Crimson Warrior (Onyx Assassins 3)

“Love,” I said.

“I know a witch,” she whispered as if she were afraid our mother would overhear us. “If you ever feel like switching it up.”

I smiled at her. “Thanks for the offer,” I said. Just like the tattoos, we needed magic to change anything about our physical appearance, even our hair color. “But I’m pretty fond of the signature Sorokin brown.” My mother and all of my sisters had chocolate-colored hair, save for Katya, who’d been blessed with Father’s ebony locks.

“It’s about damn time!” Marisha’s voice rang out from the entryway, and I flew past Zasha to embrace my second oldest sister.

“It’s been too long,” I murmured into her neck.

“You’ve got that right,” Katya, my oldest sister, said from behind Marisha.

I released her and ran to Katya, my eyes near glazed with tears I wouldn’t let fall. Avianna was the sister I’d chosen, someone I loved and cherished, and I’d never regret that protecting her had kept me away for so long, but…these sisters were my blood. And I hadn’t realized how much I missed them until I was standing there, embracing them, drowning their familiar scents that were as comforting as a warm blanket.

“Aunt Olivia!” Annika, Katya’s daughter, shouted, prying me and Katya apart and taking my oldest sister’s place in my arms.

“Annika?” I gaped at the beautiful female before my eyes. She had her mother’s long ebony hair, but where Katya’s eyes were sky blue, Annika’s were emerald green like her father’s. “How have you grown so much?” I shook my head. When I’d left to train and apply for the royal service, she’d been a fresh youngling. Unlike humans, Vampires stopped aging after reaching maturity at twenty-one.

“That’s what happens when you hide from us for decades,” she said, giving me a playful shove. Her eyebrow arched as we separated, her eyes scanning the area behind me. “But I can see why you did.”

I glanced over my shoulder, noting Ransom standing there in polite silence as he’d watched the reunion. My heart hiccupped at the sight of him, all dark leather and casually mussed black hair. “Right,” I said, shaking my head, a genuine smile on my face. Ransom may not be my true mate, but he was my best friend, and I was honored to introduce him to my sisters.

“This is Ransom,” I said, motioning a hand toward him. “My…mate,” I managed not to choke on the word. “Ransom,” I hurried to say, and pointed to each of my sisters in turn. “This is Katya, Marisha, and Zasha. My sisters. And this is Annika, my niece.”

“Her favorite niece,” Annika said, pushing past me and extending her hand to Ransom with a look of pure mischief in her eyes.

“You’re my only niece,” I laughed.

She shrugged as Ransom shook her hand. “Still counts.”

“It’s wonderful to meet all of you,” Ransom said, the picture of the perfect mate. He’d always had a knack for laying on the charm when necessary—a tool as deadly as a blade in his hands.

After a few more minutes of catchup and introductions in the foyer, Katya gripped my shoulders gently. “I’m sure you’re both exhausted from your trip,” she said, ever the perfect firstborn, graceful and gracious. “Let me show you to your room.”

“We’ll see you when you’ve rested,” Marisha said, smiling at me.

Annika waved, and Zasha winked as Ransom and I fell in line behind Katya.

“I don’t get my old rooms?” I asked, and Ransom cocked a brow at my use of the plural for room. I shrugged, rolling my eyes at him.

“No,” Katya said. “Mother rearranged much of the estate after you left.” Her footsteps were smooth and silent against the marble floor, as were ours. Ransom and I were pure stealth out of habit, whereas my sister had been trained to be poised and elegant her entire life. “All of our old rooms were stripped of the personal details and redecorated.” She stopped before a set of golden double doors. “A rather passive-aggressive way of showing how much it pained her when all her daughters left for homes of their own,” she whispered, and I laughed.

“You, Marisha, and Zasha live on the southern part of the island,” I said. “Not across the sea like me.”

Katya shrugged. “You know Mother.”

“I do,” I said, sighing. Where was she? Why hadn’t she been here to greet me with my sisters? No doubt father had told her of my arrival the second he’d wended in.

Katya opened the doors, ushering us into a set of rooms I remembered as being reserved for wealthy visitors as a child. The room was guarded against sunlight—as all the rooms were in the estate—but the windows lining the walls were alight with realistic visuals of the night sky. They’d change to a sunny blue sky during the day, a view of the arctic ocean cast upon the glass. The carpets were a lush red, the walls a golden stone separated by thick bronze and blue tapestries. A sitting area with several wingback chairs rested on the farthest side of the room, the enormous bathing chamber just to the left of it. A giant four-poster bed rested against the focal wall, piled high with thick maroon blankets and gold pillows. A wardrobe and closet lay on the other side.