Page 21 of Crimson Oath (The Firebird and the Wolf #2)

“These hijackings, they’re mostly in Polina’s and my territory. But if there are issues on the eastern border, you know that I can take the lead on these matters.”

I’m sure that’s what you want.

“It seems to me that Polina has the matter well in hand.” Oleg kept his voice easy. “She’s dealt with the group. The criminals who were attacking the trucks were eliminated.” Oleg paused on the stairs and turned to Ivan. “Do you have reason to think there is a larger organization behind them?”

Ivan’s eyes glittered. “If your daughter has killed them all, I would not worry. She is as brutal as her sire.”

Oleg took the compliment even though it came from Ivan. “Thank you.”

“I just know that sometimes it’s easy to miss a snake in the grass.”

Ivan and Oleg were nearly the same height, which meant that when Ivan threatened Oleg with a smile, he met his brother with merry eyes.

Oleg smiled back, showing a hint of his fangs. “I would never underestimate the ability of a clever snake to hide.”

He started down the stairs again, and the hair on the back of his neck stood at attention as his amnis reacted to Ivan’s badly veiled threats.

“Then again” —Oleg paused at the base of the stairs— “there are fewer and fewer clever snakes still lurking around Moscow, aren’t there?” He glanced over his shoulder and just barely caught the look of disdain on Ivan’s face. “You’ve killed anyone smarter than you.”

Ivan was not particularly intelligent, but he carried a brutal, scheming ability to manipulate people, and he was adept at seeing weaknesses.

“I heard a rumor that Zara’s clever bookkeeper is in the Fire King’s court.” Ivan swerved to a topic Oleg had not expected. “Odd that she would be there. Arosh has no modern business presence that would necessitate someone with her skills.”

Oleg frowned, pretending to be confused. “Are you talking about Zara’s youngest? The young woman who was working with Elene?”

Ivan’s eyes narrowed, and his lips curved in a satisfied smile. “You know exactly who I’m talking about. Perhaps she is Alina’s now. How did you let a little bit of a girl slip from your control?”

“Zara’s daughter is always welcome in our territory, Ivan, but she is very young. I am not a captor for young vampires who want to roam.”

Oleg could say more, but he knew when Ivan was trying to bait him. The worst thing he could do was reveal how much he was paying attention to Tatyana Vorona.

She would immediately become Ivan’s target.

Ivan took another step toward Oleg. “So you’re not trying to get her back?”

Oleg shrugged. “What is she to me? When she has finished her time in the Fire King’s court, she will likely return home. Our kind tend to return to their roots, do they not?”

Ivan was certainly in touch with his roots.

Oleg was more and more convinced that leaving his brother alive after Truvor’s death had been a mistake. If Truvor had an heir in brutality, it was Ivan.

“A pretty little thing and a computer genius too, from what I hear,” Ivan said. “Perhaps she’s the person you’re looking for to take Elene’s position.”

“I’m sure she’s very bright, but we need a human for the role.” Oleg leaned into Ivan’s turn of conversation. “So who are your candidates?”

Ivan frowned. “What?”

“The CFO role, of course.”

Ivan was trying to bait him and provoke a reaction. The best way to counter his brother was to not react. Pretend to be focused on mundane business matters and treat Ivan like an afterthought .

It would drive the vampire crazy.

Oleg patted his older brother’s shoulder. “Rudov and Juliya have already sent me names, but I haven’t heard anything from you, and I know you have people who deserve consideration. I hope you’re thinking carefully about it.”

They stepped out of the building and into the spring streets of Moscow. The building they left was painted a bright yellow color, and it bordered a park where blossom-covered branches created an arch over the sidewalk.

“Oh, I am.” Ivan sneered. “Filling corporate desks is my top priority.”

“Good, good.” Oleg smiled. “Leave policing the territories to Polina, brother. You’re better suited to the city.”

It was the absolute worst insult one could give to one of Truvor’s sons.

Oleg spread his arms. “Such a beautiful spring we’re having, yes?” He stepped toward the street where a black-windowed car had just pulled up to the curb. “I’ll see you soon. Send me your candidates! I can’t wait to see your top talent.”

Oleg slipped into the black sedan, and the car pulled back into slow evening traffic as Ivan grew smaller in the rearview.

Mika held out a manila folder. “You were right. They were here.”

Oleg nodded. “In Moscow?”

“They stayed on the outskirts, but there are records of Sami and Danior Novak staying in a hotel in Krasnogorsk two weeks before the first truck hijacking.”

“Any evidence that they met with Ivan’s people?”

“No, but that’s not the worst part.”

Oleg paged through the files, but his eyes only skimmed them. “What’s worse than my own brother trying to undermine my shipping operation and beating my human employees nearly to death?”

“It’s possible that Ivan didn’t poach those soldiers from the Poshani. I called my little bird in Ivan’s office. Vano le Krizenov had a meeting with Ivan at the same time that Sami Novak was staying here in Moscow.”

Oleg’s head shot up. “No.”

Mika nodded.

“We need to get to the airport tonight,” Oleg said. “How long is the flight to Bucharest?”

They landed in Bucharest two hours past midnight, and Mika made another call to his connection in Radu’s office as soon as they landed, but again there was no answer.

“Still nothing?” Oleg asked.

Mika shook his head. “It’s just going to her voicemail.”

“What are our options?”

“You really think this is some kind of emergency?”

“Vano is a Poshani terrin,” Oleg said. “There are three supreme leaders of that clan, and he is one of them.”

“And it’s time for the kamvasa to start.”

The roaming safe house meant the Poshani clan was about to start its big seasonal caravan, and most of their leadership would be out of communication with the outside world.

“Still,” Mika said. “It’s possible that his meetings with Ivan were for completely legitimate reasons?—”

“It’s possible.” Oleg nodded, gripping the door in his hand. He heard the plastic crack, and he released it.

“Vano does handle most of the human-facing businesses,” Mika said. “Radu and Kezia deal with internal matters, and Vano is the moneyman.”

“Yes, but if it was a business matter, why didn’t we know about it? Vano should be dealing with Polina or Juliya in Kyiv, not making calls to Ivan’s personal secretary. ”

“Tank.” Mika spoke to the driver. “You remember Radu’s club?”

“Yes, boss.”

“Take us there.”

Oleg looked at Mika in the back of the black sedan.

Mika shrugged. “You wanted options, those are our options. If we can’t get him on the phone, he’s probably at that atrocious club.”

Oleg turned to watch the darkened windows. “Radu told us that Sami Novak was Vano’s man, but he implied that Vano and Sami had a falling-out. I don’t think Radu was lying to me.”

Mika nodded. “But Vano could have been lying to Radu.”

“I don’t trust Vano,” Oleg said. “I never have, but he’s only one of the terrin, and his power is checked by Radu and Kezia.

” Oleg felt a snarl working its way up his throat as the sedan stopped in traffic and his frustration peaked.

“The Vashana Zata is being held at the end of the season, Mika. I’m supposed to go and witness it. ”

Mika kept his voice even. “If Vano is plotting with Ivan without telling his brother or his sister, the Poshani have a major problem.”

“And if Vano is scheming with Ivan—and Radu and Kezia do know about it—then we have a problem.” And hundreds and hundreds of secretive, skilled Poshani humans and vampires roaming freely through their territory.

The Poshani’s traditional territory was not like other vampires.

They had no single homeland, though their presence in Romania was significant.

They crossed boundaries and maintained host relationships with numerous vampire rulers, who gladly worked with a clan of loyal and discreet humans and vampires who were skilled artisans and tradespeople.

In the previous century, Oleg had used Poshani contractors to build factories and compounds, trusted them with the plans to his personal offices and homes, and spent millions to hire their people.

They came to do a job, were paid generously, and then moved on.

Oleg had never worried that those secrets could be compromised because the Poshani valued trust and secrecy above all.

“What do you want to do?” Mika asked softly .

“I want to speak to Radu before I jump to conclusions.”

“Understood.”

Oleg wasn’t willing to break an old alliance because of suspicion. More than likely, there was a perfectly legitimate explanation.

Traffic picked up again, heading toward downtown Bucharest and the flashing lights of the clubs and bars where humans wandered, hailing taxis or staring like zombies at their mobile devices.

They pulled up to the back entrance of Zarvǎ and immediately exited the vehicle. Oleg brushed away the polite greetings of the security guards as Mika introduced them.

Moments later, they were walking up the stairs to the soundproofed vampire lounge that overlooked the dance floor.

Mika walked into the club before Oleg, scanning back and forth before he waved Oleg inside. “I don’t see him.”

Oleg’s eyes narrowed on a familiar head of dark, curly hair. “I don’t see Radu, but I do see his sister.”

Kezia le Almásy, terrin of the Poshani and sister of Radu and Vano sat in the corner booth where Radu had met them weeks before, sipping on a glass of blood-wine and luring Oleg in with her eyes.

She was one of the singularly most seductive women Oleg had ever met, though they’d never been lovers. She bounced between human men and immortal women as powerful as she was, though Oleg had always suspected that her truest companions were entirely hidden from sight.

He walked across the club and couldn’t stop the smile that tugged at the corner of his lips. He waited patiently as Kezia’s sandy-haired bodyguard patted him down.

Mika wisely kept his distance.

“Kezia.” Oleg greeted her with a nod. “You’re even more stunning than I remember.”

It was true. The Poshani leader’s skin was pale, and her full lips were red. A crown of nearly black curls surrounded her face, highlighting the delicate features that lured her prey.

“Oleg Sokolov.” She smiled and motioned him closer. “So much power coming to visit me. Sit. You seem tense. Can I help you with that?”

“You don’t want sex with me.” He stretched his arm across the back of the booth and let a ripple of blue flame dance over the back of his hand. “I would burn you.”

“Perhaps I would enjoy it.” Kezia’s kohl-lined eyes watched his hand. “You’re looking for Radu.”

“I am.”

“He’s already gone.” She turned back to look at him and let her fingers dance in the air. “Off to the kamvasa, darling. There are guests to be greeted, and he’s the most congenial.”

“You’re running late?”

She smiled coyly. “I like to make an entrance.”

“So where is your roaming summer camp starting this year?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” Kezia pulled out a slim cigar. “Do you mind?”

“It would be my pleasure.” Oleg snapped his fingers and pulled a flame from the dry air, holding it out to Kezia so she could light her cigarette. “I need to get a message to your brother.”

“I can carry a message for you, or you could buy passage in the kamvasa.” The corner of her mouth turned up. “I think it’s going to be a very interesting year.”

“The Vashana Zata is this year, yes?”

“Radu said he invited you to the party.”

“So if he trusts me enough to invite me?—”

“Ah, ah.” She wagged a finger at Oleg. “That location will be sent much later. Until then, you’ll have to remain in the dark like everyone else.”

“It’s important.” Oleg leaned forward. “I would not press the issue if it was not very, very important, Kezia.”

She narrowed her eyes and blew a thin stream of smoke across the table. “Tell me what this is about,” she said softly. “And I’ll decide if it’s important enough to bother Radu.”