The Romanov's Pursuit (4 page)

It then occurred to Blade and Cutter that Giovanni’s clue was literal. By process of elimination, it could only have been two people. Their first option was ruled out after a heated denial, which led them here. Sasha had not immediately come to mind because she was only a little over a hundred years old which was relatively young for an immortal, but
she
bore the mark of Hecate which made her as powerful as a centuries-old witch or warlock.
Her skills already exceeded
Blade and Cutter’s
but when she was older she’d be nearly unstoppable
.

Sasha avoided eye contact with them. “I understand you’re angry with me, but I could see that it had taken a lot for Nya to swallow her pride and ask a favor of me.”

Cutter circled their sister with his arms crossed. His narrowed gaze and
pursed
lips displayed his displeasure, but he was much calmer about the situation than Blade was. “Did it occur to you to tell
her no? Your loyalty should be to
us.”

“And it still does. I shouldn’t have kept this secret from you but I did this for your sake as much as hers.”

“Explain,” Blade growled as he advanced on his sister.

Cutter placed a hand on Blade’s chest and shook his head.

“You know I wouldn’t lay a hand on Sasha
,” Blade communicated telepathically to his twin.

“
Of course
,
I know that but you’re a bit aggressive right now. Let’s at least hear our sister out. I’m sure she has her reasons.”

Blade
was not in the mood to hear excuses.
“There’s no good explanation for her to aid in hiding our mate from us. Any excuse she has to offer is unacceptable.”

“Let’s hear her out anyway.”
Cutter gave him a look that conveyed Blade was being an ass.

With a mental sigh, Blade nodded. At times he could be a bit short-tempered, but his twin usually had a way of calming him down. “Sasha,” he began with a more measure
d
tone, “why would you do this? Do you know how long we’ve been searching for her? We’d even given her some space after she was lost to that demon who’d claimed her as his own. But our patience has reached its end.”

Sasha placed a small hand on his arm. “I understand that you’d be angry with me, but please understand that she needed time before the two of you went after her.”

“More time? We gave her several months before we began our pursuit. It’s been over a year,” Blade argued.

The petite witch raised a brow. “Do you think some paltry months are enough to get over someone you’ve been with for over two centuries? We’re immortals, time is on our side.”

When put like that, it did make him and Cutter seem like impatient savages, but they needed her to feel whole again. Since Blade had set eyes on the sexy vampire femme she’d become an obsession to them. From what he’d gauged, Nya was a woman of few words, but there was a mystique about her that made a man want to dig deeper and find out about the woman behind the hooded gaze.

She was the epitome of perfection from her head down to her toes. Whenever she walked into a room it was with her head held high and back straight, like royalty. Despite her tall, slender frame, Nya possessed curves that begged to be fondled, caressed and worshiped. From
the high cheekbones, full lips, long hair she wore in in cornrows
and delectable dark brown skin with gold undertones, she was an extraordinary beauty.

But there had been one problem when they’d met. She belonged to someone else. That someone happened to be part of a group that had set out to destroy Sasha’s mate Niccolo Grimaldi and the rest of the Grimaldi clan, not to mention create havoc around the world so that immortals would eventually rule. Fortunately Nya was not a part of the scheme;
in fact
,
she’d worked against her own mate to stop him from enacting his maniacal plan. But Blade could see that her decision had taken a toll on her, so he and Cutter had bided their time to give her some space. But they were done waiting and Blade wouldn’t allow anyone to stand in their way. Not even their sister and he
w
ere
positive Cutter felt the same.

“Fuck time!” Blade glared at his sister. “Tell us why you would cloak her from us?”

“Because at the time that I agreed to do it, she wasn’t ready to accept you. To be quite honest, she still might not be. Besides, I read her aura and I’m fully aware that she’s your soulmate which means that she will be my family too. She needs to know that I am a friend she can count on. I felt this sadness within her and it has a hold of her
like nothing I’ve ever
seen. Not even Giovanni’s grief could match Nya’s.” Sasha referred to the vampire who they’d help deal with the loss of his brother, who also happened to be Nya’s mate.

“Are you suggesting she’ll continue to use her dead mate’s memory to keep us at arm’s length?”

Sasha frowned as contemplation furrowed her brow. “She’s keeping away from everyone, even Giovanni and they were once quite close. No, I think it’s more than the loss of her fallen mate. I felt the weight of many souls resting on her conscience. It’s almost as if she’s given up the wil
l to fully live. I had hoped
with the diversion spell, she could have all the privacy she needed while she came to terms with the fact that there are people out there who still very much care for her. But I believe she may need a bit of a nudge.
Obviously
,
you two will have to tread lightly with her at first but I’m sure you have what it takes to break through her walls.”

Cutter nodded in agreement. “Oh, we intend to.”

Blade rubbed his hands together in anticipation. There was nothing keeping them from her now.

Chapter Three

“How much longer do we have to wait? Surely we have enough power to overtake them.” Anya tugged on Grigori’s sleeve.

He realized she had been trying to get his attention for the past several minutes but he had no time to indulge in her incessant need for chatter. He had never met anyone who enjoyed the sound of their own voice as much as Anya, but she had her useful moments. Grigori ignored her as he looked through one of his many spell books. His next match was fast approaching and he needed to study up on as many spells as possible to defeat his next target, an ice witch. He wasn’t too skilled in the ways of manipulating the elements yet but his opponent was a mere level three. He could easily defeat her with one of his special hexes; however, as he’d learned early
on
when he’d began this endeavor to acquire enough power to finally achieve his ultimate goal, he should never underestimate anyone. Grigori had nearly been taken down by a level one because he’d let his guard down. It was a mistake he didn’t intend to repeat.

Anya plucked the book from his hand and twirled out of his reach. “Grigori, come away from that old book. You haven’t paid
any
attention
to me
all day.”

Grigori balled his fist
s
as he readied himself to blast her through the wall. He didn’t appreciate the disruption, particularly when he was so close to finding the key to finally taking down his enemy. But t
hen he remembered how
he still needed Anya to achieve his goal
. She was a means to an end
he’d simply have to deal with until the time came when he no longer needed her services. Instead of throwing a burst of lightning
at
her chest as he sorely wanted to, he held out his hand and focused his attention on the confiscated book until it flew out of Anya’s grasp and back into his.

She released a gasp. “There was so much force behind that. You’re getting stronger, which leads me back to my original question.”

Grigori took a couple measured breaths before speaking. “Yes, my powers have grown stronger but I’m not strong enough to defeat
them
.”

Confusion lined Anya’s face. “Not even the hybrid? He’s still quite young, practically a baby.”

“You underestimate him because of his age, but the very fact that he’s a hybrid makes him dangerous and it’s my understanding that his
training under
his uncle is nearly complete and he’s an apt pupil.”

Anya shook her head, apparently refusing to believe him. “Well, I still don’t see how he could
equal your skill
just because he has vampire blood. If anything it should make him weaker.”

“But it doesn’t. Now if you will excuse me, I need to continue this research.”

“And what exactly am I supposed to do in the meantime while you remain sequestered in this room?”

Grigori shrugged. “I suppose you’ll find something to amuse yourself with. You usually do.”

Anya’s lavender-
colored eyes narrowed to slits as she tossed her dark tresses over her shoulder. “I can have any man I want, you know.”

He smirked. “
Of course
,
you could, my dear.”

Seeing how unaffected Grigori was by her empty threat, she tossed him another icy glare before stomping out of the room. She would probably go fuck
some random human
to get back at him and
ca
su
ally
tell him about it later. He might be a little upset if he actually cared about her as anything more than a bed warmer and someone who would help him see his plan to an end. He was well aware that Anya’s loyalty to him rested on the fact that her options of places she could seek refuge were limited and was only using him for her own ambitions.

Nothing would detour Grigori from his ultimate goal: destroying everything the Romanovs possessed and claiming their powers as his own. He’d thought of nothing else since they’d took away everything he once held dear. Centuries back, warlocks and witches often battled in matches to demonstrate their power. There soon came a point where simply winning wasn’t enough. Somewhere along the line, one ambitious warlock found a spell that could consume the loser’s powers and in essence steal their life force.

It soon became a common practice for witches and warlocks seeking more abilities to challenge each other to these battles to get
a desired
power. It soon came to pass that entire covens were wiped out before The Council of Immortals stepped in and outlawed this practice. The ruling didn’t completely end them, but
instead
,
the fights evolved into something else. Instead of outright killing their opponents, the victor of these power battles would simply drain enough power not to kill their opponent but basically render them useless. Because the victor spared their lives, the loser was then considered conquered and had to agree to three centuries of servitude.

The Romanovs had been famous for this practice, and
in fact
,
they had an entire legion of servants
because of it
. Even now Elizabeth Romanov staffed her homes with witches and warlocks who had once been
extremely possible
.

But what the Romanovs had done to his family was far worse.
Ivan and his daughter Petra were deceased, and Grigori was sorry they were gone, only because it wasn’t him who’d taken them out. But it didn’t matter that Ivan or one of his offspring was gone, the rest of the Romanovs still thrived and Grigori intended to exact his vengeance on every single one of them. Elizabeth, Steel, Cutter, Blade, Sasha, and Jagger. He chanted their names every day to stay focused.

The Romanovs had taken something very precious from Grigori and it had nearly destroyed him. Now it was his turn to return the favor and if all went according t
o plan, the twins would soon kno
w how he felt all those many years ago. He grazed the cover of the old spell book with the tips of his fingers.

Soon.

<><><><><>

It was back.

The hunger. And
this time
,
she couldn’t shake it, even though she tried. Despite her resolve to be in complete solitude, she couldn’t stray too far from civilization before the hunger would get to be too much. She didn’t have to feed nearly as much as she did as a newly formed vampire, but she still needed life essence to thrive since without
it
vampires were driven to madness. It was one of the ways rogues came to be.

In a male vampire, they developed a condition call
ed
la
morte
dolce
, which slowly drove them mad. In a
female
,
however, it was so much more intense that they simply bypassed the illness and went straight to rogue. While mortal food could sustain her for a time, it didn’t provide the
life
-
giving
nourishment her body needed to thrive. The longest Nya had managed to go without a proper feeding was six weeks and she was getting dangerously close to her limit.

Nya’s need to feed was what led her into the little mining town about an hour away from her cabin. This was the kind of town where everyone knew each other and the racial makeup was pretty homogeneous. Nya was certain she stood out like a sore thumb, but if anyone approached her to ask questions, she’d simply stare in
to
their eyes and redirect them elsewhere. She’d visited the town once already
to scout it out
and prevented a nosy sheriff from asking too many questions.

As she made her way to the town square where most of the traffic seemed to be she was well aware of the stares that came her way. Some were curious, a few seemed frightened and a couple
were
hostile. Nya didn’t mind. She’d dealt with a lot worse in her lifetime. Spotting an empty bench in front of a large fountain, she walked toward it and took a seat. It gave her the perfect view to people watch and determine who she would
choose
.

She preferred a female target because a vampire bite was so euphoric that it could cause the person on the receiving end unbelievable pleasure. It was particularly euphoric on mortals. There had been a handful of cases where she had fed from a human who wanted to take things further than a simple feed and a few times she’d had to exert her strength to fight off their sexual advances which meant she had to hurt them. It had happened with men and women but she found that women weren’t as aggressive as their male counterparts and she wanted as little fuss as possible.

She preferred to bite on the neck because that’s where the pulse was the strongest and the blood practically gushed into her mouth. It ensured a quick meal. Nya hadn’t fed the other way since she’d lost her mate. Despite the many misconceptions humans had about vampire lore, it wasn’t the
blood that
vampire
s
needed to survive, it was actually the life essence found in the blood that
sustained them
. It could also be found in sexual secretions which is why most vampires enjoyed sex so much. Nya liked it just as must as anyone else, but she’d lost the desire
in the last year
.

Reaching into her jeans pocket, she pulled out her dark sunglass
es
and put them on to shield her eyes. While she was scouting, she didn’t want to be caught staring too long at just one person. Nya lost track of time as she sat on the bench watching people come and go. There wasn’t anyone who really caught her interest. Most of the women were older which meant the blood flow wasn’t as strong, while other women were with children.

Finally
,
she spotted a woman who walked through the square with purposeful strides. She seemed a bit out of place in her
three
-
piece
suit while most of the other people were casually dressed. As she speculated on her potential meal provider, she suddenly felt a presence next to her. Reluctantly, she dragged her gaze away from her prey to see a man sitting next to her. He appeared to be in his mid to late twenties. There was nothing of exception to note about him, from the mouse brown hair, and hazel eyes, slim
frame
,
and nondescript features. She was certain,
later on
,
she wouldn’t remember what he looked like at all.

Annoyed that she was no longer alone, Nya returned her attention back to the direction she’d seen the woman walk and was disappointed that she was gone. Her bench mate’s presence had distracted her to the point where she’d lost track of the woman. Perhaps she went into one of the nearby buildings but Nya couldn’t be sure of which one.

“Nice weather we’re having today.”

Nya rolled her eyes, glad she currently wore sunglasses to shield her expression. She was in no mood to have
an
idle
chitchat. Unless the woman in the suit reappeared, she’d have to find another
meal
and it had already taken her a while to find that one. “Yes,” she finally answered, hoping her
one word
answer would discourage further conversation.

He held his hand out to her. “I’m Dan, by the way. You’re not from around here, are you?”

Usually
,
that statement was followed by another equally intrusive question neither of which Nya intended to answer. She stared at his hand pointedly until he dropped it. “I’m sure you already know the answer to that, Dan.”

Dan chuckled, seeming unbothered by her curtness. “I suppose I do. Just making conversation. When I saw you sitting alone, I figured you might need some company.”

“And it didn’t occur to you that I prefer to be alone?”

Instead of taking a hint, he actually moved closer and placed his hand on her thigh. “There’s no harm in making a new friend, is there?” He grinned at her with a lascivious gleam in his gaze.

Her patience was already threadbare and Dan’s touch was the final straw. Nya had tried to be nice, but now she’d have to be more direct. She caught his hand and squeezed until she felt his bones pop.

He let out a loud scream, drawing stares from people passing by. Nya quickly raised her sunglass
es
so that they could make full eye contact. “Stop screaming and smile.”

Dan’s lips grinned as she commanded but it was clear he was in a great deal
of pain. His face was bright re
d and his eyes were shiny from a barrier of unshed tears. “What the hell did you do to me?” He asked through clenched teeth.

“Teaching you a lesson. When I let go of your hand, you’ll walk away and forget you ever saw me. This
never happened and you broke your
hand after you took a nasty spill. Do you understand?”

It was clear he didn’t understand what was going on besides being compelled to obey her. He nodded.