Page 58 of Crimson Oath (The Firebird and the Wolf #2)

“Thank you, old friend.” How much did he want Radu and Kezia knowing about the weakness in his own empire? Oleg looked at Vano, and the man’s haughty expression told him that an interrogation was expected.

Oleg pulled up a small stool and sat in front of Vano. “We did business for many years. How much of that money did you steal from the clan?”

Vano blinked. He’d been expecting questions about Ivan. “Enough.”

“Oh, don’t be foolish,” Oleg said softly. “Is it ever enough?”

The prisoner said nothing.

“When you attacked my trucks, did you know they had vampire guards accompanying them?”

“Yes.”

“So you knew that the Poshani you’d ordered to hijack those trucks would more than likely die.”

The corner of Vano’s mouth turned up. “Yes.”

He heard Kezia and Radu reacting behind him, but he never let his eyes leave Vano. “What did you buy with the money Ivan paid you?”

Vano’s smile was broad. “He didn’t give me money.”

“Ah, forgive me. What did you do with the gold? ”

Vano pursed his lips. “Hmmm. I think I will let your lover find it. Do you think the Poshani will love her as much when they discover she’s more loyal to you than them?”

Oleg chuckled. “If you think that Tatyana le Tala is more loyal to a man she allows in her bed than to the family she has chosen, you have no knowledge of her. Your ignorance is showing, Vano.”

“Ivan has plans for you, old one.”

“You think I’m old? Ivan’s older—he’s just not as powerful and he never was.” Oleg winked. “Don’t worry. I will discover Ivan’s tricks without your help.”

“So you don’t want to know who else in your clan is plotting against you?” Vano’s eyes were wide.

Oleg stretched out his legs. “Do you want to tell me?”

“Polina.”

Oleg chuckled. “Is that so?”

“Pavel.”

He nodded slowly. “Fascinating. Anyone else?”

“Rudov.” Vano cocked his head. “Am I lying?”

“Oh yes,” Oleg said. “And maybe no.”

“She will never choose to return to you now,” Vano said. “Your little bookkeeper belongs more to me than you now.”

“Is that so?” The man had limited time on the earth—Oleg would let him talk nonsense.

“I will be ashes, but she will still belong more to me than to you because my blood” —Vano lunged forward, rattling his chains— “ my blood still runs through this clan, and she is now its servant. How does that feel, Oleg Sokolov? To know that your blood will serve mine?”

“An interesting perspective.” Oleg reached into his right boot, grabbed a dagger, and plunged it into Vano’s leg, making sure to miss any vital arteries.

The man howled, and Oleg looked up at the three terrin.

“Sincere apologies,” Oleg said. “My hand slipped.”

Kezia linked her arm in Tatyana’s and watched Vano raging with all the sympathy of a lion observing an antelope. “I hate when that happens.”

“Moisture in the air,” Radu muttered. “It’s foggy tonight.”

Tatyana was staring at Vano, and Oleg could see that what she’d heard disturbed her.

Oleg was not disturbed. “Vano.” He pulled out the knife and cleaned it on the man’s wool trouser leg. “As much as you would like me to kill you before you have to feel your skin peeling and burning at dawn, I am not going to interfere.”

“You’ll die.” Vano laughed. “Your brothers will kill you soon. Your precious empire is cracking, old man. You were never strong enough to hold it.”

Oleg put the dagger back into the sheath in his boot and stood. “Goodbye, Vano. I would say farewell, but that is not your future. You will fare very badly.”

He turned, inclined his head to Radu, Kezia, and finally Tatyana.

Then Oleg left Vano to his fate.

They sat in her bed, propped against the headboard, Tatyana’s head on his shoulder as he sketched in a notebook he’d found on the desk.

“There, see?” He flicked the pencil over the paper. “There must be a wolf in the center.”

She laughed a little bit. “Why?”

“Because you are my little wolf.” Oleg kissed her forehead. “And a wolf on your herald symbolizes bravery and loyalty, so it is perfect for you.”

Tatyana grew very quiet, but Oleg allowed her to ruminate. There was not much he could do for her now other than design something worthy of the house and line she would build .

“I didn’t want this,” she whispered.

“I know.” He kept sketching. Two axes behind the wolf. A dove with open wings at the top.

“What we were?—”

“We still are.” Oleg’s pencil paused on the page. “Do you think that your position makes you any less attractive to me? I told you, milaya, I enjoy your fangs.” He sketched the wolf’s muzzle and added comically large fangs coming down from its jaw. “See?”

Tatyana laughed. “No, you can’t do that.”

“Why not?” He pretended to bite her hand when she reached for the paper. “Are you an artist? No. You must trust my genius.”

“Your genius, is it?”

“Yes, obviously.”

She snuggled closer into his side and tucked her arm around his waist. “You should replace the dove with a firebird.”

He grunted. “Too dominant.”

“Is it my crest?”

“Obviously yes.”

“Then I want a firebird, not a dove.”

He erased the dove and considered her request. A firebird would throw off the balance of the crest he was making for her. “Why?”

“Because I would not be a wolf without the firebird,” she said softly.

Oleg set the notebook aside. “Tatyana?—”

“What have I done?” She closed her eyes.

“I don’t know how to lead a huge clan like this.

When I imagined being part of the Poshani, I thought I could work for them.

Maybe update their accounting systems.” She laughed a little; then her laugh turned into a cry, and she covered her mouth with her hand so no one heard her.

She would never let them hear her cry. Never let them know that she hadn’t wanted this. The fact that she let Oleg see her tears was an honor he had never expected. One he wouldn’t have thought he would even want.

But he would never take her trust for granted .

Tatyana’s eyes filled with tears, and Oleg pulled her to his chest.

“Shhh.” He stroked her hair, unpinning the braids and slowly loosening the plaits of golden hair. “Remember what I told you? Right after you’d been turned?”

“You told me a lot,” she whispered. “Because you are very bossy and controlling.”

“That’s correct.” He tilted her head back and kissed the blood-tinged tears from her cheeks. “And I told you that I would see you dance.” He framed her face with his hands. “This is your dance. Your life will be long, milaya. My life will be long. Right now this is your dance.”

She looked into his eyes, and Oleg had to fight the urge to throw her over his shoulder, battle the Hazar, race out of the kamvasa, and disappear into the wilderness with Tatyana Vorona on his arm.

He loved her, and she was not his anymore. She could not be. Perhaps she never would be.

She whispered, “You asked me a question.”

Oleg shook his head. “We don’t have talk about that.”

“I want to talk about that.”

“You’re the terrin now, and your loyalty must be to your clan.

Of all people, I understand this and I respect it.

” Oleg knew she would not say yes because she could not.

And damn the shreds of his honor, because he loved her even more because of it.

“I know what I envisioned for the future is not possible now, so please don’t?—”

“Yes.”

Oleg froze. “What?”

“Yes, I will marry you, Oleg Sokolov. If you will still have me.”