“Well, I guess on the bright side of all of this, I can celebrate a new family member.”
I’d nearly forgotten the startling revelation about him and Dimitri. “Is it really true? How could you have not known that?”
Adrian gave a rueful headshake and began walking again. “From what I’ve heard about Uncle Rand’s ‘activities,’ he might very well have dozens of illegitimate children around the world. Why not Dimitri?”
“It just seems weird Dimitri wouldn’t have said anything before this,” I remarked.
“That surprised me too,” admitted Adrian as Diana’s cabin came into view. “Though to be honest, I never thought of him having a father. He just seems like the kind of guy who sprung into being fully grown up. Or, if I was going to picture a dad for him, I guess I’d just go with a gray-haired version of him, complete with duster.”
I laughed at that and followed him up to the cabin’s porch. Someone called for us to enter when we knocked, and we found Rose and Dimitri sitting in the cabin’s little living room. Diana had apparently left. Olive was lying on a bare-bones sofa, looking pale. “Is he gone?” asked Dimitri. His tone clearly told us which he was being referred to.
Adrian and I sat down together on a wooden bench. “No,” I said. “He’s staying in their guesthouse and seemed to think we would too.”
“I can think of a dozen forms of torture I’d rather undergo than spend a night under the same roof as him,” said Dimitri, deadpan.
“I’m sure it won’t come to that,” Adrian replied.
“Olive says we can stay here for the night,” Rose explained. “If you don’t mind making a bed on the floor.”
“Considering the alternative? No problem.” Adrian fixed his gaze on Dimitri. “When were you going to break the news that we’re one big happy family?”
A pained expression crossed Dimitri’s face. “I honestly didn’t know.”
Adrian threw up his hands. “Come on. You’ve got, what, two or three sisters? That guy was obviously around a lot. It never occurred to you that Rand Ivashkov might be related to another Ivashkov you knew?”
A smolder of anger shone in Dimitri’s eyes. “He never told us his full name. He was always just Randall. We knew he was an American royal who frequently came by on business. We never asked questions. My mother liked him . . . for a while.”
“He mentioned that they stopped getting along,” I noted. “He claimed he wasn’t appreciated.”
That smolder in Dimitri’s eyes turned into a flame. “Wasn’t appreciated? He shoved my mother around when he’d been drinking and didn’t get his way.”
Those words drew even Adrian up short. “Then what happened?” he asked softly.
Dimitri didn’t answer, but Rose did. “Dimitri shoved him back,” she replied.
Silence fell, broken only by Olive shifting on the couch. She’d been listening quietly, her face creased with discomfort. Adrian regarded her with a look I’d come to know by now, one that somehow managed to be both focused and distracted. He was viewing her aura. I’d tried chastising him about aura viewing for a while but had finally given up. It was so second nature to him, he didn’t even realize he was doing it half the time. It really did use only a little spirit, according to Sonya, so I tried to pick my battles over larger expenditures.
“Are you okay?” Adrian asked Olive with concern.
“I don’t feel well,” she said. She slid her hand down her stomach. “Some pain. I’ve had it throughout the whole pregnancy.”
“Your colors are all over the place—different from earlier. It’s almost like looking at two people’s auras blurred together.” Adrian’s eyebrows shot up. “Are you in labor?”
She looked startled at the thought . . . but also afraid. “I . . . I’m not sure. The pain’s worse than usual, but it’s still more than a month before I—”
The deep booming of a large iron bell rang out through the air. Rose and Dimitri were on their feet in an instant. “What’s that?” she demanded.
Dimitri pulled a silver stake from his belt. “Strigoi warning. We have the same system back in Baia.” He ran to the door, Rose close on his heels. Before leaving, he gestured to the fireplace. “Build a fire. If any Strigoi come in, throw them into it.”
He didn’t elaborate on how exactly we were supposed to accomplish that, with brute force or Adrian’s spirit, but they were gone before I could question them. Adrian and I met each other’s gazes, the new threat spurring us to action. With only a small spell, I made the fire in the hearth suddenly double in size. Fire was our best weapon against Strigoi, and while I could summon it out of thin air, having a ready source would aid both Adrian and me.
Olive cried out as the flames rose. I turned to her. Pain contorted her features as she rested a hand on her stomach. “Are you okay?”
“I think . . . I think the baby might be coming after all,” she gasped out.
Adrian blanched. “When you say ‘coming,’ do you mean now or kind of in the near future?”
The question was ridiculous enough to momentarily draw her from her pain. “I don’t know! I’ve never had one before!”
Adrian looked up at me. “So . . . um, you know how to do this, right? Deliver a baby?”
“What?” I asked. Panic seized me now. “Why would you even think that?”