Page 28 of Crimson Oath
When her mother passed? She couldn’t say. That was too long in the future. For now her only focus was finding a safe and relatively stable place to rest her head.
And drink some blood.
She tapped on the numbered door that belonged to the next woman on Cora’s list.
Sibella Ardelian. Room 315.
Not a name she’d heard before. Armenian maybe?
Having a room in the 300s meant that Sibella was new to the compound, so Tatyana was hoping strongly that Sibella wasn’t new to vampire feeding. She still felt like an awkward newcomer to the exchange.
A voice came from behind the door. “Who is it?”
She spoke thickly accented English, so Tatyana responded in English as well.
“I’m Tatyana Vorona. Cora said you would be expecting me?”
The woman opened her door, and Tatyana looked down. She was tiny and petite, rubbing dark brown eyes that were thickly lashed as she yawned.
“I thought you were coming at dusk.” She glanced over her shoulder. “Sorry, I went to sleep because I guessed that you had fed from someone else.” Her brown eyes turned from sleepy to suspicious. “You’re Tatyana?”
“Yes.”
“Do you have an ID?”
What an odd question. “No.”
“Then how do I know that you’re her?”
Tatyana was irritated now. “Do a lot of young female vampires live here that I don’t know about? If you don’t want to give me your blood, there are six other names on my list.” She started to turn.
“Wait!” Sibella called out. “I suppose you are right. Come in.”
If she was new, maybe she didn’t realize how secure Arosh’s compound was. Perhaps that was the reason for her overt suspicion.
“No human has ever been killed by a vampire in Arosh’s home.” Tatyana walked in, and Sibella pointed to a table where she set her backpack. “You must be new.”
“So are you.” Sibella walked over and turned on the lamp beside the bed. “Because I guarantee you some humans have been killed here.”
“How do you know?” Tatyana took a seat on the short sofa near a low bookcase. It looked like the most comfortable place to take the woman’s blood.
“Because you’re vampires,” Sibella said with a wave of her hand. “Accidents happen. You just want blood, right?” She’d walked over to the small kitchenette and was drinking a tall glass of water. “I don’t do sex with women or old men, but if you get affectionate, I don’t care so much.”
“No problem. I just want blood. I don’t like connecting the two either. Makes things…” She flashed to a memory of Oleg at her vein. “Makes things complicated.”
“Giving blood is always complicated.” Sibella rubbed her fingers together in the universal sign for money. “But lucrative for me.”
“Is that why you came?” She noticed that Sibella didn’t seem shy or insecure in the least. The longer she spent with the young woman, the more she set Tatyana at ease.
“Yes.” Sibella spoke frankly. “I’m saving up for a big purchase. The girls where I come from, they know if they want to make real money, a year or two in Arosh’s compound is very profitable.”She sat next to Tatyana and shrugged. “Donate your blood. Get paid very well.” She looked around. “And live in luxury in the mountains while you’re here.” She winked at Tatyana. “Maybe have your pick of the best-looking immortals in the court, starting with the king himself.”
Tatyana smiled. “So Arosh isn’t an old man?”
Sibella offered her a coy smile. “The Fire King is a god. Rules are a little different for gods, aren’t they?”
Tatyana laughed a little bit. “You’re funny.”
“I’m Poshani. Our humor is our greatest defense.”
