He held up his hands in what was apparently supposed to be a pacifying gesture. “Fine, I won’t have another drop. I swear it. But you can’t kick me out now—not when my son and nephew are here. This is practically a family reunion.”
Rose finally found her voice and turned on Dimitri. “Really? This guy? Are you sure?” I shared her disbelief.
Dimitri’s gaze was cool as it rested unblinkingly on Adrian’s uncle. “Positive. Though I thought he was off wandering Europe.”
Rand shook his head. “Haven’t been there in years. That business Nate hooked me up with said they didn’t need my consulting services anymore. How’s Olena doing these days?”
“Do not ever speak my mother’s name to me again,” growled Dimitri.
“Really?” repeated Rose. “This guy?”
The mention of Dimitri’s mother and Adrian’s father—whom I’d never, ever heard called Nate—suddenly triggered the most astonishing revelation of all. Adrian’s jaw dropped as understanding hit him as well. “Are we . . . does that mean . . . are we cousins?” he exclaimed, turning toward Dimitri.
Rose’s eyes widened even more.
Near us, Olive shifted uncomfortably and rested a hand on the small of her back, wincing as she did. As mind-boggling as this family drama was for the rest of us, I had to imagine it was of small concern to her, what with everything else going on in her life. Dimitri immediately swooped in and linked his arm through hers. “You’re tired. There’s no need for you to stand around and endure all this. I’ll escort you back.” He began leading Olive toward Diana’s cabin but paused to glance at Lana. “Whatever you do with him is your choice, but I’m more than happy to get rid of him for you, if you wish.”
“We’ll deal with it,” she replied.
Dimitri gave her a nod of acknowledgment and then escorted Olive away, like a knight from a chivalrous, albeit surreal, fairy tale. Rose appeared torn about whether to go with them or stay and finally followed the twosome down the path. Lana turned to Adrian and me.
“Will you vouch for him if he stays?”
“My uncle?” Adrian asked. “Hell no. I haven’t seen him in years. I don’t know anything about him.”
“Oh, come on,” cried Rand. “We’re family. And Lana, you can’t really turn me out. It’ll be sunset soon. There’ve been reports of local Strigoi sightings this week.”
I wondered if he was exaggerating for his own benefit, but Lana’s grave face suggested otherwise. “Fine. You can spend the night in our guest quarters at the front of the community.”
He gestured back to the private cabins. “No need to put yourself out. I’m sure Elaine would—”
“Guest quarters,” Lana repeated more loudly. “Or you can leave now.”
Rand exhaled dramatically, like he was being terribly inconvenienced and not actually receiving a great kindness from her. “Fine. Will you at least walk me there, Adrian? Then you can get back to that dhampir girl you knocked up.”
Adrian scowled but didn’t correct him. Lana was already retreating, leaving Adrian and me no choice but to walk with Rand. Nonetheless, I noticed her guards trailing at a respectful distance as the three of us made our way back toward the commune’s front. Lana wasn’t going to leave Rand unsupervised.
“How’s your dad?” Rand asked Adrian companionably. “And your mom?”
“Not living together,” Adrian replied. “I figured you knew that.”
“Nate doesn’t talk to me anymore. No one does. I have to get all my information through secondhand gossip.” He sounded terribly put out by that as well. This was someone who felt sorry for himself a lot, I realized.
“Maybe that’s something you should think about,” Adrian remarked evenly. “If ‘no one’ is talking to you, maybe they’re not the problem. Maybe you are.”
He shot Adrian a wry look. “Don’t act so high and mighty. I told you—I heard about you. You and your . . . human wife.” Rand came to a sudden halt as it dawned on him. His gaze fell on me, then turned back to Adrian. “Wait . . . her? The Alchemist? And you’re just . . . out in public like this? No shame at all?”
Adrian remained remarkably calm. “Her name is Sydney. And we have nothing to be ashamed of. Humans and Moroi used to marry. They still do in the Keepers. Sydney and I love each other. That’s all that matters.”
Rand shook his head in disbelief. “Well, welcome to the family then, Sydney. At least this way I’m not the most scandalous anymore.” He glanced back at Adrian. “I tell you, though, our aunt would be rolling in her grave if she knew what you’d done.”
“I think she’d be okay with it. I know her pretty well,” said Adrian. A moment later, he seemed to realize what he’d said. “I knew her pretty well, that is.” I watched him carefully, trying hard to determine if it had been an honest slip of the tongue. Ever since he’d admitted hearing his aunt in his head to me, he’d been reticent about elaborating on how often she spoke to him. Seemingly unfazed, he kept his attention on Rand now. “Why weren’t you at her funeral?”
Rand shrugged and slowed his pace as we came to a stop in front of a building labeled GUESTS. “I don’t like funerals. That, and there wasn’t enough time to get back by the time I heard. I was in Europe when it happened.”
“Russia?” I asked. I’d spent a fair amount of time in Russia and was pretty sure I would’ve remembered seeing someone as obnoxious as Rand Ivashkov in the Moroi circles.
“France,” Rand corrected. “I haven’t been in Russia in a while.”
“You were there at least once,” Adrian pointed out. “If Dimitri really is your son.”
Rand straightened himself up. “He is, and I was there lots of times. That family never appreciated me, though. So I stopped coming around.”
Adrian eyed him carefully. “Really? That’s all there is to the story? Despite his badass exterior, Dimitri’s a pretty forgiving guy. I guess you’d have to be, to go on with life after being a Strigoi. But you? He’s pissed off at you.”
Rand looked away from us. “His mother and I stopped getting along. Boys overreact to that kind of thing, that’s all.” He stepped up onto the cabin’s porch. “You coming in? Might as well claim your room now before the other guys staying overnight show up.”