he is not my sire.”
That would make all the sex extremely awkward. The sex she was dreaming about again.
“Asshole,” she muttered.
