Page 127 of Crimson Oath
“Nice for grown-upstoo.”
Nice? Yes, but much work. The area around the fire had been mowed and raked. Buckets of water had been set out.
“One errant spark and this all goes up in flames,” she murmured.
“Such an optimist.”
“A realist.” She never said it wasn’t worth the work. But valuable things took work. Valuable people deserved it. The Poshani children deserved something delightful, and it was worth the work to give it to them.
Benjamin was looking at the stream by Kezia’s beautiful old vardo. “Keeping an eye on things?”
“I’d be a fool not to,” she said quietly. “Even water vampires can burn.”
“True.”
Vecchio was watching the camp with a gaze that whispered secrets. Tatyana narrowed her eyes and saw him take in the vardo, clock the Hazar hovering overhead. He noticed everything around him.
Watchful. Always watchful.
Oleg said he had been raised by an assassin, but what was he doing in the kamvasa now? What washispurpose?
“Radu asked me to keep an eye out for any errant fire, and I was willing. There are not many of my kind in the camp.” Most of the Poshani vampires were wind vampires like Vecchio.
Did he think that qualified him to take one of the jewel goblets that Rumi and Desiree were talking about? Maybe Vecchio—as much of a newborn as she was—was also looking for a home.
Or his own kingdom to rule.
He smiled at her, still putting on his gregarious mask, though she could see the calculation behind it. “You’re generous to help.”
“I’ve become quite good at putting out fires. I used to work for Oleg.”
Oleg the Terrible. Thinking about him already felt bittersweet.
Vecchio was still there, still watching her. “I see.”
“I very much doubt that.” She lifted some water from the creekand rolled the liquid in her palm. The focus broke her memory of Oleg, and she felt her body cooling down. “But I’m ready when I need to be.”
He gave her his biggest grin. “Good vampire.”
“Ugh.” Did he know how garish his fangs were? He looked like he was getting ready to bite something. Tatyana tossed the water back in the creek. “Put your smile away. I’m not in the mood for your teeth.”
His laughter seemed genuine, and the glance he cast toward the collection of vampires where his mate was sitting was as conflicted as Tatyana’s own mind.
When he spoke again, she barely caught his words. “Vampire life is complicated.”
“So it is.”
What was going on in his mind?
Despite his looks and the vast power differential between them, she felt older than Vecchio. Or maybe she was just more jaded. Maybe his life had been a privileged, soft life of ease.
Probably. If he was the adopted son of a powerful immortal, it was easy to imagine him slipping easily through life, drifting from one amusement to another like the children of the rich she’d seen vacationing in Sevastopol when she was growing up.
She heard the sound of air moving overhead. “The Hazar are coming to watch. Radu will call them down.”
The last thing that Radu wanted would be wind vampires in the air with fireworks going off. That sounded like a recipe for disaster.
Vecchio narrowed his eyes. “Seems like you’ve gotten to know the ins and outs of this place pretty well.”
