“Today is as good a day as any for new beginnings.”
He hesitates a second before he shakes his head. “And I’m not going to be able to convince you to run away with me?”
“You’d best keep that talk to yourself while we’re in the inn,” I say angling my arm to elbow him without releasing his arm. “Although my father would probably be amused more than anything that you think you can find a place in Ruskhazar where you will be able to hide from him if you took his little girl away. But come on, we will be out here until the dawn if you had your way. And don’t you know, night is the best time to meet a vampire.” I wink at him and take a step toward the inn and the sound of stringed instruments and the bard singing mother’s favorite song.
Evengi might not think it yet, but this will be good for him.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Evengi
Ifind myself wondering how one goes about bringing down a criminal empire.
Slowly.
As I hold out my hand to clasp Natasya’s father’s I decide that such a thing must be done slowly. First, I need to gain Natasya’s trust and convince her that this is the right thing to do.
With the pain of losing my own family still fresh on my heart, I know that I cannot make her go through that as well. I would only succeed in getting her to hate me forever, and I can’t very well save her soul if she hates me. No, I have to make this something that she wants. And if I’m to do that then I will have to play a long game.
Staying by her side and biding my time.
But that doesn’t mean that I have to like it. The more I learn about her father’s criminal doings, the more disgusted I become. To lead a group of assassins?
Natasya assures me that those assassins weren’t the ones to kill my family, but it makes no difference to me. To kill for money is a heartless thing.
Natasya’s father eyes me, his gaze is deep red, a telltale sign of his vampirism. He is a cunning man, and it makes me wonder if he isn’t seeing too much as he looks at me.
Toward the front of the inn a bard is singing the legend of Lord Taliz, but back in the kitchens we have ample privacy as Natasya begins running through the introductions to her family.
“This is my papa, Elwis the Eel,” Natasya says resting her hand on her father’s arm. He finally pulls his gaze away from me long enough to smile at her.
I will admit, even knowing that they were a lot of vampires, sorcerers, and murderers, her family is nothing like I expected. For one, her father is a Lower Elf. His people usually consider themselves superior to everyone else living in Ruskhazar. They look down on the Highlanders and outright despise the Higher Elves. They occasionally tolerate Lowlanders, but for the most part stick only to their own kind.
And even then, from the outside it appears that there is not much love felt between families. But Elwis not only seems to dote on his family, also has a member from each of the divided peoples of Ruskhazar.
His wife Vala, who Natasya introduces me to next, is a Highlander. She’s a tall woman with short red hair that she wears adorned with a few small braids, in the manner of her people. She’s the one who owns the inn. It makes me wonder how an innkeeper ended up married to an assassin lord, but I suppose I’ll learn the story eventually.
Natasya steps toward a girl who has thick brown hair that she wears swept back. Despite the fact that the girl’s hair is brown and Natasya’s is fiery red, their hair carries the same soft curl. Their features are also extremely similar, with them both having strong brows, full lips, and a slightly turned up noses. This must be Natasya’s twin.
“That’s my Bronwyn,” Natasya’s father’s ghost says just as I draw that realization. “She was always the better of the two, at least she knew when to keep quiet.”
I clench my jaw slightly, refusing to look into the corner of the kitchen where he is standing just behind a Lowlander cook, dressed in a stained white outfit with an unsettling glint in his eyes.
“This is my twin Bronwyn,” Natasya says, unaware that her father already introduced us.
Bronwyn eyes me up and down, twisting her mouth as she studies me. I flex my fingers as I force myself not to squirm under her gaze.
“You’re certainly not what I expected my sister to bring home, but if you make her happy, I suppose you are fine by me.”
The double edge of her statement is clear, if I make her sister unhappy then she will have a problem with me. Something tells me, that’s not something I want to happen.
A young man pushes off from where he was perched on the large wooden table in the kitchen and offers me a charming smile as his ruby red eyes twinkle. He has white hair and pointed ears speaking of a Higher Elf heritage. That’s something that we will have in common, I suppose.
“I’m Wilder,” he says, his hand is cold as it clasps mine.
A vampire.
I smile as I turn to the final member of the family. This one is a full-blooded Higher Elf with gray blue skin and glowing eyes,although these ones glow red. Her white hair is swept up in a bun and she’s dressed all in black.
