“You don’t want to know who else in your clan is plotting against you?”
“Do you want to tell me?”
“Pavel… Rudov. Am I lying?”
“Yes. And maybe no.”
Vano’s words had begun to circle in his mind the longer he spent with his brothers. Who could he truly trust? Pavel, who resented his aggression? Rudov, who was his equal in discipline and cunning?
Ivan was clearly undermining him, but what about the others?
While Tatyana’s side of the table was a merry collection of humans and immortals joking and laughing, Oleg’s clan were back-biting schemers, and the only ones he trusted were those in his immediate druzhina.
Yet Oleg had sacrificed the last shreds of his soul to protect them and keep their empire from descending into chaos.
Rudov cracked another leg off the delicate roasted bird in front of him, and a bone shattered, a shard flying toward Oleg’s eye.
Yelena gasped as Oleg caught the sharp sliver between his fingers.
“Careful,” Oleg murmured. “Now is not the time to be careless, brother.”
Rudov only smirked.
Sneakinginto Pavel’s house before dawn was shockingly easy. Then again, Pavel was no pushover. He was an earth vampire of considerable skill and elemental strength. His security team was likely on guard against an immortal force, not a single fire vampire.
Oleg cloaked his energy with a layer of darkness, pulling back his power as he slipped between the bushes to the kitchen door, where house servants were still working to clean up after the banquet.
One servant gasped when she saw him emerge from the shadows, but she recognized Oleg and relaxed.
“My lord?—”
“Shhhh.” He put his finger to his lips and winked at her.
Clearly at ease once she thought his appearance was some kind of game, she gave him a tentative smile and went back to work.
Oleg moved quickly, knowing he had less than half an hour to break into Pavel’s day chamber, look for evidence of betrayal, and then get back outside to the waiting car. Daylight was still far from coming, but even his old body would need rest soon.
The mansion’s service corridors were a maze of narrow hallways, winding staircases, and shut doors, but all Oleg needed to do was track his brother’s scent, and within fifteen minutes, he had located what he was guessing was Pavel’s day chamber.
He was not surprised to find Yelena’s scent overlapping Pavel’s.
The first door was hidden within the plaster, much like Oleg’s was. The second door was metal, but a quick turn of his fingers and a delicate touch to feel for the weighted tumblers was all it took for Oleg to break in. The final wooden door was solid oak, which was no match for Oleg’s fire.
It was surprisingly easy to grip the locks and heat them, burning away the wooden mounting until the locks were held in place by nothing but grey ash. All Oleg needed to do to remove them was brush the ashes away and twist out the iron lock mechanisms that secured Pavel’s sanctuary.
That task accomplished, the oak door creaked open, and Oleg walked in to find Pavel already dragged down into day rest.
Yelena was sitting up in the bed, a crossbow pointed at Oleg’s chest. “I’m a very good shot.” Her hands and her voice were firm. “I won’t let you hurt him.”
Oleg looked over his shoulder. “He needs a solid metal door.”
“I know what you are. I know what you can do.” Her eyes flashed. “But I won’t let you hurt him.”
The arrow wouldn’t kill Oleg unless she directly severed his spine—which was not likely unless she had vampire speed—but Oleg had no desire to antagonize his brother’s human paramour without need.
“He allows you to share his day chamber.”
She said nothing, but the mere fact that she had access to Pavel during his day rest told Oleg all he needed to know about their relationship.
