Her expression aghast, Dasha snapped, "You are not saying that you and Myst offer yourselves up as food."
Kaderin bit her lip. "When you put it like that, it sounds worse - "
"How else can it be put?"
Rika coughed, a rattling, ugly sound. Then, in a faint voice, she asked, "Does he actually live with you here?"
When Kaderin nodded, Dasha said, "You pluck us out of a war with vampires, then expect us to live with one?"
Kaderin exhaled, not even bothering to explain the difference between Sebastian and other vampires again. How could they believe that so readily when it had taken Kaderin weeks to see it?
Dasha lifted a hair dryer and peered down the barrel. "And what in the hell is this?"
"It dries hair." Kaderin reached forward and flipped on the switch. Dasha gasped as she aimed it at herself, then at Rika in the bed, giving Rika a look that could only be described as indicating, "Holy shit!"
When Kaderin pried it from her hands and turned it off, Dasha went straight for the closet, commenting on the clothes and tossing items over her shoulder into a pile to be investigated later. "What happened to the vampire who killed us?" she asked over her shoulder.
In a toneless voice, Kaderin said, "I tortured him until he begged for the sun, and six months later, I gave him his wish."
Dasha stopped and turned, brows drawn, as Rika murmured, "You did that, Kader-ie?"
"I didn't take losing you two lightly." And I won't take having you back with me for granted.
Sebastian had known it was coming, of course. He'd known she would take her sisters and leave him.
"I need time. With them," Kaderin had told him the day after they'd brought the two forward. He'd dreaded it but wasn't surprised. "I've taken them to this future, and they are confused by everything. I have to concentrate on acclimating them. They are my responsibility now more than ever."
He'd been tempted simply to tell her no, and could almost convince himself that part of her had wanted him to do so as well. But she hadn't wanted to choose between him and her family, and he wouldn't put her in that position. Besides, he didn't feel it was merely an excuse - her sisters truly did need extensive help.
He'd thought he'd been behind the times.
Naturally, this future shocked them at every turn, but Sebastian had learned that their first instinct in confusing situations was to resort to violence. Kaderin was right to want to shelter them back among her coven in the Valkyrie's remote manor.
Plus, the two hated being anywhere near him. The mere sight of him tracing put Dasha into a rage and made Rika grow silent and grave - which was almost worse. They were constantly wary and wouldn't let down their guard when he was near, not even Rika, though she needed to sleep to heal.
So Kaderin had shepherded them back to the coven. Once she'd gone, he could do nothing but wait as each day he grew stronger in body but weaker in spirit.
"Does she ever ask about me?" he'd asked Myst after a week had passed.
"She's been busy, Sebastian," Myst had assured him. "Her sisters' English is what you might call 'olde,' and they continue to try to slay anything unfamiliar. Kaderin will come around once they're set."
Kaderin never asked about him. Never called for him. It was as if she were willing herself to forget him. Her sisters were likely reminding her of the strife with vampires, convincing her of her folly for being with him.
"Buy an estate near her coven," Nikolai had advised. "It will be a positive gesture to her and might occupy your mind."
"Do I have enough money to buy an estate? And to live comfortably, if I'm careful?"
"You had Byzantium gold among your riches," Nikolai had answered. "A chest of it."
"What does that mean?"
"That means you are obscenely rich. And Murdoch picked the investments. He has a knack."
Sebastian turned so that Nikolai couldn't see him flush. Both brothers had helped him, expecting nothing in return. "Is Murdoch still living at the Forbearer castle?" He would go to his brother and thank him to his face.
Nikolai nodded. "Just yesterday, he uncovered some promising leads on Conrad and is impatient to follow them all, but he'll return to the castle each dawn. When you're settled with Kaderin, you can take her there to meet him if you like."
Sebastian looked forward not only to seeing Murdoch again, but also to joining in the hunt for Conrad. He wondered if Kaderin would search with him.
Sometimes Sebastian traced to her at Val Hall. From outside the wraiths' reach, he could see her through the windows as she danced with her sisters, throwing her head back with laughter, or played video games, with her face a mask of concentration. One night, he'd watched the three of them sitting on the roof, relaxed, shoulder to shoulder. When Kaderin had pointed out a star, the smallest one had laid her head on Kaderin's shoulder.
How different the stars must look to them now.
How could he compete with them for her love?
Kaderin's sisters were learning the times with her as their guide, but Kaderin was relearning life as well.
She'd found she could tear up at sad made-for-television movies and that she loved braiding Nïx's hair, now that it had regrown in mere weeks. She'd learned that Regin's antics could make her stomach hurt from laughing.
Regin delighted in making fun of Dasha and Rika's old English, though the two were learning the modern version with an astounding speed. "Their 'ye olde brew pub' style of talking creeps me out," Regin had said. "All that thou-ing and thee-ing like they're actors from a Shakespeare festival and won't go out of character." She'd drawn Kaderin aside. "I swear to the gods, Rika said 't'asn't.' What is that? No. Really."
When Kaderin had asked Regin if she was okay about her involvement with Sebastian, she'd answered, "If by 'okay' you mean 'homicidal,' then yes, absolutely." Then she'd added in a mutter, "Your leech gave us two new Valkyrie and brought you back from the dead. Because of his brother, Emmaline lives. If there existed a turn-off-millennia-of-hate switch, I might... squint at it." They'd left it at that.
The only thing that hindered Kaderin's happiness was missing Sebastian.
She knew he was watching the manor right now, looking out for her. He loved her. But this was a difficult time for her sisters, and with each of their missteps and confusion, Kaderin's guilt returned.
Still, Kaderin had begun waiting for the right time to tell them all of her decision. Until then, everyone needed to be understanding of them after all they'd been through.