Oceans of Fire (36 page)

“I honestly don’t know,” Hannah admitted. “It’s outside my realm of expertise. Other than the aunts and Mom and Grandma, I’ve never encountered anyone else using magic, and certainly not directed against us.”

“And if he is directing it against us,” Libby said, “I think the question would be—why? What are we doing that is interfering with what he’s doing?”

There was a sudden abrupt silence as they all looked at one another, trying to come up with an answer. Sarah and Kate burst through the door, followed by their aunt and Aleksandr Volstov.

He walked in without hesitation and, ignoring the warnings of circles and protection, went straight to Abigail.

The sisters shared a long look as he simply stepped over the wooden staffs on the floor and nothing happened.

“What happened,
baushki-bau
? I felt the pain hit you and when I looked into your eyes, it hit me.”

Abigail shook her head, tears welling up. “What are you doing here? You shouldn’t be here.” She waved her hand indicating the wooden staffs laid out in a circle. “This doesn’t concern you.“

“Everything about you concerns me. Tell me what happened.” When he didn’t get a response, his gaze swept around at the women in the room. “Tell me.” There was hard authority in his voice.

“We don’t know,” Joley answered. “We think it’s possible Prakenskii used magic to amplify her feelings of pain and despair.”

A mixture of bafflement and anger crossed his face. “Why would you be having feelings of pain and despair? You certainly didn’t believe for one moment that I was in the least attracted to that woman, did you?”

She shook her head.

“Did anyone see Prakenskii at the party?” Joley asked. “Sergei Nikitin was there earlier, following me around and generally making a complete ass out of himself.”

“What did he want?” Sarah asked.

“To be my boyfriend, I gather,” Joley said. “I told him I don’t date. He wasn’t very happy about it.”

“I doubt if he’s used to being turned down by a mere woman,” Aleksandr said as he sank down onto the floor in the center of the circle and pulled Abigail onto his lap. “I, however, have firsthand knowledge of it on a regular basis.”

Abigail lifted her head and looked into his eyes. There was hurt there. Love. Pleading he probably didn’t even realize he was revealing. She sighed and leaned into his chest. “I didn’t turn you down.”

“You’ve been turning me down for years, Abbey,” he said.

“Actually,” Aunt Carol commented as she fussed with the protective circle, making it just right and adding several candles at various points, “Prakenskii was at the gallery earlier. He spoke with Frank about Mr. Nikitin attending the party and then I thought he left, but instead, he went into the back room. He and that young man you went to school with, the one always getting into fights, must have had some kind of argument.”

“Why do you say that, Aunt Carol?” Sarah asked.

“Light those candles on the mantel, dear,” Carol instructed. “What was that obnoxious boy’s name?”

“Chad. Chad Kingman,” Kate supplied.

“Yes, of course, Chad. His mother was a very hard worker, but his father was a mean drunk. He believed in settling everything with his fists. I saw Prakenskii talking to him. Chad seemed rather heated, although Prakenskii didn’t at all.”

“Aunt Carol,” Sarah reprimanded, “were you in the back room witnessing this?”

“I promised Frank I’d be the official photographer at his event. As a matter of course I took preparation photos. Naturally they included shots of the back room.”

“Naturally.” Kate glared at her. “You must have driven Grandma and Gramps crazy, Aunt Carol. You know perfectly well you shouldn’t have been in that back room.”

“You can make all the excuses in the world,” Sarah added, “but you know you were spying. It’s far too dangerous for you to be doing that kind of thing. Jonas told you not to do it.”

Aleksandr’s eyebrow shot up. He crooked his little finger at Sarah. “You have smears of white resin on your jacket and Kate has them as well. I saw that very powder in the back room where there was broken statuary.”

Sarah hastily dusted off her jacket. Kate did the same. Hannah, Joley, and Abigail exchanged a long look of complete and utter guilt.

Libby burst out laughing. “That back room must have been a very popular place. Aunt Carol, all of you, and even Aleksandr all went snooping. I stayed home and read a book with my feet up, missing all the fun.”

“We brought home pictures,” Joley assured her. “Aunt Carol, do you think Prakenskii and Chad were in a fistfight? We found blood in one corner and the area carried the feel of violence.”

“Oh, there was a terrible brawl. Chad swung a statue at Prakenskii‘s head. I think he meant to kill him. They had exchanged words, but I couldn’t hear. I was in the small closet near the door leading to the alley where the delivery trucks come. Prakenskii hardly seemed to move, but he tore up Chad. If I hadn’t seen Chad attack Prakenskii first, I would have felt sorry for him.”

“What happened to Chad?”

Carol sighed. “I thought I could take a picture of the fight, but I must have knocked into the door because it squeaked. Prakenskii didn’t look toward me, but he did grab Chad in one of those policeman holds and force him out the back door. I decided it best not to follow them and to allow them to settle their argument in private.”

Joley burst out laughing. “We could have had a Drake family convention in the back room of the art gallery. What does that say about us?”

“It says you’re all foolish and take chances,” Aleksandr said.

“Well, you were there too,” Joley said. “And we were almost treated to the traumatic, forever-stamped-on-our-memories, take-to-the-grave vision of Sylvia baring her breasts, thank you very much.”

“Before we do anything else, I want to perform a healing ceremony on Abigail and we may as well see if it helps Aleksandr too,” Libby said, pinning him with her gaze. “He wasn’t invited, but it doesn’t look as if he plans on leaving soon.”

Aleksandr watched with interest as Libby unwrapped several beautiful stones and set them carefully within the circle. The stones were round and blood red. “Those aren’t genuine rubies, are they?” he asked.

Carol nodded. “They’ve been in our family for generations and we purify them when needed with the elements of earth, air, fire, and water. The ruby is a strong stone and can be used for protection as well as healing. This is a star ruby and particularly powerful. We’ll use a second ruby outside the circle placed beside a red candle to aid our energy in the healing.“

Aleksandr shook his head. “I can’t imagine Prakenskii doing any of this.”

Carol flashed him a quelling look. “If you are going to be disparaging about our practices, young man, now is the time to leave.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it that way. It’s just that Prakenskii is one of those men who is very action oriented. I can’t see him trying to manipulate energy in crystals and stones.” He indicated the stone in Libby’s hand. “I’ve never seen anything like that before—what is it?”

Libby held it up. It looked almost like an orange-gold opal, with fiery flashes of many colors when held up to the light. “It’s a very rare type of feldspar stone from India, called sun-stone.”

While Abigail’s sisters and her aunt prepared for their protective cleansing, Aleksandr swept back Abbey’s hair and pressed a kiss against the nape of her neck. “What were you thinking? Why would you be so upset at that party?”

“I realized things about you. About me. Do we really want to discuss this now?”

“I don’t want you hurting like this. Give me something to work with, Abbey. Don’t just shut me out.” His lips moved up her neck to her ear. “If you feel things, you must feel how much I love you. If you can hear truth in voices, you have to hear it in mine.” He kissed her neck, his teeth teasing her skin seductively. “You have to believe in me just a little.”

Was she just being stubborn, holding on to her hurt and anger, believing he betrayed her? Was she so terrified of living with his ruthless streak, knowing what he was capable of doing, that she would rather lose everything? Was she such a coward that she couldn’t let go of the past? “What would you do to solve a crime, Aleksandr? Would you sleep with another woman to get information? Would you go that far?” Her throat felt constricted and raw with pain when she asked. Her heart thudded so hard in her chest she feared it might burst through the walls. She couldn’t ask him if he’d killed someone to set her free. The words pounded in her head, but she couldn’t force them past the constriction in her throat.

Aleksandr stiffened, his arms slowly releasing her. She could see by his face she didn’t have to ask the real question. He knew. He knew what she feared the most. “Can you really think so badly of me? I spent close to three
years
tracking that child killer. For the first year, I did it alone—my superiors refused to even admit the possibility that there could be a serial child killer in Mother Russia. Twice they relieved me of duty for seeking help from agencies outside of our country. And all the while he was out there, luring children to him.”

“Aleksandr,” she protested.

“No, Abbey. Let’s get this out in the open. I fully admit I made mistakes. I told the clerk to send you into the interrogation room. I thought he’d follow orders. I had no idea Ignatev was working behind the scenes to bring me down and that he had his men in place. When everything went to hell, I weighed my options. In my mind I thought you’d be perfectly safe, my men would hand you a drink, walk you out, and it would be over.“

She rubbed her chin on her drawn-up knees, hugging herself as she rocked back and forth. “But it didn’t work out that way.”

“No. Ignatev took the opportunity to strike at me. His men, not mine, were in the interrogation room with you. You weren’t safe, although I didn’t know that at first. I was scrambling to do damage control. I was so close to solving the case and didn’t want to get yanked. When I found out what happened, and that Ignatev’s men had you in their control, I had to move fast to get you out. At that point I couldn’t come forward about what had happened because if I had taken the blame for everything, not only would I have been off the case, but I wouldn’t have been able to get you free.”

Abigail looked at him. “What did you do?”

“Whatever was necessary to get you out of there. They would have killed you. Ignatev wanted to strike at me, you weren’t cooperating, and he wanted the violence against you stepped up. It was only my reputation that kept it from happening in the beginning. And yes, Abbey, if I had to sleep with another woman to save your life, I damn well would have done it. I would have done anything to save you. Is that what you wanted to know about me?”

His eyes blazed fire at her. Aleksandr, always so calm and in control, looked as if he wanted to shake her. She studied his face, the lines that hadn’t been there four years earlier, the edge to his mouth and his strong jaw. What was it she was really so afraid of? Would she have wanted him to abandon the dead children? Would she have wanted him to abandon her? He had probably saved her life, just as he had saved other children from a madman.

The realization was slow in coming, but Abigail knew she loved him for those very qualities, his single-minded determination to bring a killer to justice, his protective instincts that made him aggressive in his search for a serial killer. So many good traits, so what was it she feared so much?

“How did you get me out of Russia?”

His gaze hardened. “I did what I had to do. That’s my life, Abbey. That’s who I am. You’re the only person I’ve ever loved. Do you think I’d do less for you than I would for those poor children? Damn you for asking me that.” He leaned close to her, his face inches from her. “I have a lot of things to apologize for, I know that, but getting you out of Russia, saving your life, is not one of them. If I had to sleep with forty women, kill forty men, or trade my life for yours, I would have done it and I’m not about to ask for forgiveness for it. If you want to pass judgment on me, go ahead.”

“Where is there a future for us, Sasha? I can’t be in Russia. I don’t know if I can live with the extremes you’re willing to go to. What are we doing?”

“There
has
to be a future for us. We have to find a way. Are you happy without me? Can you truthfully say you’ve been happy hiding in the sea with your dolphins, living your life without me, Abigail?”

Abigail sat up and brushed back her hair. “Grab your tea before it spills.”

She pointed vaguely at a spot ahead of him and when Aleksandr turned his head the mug of tea nearly hit him in the face. It seemed to be floating in the air. Her sisters and aunt had disappeared, leaving them sitting in the middle of a circle made of a type of wood he couldn’t identify and what seemed like hundreds of lit candles. He took the mug of tea right out of the air and watched Abigail do the same.

When they had been together in Russia, Abigail had always kept the use of magic in their lives to a minimum. He hadn’t thought much beyond her gift of getting others to speak the truth. Her abilities and those of her sisters were obviously far more than he had ever conceived. The wielding of magic seemed effortless, an everyday occurrence in the Drake sisters’ lives. It would always be a part of Abigail.

“I’m not willing to live my life without you, Abbey. I’ve tried it. I tried burying myself in work. I took every dangerous case, every interesting case, anything I could think of, but nothing worked. I want you back. Tell me what I need to do to get you back.”

“It isn’t that I don’t love you, Aleksandr. I loved you with everything in me. I admire your strength of resolve and respect your determination that is so much a part of you. I know it’s what makes you successful at the things you do. But at the same time, I don’t think I can live with them.”

“That’s a cliché, a ridiculous thing to say when you aren’t willing to talk something out, and I’m not about to accept it from you. I do what I have to do to survive and to keep others alive. I’m not some maniac running around with a gun shooting people for no good reason. Hell yes, I took out Ignatev’s men. Every one of them I could get my hands on. I would have killed him if I could have gotten to him, but he had already melted into the shadows. That’s why I have a price on my head. He was going to have you killed, but first he wanted to torture you. It wasn’t going to happen. Can you understand that much about me?
It wasn’t going to happen. Not to you
.”