Page 56 of Nightshade

Leo, still shirtless, which I was unfortunately too dazed to appreciate, sat beside me. His arm wrapped around the back of the couch and with his far hand, he held onto mine. Without thinking better of it, I clung to his hand with both of mine.

Having him close felt safe, and I needed the steadiness of his hand.

Katya came back inside too, and Evie padded on four paws across the living area. She hopped up onto the couch and, after a moment, huffed through her wet nose and set her chin in my lap.

Carefully, I unwound my vise grip from Leo’s hand and ran my fingers across her forehead. “Thank you for sticking by my side.”

She looked up at me with wide, glistening green eyes and made a sound in her throat, not quite a bark but a little huff of confirmation.

Even if I only had two firm allies, it was more than I’d had in so long that having them beside me made my chest ache.

Then Viktor stormed in, his nose flared. “When were you going to tell us that Ivan is your sire?”

I scowled at him, confused. “Tonight. I . . . wasn’t going to mention it, but I thought it might come up and if—if I told you ahead of time, perhaps we could work together on a plan in case he came looking for me.”

Viktor huffed. He crossed his arms tightly and stood just outside the living area, like he’d rather die than relax in proximity to a vampire.

Maybe he was just on edge. He ought to be.

“Right,” he snapped. “That’s convenient. You were going to tell us, but you didn’t have the chance before there were witches flinging spells around our kids. Sure.”

I shrugged, too drained of energy to bother arguing with him. “Yes.”

“Why do you know Ivan?” Leo demanded of his brother. “How was Altair—how were any of us supposed to realize his name would mean anything to you when you haven’t said why you hate vampires.” Leo sucked in a sharp breath, closed his eyes, and the rigidity of his grip loosened on my hand. “You know Ivan.” He was calmer when he opened his eyes again.

Viktor nodded. “We’ve crossed paths. I’ve seen the carnage he leaves behind.”

“Are you sure it’s the same person?” Aleks asked when he came in, bringing up the rear with a nervous-looking Cash who had Tristram’s arm over his shoulder. Cash lowered him into a seat, and Aleks looked around the room. “Ivan’s a pretty common name in Russia. Maybe there aren’t a ton of vampires, but there’s got to be more than one vampire Ivan in all of Russia.”

Viktor’s brows inched higher, and he looked at me like I might have the answer.

I sighed. “I suppose we don’t know for certain, but . . . you were held by the Russian government at the time you met Ivan?”

Viktor nodded, a muscle working in his jaw.

All I could do was shrug. “It makes sense. I don’t think there are many of us. In the years I was free and roaming the Americas, I only came across a pair of my kind, traveling together. Outside of a coven, we give each other a wide berth. Humans are more likely to notice us when we’re in the same territory so we . . . aren’t. When I was with Ivan, he was . . . politically aligned. He worked with the tsar often, and he had . . . some use for werewolves. He isn’t one to leave a powerful weapon on the shelf if he can bend it. Perhaps he changed, but changing is harder for us. When I left, I thought he wouldn’t cross the ocean to follow me. That voyage is easier now, isn’t it?”

Leo nodded. “Yeah. He could even get a private flight if he had enough money. Keep the windows shut. Might not be a comfortable journey, but it wouldn’t take more than a day or two at worst.”

My mouth went dry at that. I’d tried so hard to get away, and now he could find me in a handful of days.

“He had plenty of money,” I croaked.

And Ivan had been here the whole time. Maybe he’d come as soon as I’d escaped the witches. All the presumptions that I’d been safe slipped away. I shut my eyes and focused on keeping my breathing steady.

It’d been foolish, to leave my cell.

The thing was, if the witches had offered protection and concealment from Ivan in exchange for blood or anything else they wanted from me, I would have agreed to it.

But they were never going to trust or negotiate with a vampire, much the same as they struggled to treat werewolves with a modicum of respect.

Instead, I had two allies, and I didn’t want either Leo or Evie anywhere near Ivan. None of the rest of them either. Not Henry, who’d bitten someone to protect me, or Cash, who was bringing a cup of tea to Tristan.

Even Viktor. We weren’t friends, but he was Leo’s brother. There was love there, and I’d upended their lives.

I allowed myself a pitiful moment to consider returning to Ivan’s home in the Caucasus Mountains. I’d never escape again. If I was lucky, it’d just be chains that held me in place, but I suspected it’d be worse. Ivan had two centuries’ disobedience to repay me for.

I shivered, and Leo shifted closer to me on the couch. His hand traced my arm.