by Lexi C. Foss
Cassius was right. There were no guards or humble servants. No humans begging to be bitten. No wanton females playing chase. It was oddly peaceful here. Quiet.
No, it’s remote.
The residence behind us was vast, but nowhere near the size of Dimitri’s home palace. And it held a protective vibe, as though hidden by wards.
I slowly moved in a circle, taking in every angle, my mind confirming my thought. “This property is enchanted.”
“Yes.” Dimitri stood, the bottom of his black pants drenched with water and ruining his leather shoes. “We’re in hiding.”
“Why?” I asked, guessing at the answer but wanting to hear it from the man himself.
“Because I don’t want Grigori to find me right now,” Dimitri said. “I’m not ready to fight him yet.”
“He took your throne the night of the attack.” Not a question, but a statement, one I was beginning to believe.
“He stole my entire fucking kingdom,” Dimitri replied. “And I’ve been preparing my next move ever since.”
I’d say a century was a long time to plan, but Dimitri was over a millennium old, perhaps closer to two millennia. He wouldn’t see a hundred years as very long at all.
“It took a while to find all the players,” Cassius added.
“Yes,” his cousin agreed. “I had to rescue them from various places all over the damn globe because they weren’t equipped to save themselves.”
Cassius grunted. “Yeah, well, at least he didn’t turn me.”
“Remains to be seen,” Dimitri murmured, turning away from us. “Try groveling, C. I hear that helps with women.”
“Says the man who doesn’t date.”
Dimitri lifted a shoulder, continuing toward a path at the edge of the beach, not once looking back. “Let me know when she’s ready to join us. We have shit to do.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Cassius drew his fingers through his hair, frowning as he found a knot.
I’d probably find a few in my own strands if I tried to finger-comb it, which was why I left it to hang around me in a mess of purple locks. I had no one to impress here. The only male I’d ever cared about stood beside me in an equally disheveled state.
“Want a tour?” he asked.
“I thought you were supposed to try groveling,” I replied, feeling slightly more at ease now that Dimitri had left us alone. This could all still be a giant ruse, one meant to lull me into a comfortable frame of mind before breaking me, but the atmosphere out here felt too tranquil for that.
I wouldn’t let my guard down yet.
But I would let Cassius show me around, see what other proof he had to offer that I’d gotten it all wrong.
The commentary on his imprisonment helped.
As did Dimitri’s casual behavior. He hadn’t seemed eager to kill me at all, just asked when I’d join them.
“What did he mean by that?” I asked, thinking out loud. “About joining you all?”
“He’s planning a revolution,” Cassius replied. “He intends to recruit Anastasia as well, which is why he’s trying to find her.”
“Why?”
“Because we’re going to need all the help we can get to take Grigori down.” Wariness overtook his features, mingling with an undertone of vengeance. I could almost taste the conflict on my tongue.
“Is this what you wanted to show me, Cassius?”
He blew out a breath, his face tilting back to observe the sky above for a long moment before returning his gaze to mine. “What I want is the truth. Grigori told me that you traded your freedom for mine, causing me to blame you for nine decades of torment, and if I’m honest, heartbreak, too. I thought you could return to me with your amulet and chose not to.”
I followed his gaze to the gem hanging from my chain. “I don’t think mine works that way.”
“It does,” he insisted. “You just don’t know how to activate it, which proves you had no idea how to find me.”
“If I had, I would have tried because I wanted to kill you,” I admitted. “I’ve spent the last century hating you for betraying me.”
“Except I didn’t betray you, Kseniya. I tried to save you.” He gestured around us. “This is my proof. Do you think we’d be here if Dimitri were still king?”
No, I wanted to say, but I couldn’t. Agreeing with him would mean I believed him, and I wasn’t quite there yet.
I’d lived with my hatred for so long that it was impossible to forget it, to allow something as simple as a beach to persuade me otherwise. Logically, I understood his point. Emotionally, I needed more.
He must have seen that resolve in my gaze, because he released another long breath, his shoulders falling.
“All right. Follow me,” he said, not a request but a demand.
I glanced at Luci, her joyous smile telling me she had no interest in leaving the water anytime soon. She would trail after us when she was ready, then paw at any doors that stood in her way until they either opened or burned into a Luci-size hole.
“Dimitri has only been here for about a decade.” He walked in the same direction his cousin had gone, his gait slow and steady and underlined in casual ease.
“Where was he before?” I wondered out loud. If Dimitri was in fact overthrown, then he couldn’t have stayed in Russia.
“Silver Lake Pack,” he replied. “In New York.”
I blanched. “He stayed with the wolves?” Well, that was one place to hide. Grigori would never think to look there. Hell, no vampire would. The wolves weren’t exactly allies of the Vampire Dynasty.
“He’s been allying with supernats all over the world. Well, except the French Royals. They want fuck all to do with this war. The others are interested, though.”
“How did he get the wolves to allow him to stay?”
“Nathan,” Cassius replied. “Did you ever meet him? He was actually born in Russia, but before your time.”
I shook my head. “I’ve never met a shifter, just know of them.”
He gave me a look as we reached the back garden of Dimitri’s estate. “Alaric’s a shifter.”
“Something I didn't know until last night.”
“How the hell did you miss that? He reeks like a dog.”
“I don’t have your sense of smell.”
“Clearly. But come on, he’s even shaggy like a mutt. The man has ‘alpha’ written all over him.”
I shrugged. “We’ve only ever sparred. Not fucked.”
That caused Cassius to freeze midstep, his focus zeroing in on me. “It’d better stay that way.”
I pretended to think about it. “Well, now that I know he’s an animal, I may just want to take him for a ride.”
“Kseniya.”
“What?” I gestured between us. “It’s not like we’re an item.”
His palm encircled the back of my neck, yanking me to him. “We’re more than an item.”
My hands met his chest, but rather than push him away, my nails dug into his cotton shirt. “I still hate you.”
“You also love me.”
“Do I?”
“You do,” he assured me, all quiet confidence. “And I don’t share.”
“Neither do I,” I returned, not really sure what we were declaring here but unable to hold back my tongue.
“Good.”
“Good.”
We stared each other down, the intensity between us sending a sizzle of energy across my skin and raising every hair along my arms. His irises smoldered, giving everything and nothing away at the same time.
It would be so easy for him to kill me. Right now. Right here. But I didn’t fear him. I never really had, even when I knew he’d found me with the sole purpose of making me suffer. There’d always been this strange sort of understanding between us.
Was it possible that we’d gotten everything wrong? That we’d completely misread our situation?
Yes, I thought. We were both so stubborn, our resolves set within our own expectations. And it was just too
easy to believe he’d betrayed me. Our relationship had never been grounded in a reality of equality. We were forbidden to one another. It was part of what made us burn so hot together.
We both thrived on the danger.
“I want a stake,” I told him.
“Okay,” he agreed.
I knew he’d give me one. Not because it would make me safe but because it would add threat to our situation.
Cassius liked risk.
As did I.
He released my neck to trail his fingers down my arm to my palm. He clasped my hand tightly and tugged me along beside him. There was a pool beyond the garden, framed by a deck of white cement. A patio surrounded the back of the house, littered with vacant chairs, and a myriad of doors that allowed various entry points into the estate.
Cassius chose the one in the middle, dragging me into a great room that boasted high ceilings and all modern furnishings.
Still no guards or humans.
Rather than head up, he pulled me down a hallway and toward the front door, then outside again. I didn’t ask his intentions, choosing to admire the surroundings instead. Cobblestone streets, greenery, pretty flowers. Yeah, I could live here. It was peaceful and remote and warm. Very Mediterranean.
Cassius took me to a smaller house that seemed to exist within the property’s perimeter but was much more quaint in stature.
He knocked once before entering, then led me through a smaller living area to a sunroom near the back. A woman with shocking blue hair sat in a recliner chair, her eyes closed. Her exposed legs were crossed at the ankles, her small feet dancing to a rhythm I couldn’t hear.
Cassius released me to walk over to a stereo on a cabinet beside her, his nimble fingers rolling the volume button downward. The female’s eyes opened, not in alarm but in annoyance. “I wasn’t done listening to that.”
“I need your attention for a minute,” he replied.
She pulled a pair of buds from her ears, her pretty face marred by a scowl. “It could have waited thirty more seconds.”
He just looked at her.
“Fine.” She rolled off her chair and left the room, not once looking my way.
“Okay,” I said. “Why are we here?”
“You wanted a stake,” he replied, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. “She’s grabbing you one.”
“But you didn’t even tell her we wanted one,” I pointed out, confused as hell.
“She knows.”
“I do,” the blue-haired woman replied, handing me two stakes.
“Thanks,” I said, baffled as to how she knew what I wanted. As I had nowhere to holster them, I held one in each palm.
“Hmm,” she hummed, reaching for my amulet. I jumped away from her, only to find Cassius at my back. “I’m not going to take it,” she told me, moving closer. “I just sense something strange. Something that wasn’t there when I looked at it originally.”
“Originally?”
“This is Sapphire,” Cassius explained. “The one helping us locate Anastasia. She’s also the one who found you.”
“Roskana,” she murmured. “I found Roskana’s magic. But she’s crafted an amazing trinket. It responds to your blood. I didn’t notice that before because it wasn’t active. How intriguing. The one I made for Cassius only allows him to jump realms. Yours provides protection in a multitude of ways. No wonder the others wanted Roskana to make more. Huh.”
“The others?” I repeated.
She waved a hand. “Neither here nor there. Although, I think she’s on her way here. No, not here, but sort of.” She tapped her chin, taking several steps back. “Well, that should be fascinating indeed. Which path will she choose? The wolf says his, but she won’t go quietly. How fun.”
“What are you talking about?” I asked, perplexed by her nonsense.
“Sapphire often talks in riddles,” Cassius said softly. “She has a knack for fortune-telling, but it’s not an exact science.”
“Yet I was right about you, wasn’t I?” she mused, sounding proud. “You found your heart again, just as I predicted. Your vengeance belongs with Rasputin.” She spat out the name, her blue eyes flashing with anger. “Our vengeance belongs with him, King of Vampires, imposter to the throne. We need Nikola. Yes. I will find her.”
“Nikola?” I tried to look over my shoulder at Cassius, but Sapphire’s sigh drew me back to her.
“Oh, yes. Slayer queen. Anastasia Nikola Romanov. She goes by Nik now. Hmm, crafty with a blade. Yes, very crafty with a blade indeed.” Sapphire clicked a few buttons on her desktop monitor, then moved some items around on what resembled a chessboard. “We are close. Very, very close. May I go back to my music now?”
Cassius responded by walking over to her stereo and turning up the volume.
“Thank you, thank you,” she chirped, sliding back into her recliner and placing the buds in her ears once more. Then she frowned and removed them, her eyes meeting mine. “I should have followed his soul. It’s linked right to yours. Hmm. Anyway.” She closed her eyes, her feet resuming their seated dance.
“That’s probably all we’re going to get out of her,” Cassius muttered, stepping backward out of the room. “How do you feel about food? I know you’re immortal again, but sustenance is still something you require, yes?”
“I do like to eat,” I admitted. “But I would kill for a coffee right now.”
His lips twitched. “There are a few cafes in town we can visit for a late lunch.” He paused to glance out the windows behind Sapphire. “Actually, I suppose it’ll be dinner, given the time change on this continent.” He shrugged. “Anyway, we can talk more while you evaluate the truth of my claims.”
In other words, he was giving me an opportunity to compare realms, to see how much of my original world rivaled the E.V.I.E. universe.
“Oh! I left a case in your rooms,” Sapphire interjected. “It’ll help.”
“Help with what?” he asked, but she was already lost to her music again, ignoring us with her eyes closed once more. He sighed. “Right. Let’s go clean up. Then we’ll grab a bite and do some portal hopping.”
18
Cassius
The crate ended up being a box of clothes and weapons for Kseniya. Everything fit her perfectly, including the holster around her right thigh. It didn’t hold a gun, but special bullets meant to take down a vampire.
I hadn’t been pleased with the gift. And I was certain Dimitri wouldn’t approve.
However, I had to admit it looked sexy as hell strapped to Kseniya’s leg. She hadn’t bothered to hide it, the accessory pretty much blending in with her black jeans. If anyone noticed, they’d just assume it was a fashion aesthetic.
A gun and the two stakes from Sapphire were hidden beneath her leather jacket. And a knife was tucked into her boot.
She resembled a warrior.
My warrior.
In this mode, we’d be a pretty even match. I had every intention of asking her to spar after we were done exploring. She was still full of questions, our dinner together only skimming the surface of her inquiries. I’d explained that night from my point of view, revealing every painful detail. Her expression had given nothing away, but her eyes told me I was beginning to crack the ice of her resolve.
The ice melted further when I took her to New York City, showing her the North American Shifter Council headquarters building that sat in place of her E.V.I.E. one.
Then we ventured all over the world so she could see that this realm wasn’t much different from the one she’d lived in these last hundred or so years.
With a few exceptions, like the one before us now.
We were crouched outside the restored version of Romanov Palace, the grounds littered with human militia. Grigori hired them under the pretense of guarding a prison. However, inside lay a slayer camp.
“How many?” she asked in a low voice.
“I don’t know,” I admitted. “But whenever he discovers a new line with even the potential
of holding a slayer gene, the family is shipped here.”
What he did with them after remained a mystery.
“We believe Anastasia was trained here,” I whispered. “But she was moved several decades ago and continues to be moved to keep her whereabouts unknown.”
“Which is why Sapphire is tracking her,” Kseniya translated.
“Yes. She’s searching for her future location, not her current one, so we can grab her when she arrives.” And then the real fun would begin.
Grigori knew that Dimitri was alive. No one had been able to claim the kill because no one had succeeded, and freeing me from jail a decade ago only further proved Dimitri’s lively state.
What Grigori didn’t know was our plan.
Kseniya vibrated, her anger a palpable wave, but she wasn’t naive enough to think she could stop this all on her own. I saw it in her eyes when she looked at me, the resolve settling through her features. “He needs to pay.”
“He does,” I agreed. “And, unfortunately, this isn’t the only thing he’s done.”
“Show me,” she demanded.
I’d anticipated her saying that, which was why I already held my palm out for her to take. Three more sites were on our tour, all dangerous, and all depicting the new world order instituted by Grigori.
He hadn’t necessarily enslaved the human race, but he had control over several diplomats throughout Eastern Europe. I showed her everything we knew about Grigori and his current regime, keeping to the shadows while she observed. She remained mostly quiet, watching and learning and seeing that the vampires in charge now were not the royals of her past.
We didn’t go near Grigori. Just close enough to some of his minions to give her a better view of the world she’d left behind.
By the time we finished, she had tears in her eyes.
I opened a portal to take us back to my room. She didn’t argue, just stepped through the threshold.
Luci stood on the other side waiting for us, her tail wagging excitedly at our arrival. She had a big bowl of water by the door—something that wasn’t there when we left—and a half-eaten steak beside it.