declared, 'You're kinda cool when you're not mystically lobotomized.'
16
Sebastian's coins, his gold, all the wealth he had in the world, had disappeared.
His head shot up, fangs sharpening. Nikolai. It had to be. What was left of the shovel handle dropped to the ground. Clenching his bleeding fists, he traced inside Blachmount, stalking from room to room, scarcely noticing the changes throughout. Sebastian found him striding through the main hall—where Sebastian and the rest of his family had died.
Nikolai appeared stunned to see him—even before receiving the first crushing blow to his face.
'Where's my goddamned gold?' Sebastian bellowed, with another punishing hit.
'I retrieved it.' Nikolai dodged—or took—the blows without striking back. 'I was keeping it safe.'
'You had no right! You did it so I'd be forced to confront you.'
'Yes,' Nikolai said simply.
Sebastian struck out again, then lunged forward to shove Nikolai into the wall, pinning him there with a forearm under his chin. All of this reminded him too much of the night he'd risen, bringing back the pain with it. 'You want a confrontation? Just like before?' Nikolai had refused to fight him, just as he was doing now. That night, if Murdoch hadn't forced his hands away from Nikolai's throat, Sebastian might have killed him.
He remembered that time through a haze, remembered being alive but dead, with no heartbeat or breath, trapped in twilight. He'd been so weak, waking with a frantic thirst—one that could be quenched only by blood.
He'd been cursed, because his brother had ignored his desperate wish to die with his family. He punched the wall beside Nikolai's face. 'You made me an abomination.'
'I saved your life,' Nikolai bit out.
'And then immediately wanted me to pledge it to your army. A mortal life of battle after battle wasn't enough—you wanted me and Conrad to fight in a never-ending war.'
'It's worth fighting.'
'It's not my war.'
'Do you still hate me so violently for my deeds?' Nikolai demanded. 'Is that why you've never returned here?'
Sebastian released him. 'I don't hate you,' he finally said, surprised to find this true. 'I don't care enough about anything to hate. No longer. Three hundred years took care of that.' He backed away. 'I just want you to stay out of my life.'
'Do you want my apology? I give it.'
'I don't want your apology—because I know in the same situation, you'd do it again... ' Sebastian's attention was distracted when a female entered the room.
'Nikolai?' Her gaze took in Nikolai's face, then she turned to Sebastian. 'Apparently, he won't hit you back, but I will.'
Recognizing her features, Sebastian asked, 'Valkyrie?'
'How do you know what I am?' She faced Nikolai. 'His heart beats. He's blooded.'
Nikolai had always been aloof and possessed of a rigid self-control. So it was even more unexpected when he glanced from the Valkyrie back to Sebastian, and his eyes went wild. Nikolai's first hit connected before Sebastian had time to tense.
Nikolai bellowed, 'Is it her? Did she make your heart beat?'
Sebastian struck back, connecting squarely with Nikolai's jaw. 'No,' he bit out.
Nikolai lowered his fists and backed away, inhaling deeply. 'You found your Bride before you came here?'
Sebastian glowered, running his sleeve over his bleeding lip.
'I am... sorry... I thought... '
'Just tell me where my gold is.'
Nikolai ran his fingers through his hair. 'This isn't how I've imagined this meeting would be, Sebastian. I regret hitting you. I lose my head with her. But you understand now that you've been blooded.'
You don't know the half of it.
'Sebastian, this is Myst.'
'We've been searching for you,' she said, with the same accent as Kaderin's. Though their coloring was completely different—Myst had red hair and green eyes—their features were similar. 'I've heard a lot about you.'
He gave her a quick jerk of his chin in greeting, then turned to Nikolai. 'My—gold.'
'Very well.' Though Nikolai evinced no expression on his face, Sebastian knew him well enough to discern his bitter disappointment. 'If you'll follow me.'
As Nikolai led him toward their father's old office, Myst followed, eyeing Sebastian warily, as if she considered herself a little guard for Nikolai. If she were half as vicious as Kaderin, she'd be tremendous at it.
The office that the three of them entered was being renovated, and shutters had been placed over every window. 'I can't believe you're restoring Blachmount,' Sebastian said in a disgusted tone.
'We plan to live here. Of course, you are always welcome to stay here,' Nikolai said, but Sebastian scowled at that. 'And you can trace to this specific room at any time if you need shelter in a hurry,' Nikolai added. 'These windows will be shuttered during the day without fail.'
As if Sebastian would ever want to be here voluntarily. 'How did you find my crates?' he demanded.
'I thought I sensed you the other night out on the property, so I scoured the grounds for some hint of you. I hadn't been optimistic about locating you again, especially not... recently.' He cleared his throat, and a look passed between him and Myst. 'Discovering the shovel and freshly dug earth was a great relief—'
'Take me to my gold.'
Nikolai's lips thinned, but he crossed to the back wall to unlock a small wall safe. The bricks around it were new, as if repaired where someone had recently yanked it from the wall.
'How did you know what I am?' Myst asked him, drawing his attention. 'Most mistake the Valkyrie for nymphs.' She shook her head, then murmured to herself, 'Hate those little hookers.'
'I've seen your kind before,' he said.
'Where?' Nikolai asked, retrieving a case from the safe.
'Around.' Sebastian's eyes narrowed when Nikolai set it on the desk.
'I see,' Nikolai said. 'I've exchanged most of your gold for cash, and it's been invested. In this briefcase, you'll find the investment portfolios and information on your bank accounts. There is a laptop, a sat phone, a temporary Estonian identification card—though you'll need to get a photograph soon—and credit cards. You are as established as a human would be.'
Sebastian was seething. Nikolai was doing what he did best, which was whatever the hell he wanted. 'You had no right.'
'I'd hoped to assist you. You couldn't have been dealt with fairly for these riches. You and Conrad are wealthy men.'
'You know where Conrad is?' He'd lost track of his brother after they'd left Blachmount as vampires. If Sebastian had rapidly gone out of his head with hunger and confusion, Conrad had fared much, much worse.
Nikolai's face fell. 'No. I have searched for both of you. Have you seen him recently?'
After a hesitation, Sebastian shook his head. He hadn't seen Conrad since just weeks after their turning. That last day, Conrad had spoken cryptically of things he'd left undone as a mortal, tasks he could now complete as an immortal. At dusk, he'd disappeared and never returned. 'What of Murdoch?' he asked, curious to know if he'd lived or died. How many brothers did he truly have?
'I can take you to him right now. He's at the Forbearer stronghold.'
Sebastian cast him a black look. 'A place I will never go—even if I had any inclination to see him.'
Myst walked between them to break up the tense moment. 'Why are you so angered over the past? Seems you'd be grateful to Nikolai. Without his actions, you'd never have your Bride.'
