Page 46 of Crimson Oath
“Understood.” She reached toward a button on her desk. “I think Natalya’s crying again. I’ll see you tomorrow night.”
“Polina?”
“What?” Her eyes darted toward the door.
“I love you, and I’m proud of you,” Oleg said softly. “Give my granddaughter a kiss.”
Oleg satat the head of a table in Odesa, surrounded by five vampires, a trusted human scribe, and three screens bearing the faces of three of his governors.
“My most trusted governors,” he said to start the meeting. “It is good to see you all.”
While his druzhina—his inner circle—was heavily represented in his governors, there were two vampires, his brothers Ivan and Pavel, who had also been granted governor seats despite the fact that they werenotin Oleg’s personal circle.
Both oversaw key areas of his empire. Pavel was one of his oldest living brothers and had overseen his northern ports for centuries. Oleg’s most troublesome brother, Ivan, oversaw Moscow and much of the Russian heartland with the criminal gang he’d created.
“Lidik is in Odesa.” Pavel was on a screen and his voice sounded accusatory, but that was nothing new. “I did not know that exterior governors were flying in.”
Pavel was distant, cold, and extremely efficient. He could also be as irritable as a wet cat.
“Lidik happened to be in the region for something unrelated.” Oleg glanced at the Siberian woman who sat stiffly in the corporate conference room.
“I’m meeting one of my children tomorrow night,” Lidik said quietly. “She recently relocated from Kashgar to Capadoccia.”
“It’s lovely to see you.” Polina was also on a screen. “Will you be in the area more often now that she’s moved?”
“Doubtful.” Lidik glanced at Oleg. “I’ll be here when the knyaz requires it, as always.”
Lidik rarely left Siberia, and Oleg was fine with that. She was dressed in traditional Siberian clothing, mostly fur, despite the balmy spring weather in Odesa. Her long hair was braided elaborately, and she stared at the table in front of her, tracing the pattern of burl on the polished wood.
The wind vampire wasn’t blood related to any of his clan, butfour centuries before, Oleg had saved her life. As a result, Lidik was more loyal to him than most of his blood relations.
She was also a favorite of Polina and his brother’s child Juliya, who was sitting next to Oleg in the conference room.
“If we could take roll for the scribe,” Juliya said, “we can get started with the meeting. This is procedural but important.”
“I don’t know why any of that nonsense is necessary.” Ivan’s resonant baritone voice rolled over the room, filling the space. “When did we start keeping records like humans? We don’t have shareholders, brother.”
“It’s necessary because I want it,” Oleg said. “That is all you need to know.”
Ivan stared at him for a moment; then his face broke into a wide smile. “How modern! Very forward thinking, brother.”
Ivan usually addressed Oleg asbrothereven though they’d never been close. It was as if he received pleasure by reminding Oleg that—despite their mutual dislike—they shared Truvor’s blood.
Oleg hadn’t realized that Ivan was in Odesa, and he was slightly annoyed that his brother had slipped into the city under his nose.
He glanced at Mika, but the Estonian only lifted one dark eyebrow.
Oleg had a purpose for the minutes of the meeting. He had every intention of looking over the candidates for chief financial officer alone with Mika and possibly with Tatyana. As recently human, she would have valuable perspective on the matter.
“Pavel.” The vampire’s clipped voice started the roll. “Present via screen.”
“Mika, present in Odesa.”
“Polina,” his daughter called. “Present via screen.”
“Lazlo,” Oleg’s oldest brother grumbled from a screen in the corner. “And I’m staring at Oleg’s face on a television again. For the record, he’s still an ugly bastard.”
Oleg smiled, and all the vampires around him chuckled.
