“Yes, I’ve noticed—we’ve all noticed—a certain trend toward the traditional, strategic marriage these days, have we not?”
“Yes, we all know they go in and out of vogue with our kind. I still don’t have any idea what this has to do with Alina and…” Oleg curled his lip. His fangs were already down. “Me and Alina?”
“You danced with her twice. You have aligned interests.”
“I think she has a blood mate, though she doesn’t talk about him.”
“And? What does that have to do with anything? Sophia has a girlfriend, and she’s marrying the shipping heir.”
Oleg stared at Mika, knowing that vampires would gossip about anything. “Fuck.”
“Yes, well…” Mika shrugged.
“Can I summon the druzhina to kill Ivan and everyone who tries to defend him?” Oleg asked. “With my axe?”
“As enjoyable as that sounds, I don’t think that will make your wife less angry about the rumors that you and Alina Machabeli are planning a political marriage to unite the northern Black Sea ports.”
Oleg grabbed a rack of coats and slammed the entire contraption to the floor. “Fuck!”
Mika leaned back and propped his feet on the table again. “Shall I call Lazlo and Rudov? I’m sure one of your brothers would be happy to sharpen your axe.”
Oleg flewfrom Budapest to the citadel the following night. He had texted Tatyana but received no answer, and then he called her and received a message that her phone was off.
Which meant he was in a foul mood.
Meeting with his governors via video chat was hardly likely to put him in a better one, but it was a necessary evil.
“The port in Murmansk is progressing on schedule.” Pavel updated the group of eight governors. “Once the corresponding infrastructure has been built in Utqiagvik, we will have direct shipping routes to the West.”
“And this is important because…” Ivan lifted an eyebrow. “Are the Canadians buying our fuel these days?”
“We’re not thinking about the immediate future,” Oleg snapped at Ivan. “We’re looking forward to the next century.” Mentally he added,Try to keep up, idiot.“Thank you for the update, Pavel.”
Juliya, his brother Rudov’s daughter and governor of Oleg’s central region, chimed in. “You had meetings at the Báthory Summit as well, didn’t you Pavel? Can you share with us any developments?”
“The human war is becoming a preoccupation, even for immortal organizations. It’s not that they cannot find ways to move their goods into our market, it’s that with all the legitimate avenues closed, it is costing them more money and taking a chunk out of their profits.” Pavel twisted up his mouth. “I hate to give Ivan credit, but keeping a grey market fleet might have been wise.”
“Thank you!” Ivan chuckled and leaned toward the camera. “And finally my wisdom is vindicated. Nowthatis looking ahead to the next century.”
His daughter Polina wasn’t amused. “Except your trucks don’t have anything to move in Moscow because you’ve pissed off the Poshani, Ivan. Did dancing with the new terrin solve anything, or did it just give you a hard-on?”
A few people chuckled, and Oleg expected Ivan’s temper to spark, but his brother was surprisingly sanguine. “I believe Zara’s little bookkeeper might be more receptive to my advances than I previously thought.” Ivan’s eyes gleamed. “Zara knew what she was doing when she turned that one; she’s a pretty little thing.”
Oleg would have sworn that Ivan was looking directly at him, but he wasn’t. He was looking into a single camera, not at him, though it was possible he was trying to get a rise out of Oleg by mentioning Zara.
“Tatyana le Tala is a vampire of our clan.” Lazlo’s gravelly voice took over the feed, and everyone else went silent. “Though she is bound to the Poshani now, she shares our blood. Get your head out of your ass and have some respect.”
“She’s smarter than you.” The quiet voice that chimed in was airy and distant, not unlike the vampire who spoke. “She is playing you, Ivan.”
Lidik was one of his most loyal governors, not because she shared his blood—she was a wind vampire—but because Oleg had once saved her life.
And for Lidik, that was all it took to pledge her loyalty for eternity.
Oleg smiled internally when he saw the sneer on Ivan’s face.
“Your evidence for this statement?” Ivan asked. “I’m old, but my fangs aren’t dull.”
“Look at her results, not her public actions,” Lidik continued. “The new terrin works quietly, and she stays out of the spotlight. This was her first public appearance in five years of being terrin. She’s focused on Poshani matters. It’s nothing personal with you.”
