Page 34 of Crimson Oath
Oleg frowned. “Not having a plan is unacceptable when others depend on you.”
“You were turned before you understood what it means to be weak.” Anna shrugged. “So in this, I’m wiser than you.”
“I have people who depend on me,” Oleg said. “I have tomaintain control to keep them safe. And your daughter needs my protection.”
“She was still alive two nights ago,” Anna said. “So that’s been… over a year and a half now?” Anna pursed her lips. “It seems like she’s staying alive on her own.”
“Alive and hiding.”
“So?”
Oleg leaned forward, frustrated and wanting to smash something, but it wouldn’t be Anna. Not if he wanted Tatyana back. “She shouldn’t have to hide.”
“So who is scaring her into hiding?” Anna raised an eyebrow. “It’s you, isn’t it?”
“She has no reason to fear me.”
“That I do not believe.” Anna lifted a finger. “No matter how kind and considerate you have been to me. Tatyana is a smart girl. A practical girl. If she is afraid of you, she has her reasons.”
Oleg said nothing, but he sipped the tea she’d brewed for him in the middle of the night. Perhaps the woman had some wisdom. She knew nothing about the vampire world, of course, but she might have some insight into her daughter.
“If my daughter is afraid of you,” Anna said, “then you need to ask yourself why.”
One month later
Why areyou afraid of me, little wolf?
Oleg had found her.
It had been nearly a month of carefully listening to whispers and watching patterns—as well as paying off a few of Alina’s people—but he had found her.
He peered over the wall of the quiet pub in Gori, a small city in a river valley. The bar was attached to a pub with excellent Wi-Fi and a thriving community of young people who sat in groups around firepits, talking and laughing as they enjoyed their beers and cocktails.
The moment he’d reached the perimeter of the city, he’d felt the blood he’d taken from her burst to vibrant, violent life. It took every degree of Oleg’s self-control not to storm into the bar, throw her over his shoulder, and march out like a Viking raiding a village.
The simmering desire to possess this woman who tormented his mind gnawed at his gut.
The pub was on the edge of town, and the outdoor beer garden where Tatyana was sitting glowed under the gentle light of a half-moon and soft yellow string lights that hung overhead. The sky was a deep, vibrant azure, and the breeze was warm and fragrant with the scent of a nearby orange grove.
She sat in the corner. Alone, always alone, while the silver-haired vampire watched the door.
Mine.
Oleg waited in the darkness, drinking in the sight of her after so many months. The elemental torment he felt was one-sided. She had never taken his blood, and if she felt anything from him, she wasn’t showing it.
“You think I’m a bully?”
“No. I said you pretend to be a bully.”
“You’re not afraid of me.”
“Sometimes I am, a little bit.”
But why did she fear him? Did she fear his fire? Did she fear for her control when he tempted her to give him everything?
“You think I’m lying?”
“Maybe you’re telling the truth. But remember Ivanand the firebird. Even when you start with the best of intentions, things will go wrong.”
