Page 7 of Crimson Oath (The Firebird and the Wolf #2)

Tatyana

Caucasus Mountains, Georgia

K ato leaned forward and made sure to keep his voice low. “It’s time.”

Tatyana looked around the party that had been raging for hours. It was only an hour until dawn, and not an immortal had departed.

Arosh’s human women were nodding and blinking slowly, some from exhaustion and others probably from blood loss.

The musicians, being vampires, still played as strong as ever, though the tenor of the music had shifted to a slower pace.

“It’s time for what?” Tatyana asked. Was something going to happen at the party? Her fangs immediately fell. “You must remove Alexander immediately.”

“Nothing like that.” Alexander moved his hand to Tatyana’s forearm. “The party is safe. He’s talking about Arosh’s protection, dear one.”

She was immediately soothed by his touch.

Alexander had to be the most steady human she had met in her entire life. He was probably in his late thirties, and he looked like a carved statue. Appropriate, perhaps, since his partner was a water vampire who was so old he didn’t even remember being human.

Before the modern era, the oldest and most powerful immortals ruled empires that covered continents. The world was more diffuse then. Humans were scarcer and resources were limited to the most powerful vampires who could control the most territory.

Kato had been one of those emperors, ruling the ancient Mediterranean with strict control, fighting with Arosh in the East and allied to Saba, the oldest known vampire, who ruled across the African continent.

Massive powers clashed in the ancient vampire world, but as humans thrived and grew, resources became more plentiful. Territories could be broken into new pieces, ruled by younger vampires, and the time of the ancient empires passed.

Over centuries, Arosh and Kato had turned from bitter enemies to reluctant and then dear friends. As brash and intense as Arosh was, Kato was the sea—vast, generous, and deadly when he was roused.

Tatyana turned to the ancient vampire who had become her mentor. While Zara had been her sire in fact, Kato had become the vampire who taught her how to be immortal.

“Arosh means to withdraw his protection?” Tatyana blinked. “Why? What did I?—”

“Not immediately,” Kato said in a soothing bass. “And you have done nothing to anger him. He will grant you time. He will allow you to think about it. But that display back there was him telling you to start thinking of your future.”

“Which… can’t be here?” She felt as if she were barely out of vampire primary school and was being told to go make her way in the world. She’d expected to have to leave eventually, but she had so much more to learn.

“You know we would both love for you to stay here,” Alexander said. “But this is not our home.” He glanced at Kato with a raised eyebrow. “Though perhaps very soon, we may find a new place of our own where we?—”

A pair of drunken humans burst into laughter behind them, clearly inebriated and being led away from the vampires by two of the older women in the harem.

Alexander smiled. “Where we might live a quieter life.”

Tatyana turned to Kato. “Can an ancient, terribly powerful vampire emperor have a quiet life?” She glanced at Alexander. “I don’t really see you two living in a seaside cottage.”

“Don’t worry about us,” Kato said. “Right now you need to think of yourself. Where are you going to go, Tatyana? What are your plans?”

“I don’t know.” Her heart was in her throat, and she could not get her fangs to retract. “I cannot go back to Oleg’s territory.”

“Why not?” Kato’s gaze was steady. “It has been over a year, and there has been no sign of retaliation for your actions. He’s a strict ruler, but he is not an unreasonable man. There is no reason to think that being in his territory would be dangerous for you.”

“It’s just…” Tatyana pressed her lips together.

Not even Kato knew she’d stolen—taken her rightful inheritance—from Oleg. It wasn’t something she had advertised, though some in Arosh’s court clearly had their suspicions.

She kept her voice soft. “I have my reasons.”

She wasn’t afraid of Oleg. Exactly.

She was afraid of how he might sway her will once she returned to his orbit.

And there was no way she could return to his territory and not be in his orbit. It was as if Oleg had his own magnetic field.

“He is your sire’s sire,” Kato continued. “He has a blood responsibility to you.”

And also the beginning of a blood bond because Oleg had taken her blood numerous times. Though she hadn’t questioned it at the time, now that Tatyana knew more about blood bonds, she was second-guessing her every interaction with the lethally attractive fire vampire.

“I don’t think Oleg has as much generosity as you give him credit for,” she said. “I don’t trust him.”

Liar, a little voice whispered in her mind. You don’t trust yourself around him.

Alexander’s voice was soft. “She did kill Oleg’s daughter. No matter what he says, he could be harboring a grudge.”

Tatyana knew not everyone believed her story about killing Zara.

In fact, most of them didn’t. Rumors flew in the vampire world.

Some said that Oleg had killed Zara long before Tatyana had been turned.

Others said that Saba the earth vampire had killed Zara for her role in spreading a vampire poison.

Still others claimed that Oleg had killed Zara in retaliation for Zara killing Oleg’s dead mate.

None of those rumors were true, but Tatyana kept her mouth shut and tried to ignore the whispers and curious eyes.

Most of Arosh’s court seemed to think that Tatyana fleeing from Oleg was all part of a lover’s spat, which could frequently be lethal when it came to vampire relationships.

“You’re frightening her,” Alexander said. “It is too much, my love.”

“She needs to be a bit frightened,” Kato said. “I want her to survive.”

Tatyana had woven a complicated web of lies during her time in Arosh’s court, but the more she learned about how vampires lied about their origin, the more she thought the double-talk and gossip only helped her reputation.

Alexander put a calming hand on her shoulder. “If Oleg threatens you for killing Zara, he’ll only be condemning himself. He can’t blame you for her death without admitting he lied to Saba.”

Kato added, “And threatening you would make him an outcast in civilized vampire society when he’s been working for decades to bring his territory into better relationships with other leaders after Truvor’s reign. Zara’s death has already damaged his image?— ”

“Or elevated it,” Alexander muttered, “at least in certain circles.”

“But those are not the circles that Oleg wants to move in personally or financially,” Kato said. “I knew Truvor. Oleg is not like him. He’s stern and can be unforgiving, but he honors duty to his clan. He values loyalty above all else.”

Loyalty like… not stealing millions in gold and sentimental jewelry purchases from a man who’d already paid you millions for your work?

Shut up, conscience.

“I don’t want to return to Oleg’s territory,” Tatyana said firmly. “I understand that I have to think about my future, but Oleg is not going to be a part of it.”

The following night, Tatyana walked across the harem compound with a garment bag, headed past the kitchen gardens, the rose garden, and the water garden toward the most luxurious part of the mountaintop retreat where Cora lived.

Cora was the woman in charge of the entire harem, having recently risen to the role of headwoman after the most senior of Arosh’s women had retired to a luxury home on the Black Sea.

It was a profitable venture to be one of the Fire King’s favorite lovers.

Cora kept a massive closet of clothes in her house that ranged from casual outdoor gear appropriate for hiking or swimming to evening wear, all available to borrow for short or long term.

Arosh sent Cora and some of the older women on luxury shopping trips to replenish the clothes a few times a year.

Tatyana had never been dressed so well in her life. It was like living with a team of stylists as her next-door neighbors, and all of them were fine with you borrowing their clothes .

It was also practical for the women in the harem. Many of them came to Arosh’s compound with little or nothing. Many were running from abusive homes or desperate situations.

Tatyana suspected that it stroked Arosh’s ego to be their savior, but at least he was doing something productive with his ego.

And if some women repaid that favor with blood, sex, or both, Tatyana was not going to judge.

Except Arosh. She could judge Arosh.

Tatyana waved at two women who were sitting near a fountain, reading a book between the two of them. She recognized the book as a popular romantic fantasy. Both girls looked up at Tatyana, then back at the book, letting out a little bit of laughter.

Had she been that carefree when she was their age? She didn’t think so. Tatyana felt like she’d been old for as long as she could remember.

The atmosphere in Arosh’s harem was much like the atmosphere within the dormitories at her university. It was not unpleasant, but then, she was one of the few vampires and she was given a good amount of space. Most of the women knew everything about each other, and gossip was a way of life.

But Cora and the older women kept the younger ones in check.

Cora was in her forties, a stunning brunette with olive skin and dark eyes.

Tatyana had heard she was born in Damascus, but she had no idea if it was the truth.

Most of the women spoke Georgian, but the ones who’d been there the longest spoke Farsi like Arosh.

Tatyana tapped on Cora’s door.

“Come in.”

She entered the house to see the dark-haired woman in front of a mirror, spraying some kind of fragrant oil over her freshly washed curls.

She glanced at Tatyana from the corner of her eye. “Hello, Miss Vorona. How can I help you?”

“I’m bringing back the dress I borrowed. Thank you.”