Page 141 of Crimson Oath
She looked up at the last person she expected to see. “Benjamin Vecchio?” She looked around, but no one else seemed to have noticedthe black-clad vampire wearing an odd cap and lurking in the shadows.
What the hell was going on?
“I am surprised to see you here,” she said to the shadows, “where youdefinitely should not be.”
He had left the kamvasa. He shouldn’t even know where it was, but he was a wind vampire.
He kept his voice low. “Did Radu… make my excuses for me?”
His voice was wavering. Something was very wrong.
“He told us nothing.” Tatyana shook her head. “Only that you and Tenzin had chosen to leave the caravan. Is everything well with your family?”
“Yeah. I don’t know if Radu knows what’s going on.”
Oleg had implied the same thing, but Tatyana didn’t want to mention Oleg to this stranger even if everything about his demeanor was setting off her protective instincts.
Vecchio turned his head, and when Tatyana followed his eyes, she saw Vano speaking with a group of the Hazar and darigan guards.
“Stay away from Vano,” Vecchio said. “He’s dangerous.”
“You tell me things I already know. That man makes my skin crawl.”
“Tomorrow night.” He seemed to struggle with his words. “Anything you can’t live without, keep it with you. If you need to run, be light.”
Another vampire implying that something bad was going to happen at the Vashana. “What do you know?”
“Enough to know that something is coming and it could be violent.”
“This is the kamvasa. Radu would never?—”
“Radu would not.” His voice was low and urgent. “Others might.”
So something badwasgoing to happen at the Vashana. She had felt it. Oleg had implied it. Now this stranger was confirmingit. Tatyana nodded.
“I like you,” Vecchio said. “Take care.”
The wind shifted, and she smelled him. His energy had changed, and his skin held the faint scent of cardamom and incense.
“You smell like her now,” Tatyana said. Vecchio smelled like his mate. The combined scent was lovely in an entirely unexpected way. “Did you resolve your dispute?”
Would her scent change when she took Oleg’s blood again? Would his? There was something intensely satisfying about the idea of leaving her mark on him at the cellular level.
Vecchio smiled. “You’re very observant. You know that, right?”
She shrugged. “It usually gets me into trouble.”
“Good luck.” He tipped his hat and then casually walked to the edge of the forest.
In seconds, he had melted into the darkness.
When she turned back to the wagons, Vano was nowhere in sight.
Chapter 31
Oleg
Iwant to bite you again.
