Chapter 6 Tatyana
Tatyana
“So that didn’t go as planned.” Rumi lounged in Tatyana’s room after the reception. “I told you that you should avoid Samson.”
“And I told you that Oleg would have to get over it.” She took off the platinum earrings that Diana had put in her ears and placed them in a silver jewelry box. “He’s a friend. He’s going to stay a friend. But lesson learned—my husband does not like surprises.”
“That probably comes from having most surprises in his life be unpleasant and violent,” Rumi said.
“Surprise, you’ve been kidnapped by vampires.
Surprise, you have to drink blood for the rest of eternity and can’t see the sun.
” She grimaced. “Surprise, a few of your brothers will try to kill you forever.”
“Yes, Rumi. Thank you.”
They were staying in a literal castle in the countryside outside Budapest where Kezia lived.
There were in the east wing, appropriate for the Eastern Poshani delegation, and Tatyana had a large suite of rooms for her entourage, which included Rumi, Diana, Sándor, and all of Sándor’s human and vampire guards.
The front of the east wing was populated by the human and vampire guards, the humans to guard her during the day and the vampires by night.
Then there was a reception room at the front of her personal suite, an office where Rumi had set up her work area, then the bedrooms and day chambers for her staff beyond that. She could have brought an entourage of a dozen other immortals and had plenty of room.
Tatyana glanced at Rumi in the mirror. “Is he here yet?”
Rumi nodded. “He’s waiting in the front living room.”
Tatyana took a deep and unnecessary breath.
“You realize he probably already knows,” Rumi said. “It’s Sándor. He knows when my children have a toothache. I think he knows that you and Oleg are lovers.”
“I’m going to tell him we’re married too.”
Rumi’s mouth formed a small O.
Having a furtive physical affair meant little to most vampires. You didn’t even have to like a lover to enjoy having sex with them.
Marriage on the other hand… That implied loyalty. Not to mention a blood mating.
“Well, he’s here, and he’s probably getting impatient.” Rumi glanced at the clock over the mantel.
Tatyana stood. “Help me get this dress off.”
Oleg was right.
She hated when he was right.
Sándor needed to know where she was going, especially since they were no longer in Oleg’s or Tatyana’s territory.
They had mostly kept their liaisons to their home territories for this precise reason. Close to home, Tatyana felt secure, but in Budapest at a vampire summit filled with apex predators, security was not guaranteed.
Especially with Ivan lurking in the city. Tatyana didn’t want to take chances.
She hung up the blue dress and donned her usual uniform of navy-blue trousers and a navy-blue sweater with a high neck, then twisted her hair into a simple knot at the back of her head and went to meet her chief Hazar.
Sándor rose when she entered the room. “Terrin Tatyana.”
“Please.” She motioned toward his chair and sat across from him; Sándor sat after she did.
“Sándor, over the past four years, I have come to trust you, so I hope you will forgive me for keeping something from you that is pertinent to my safety.”
“If you are speaking of your relationship with Oleg Sokolov, I am aware of it.” Sándor’s expression did not change.
Tatyana nodded. “I suspected that you knew of our physical relationship, but there is more.”
Sándor nodded but said nothing.
“Oleg is my husband. We were married privately not long after I became terrin. We discussed the matter prior to my accepting the role leading the Poshani, but I am the one who decided it was better to keep our connection private.”
Sándor barely blinked. “You did not want the people to question your loyalty to the clan.”
“Exactly.” Tatyana asked the question she’d been dreading. “Do you question my loyalties to the Poshani now that I have given you this information?”
Sándor cocked his head. “No, madam. If anything, my observations lead me to believe that you are even more severe with the Sokolov organization than with other businesses we deal with.”
Tatyana nodded. “Good. I would never let my relationship with Oleg affect my devotion or responsibility to our people. Oleg understands and accepts this. If he did not, I would not have married him.”
Sándor nodded. “Are you and Sokolov thinking of going public with your connection?”
“No.” Tatyana smiled. “For now we both agree that it would not be wise. But I would like to spend some time with my husband privately while we are in the same city.”
“Of course, madam. Would you like me to coordinate with Mika Arakis on security arrangements while we are at the summit? I have his contact information.”
“Yes, but I would prefer that we keep this information to the smallest number of Hazar as possible. I trust your judgment on who should be told and when.”
Sándor nodded. “The Báthorys increase security around the city for the entire week of the summit, and it is generally considered bad form to show any kind of violence or aggression toward any of the immortal or human attendees.”
Tatyana nodded. “That makes sense.”
“Understanding that, spying and intelligence gathering is widely practiced and will be our greatest challenge for the week if you want your personal connection to Sokolov to remain private. If you have plans to meet him tonight, I suggest we utilize Rumi as a distraction. I assume Rumi knows about your marriage?”
Tatyana nodded. “What do you suggest?”
“I will take Rumi out in one of the vehicles, and you will wear a disguise and carry her purse and briefcase. Anyone watching will assume that Rumi is attending to your business and you are her assistant.”
“Good.”
“Do you have an address?”
She’d already written it down, so she handed it to Sándor. “Rumi says the map shows it’s not far from here.”
“Nevertheless, you’re right to be cautious.” Sándor stood. “Can you be ready in twenty minutes?”
She nodded. “I can.”
He started toward the door but turned before he opened it. “Does Diana know?”
“Absolutely not.” Tatyana liked her stylist, but she had no idea how big a gossip she was.
She had not earned Tatyana’s trust yet. “You, my mother, and Rumi are my only confidantes in this matter. Radu and Kezia know that we have been lovers in the past, but they don’t know anything for certain at present. ”
“Very well.” He gave a short nod. “I acknowledge and honor your trust, Tatyana le Tala. Get ready, and I will prepare a car for you and Rumi.”
The old house where she met Oleg was hidden behind a large castle and surrounded by forest, grazing land, and a small contingent of Mika’s men. She slipped through the shrubbery with Sándor behind her; then Mika stepped out of the shadows and gave her Hazar a nod.
Sándor turned to her. “I will wait in the car with Rumi, but I will be tracking your location via your mobile phone. If you leave the property, I will follow you.”
“Understood, Sándor.”
She walked across the grass, meeting Mika halfway.
“Mika.”
“My lady.”
She cocked her head as they walked toward the house. “You realize you can call me Tatyana.”
“If he found out I addressed you that informally without his permission, he would castrate me and I’d have to wait a hundred years for my balls to grow back,” Mika said. “So no, thank you.”
She paused at the terrace doors. “He hasn’t actually done that to anyone, has he?”
Mika shrugged one shoulder. “Not for at least a century.”
Such restraint.
Tatyana waited as Mika opened the terrace doors, then walked inside, and Mika closed them behind her.
It looked like an old gamekeeper’s cottage, though it had been neatly restored. There were copper pots and pans hanging on the wall of the kitchen, dark wood, and more than a few antlers decorating the walls.
Oleg was sitting in front of a fire, his feet propped up on a stuffed footrest, still wearing the dark embroidered shirt, woolen pants, and tall boots that he’d worn at the reception. The kaftan was hanging over the back of a chair.
Tatyana pressed her lips together to hide her smile. “You’re still wearing your traditional clothes.”
“They’re surprisingly comfortable, and I know you like them.” He turned his eyes toward her and pouted. “The dress is gone.”
“You can’t have expected me to sneak out of the castle in that.” She walked over to him and straddled his lap, placing her arms on his shoulders. “Hello.”
The corner of his mouth turned up. “Now this is the kind of surprise I enjoy.”
“The one that you can orchestrate so that Mika has a security perimeter around the house?”
“Exactly.”
Now she had to smile. “I have learned a new thing about my husband. He does not enjoy situations where he does not have complete control.”
He took her wrists in his hands, circling them with warm fingers. “You knew that already.”
“Oh, I see you trying to change the subject.” She shook her head. “What am I supposed to do? Always let you be the one who is spontaneous? You would get bored.”
“With you?” Oleg frowned. “Never.” He reached up and tucked away a piece of hair that had fallen from her twist. “You make me feel like an old man, volchitsa. I find myself thinking of coming home to you and sitting by the fire and reading books beside you rather than committing violence on the enemies of my people.”
She slid to the side, and Oleg wrapped his arms around her shoulders. “Well, you can’t commit violence every night. That would become boring too.”
“An excellent point.”
Tatyana stared into the flames licking the wood in the hearth and felt the soothing flow of energy between them. Their mingled amnis was like a happy cat, purring as it traced over their skin.
She sighed. “What are we going to do?”
“This week?” Oleg asked. “We’re going to make use of this house, and I’m going to fuck you every night until we’re forced to return to our separate cities.”