Page 13 of Blood Mosaic

Oleg nodded at him, then returned to Elene.

Elene continued. “I think she’s a meticulous record keeper—from what I could see of her paperwork—and with the reports she has and the reports Zara submitted from ZOL, we should be able to figure out not only how much money was actually taken but how Zara was doing it.”

“I know that’s been bothering you.” He snapped at the maid who was just about to leave the room and motioned her over. “I haven’t fed,” he said to Elene. “Do you mind?”

“As long as you don’t.” She reached for the glass of red wine her husband handed to her.

The maid began to unbutton her collar, but Oleg shook his head and pointed to her wrist.

“I had a conversation with Mika on the way home,” Oleg said.

The woman pushed up the sleeve that covered her left wrist and wound a kitchen towel around her arm. Then she held it out to Oleg, who grasped it in his left hand.

Elene sipped her wine. “What did Mika think of Tatyana Vorona?”

“He thinks we should put her name out.” Oleg licked along the maid’s wrist, squeezing the flesh and plumping the blue vein visible under her pale skin.

“Do you think that’s wise? This early, I mean. We don’t have all her records yet.”

“It will take time for word to spread.” Oleg brushed his lips along the maid’s arm and felt her body relax as his amnis took hold. His fangs grew long in his mouth, and his breath heated the woman’s skin. “How much are we losing every month in bribes to Laskaris?”

Putting his lips to the woman’s wrist, he bit down and felt her flesh give way. Her iron-rich blood poured into his mouth and sang for his senses, flooding his body with pleasure as he tried to concentrate on Elene’s side of the conversation.

Elene sighed. “The taxes are the same, but the bribes are double what we used to pay before Zara moved in. I spoke with Radu the other day, and he claims she’s taking three times as much as Laskaris did.”

Oleg took four strong pulls on the woman’s wrist before he stroked her arm in appreciation and pierced his tongue to heal the small wounds he’d made in her flesh.

“Now, Radu loves to exaggerate,” Elene continued, “but it’s not out of the question that she could be bumping the price for our allies even more than she’s gouging us.”

Oleg glanced up to see the woman’s mouth flushed and parted. Her eyes were fixed on his fangs, but he placed a light kiss on her wrist before he used the towel to wipe his lips and then wrap her arm.

“Find Mika if you like,” he murmured. “I’m finished.”

Sexual arousal was a common response to feeding, and if he weren’t on a call with Elene, he might have offered the young woman some release, but his mind was occupied with other matters.

“Radu exaggerates, but he’s not the only one complaining.” Oleg felt the living blood flood his system. He was alert. Primed for action he couldn’t take.

At least not at that moment.

“We put Tatyana Vorona’s name out,” he said. “We use her as bait to draw Zara out, and then we take control of the situation. Laskaris is an ancient, but he’s not a god.”

“You don’t want to go to war with Athens,” Elene said. “That won’t end well for anyone.”

“We shall see,” he said. “It wouldn’t be the first time I’ve fought an ancient. Water vampires have their vulnerabilities.”

“As do you.”

“Nonsense.” He smiled a little bit. “Don’t you remember, Elene? I’m the monster in the night.”

“You’re going to be a monster to Tatyana if she gets hurt.”

“If she had come to you asking for her pay and nothing else, I wouldn’t have even noticed her. She’s hunting now, and she knows there are other predators in the forest.”

“You know she has no idea what she’s getting into.”

“She struck a bargain, Elene.” His mind flashed to the clear blue eyes and the direct challenge on the young woman’s face.

Bold. Tatyana was bold, and he admired those who took chances. “If this all works out the way I want it to, Zara will be neutralized, you and the bookkeeper will recover my money, and Laskaris will be forced to back down.”

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