I chuckled. “Elevators would be an improvement.”
She lowered her voice as we neared the room. “That would mean installing electricity all over the house.”
“It’s just elevators.”
“First it’s elevators, then it’s a movie room. We’re lucky he agreed to equip the kitchen with modern appliances. Viktor’s adamant about limiting which rooms get power, so don’t hold your breath on any big changes.”
When we entered the dining room, everyone was seated at the long wooden table except for Gem, who was standing behind Viktor’s chair on her tiptoes, peering through the arched window. The muted light from outside soaked into the ends of her purple hair.
Sunshine had offered a temporary respite from the rain, but two days ago a cold front had moved in, signaling the end of autumn. The candles in the round iron chandelier were unlit, but the light from the window was sufficient.
Keystone had been on hiatus after turning Darius over to the authorities. Wyatt always had something to research, so he spent hours in his computer room, where some of the other members of the group liked to congregate. I’d been a tad antisocial this past week; Viktor said I needed to adjust to my new surroundings before he put me on assignment. I think that was code for gaining weight. I’d been living on the streets for so long that I’d skipped meals. The Vampire side of me didn’t need food, but because the Mage side did, starving had caused me to drop a few pounds.
Claude rectified that by always filling my plate with seconds, and I wasn’t allowed to skip meals.
I took my seat next to Christian, with Viktor on my right at the head of the table. He turned around in his chair and said something in Russian.
“In English,” Gem said in a singsong voice.
“You know what I said.”
“Yes, but they don’t. It’s rude to exclude present parties.”
He reached around and captured her small wrist. “Come sit down.”
“But it’s snowing! I’ll miss it.”
Wyatt’s chuckle ended with a comical snort.
Gem stepped back from the window and thumped him on the head as she walked past his chair. “What’s so funny?”
He tugged his slouchy grey beanie over his ears. “You wouldn’t think snow was so magical if you’d grown up in the eighteen hundreds.”
“To be sure,” Christian agreed.
Gem sat across the table between Claude and Shepherd. “If this is yourwoe is mestory about how you walked twenty miles in the snow with no shoes to saddle a horse, then you can save your breath. Snow ismagical.”
“It magically freezes your little toes off,” Shepherd murmured as he rubbed his chiseled jaw.
Wyatt leaned forward. “That isn’t the only thing it’ll freeze off. I once knew this guy who made a bet on how long he could—”
Viktor cleared his throat, silencing the chatter. “The higher authority may have a case for us soon, but it’s still pending. I don’t like to sit idle too long, and some of our side projects are at a standstill. You know what that means.”
“A vacation?” Wyatt asked sarcastically. “Come on, Viktor. You know how I hate going into those shops.”
I furrowed my brow. “What shops?”
Gem held up the crystal pendant around her neck, tapping it against her nose. “When it gets slow, we go relic hunting. And I don’t mean the Relics who work as doctors and advisors, but as in antiques.”
This piqued my curiosity. “To decorate?”
Niko barked out a laugh and quickly squelched it. “Apologies, Raven. I don’t mean to laugh at you.”
Christian leaned back in his chair, fingers hooked behind his head. “I would, if I had a sense of humor.”
“Your barber clearly does,” I suggested.
Wyatt laughed and made a gun with his index and thumb, firing it at Christian.
