We all stood there awkwardly in the middle of the path, with the birds singing merrily around us, making this unexpected family revelation that much more surreal. Even Rose, who was rarely at a loss for words, stood there gaping. The Moroi man—Rand Ivashkov, according to Adrian—blinked at Dimitri as though he were seeing a ghost. Some of Rand’s cocky swagger diminished a little, and he took an uneasy step back.
“Well, I’ll be damned. It is you, Dimka.” He wet his lips and tried to smile. “You look pretty good for a guy who used to be undead, am I right?” He glanced around at the rest of us, looking for us to laugh at the joke. We stayed silent. Dimitri turned to Lana.
“Is he causing you trouble?” he asked her politely. “Are you having difficulty removing him? I’ll be happy to do it for you.”
“We can take care of ourselves,” she shot back, though not unkindly. As though summoned by some unspoken signal, Mallory and another dhampir woman who looked like a guard appeared on the path behind her. Mallory no longer seemed like a dreamy fangirl. In that moment she was as formidable as any guardian I’d met.
Rand relaxed a little. “Yeah, see? No need to do anything hasty.”
Lana fixed her glare on him. “That does not mean you are welcome here.”
“Hey,” he said, confidence returning, “I have every right to be here. I was visiting Elaine. She’s a resident. She can have guests.”
“She can have guests at my discretion,” Lana corrected, fists on her hips. “And I’ve told you before, I don’t want you here drinking.”
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.”