Kiss of Midnight_ A Midnight Breed Novel - Lara Adrian [563]
Alexei’s scowl furrowed his dark brow. “He said nothing of this. Damn it, I would have guarded him personally.”
That Sergei Yakut hadn’t informed his son of Niko’s recent contact, or of the current rash of Gen One slayings, was telling. No matter how Alexei tried to posture himself as his father’s right arm, Yakut evidently held him at some distance when it came to trust. Not surprising, given Yakut’s suspicious nature. Evidently that suspicion extended to his own blood kin as well.
Alexei cursed. “He should have told me. I would have made certain he had proper protection in place at all times. Instead, the bastard who attacked him is still on the loose. How can we be sure he won’t come back to try again?”
“We can’t be sure of that. In fact, we’re better to go on the assumption that there will be another attack. My guess would be sooner than later.”
“You need to keep me informed,” Alexei said, his tone taking on that irritating edge of entitlement again. “I expect to be alerted immediately of anything you find, and anything you or the Order may know about these attacks. Anything at all. Understood?”
Nikolai let his answering smirk spread slowly over his face. “I’ll try to remember.”
“My father thinks he’s untouchable, you see. He has his hand-picked bodyguards, all of them trained by him, loyal to him. And he has the counsel of his private oracle too.”
Niko gave an acknowledging nod. “The child, Mira.”
“You’ve seen her?” Alexei’s gaze narrowed, though whether with mistrust or basic curiosity Nikolai couldn’t guess. “So,” Yakut’s son said, “he let you meet her, then. He let you look into her witchy eyes.”
“He did.”
When Niko’s jaw remained firm, probably rigid, Alexei grinned. His voice dripped with sarcasm. “Pleasant glimpse she gave you of your fate, was it, warrior?”
An instant replay of the heated vision ran through his mind like a brush fire, searing him from the inside. He shrugged with a cool he damn well didn’t feel. “I’ve seen worse things.”
Alexei laughed. “Well, I wouldn’t worry if I were you. The little bitch’s talent is far from perfect. She can’t show you everything of your future, only brief flashes of what may come, based on the now. And she can’t help you put anything of what you see into context either. Personally I don’t find the brat nearly as amusing as my father seems to.” He grunted, lifted one shoulder along with the corner of his sneering mouth. “The same could be said of the other female he insists on keeping around despite my doubts.”
There was no question who he meant. “You’re not fond of Renata, I take it?”
“Fond of her,” Alexei muttered, crossing his arms over his chest. “She’s an arrogant one. Thinks herself above everyone else because she’s managed to impress my father a time or two with her mind skill. Since the night she arrived here, she’s been far too bold for her own good. You’d be hard-pressed to find a man among all those in my father’s employ who wouldn’t like to see her taken down a notch. Put the cold, uppity bitch in her rightful place, eh? Maybe you feel the same way, after what she did to you tonight in the city?”
Nikolai shrugged. He’d be lying if he said it didn’t irk him on some primal level that a female had laid him low in combat. As grating as it was to have been on the receiving end of her mental assault, Nikolai couldn’t deny some amount of awe. Obviously she was a Breedmate, since nature was averse to wasting powerful extrasensory gifts on basic Homo sapiens stock.
“I’ve never seen anything like her,” he admitted to Alexei. “Never even heard of a Breedmate with that level of