Page 52 of Blood Mosaic

“This morning then? Maybe your shampoo. Whatever it is, it’s lovely.”

She’d beenflirtingwith the man.

The monster.

She’d even entertained the ridiculous idea of taking him up on his offer to date. Not while she was working for him, of course, but she’d allowed herself to wonder if something might be possible when the job was done.

He was charming.

Intriguing.

Tempting.

And yes, wealthy and competent and successful. Oleg took charge of their every interaction, and for someone who’d had to be the caretaker for too many years, it felt amazing to have someone else steering the ship.

Tatyana had allowed herself to daydream about being with a man like Oleg.

When she’d thought he was a man.

Anna sat up straight and looked out the window. “Why are you going this way?”

Tatyana had passed the old turnoff for the local road. “I’m taking the highway, Mama.”

“Hmm.” Anna set her lips in a grim line. “If the police are looking for us?—”

“I don’t think he’s going to go to the police.”

“All those gangsters have police in their pocket.”

“Maybe.” Tatyana didn’t think Oleg could be classified as a gangster. He was something… much worse. “Mama, have you ever seen something… like something out of a story?”

Anna frowned. “What kind of story?”

“Like a folktale. Or a… a myth. Something unnatural.”

“I see a million things that seem unnatural just by turning on the television these days.” She looked at Tatyana from the corner of her eye. “What are you talking about?”

“Nothing.”

“If it was nothing, you wouldn’t have asked.”

“Fine. I saw… saw something impossible.”

“If you saw it, it’s not impossible.”

“It was… something unnatural.”

“Criminals aren’t unnatural,” Anna said. “They’re evil, but they’re not unnatural.”

What Tatyana had seen went far past the criminal. “Do you believe in monsters?”

“I believe in human monsters; my grandparents survived Stalin.” Anna glanced at Tatyana. “Take the next exit and get off the highway.”

She sighed. “Mama?—”

“Do it. It’ll take longer, but if anyone is following us, there are places we can hide on the local roads. There is nothing on the highway.”

She had a point. Tatyana exited the expressway and turned back toward the small town they’d passed. The local road that would take them toward the area around Feodosia, which Anna called home.

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