Page 153 of Crimson Oath
Tenzin let her mate stare down the Hazar surrounding them as she addressed the audience. “Long have I honored the Poshani and admired their hospitality. But four days ago, the trailer where I was promised shelter was abandoned, left behind when the kamvasa moved on.”
“What?” Tatyana frowned. “Theylefther?”
“I was not expecting that,” Mika said.
Kezia rose to her feet, her goblet in her hand. “Vano told us you had asked to remain. He showed us a letter signed by you and Benjamin.”
Tatyana couldn’t look away. She watched Vano. The snake. He was already starting to slink away.
What have you done, you fool?
For the Poshani, the kamvasa was sacred, and a promise wasnever to be broken. Everything in their culture centered on intricate laws of hospitality.
“It was not written by us,” Vecchio said. “Your brother lied to you.”
The Poshani crowd—who had been watching in utter silence—all started to speak at once.
“Let Vano speak!”
“He should explain himself.”
“They are lying thieves!” an old man at the back of the crowd shouted. “They stole the dishana and are trying?—”
“Let Vano explain himself!”
“Vano, tell us the truth!”
“Vano, speak!”
Tatyana caught the look on his face, and even though she knew he was an evil, manipulative asshole, she was still shocked by his expression. “He did it,” she murmured. “Helefther.”
Tenzin turned away from Vano and spoke to the vampires in the grandstand. “Then, while I was in my day rest, Vano’s allies burned my shelter with me inside.”
Oh fuck.
The surge of amnis around her felt like a battle call.
Oleg rose to his feet. Madina rose.Everyvampire in the stands rose, their eyes sweeping over the crowd that was quickly turning to chaos in front of them.
Fangs were bared, and more than one immortal seemed to reach for a weapon even though all of them had been surrendered to the Hazar before the ceremony.
But one vampire didn’t need a weapon.
One vampire in the stands overlooking the crowdwasa weapon.
Every eye on the platform turned to Oleg Sokolov.
The Hazar rose into the sky, circling the crowd and drawing their swords.
“No.” Tatyana’s heart began to beat and she rose. “Oh no.”
“Tenzin is going to start a riot going on like this.” Mika whispered, “Oleg, I have her.”
Tatyana smelled the scent of burning cedar a second after Mika spoke. She saw Oleg glaring at Vano as if he would murder the vampire as entertainment for the crowd.
“He’s going to kill Vano,” she whispered.
“Who, Oleg?” Mika nodded. “Possibly. He would annihilate an entire clan if they threatened his mate.”
