Page 2 of Golden Eagle

Nik checked that he was no longer growling; he wasn’t.

Softer, Gustav continued. “They’d never accept us if they knew what we were – what we must do to survive. It’s important to stick together. To keep company with our own kind.”

Nikita didn’t respond. And, the same moment Gustav’s nostrils flared in sudden interest, Sasha’s scent floated toward them. A moment later, he slid up to Nikita’s side, seemingly out of thin air, slightly bristled, projecting an energy of uncertain, but preparatory aggression.

“Hello.” To anyone else, he would have sounded friendly; to Nikita’s practiced ear, he sounded downright hostile.

Gustav smiled again, flashing his teeth; fangs long, just noticeable alongside his regular human teeth. “Ah,” he said, “your Familiar.”

Nikita growled – too loud this time. He didn’t care.

Gustav chuckled. “Now I smell it: not your Familiar. Your companion, then.” His dark eyes danced.

Nikita’s lungs opened up, ready for a proper roar. Sasha touched his arm, immediately calming.

“Who are you?” Sasha asked. He could ask truly rude things, and still come across as sweet. It was those eyes. “Why are you making Nik unhappy? Hmm? We’re Christmas tree shopping.”

“I’m not trying to make him unhappy, I assure. My name is Gustav,” he said with a bow that belonged to the manners of a previous century. “And if this is Nikita, then you must be Sasha.”

Sasha let out a quiet, lupineruffof surprise. His hand tightened on Nikita’s arm; his features hardened, not a scowl, but almost. “Nice to meet you, Gustav,” he said, in a tone that Nik knew was a threat.

Nikita shook his arm loose – Sasha swayed in closer, on instinct, wanting the pack-contact in the face of a possible threat – and slung it across Sasha’s shoulders, who subsided happily beneath its weight. “Did you find a tree you liked,brastishka?” he asked, gaze pinned to Gustav.

The other vampire had trouble hiding his mirth.

“Yeah,” Sasha said. “I think it’s too big, though.”

“Show me. We can move some furniture around.”

“A moment, please,” Gustav said, before they could walk away. “I’d hoped you could meetmyFamiliar.” He lifted his hand above his shoulder, and signaled.

A woman walked around the corner, sleek and stylish, her hair big and bouncy, in tight jeans, and killer boots, and a leather jacket, and–

Oh. She was a wolf. The wind came at their faces, and carried her scent. Aboundwolf, no less. Gustav’s.

“Your Familiar,” Nikita echoed, arm tightening around Sasha.

Sasha in turn braced a hand against his ribs; it was both a comfort – a soothing caress, bracing, even – and a place from which he could push off if he decided to throw himself in front of Nikita and be unnecessarily protective.

Maybe not unnecessary at the moment, given Nikita’s spiraling blood sugar.

The woman pulled up beside Gustav, folded her arms, leaned into him a moment, familiar and comfortable. She cast a bored look across them. “This is them?” Her accent was American.

“This is Hannah,” Gustav said.

Nikita didn’t comment.

Neither, to his surprise, did Sasha. He only jerked a fast nod, one which left Hannah smiling for some reason.

“We need to get going,” Nikita said, coldly, not caring if he was rude. He’d been rude his whole life. He was Cheka, for God’s sakes. And disliked people besides.

Gustav chuckled again, for reasons he didn’t understand. “Very well, then. Remember us, if you please. I don’t think we’ll stay in New York, but we might. I’d appreciate it if we weren’t on your kill list, Captain Baskin.”

Nikita showed his teeth. “Don’t give me a reason to put you on that list.”

He turned away, into the tree lot, towing Sasha with him. And kept walking until he sensed that the other immortals had moved on.

He didn’t realize he was growling – low and constant – until Sasha touched his hand and said, “Nik.”

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