Page 154 of Blood Mosaic

Tatyana blinked. “There’s a story there.”

“One that needs vodka even though we can’t get drunk.”

“Fuckme,” Tatyana muttered. “Not even a little bit?”

“Sadly, not even a little bit.” Oksana lowered her arms. “Let the water down. Slowly.”

Tatyana mirrored her movements and felt her amnis clinging to the water even as it settled back into the fountain.

“Remember,” Oksana said, “if you can thread a needle with water, you can make a wave.”

“A whisper, not a shout.”

“Exactly,” Oksana said. “You remember.”

“Apparently my brain is better now.” She flicked the last of the water from her hands and flexed her fingers, both tired and energized from the exercise. “Blood?”

Oksana snapped her fingers at one of Mika’s men who was lounging by the ballroom door. “Pavel, get Tatyana a carafe.”

“Yes, boss.”

Tatyana sat on the edge of the fountain and watched the man leave. “Do you like it?”

“Like what?” Oksana walked over and sat next to her.

“Ordering men around.”

The other woman barked out a laugh. “Yes. I do actually. But I like working for Oleg much better than my last boss, so even if I couldn’t order people around, I’d probably be with him.”

Tatyana glanced at her. “Who was your last boss?”

“Luana.”

Tatyana’s eyebrows went up. “Oleg’s mate?”

Oksana smiled a little bit. “My sire was killed in a very stupid fight with one of the Sokholovs—that’s Oleg’s extended family—so I was at loose ends for a long time. No money really. No protector. I could have sworn allegiance to the Sokholovs, but I hate Ivan.”

“He’s Oleg’s brother?”

“Older,” Oksana said, “but more stupid. Conniving. He’s a blunt instrument to Oleg’s dagger.”

“But how did you meet Luana?”

Oksana looked at Tatyana for a long moment.

“It’s none of my business if you don’t want to tell me,” Tatyana said. “I’m being needlessly curious because all this life seems strange to me. But you can tell me to shut up.”

Oksana finally smiled. “I like you, Tatyana Vorona. I appreciate that you say what you think.”

“What’s the point of talking if you don’t say what you think?” Tatyana said. “My grandmother told me that if you don’t want to share your true thoughts—or you think it wouldn’t be wise—it’s better to shut up rather than lie.”

“She sounds like a wise woman.”

“She was.” Tatyana stared at the dark garden through the windows. “She’s dead now. And I will not die. Not from cancer. Or a stroke.”

“But you can die,” Oksana said. “Never forget that. Luana thought she could never die, and look what happened to her. Killed by her own mate—not that she didn’t deserve it.”

Tatyana froze. “What?”

---