Page 85 of Blood Mosaic

“But that ismyfire,” he said. “She belongs to me. The sun is the mother of humanity and has no love for those who feed on them.”

She glanced out the window at the rising moon. “So is the moon the mother of vampires?”

“No, but you’re going to meet the mother of vampires tomorrow night.”

Tatyana blinked. “What?”

“You’re going to meet the immortal Eve.” Oleg glanced at her. “Don’t worry. You won’t be alone.”

If Tatyana’s brain had been a computer, there would have been a spinning disk in her eyes. “Who is vampire Eve? What if I don’t want to meet her?”

In fact, Tatyana was fairly sure she didnotwant to meet vampire Eve. She had a vision of a naked woman wearing fig leaves and baring bloody fangs, even though she was certain she was wrong.

“Saba is the oldest known vampire on earth. She is tens of thousands of years old, and she comes from the Rift Valley in Ethiopia.” Oleg closed his magazine. “If Saba asks to meet with you, you meet with her.”

“Tens of thousands of years old?” Tatyana couldn’t imagine it.

“Probably. No one really knows.”

“Why would she want to meet me?”

“She doesn’t want to meet you.” Oleg set his magazine to the side, leaned his head back against the seat of the car, and closed his eyes. “She wants to meet me.”

“So why do I have to meet her?”

“Because you’re coming with me. Don’t worry; you won’t have to talk. In fact, I forbid it.”

“Youforbidit?” What century did he come from?

The ninth century, Tanya, you know this already.

Tatyana tried to change the subject. “So the house we’re going to?—”

“I built it for my mate,” Oleg said. “Who is dead.”

Oleg’s driver glanced in the rearview mirror and quickly looked away.

“I’m sorry.” Tatyana scooted toward the window. “So a mate is like a husband or wife, right?”

“In human terms, yes.” Oleg kept his eyes closed. “But as I said, mine is dead. And she wouldn’t care if I had sex with you if she were alive.”

Well, that was a raft of information in three small sentences.

She’d known that he’d had a mate, but what did losing one do to a vampire? Did they mate for life? That was a cruel fate for an immortal.

But he also said his mate wouldn’t have cared if Oleg cheated on her.

That surprised Tatyana. Vampires seemed like the possessive sort. Then again, maybe male vampires were expected to keep mistresses like powerful human men. They had to drink from humans, didn’t they?

Tatyana already knew from the brief physical contact she and Oleg shared that he could make drinking from her neck intensely pleasurable.

“So you cheated on your wife,” Tatyana said, “and she didn’t care?”

He opened one eye, looked at Tatyana, then closed it again. “It’s not cheating if it’s not a secret.”

“Would you have cared if she had sex with someone else?”

“If you’re wondering whether I make a habit of sharing the women I have sex with, I do not. When you and I are lovers, you will not have relationships with any other men.”

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