Page 291 of Golden Eagle

“The thing I wonder, though: is that the vampire part of me? Or justme?”

“Extreme circumstances bring out extreme emotions. Most people don’t find themselves in situations like the one we were in. They have no idea what they’re capable of until they do.”

“So I’m a killer, then.”

“We all are.”

After a moment, Mia nodded, and her brow furrowed. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell any of you about my dad. I was afraid you’d all think I was some sort of Institute agent.”

“I figured you weren’t when you smashed Dr. Fowler’s head through the wall.”

They studied one another a moment – and then burst into startled, ugly giggles.

“Damn,” Mia said, shaking her head. “Life’s going to get a lot weirder, and lot a more difficult, isn’t it?”

“’Fraid so.” She swallowed the last of her laughter, throat aching faintly. “But if you want to tell me about your dad…I’ll listen.”

Mia’s brows went up, pleasantly surprised.

“I think if we’re gonna be pack, we might as well be friends, too.”

Slowly, Mia smiled. “Yeah. Might as well.”

~*~

There was a glass-walled sunroom off the back of Trina’s grandparents’ house, and, given the way the house was perched on a slope, it offered a breathtaking view of the property; down across the glittering pond, and the guest house, the other homes, the hills and dips of the property, the cabin where Nikita and Sasha were staying, all of it quilted with fluffy white snow, glittering diamond-bright beneath the early sun. Alexei sat on a wide, squishy round ottoman in front of one of the windows, glancing every so often toward the small, sparring figures in front of the guest house – but mostly studying the bundled, redheaded boy sitting just down the hill on a bench, throwing seed out for the doves. Sev’s hair gleamed bright as flame in the light.

Shuffling footfalls and a familiar scent heralded Dante’s arrival, just before he settled cross-legged on the ottoman beside Alexei, a quilt from the bed wrapped around his shoulders. He still looked tired and too-pale, his posture stooped, protective, arms drawn in close to his sides. Having a continuous stroke for hours would do that, vampire or not.

He lifted the near end of the quilt in offering, and Alexei drew it across his own shoulders so they could share body heat.

They sat in companionable silence for a while. Alexei could feel the pressure of a dozen building thoughts…all of them blanketed in a screen of white, like snow, for the moment. A bit of rest. A second of peace before he took hold of his life with both hands, the way he was meant to.

After a bit, Dante set his head down on Alexei’s shoulder; Alexei could feel the faint tremors moving through him, and didn’t know if it was the cold, or a lingering weakness. Just because vampires could heal didn’t mean it was easy, or painless.

“What are we going to do with him?” Dante asked, playing at conversational.

Alexei could play, too. It was always easier than heavier things. “He didn’t want to go with his sister. Keep him, I suppose.”

“Hmm.” A beat passed. “And what will you do, Your Majesty?” Voice going soft, and uncertain.

Alexei laid what he hoped was a reassuring hand on his knee. “Figure out how to be a better Romanov than all the ones who came before me. Probably see if the Brothers Dracula need help saving the world.”

He couldfeelDante’s smile. “Is that all? That sounds lovely.”

“It kinda does, doesn’t it?”

Outside, Sev held out a hand, and a cardinal even brighter than the boy’s hair alighted on his wrist, and pecked the seed straight from his hand.

~*~

The only heat source in the cabin was an electrical faux fireplace that rattled and hissed enough that Nikita didn’t trust leaving it running overnight. When he opened his eyes and exhaled, he saw his breath steam overhead, a swirling white plume.

It was warm under their pile of blankets, though, Sasha better than any furnace where he lay half-across Nik’s chest, his own hair caught in his mouth as he snored. Not wanting to wake him, Nikita watched the ceiling lighten by slow degrees, until it was that pearly time of morning just after dawn, before breakfast, but after the birds had started their daily chorus. It had snowed during the night; he could smell it; could see it when he turned his head a fraction, drifted up in the mullions of the window.

Sasha drew in a deep breath. “You’re thinking very loudly,” he said, without opening his eyes, words distorted because his mouth was all smushed up against Nik’s chest.

“So you like to remind me.” He ruffled a hand through Sasha’s hair and said, “Ready to get up?”

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