Nastasia

Dry breakfast cereal was not my wake-up of choice. I crunched away grumpily and hoped we’d be able to get some grocery shopping done soon. Of course, we were in hiding. A different kind of hiding than I’d done all my life. I had no idea how to safely grocery shop while trying to avoid being seen by a high-end drone and whoever else.

Marcus and Leyla crunched beside me. Leyla had the security feeds forwarded to her tablet so we could talk while we ate. Benj had gone to bed when his shift on the feeds ended, and Victor and Karen… well, every once in a while we heard something from the second bedroom. A squeal, a laugh, a moan.

Yeah, we were letting them have their time.

Leyla and Marcus had tossed me the odd glance the first few times they got loud, but I think they’d finally figured out I really didn’t care. More than that, I was happy. I wasn’t foolish enough to think I keep all their attention on me — or need all of their needs if I tried to. A healthy relationship with sotii meant the sotii had their own relationships. I grew up listening to Mama’s stories of my fathers and how they had loved each other as much as they loved her.

“Nastasia,” Marcus called me, sounding like it wasn’t the first time.

“Sorry,” I said, putting my bowl down on the dining room table and turning to look at him. The crow’s feet that had been at the corners of his eyes and mouth when I’d met him were gone, as was the grey from his hair. I missed them. He had worn his age as a badge and it had made him beautiful. But this version of him — smooth gleaming skin and thick dark hair and the eyes of an experienced warrior in a young face — this version of him was breathtaking.

“What,” I cleared my throat, “What did you say?”

Marcus had a look in his eyes like he knew what I was thinking. But if he did, he ignored it.

“There’s more we need to know that we didn’t get to last night. Like why Lună was attacked in the first place.”

“Oh…” I took a deep breath. “I only know what Mama and Ozanna and Emil told me. But basically, Lună and Nivele had a Hatfield-and-McCoy type thing going for at least 3 generations — vampire generations, that is. 300 years or so. Possibly earlier, but both clans migrated to the US in the 1700s and that’s when things apparently got bad.

“But… from what they tell me it was… sniping bad? Ambush a lone clan member, yeah. Sabotage supplies. Not… mass open attack on the entire clan. Something must have changed, I guess.”

I reached for my water and downed it. “I used to think Mama was being paranoid. Why would they attack me, over twenty years later, and never even met the clan, no threat to them? But…” I shrugged.

“Nivele is the worst. But they picked up a few allies a generation ago. Vânt and Pyll — Vânt is Bird and Pyll is forest. I don’t know all their abilities — clans keep that information guarded — but I do know Vânt can see through the eyes of birds and Pyll can ‘communicate as the trees do,’ whatever that means.”

“Well, that’s a start–“

Whatever else Marcus might have said was cut off when the phone rang.

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Leyla

Leyla was still half asleep, taking in what Nastasia was saying without thinking about it. The ‘fully furnished’ apartment didn’t come with a coffee maker, which was a travesty. Getting fixed as soon as possible.

When the burner phone rang, she answered it reflexively. “Hello Leyla speaking.”

“Put Nastasia on the phone.”

Leyla didn’t like pushy jackasses at the best of times. For all their help in the fight, she was /not/ impressed with the Lună clan representatives she had met. Still, even half asleep she knew better than to let her annoyance get the better of her. So rather than telling the jerk to fuck off she said, “I’m sorry, Ms Nastasia is busy. How can I help?”

“Human. Do not interfere in things you do not understand.”

She stifled a yawn, and glanced at Nastasia and Marcus, listening on the other side of the table.

“Mr. Vasile. Whatever you think of me, I am one of Lady Nastasia’s sotii, chosen specifically for my ability to help protect and advise her. Letting the stranger who may have led clan Nivele to her have unlimited access is neither what she wants nor a good way to protect her.–“

“I!”

“You, Mr. Vasile. From the moment you met Nastasia, you’ve been fighting her.”

She took a sip of water and sighed. “Ms. Nastasia–

“You should call her /lady/.”

“And you should treat her like one. We’re done here, Mr. Vasile. I’ll let Ms. Nastasia know you called.”

And she hung up.

“What the hell crawled into his coffin and died?”

Nastasia, who had been looking pretty pale, started laughing and toasted Leyla with her water glass.

“Thank you. I really… couldn’t have dealt with his attitude right now.” Nastasia poked at her dry cereal a bit. “He couldn’t have brought Nivele to us. Not and keep Lună’s gifts.”

“Good to know,” Marcus said. “I still don’t trust him.”

Leyla nodded as some pieces fit together for her. “Nastasia, I don’t think he did either, but /think/ isn’t /know/. But here’s what we do know:

“/Something/ changed in the feud with Nivele to escalate it overnight. Nivele was willing to attack you — a child in their terms — who has lived in hiding your whole life and, as you said, never harmed or threatened them. Willing to attack with what would have been an overwhelming force if you hadn’t found us, making them ruthless at best and at worst… the options get bad.

“Finally, your mother’s disappearance /has/ to have left a power vacuum in the Lună survivors. The people who filled that vacuum — and kept the clan remnants alive — aren’t going to be happy with you showing up to claim power again.”

Nastasia paled again, but Leyla spoke before she could say anything.

“What we /don’t/ know is if the folks who claimed power with Lună are as ruthless as Nivele. If they are, then yes, Vasile could have led Nivele to us. And would Lună punish him for it if he didn’t know that’s what he was doing?”

“Oh.”

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