Page 89 of Blood Mosaic

Mika said. “I don’t know the man with her.”

“That isn’t a man.”

“You’re not wrong.” Mika kept his eyes on the table. “I don’t want to look at her, but I can’t look away.” He swallowed hard, and his eyes took on a glassy sheen. He whispered something under his breath in a language Tatyana didn’t recognize.

“Mika.”

The vampire couldn’t look away from his boss. Saba had some kind of hold on every immortal in the room.

But while the vampires were enthralled by her power, the humans around them were vaguely intrigued but soon returned to their previous conversations.

“What is going on?” Tatyana lifted her foot under the table and slammed it down on Mika’s. “Stop it.”

The vampire curled his lip, baring his fangs at Tatyana before he blinked and seemed to wake up. “What kind of power does this vampire have?” he whispered. “I’ve never felt anything like her.”

“If she’s really…” Tatyana dropped her voice to a whisper, glancing over at Oleg and the two ancient vampires who were deep in conversation. “If she’s really vampire Eve, she’s like amother to all of you. You’re all kind of… descended from her, right?”

Mika nodded slightly. “Yes.”

The vampire slowly began to look more like himself even though he continued to glance at the corner booth toward Saba and Oleg.

Tatyana tried to distract him. “How does that work anyway? Oleg said she’s an earth vampire. You’re a water vampire. He’s fire. How does an element choose a vampire?”

“We don’t choose.” Mika continued to stare at Saba as he spoke in hushed tones. “Amnis is inherited in the blood. Water vampire to water vampire. Earth to earth.”

“Fire to fire?” Tatyana could understand that. “So is Zara a fire vampire?”

“No. Fire vampires are…” He glanced at Tatyana, then looked over her shoulder again, clearly trying to avoid Saba’s magnetic energy. “I suppose it’s not a secret. Think of it as a recessive trait. Fire vampires can be born from any element, and they’re not very common.”

She frowned. “So if Oleg had a child?—”

“Vampires cannot father children,” Mika said. “Eliminate that thought immediately. You will never have children with him, Tatyana Vorona.”

She sat back, and her face was burning. “I wasn’t talking aboutbabies. The last thing I want is to have Oleg’s?—”

“Oleg’s immortal children are earth vampires because his sire was an earth vampire.”

She frowned. “Zara’s not an earth vampire, is she?” The earth vampires she’d run into at the club had been the most human of all the immortals. They were friendly and seemed to like humans, far from Zara’s predatory attitude toward nearly everyone she crossed.

“No.” Mika was staring at the booth again. “Zara is a water vampire like me.”

“Then how?—”

“It’s complicated. Ask Oleg.” He dropped his voice to a whisper. “They’re finished.”

Tatyana glanced over her shoulder and saw Saba holding Oleg’s hand.

The vampire had a familiar expression on her face. It was the face of a mother chiding her child.

And Oleg’s face was even paler than usual.

Moments later, her boss was striding toward the door, and Mika, Tatyana, and all the vampires in Oleg’s retinue were running to catch up.

Chapter Twenty

“You’re speaking of Zara? She was nothing to me.”

“She was your blood.”

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