Page 42 of Crimson Oath
He could live his blood-soaked vampire existence being an undead emperor to thousands, and she could try to carve out a corner of eternity that didn’t suck out her soul.
That was all she wanted. A little bit of peace. A space that felt like home. Safety for her mother.
“They’re going to try to rob us.”
Tatyana stopped and turned when Oleg spoke. “What?”
He stood still, hands in his coat pockets, and nodded at a clutch of dark-clad men who had broken away from the shadows under a tree and were lurching in their direction. “They think we’re lost tourists.”
She hadn’t even noticed them, lost in her thoughts and fuming at the silent vampire beside her. “Oh good. Another excuse for you to rip some heads off.”
He shrugged. “If they irritate me or threaten you?—”
“As you very recently reminded me, I’m not human anymore.” She glared at him from the side. “Just wait here and let me talk to them.”
“You?” He had the gall to look amused. “You’re going to talk to them. Excellent. I hope they don’t have knives. Let me know when you would like my company, little wolf.”
Tatyana stalked over to the boys, most of whom looked like teenagers, and snarled, “Where the fuck are your mothers?”
The young man in the front of the pack froze.
“Well?” Tatyana continued. “Where are they?”
The young man in the front of the pack looked confused. “We… what?”
He answered her in Georgian, but Tatyana responded in Russian, in the best attempt at grandmotherly shame she could manage. “Do they know you’re out so late?” She pointed at the apartment buildings behind them. “Is that where you live?” She looked at one of the boys, who looked barely old enough to pee standing up. “You! What is your mother’s name?”
“Uh…” He stammered. “M-Marie. Her name is?—”
“Shut up, Georgi.”
“Oh!” Tatyana kept going. “So I should walk back and start pounding on doors and asking Marie why Georgi is harassing people out for a walk at night, yes?”
“Fuck you, bitch.” The words might have come from the tallestboy in the group, but his voice was wavering. Just a little bit. Nevertheless, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a knife. “You’re crazy. So shut up and give me your?—”
Faster than the knife could rise, she darted over to him, yanked the blade from his hand, twisted his wrist, and gripped the boy’s throat in her hand, slamming him to the ground before she turned to the biggest one, who had barely had time to react.
She grabbed his ear, pulled him down to her face, and hissed in his ear. “Go. Home.” She flooded his skin with amnis as she spoke and watched his pupils go wide. “Go home and apologize to your mother for being a bad son.”
The boys were scuffling in the long grass around their friend on the ground, stunned by Tatyana’s sudden attack and the limp way their ringleader drooped in her arms.
She let him drop to the ground before she turned to them and spoke quietly. “All of you go home and apologize to your mothers for being shameful, irresponsible little fucks who don’t have jobs and aren’t in school.”
They said nothing, but they picked up their friends and shuffled back into the shadows of the trees along the riverbank. Moments later, Tatyana heard them start to run.
Oleg wandered over, his hands still in his pockets and an amused expression on his face. “I’ve never thought about using maternal guilt to deal with humans. Unexpectedly effective. Should I call for a car?”
“They were dumb little boys.” She turned to him. “I knew plenty of them at home. You would have ripped their heads off and killed them.”
Tatyana felt a pang in her chest when she realized that half those boys she’d grown up with were probably dead already. Bombing. War. Crime. All of them could kill as easily as a vampire.
The world was filled with monsters, and now she was one of them.
“I probably would have only needed to kill the ringleader.” Oleg stared into the darkness. “But I did not need to.” He looked at her. “See? I told you that you’re going to make an extraordinary vampire.”
The following night,Tatyana woke on Arosh’s mountain with Oleg’s scent still clinging to her skin. She washed her face, put on clothes that would be acceptable for court, then walked through her door, heading toward a room in the furthest corner of the compound.
Two sharp raps later, the Poshani human named Sibella opened the door, narrowing her eyes when she saw Tatyana.
