Neither. I inserted a thin coating of armor and made it appear as if she drew blood into the tube. Garald will see to her while we track whoever is going to take the blood back to the source of all of this.
Nice plan, my lady.There was pride in his voice.
In their family, even though they tapped into one another’s emotions, she had never been praised for her fighting abilities or her looks or anything else. She hadn’t had a sense that her parents were particularly proud of anything she did. Andros disapproved of her most of the time because she didn’t adhere to his commands. Grigor and Garald spoiled her but, like Andros, wanted her to settle and produce babies.They didn’t understand why she wouldn’t do as Andros insisted. Having her lifemate praise her and mean it might seem a small thing to others, but it meant a lot to her.
“Garald, I will hunt the traitor, you take care of the demons.”
Her brother was just waiting for the go-ahead. His sword glinted with a blue light in the slim silver of the crescent-shaped moon. That blue flame was necessary to kill anything from the underworld. The demons rushed to meet his attack. Others tried to murder Taisiya, but Garald stood over her, his lethal sword swinging, the blade beheading the demons so that unnatural black blood stained the snow alongside Taisiya’s crimson-colored blood.
Vasilisa had to leave her brother to his fate and chase the one demonic creature racing across the snow-covered surface to bring the prize to his mistress. She became aware that once again she was sending out mindless prayers to the universe that the betrayer was not her aunt Olga. It would be so devastating. She and her siblings had so much heartache and trauma already in their lives, so many betrayals. She didn’t want this one for them, either.
Andros had grown cold and withdrawn. He’d built a cage around his heart. It felt as if icicles, sharp and lethal, guarded that cage, which had no lock and key. As the years went by and more pressure was put on his shoulders, more icicles filled the cage and gathered on the outside of it.
Grigor and Garald hadn’t fared much better. Too much responsibility was put on their shoulders too fast. She knew because it was the same with her. Sometimes it felt as if she would break under the tasks of helping so many people, of running herself thin to help the elderly and keep the young from dark, dangerous roads.
Now she followed the demon as he rushed across the snow into the heavier woods. He wove in and out of the brush, heedless of the low rocks and broken branches weighed down with snow that had cracked and given way under the assault from the freezing temperatures. The demon stumbled and picked himself up, slowing down again and again until she wanted to shake him.
Patience, sívamet. This is a waiting game. You have endless patience as a rule. Why are you so eager to begin this hunt?
That was a good question when she really didn’t want to see to whom the demon was bringing the blood. She moistened her lips. They were speaking mind to mind on a chosen path between lifemates, but she didn’t want to chance any energy spillage. There were too many Lycans around and far too many vampires.
I don’t honestly know. I don’t want to see if it is true that this is my aunt Olga. She is my mother’s sister. We all love her. My mother adored her. Aunt Olga trained in ballet, and when she injured her foot and could no longer perform, she wrote plays and choreographed many of the dance and singing routines. I don’t want the traitor to be her. It wouldn’t make any sense. Why would she ever choose to do something like that?
There are many reasons for betrayal, Vasilisa. It is better to step back and wait for information than to speculate. You cannot change what already is. If your aunt has been working with the demons, she has been doing so for a long time. How they were able to trap your brothers wasn’t something they discovered overnight.
That much was true. She did her best to follow his example. He was somewhere close, acting as her guardian, giving her the lead position. That was another thing she really liked about him. He was an ancient Carpathian. Everything she’d heard about Carpathian males had prepared her for an arrogant, overprotective, demanding man she would have to learn all kinds of compromising for.
Afanasiv was—unexpected. He did seem to view her as a full partner. She wrapped herself in that knowledge as she followed the demon’s path through the woods.
Does the vampire seem like he’s more of a problem? Do you think Olga senses us? She has royal blood in her veins. It could be she feels me closing in on her.She wanted—no, needed—the reassurance of someone to discuss the worst possibilities with.
You would know before she did, Vasi. You aremore.You always were more, but now with both Carpathian and Lycan blood in you, there will belittle escaping you. You are on full alert. She will not be able to elude you. Have faith in your abilities.
His calmness and absolute belief in her brought tears to her eyes. She had to dash them away. He was wonderful. She didn’t want to fall in love with him. That wasn’t in her plan, not with the royal curse hanging over her head. All of them knew better.
Look at poor Garald right now. He had started off innocently enough, determined to stay away from a young woman he knew better than to see. He was thirty-four years old, and they each had the weight of their kingdom pressing down on their shoulders. Crushing them. Garald stayed in the shadows. When he came out, he acted the playboy at the parties and had one-night stands with many, many women, but he didn’t ever have relationships. That wasn’t part of the agenda. It couldn’t be, and they all knew that.
The demon held out his hands eagerly toward the very tree Vasilisa had pointed out to Afanasiv earlier. The demon had made a full circle around the outlying forest and had returned to the place where he had started, yet just inside the woods.
Vasilisa took her eyes from the blight on the tree to hastily look down to ensure her brother was in good condition. Demon heads rolled in every direction, spilling dark contents across the snow. Garald strode to each of the bodies crumpled like paper dolls and stabbed down with the point of the sword, then swirled around to set the body on fire. The flames leapt from body to body and then head to head. A foul, noxious odor permeated the night air. Only when the last demon had burned to ashes did he turn his attention to the woman bound so tightly. At once, his body language changed completely. He looked impossibly gentle, tender even, as he began to remove the ropes binding her, murmuring to her soothingly.
Vasilisa turned her attention back to the one demon left alive, the one staring up at the tree, holding his offering as if it were the most precious thing in the world. Her heart began to beat faster as the bark seemed to part, like curtains being pushed to either side. A rope ladderdropped from a seat bench, and then an elegant leg clad in black stretch trousers appeared. Then the backside and hips as the woman began to descend.
Vasilisa would know her anywhere.
She is?
My aunt Olga.
CHAPTER
6
Afanasiv cursed under his breath in several languages. He would have spared his lifemate this heart-wrenching moment if he could have. He wanted to take her into his arms and surround her with his strength. Or put her somewhere safe. Command her to sleep until this nightmare for her family was over. He knew she was not a woman who would stand for such a solution.
The best he could do was move close to her as they hovered in the air watching the woman as she stepped onto the snow-covered ground. Olga turned from the ladder to face the demon. There was no fear in her expression as she looked at the creature with his wide grinning mouth and teeth that seemed to have grown even longer in the time it took to get to his mistress. She snapped her fingers, and the demon placed the vial of blood into the bag she held out to him.
She sealed the bag and began to turn away.