Page 204 of The Harbinger
“What’s going on?” I asked, grabbing onto his coattails before he could disappear around the corner of the table.
“Tradition.”
My fingers slipped from the silky material, and he moved with purpose to the table, the large ring on his finger, catching the bright lights from overhead.
The air around me cooled, leaving me seated with a vulnerability I couldn’t quite grasp. It was as if Sacha’s presence encompassed me in a layer of protection, but the moment he left, so did that blanket.
He lifted the goblet at the woman’s head and began speaking in Russian, his voice echoing through the silent room like a sinister incantation. Once he’d finished, he placed his cup back down on the table and turned to his right, away from me, and toward a masked staff member.
Each staff member lined up at the corners of the table after taking hold of two goblets and waited.
What was in there?
The staff closest to us blocked my sight of Sacha and whatever he’d focused on. The top of his head was the only visible part of him.
I leaned in my seat, searching for a gap in the line of white-masked staff to see, but it was as if they’d become a solid wall. Whispers seeped out into the air, and following the trail was a faint note, a tune I couldn’t quite put my finger on.
Someone was humming…
A sharp agonizing pain slammed into my temple. I folded over, my hand pressed to my temple, my heart slugging against my rib cage.
Not here.
A gasp rang out from the ethos, and cheers erupted in the room. The pain retreated, yet I kept my head cast down, my eyes closed.
Where was Dmitri? Vlad?
Seconds, which felt like decades past, and the pain melted away, but I didn’t move. I didn’t trust myself. My body worked against me, just like everything else in this world.
“What’s wrong?” A calming warmth smoothed over me as Sacha slid his hand down my bare spine and rested on my lower back. I gulped, my body coming to life, the fear dissipating.
I pulled my head up slowly, willing the spin to steady.
“It’s nothing.” I shook my head, giving him a meek smile.
As the staffer delicately placed our goblets before us, I reached for mine, eager for the liquid courage to calm my nerves. But Sacha’s strong grip on my wrist stopped me in my tracks.
“Not yet,” he whispered.
I couldn’t help but clench my jaw.
Another announcement, no doubt.
But as I glanced down at the contact of his hand on mine, I caught a glimpse of something that made me gasp. “Are you bleeding?” My eyes widened as I noted the smear of red on his tattooed thumb.
He pulled his hand away as I moved to get a better view, then gripped the napkin from the table and wiped it away.
“Are you enjoying yourself?” Nikolai asked, leaning around Ruslan.
I swallowed hard and pressed into Sacha’s comforting embrace, his inquisitive gaze searching mine for answers.
“He makes me uncomfortable.”
“Has he said anything to you?”
I shook my head. “It sounds silly, but it’s just a feeling I have.”
“Nikolai is harmless.” He rubbed his thumb against my chin.