Lovers Sacrifice by R. A. Steffan

Author:R. A. Steffan [Steffan, R. A.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-03-24T04:00:00+00:00

TEN

OKSANA DIDN’T FALL asleep until just after dawn, thoughts and worries chasing themselves around and around inside her head like a dog chasing its own tail. It seemed only moments later when a familiar voice intruded on her thoughts.

Are you awake, ma petite? Duchess asked, the words flowing along the mental connection that wove a gossamer web across the three vampires’ awareness.

Oksana startled into awareness, rousing from a restless doze. She glanced at her watch and found that it was just after eleven-thirty in the morning. Sunlight streamed from underneath the worn curtains drawn firmly across the window.

“I am now,” she replied dryly, glancing up at the figure hovering in the doorway.

“My apologies,” Duchess said with the barest hint of contrition. “But it’s growing late, and Xander left a few minutes ago to see if Mama Lovelie was ready to speak with us. I thought I’d take the opportunity to talk to you, while he talks to her. We’re worried about you, mon chou.”

Oksana frowned at her friend. “I’m all right.”

“Are you, now? I’m pleased to hear it,” Duchess said tartly. She flopped down on the end of Oksana’s bed and crossed her arms. “So. You’ve found your mate. Now what?”

Oksana groaned and pulled the dusty pillow over her head. It smelled vaguely of mildew. “Can we not do this thirty seconds after I’ve woken up?” she asked, the words muffled.

“Why not? It seems like a perfectly good time to me,” Duchess retorted. “We need to have a plan, n'est-ce pas?”

Oksana pulled the pillow away in disgust. “Yes, fine. We need a plan. But I think our plan should focus on disrupting Bael’s hold on Haiti, stopping the flow of undead children to Bastian Kovac, and helping the government re-establish peaceful talks with the rebels. Not on my…” She paused before finishing, “… predicament.”

Duchess raised a graceful eyebrow. “I disagree. You said yourself that we needed the mambo’s help for those other problems. Your predicament, as you so charmingly put it, is the only thing we can deal with at the moment. So. Talk to me, Oksana.”

Oksana swallowed a growl and threw the disgusting pillow against the wall. “I can’t, though!” she insisted, struggling to keep her voice low enough not to be heard by everyone inside the thin-walled house. “That’s not what’s most important right now.”

Duchess’s sky-blue gaze was almost pitying. “You’re what’s important to me right now, petite soeur.”

Her friend’s soft words took Oksana by surprise. Duchess might be inclined toward pet names and fleeting caresses, but she was not frequently given to flights of genuine tenderness.

Oksana opened her mouth to say… something, but no words came.

“You can stop putting everyone else’s needs before your own just this one time,” Duchess continued. “It’s all right to think about yourself in this situation, because this situation is undeniably overwhelming. It’s also terrible timing.”

Oksana laughed bleakly, covering her face with her hand. “Yeah, it’s definitely terrible timing. Though I’m not sure what would constitute good timing.”

“You know what will happen, non?” Duchess’s tone was uncompromising.

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