Kindred (10 page)

The pages from that old book flash in my mind again suddenly. I shift in Isaac’s arms and tilt my head to see his face. “What did you say her last name was?”

Isaac looks down at me confused, maybe because I seem so distracted, because I am, and then he says, “Vargasavi
c
. Why?”

I look across the room at Nataša again, chewing on that name, looking for the connection.

“Isn’t that Viktor’s true last name?”

There is a very long pause as Isaac looks at me more contemplatively. His eyes crease inward, wrinkling the spot just above his nose. “How did
you
know that?”

7

I SWALLOW A HUGE gulp of air and feel my eyes get bigger in their sockets as I realize the can of worms I just opened. But for the moment, I’m saved by a voice as intimidating as the body it carries from.

“I see leeadership here ees been vaning,” Nataša says, her solid, narrow chin held high and imperially. She appears to be gazing at each and every body in the room with indignant disapproval. And she has a strong Serbian-English accent. Almost sounds Russian to me. But then, I really wouldn’t know about that sort of thing.
Vaning
? I’m pretty sure she meant ‘waning’.

No one else dares speak over her.

I see dozens of hard, engaged faces staring across the room. Those in the front row stand with their backs straight and their hands folded together, resting at the pelvis.

Nataša raises a hand and slowly her index finger unfolds from the others. The gesture produces a giant man who had been standing off to the side amid the crowd, near the foyer exit. His arms are as big around as both of my thighs, rippling with muscles and hard, pronounced veins. His head is square-shaped and I can’t imagine where his neck disappeared to.

Nataša says something to him in her native language and he bows and turns on his heels to do her bidding.

Her voice rises over the crowd once again. “Vukašin has neeglecteed thees haus too
l
ong.” My stomach hardens when her gaze falls in our direction. She moves her head side to side once slowly, as if dissatisfied. “Hopefulee Natheen vill doo vut needs to be done.” She looks away coldly and adds, “But I doubt eet.”

Wow. What a bitch....

I glance over at Nathan carefully, as though worried my movement might attract Nataša’s attention, and I notice right away the boiling resentment in his eyes. But he doesn’t say anything to defend himself. It’s probably best, but for some puzzling reason
I
feel this great urge to say something
for
him. I clench my fists and hold it back. What, am I
insane
? I take a sharp breath through my nose, hold it there for a moment and let it back out through my nose very slowly. “Calm down, Adria,” I hear Genna say so low that I wonder if I really heard it at all. I turn my chin sideward to look at her. Why would she say that anyway? My uncharacteristic anger can’t be
that
obvious, can it? Genna is still facing Nataša, but I see her eyes just barely move to acknowledge me.

“Did you say that?” I whisper to her.

She seems nervous now, the skin on her forehead hardening somewhat and her gaze falsely fixated on Nataša.

Isaac’s hand tightens a little around my wrist and then slides down to lock fingers with mine. He squeezes my hand carefully, just enough to let me know that he hears every word I’m saying and that Nataša might hear it, too.

I swallow hard and come back to my senses.

“My son, Sethius, will be the perfect leader for the Western Stara Planina once he is properly trained,” Nataša says, and I’m glad that I’ve already adjusted to her accent. “His rulership will also encompass much of Bulgaria.” She looks to her right where Seth stands tall, obediently, and she continues, “Lord Andrei Prvoven
c
ani will train him and when he is ready, Sethius will fight Andrei to the death and Ascend his position.” She folds her hands together behind her back and raises her chin even higher. “It is destiny that Sethius surpass his elder brothers here in America to take this throne directly under his Great Father.”

Every head in the room, except for mine and Harry’s, bows collectively at the title Nataša used to address Trajan. Mine and Harry’s eyes lock from across the room, both of us wondering if we should be doing the same. Just as everyone else is raising their heads, Harry’s lowers in a cumbersome, delayed reaction.

I figure it’s too late for me so I shrug it off and hope no one notices.

Nataša’s cold, narrow eyes skirt me, but she doesn’t say anything. I swallow another lump lodged in the back of my throat.

A fight to the death? That’s pretty harsh. I look over at Seth, the way he stands there with his chest pushed out solidly, his back straight and his chin held high. His short, dark, copper-colored hair cut neatly on top, accentuating his matching copper-colored eyes. He doesn’t seem to be afraid. I don’t suspect an ounce of discomfort in his face.

His girlfriend however, standing against a far wall, looks extremely uncomfortable. Her light brown hair rests down around her rounded face and tapered eyes; her mouth is pulled into a nervous frown.

“Who is Andrei,” I whisper to Isaac without looking at him.

He whispers back in the same stealthy manner, “Our brother.”

Another
brother? I want to ask more questions now, but I know I’ve been pushing the limits and so I stay quiet instead.

“When you all see Sethius again,” Nataša continues, “he shall be addressed only as Lord Sethius. To address him as any other name is a death sentence.” She looks in our direction again. “His brothers are not exempt and will also forfeit their lives, just as they forfeit their duties.”

Isaac’s hand tightens around mine more forcefully, but I know this time it was Nataša’s words that caused it.

“
Breathe
, Adria,” I hear Genna say and I swing my head around harshly this time to see her.

“
What
?” I say aloud.

She doesn’t respond.

The Collective looks right at me now.

Isaac grips my hand so tight that it can only mean I’m being warned.

Nataša looks right at me and this time doesn’t look away. I feel her gaze tearing through me with burning indignation.

“Is this your mate?” she says to Isaac, still staring into my eyes and now moving through the crowd toward us.

“Yes, Lord Nataša,” Isaac answers, bowing his head once.

Lord
? I feel my face crinkle at that masculine title.

“If you wish to keep her little human body in one piece,” she says so coldly, “you should teach her to know her place in my presence.”

Isaac’s head bows again, but this time he holds it there for five long seconds.

I don’t know what’s come over me, but my whole body seethes with anger. It’s like my mind has been split into two parts, two adversarial consciences. One knows that this situation is taking a grave turn and that I shouldn’t say or do anything else. The other half wants to tell this tyrant exactly what I think of her.

Unfortunately, the half that isn’t me is smothering the other.

“You’re
threatening
me?” I say and I can suddenly see the whites of every eye in the room.

Nataša stops cold, drawing back her chin in a slow, interrogative manner.

I notice Genna at my side go to reach out, maybe to place her hand on my shoulder again, maybe to ‘calm me down’ as she had been—I think—trying to do, but I recoil from her. “No,” I say to Genna and start to move toward Nataša. Isaac grabs me from behind, securing me in place with his arms tight around my waist.

What am I
doing
?
I think to myself.
Nataša could kill me!

I stop struggling against Isaac and just stand there, frozen in my own stupidity and confusion. I look back at him and his gaze is poignant and apprehensive.

I also notice that Genna is gone.

Nataša’s voice startles me, pulls me right out of the confused state of mind and drops me into a panicked one. I turn around to face her, feeling the heat secrete from her body just inches from mine.

“I-I’m sorry,” I say, pulling myself closer against Isaac. I try not to look at her, but my eyes can’t seem to stay focused downward. I notice instantly how sick I feel again, how dizzy I’m getting over the course of these long, traumatic seconds.

“Look at me,” she says and I raise my head.

Oh no...I shouldn’t have done that.

I take a deep breath and try to hold myself upright. The ceiling is starting to spin.

Isaac holds me rigidly and I can feel his heartbeat booming violently against my back. I doubt he knows I’m about to pass out. He’s focused on Nataša, ready to protect me from her if that’s what it comes down to.

Nataša grazes the side of my face with the back of her fingers. She even
feels
dangerous. It doesn’t matter that her touch is soft; it also feels deadly, like watching a Black Widow crawl slowly up my bare arm. I hold my breath and pray it doesn’t bite me.

“Interesting,” she says and I feel her fingers fall away from my cheek. Her eyes move to and from me and Isaac in a calculating exchange, until finally they rest on Isaac. “You still breathe,” she says to him, “so this tells me that either Vukašin has become merciful, or…” she looks at me one more time for barely a second, “he does not yet know.”

She smiles cunningly at Isaac. “Of course, we both know the answer to that, don’t we?” she says and her words cause my skin to prickle.

I can’t hold myself up for much longer.

Why won’t she leave us alone?

I need to breathe.

“But no matter,” Nataša says more dismissively, waving her hand in the space between us. “I have more important duties to supervise than the foolish actions of a subordinate.”

She looks right at me now. “Were it not for your…handicap…I would have killed you where you stand.”

She walks away, leaving me barely standing in a pool of trepidation. I feel my chest shrivel as I finally let out my breath and the ceiling and walls and bodies all spin around me as the floor comes out from under me.

I black out.

8

I CAN’T REMEMBER ANYTHING from the second I blacked out up until now as I lay in Isaac’s bed, staring at the ceiling. How long have I been here? I can’t get my head together. It feels like my body is on one side of the room and my mind on another and slowly they’re meeting each other halfway. My hand comes up to rub my forehead, but even this movement feels strange and unbalanced.

My tongue feels weird, kind of heavy and it tastes like I’ve been sucking on a penny, though it’s not foul, just intense and unfamiliar. I need some water. I lift my upper body from the mattress and hold my weight up first by the palms of my hands until I feel it’s okay to let my back do the supporting.

The window is open, letting in a nice breeze as it dances against the long, flowing curtain before escaping into the room.

Isaac is standing outside in the hall talking to Harry.

“Is she
alright
?” I hear Harry say. He stares anxiously at Isaac, waiting for Isaac to let him pass.

“Go on in,” Isaac says and opens the door for him.

Wait…how could I have heard their words so clearly as if I had been standing right there with them, or been able to see Harry’s face as they stood on the other side of the
closed
door?

“Are you alright?” Harry says, coming up to the side of the bed. “What
happened
?” He reaches out and presses his hand to my forehead. “You don’t feel hot.” He gazes at me anxiously and finally sits down next to me on the side of the bed.

I’m still trying to understand what happened just
now
. I can’t even begin to piece any of it together. Maybe the door was already open and I just thought I could decipher everything by their tone. Yes, that has to be it.

“I’m getting sick,” I finally say. “At least…,” I pause, testing how I feel now because I don’t feel sick anymore at all. I feel awake and healthy and revived, a lot like I felt in that short period of time downstairs right after Genna sat beside me on the couch. Except better. “I feel…well I feel great right now actually, but all day I’ve been having these bizarre off-and-on dizzy spells.” Nothing I’m saying actually feels right to me, but it seems enough for Harry to accept.

“You should see a doctor,” he says. “Get some meds in your system before Friday gets here. I’ll take you to the clinic myself if I have to. You can’t leave me to fend for myself in Portland. What if they all decide to wolf-out at the same time and eat me?” He’s joking of course and even Isaac can’t help but smile as he stands off to the side, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed.

“Harry?” I say and he stops talking and looks at me seriously. “Are you wearing lipstick?” I reach up and rub my thumb against the corner of his mouth like wiping a streak of dirt off a kid’s face. I look at my hand and then back up at him and smile. “Or are you wearing Daisy?”