picture to Raphael.
“So back to Desandra,” Barabas said. “Nobody wanted to ally themselves with Jarek, because he isn’t exactly a man of his word. So he bargained with his daughter. By herself, Desandra is penniless. However, her first son will inherit Prislop Pass. It’s a pass in northern Romania, on the edge of his territory, and it has a ley line running through it. If you’re going from Russia, Ukraine, or Moldova to Hungary or Romania, you’re going to take that pass. Which brings us to the other two packs.”
He held up a picture. A family sat around the table. Three younger men, one elderly, and three women. “Volkodavi. A mixed pack, part Polish, part Ukrainian, part whatever. They’re rubbing up against the Carpathians from the east, in Ukraine, and they control the eastern hills. Here is Radomil, Desandra’s first husband.”
Barabas handed the photograph to Eduardo, who passed it to George. George blinked and sat up straighter. “Whoa.”
“I know, right?” Barabas grinned.
Andrea leaned over. “Let me see. Not my type.” She leaned over to show Aunt B. Aunt B raised her eyebrows.
The picture went from hand to hand until I finally got it. Radomil was pretty. There was no other word for it. His hair, a rich golden blond, lay in waves on his head, framing a perfectly symmetrical face. A generous mouth stretched in a happy smile showing white teeth, a touch of stubble on the chin, high cheekbones, and glass-bottle-green eyes, framed in dense, dark blond eyelashes.
Curran looked over my shoulder and studied it with a perfectly neutral expression.
“Radomil’s older brother and sister pretty much run the pack,” Barabas said. “We don’t know very much about them. Look here.” He lifted another photo. Two parents and two grown sons, both handsome, dark-haired, hazel-eyed, with narrow faces, short haircuts, and clean-shaven square jaws.
“Gerardo and Ignazio Lovari, sons of Isabella and Cosimo Lovari. We’re interested in Gerardo.”
“No, dear,” Aunt B said. “We’re interested in Isabella. I’ve met her before. That woman rules Belve Ravennati. All of the Wild Beasts of Ravenna answer to her including her two sons. They’re a very disciplined pack. Mostly lupine and very acquisition-minded.”
“Try to remember their faces. All these people will be there,” Barabas said. “And that brings us to our lovely destination. We’re actually going to Abkhazia. It’s a disputed territory on the border between Russia and Georgia, and it’s directly across the Black Sea for everyone involved. Once every fifty or sixty years, Russia and Georgia have a war over it and it changes hands. The local pack is a werejackal pack, not large, but enough people to slaughter the lot of us. We don’t know anything about it. But we do know several things.” Barabas held up a finger. “One, the alpha couple will be the most likely target.”
Everyone looked in our direction. Curran smiled.
“That’s how I would do it,” Mahon said. “Split the alphas and you split the pack. If you do it right, the pack will turn on itself.”
Being a target didn’t thrill me, but it wouldn’t be the first time.
Barabas held up two fingers. “Two, they’ll try to reduce our numbers.”
“Buddy system,” Curran said. “Nobody goes anywhere without someone with them. Pick your buddy and stick with them.”
“Three.” Barabas raised three fingers. “Trust no one. I don’t know where they’ll put us, but we’ll have no privacy. Even if your rooms are empty, you can be sure that someone is listening to you breathe. Don’t discuss anything important unless you’re outside and you can see a mile around you.”
“And four,” Curran said. “We will be provoked on every turn. Collectively the three packs want us there. Individually, they don’t. The only reason they want an arbitration is that none of the packs is strong enough to take the other two. If two clans fight, the third will
“So back to Desandra,” Barabas said. “Nobody wanted to ally themselves with Jarek, because he isn’t exactly a man of his word. So he bargained with his daughter. By herself, Desandra is penniless. However, her first son will inherit Prislop Pass. It’s a pass in northern Romania, on the edge of his territory, and it has a ley line running through it. If you’re going from Russia, Ukraine, or Moldova to Hungary or Romania, you’re going to take that pass. Which brings us to the other two packs.”
He held up a picture. A family sat around the table. Three younger men, one elderly, and three women. “Volkodavi. A mixed pack, part Polish, part Ukrainian, part whatever. They’re rubbing up against the Carpathians from the east, in Ukraine, and they control the eastern hills. Here is Radomil, Desandra’s first husband.”
Barabas handed the photograph to Eduardo, who passed it to George. George blinked and sat up straighter. “Whoa.”
“I know, right?” Barabas grinned.
Andrea leaned over. “Let me see. Not my type.” She leaned over to show Aunt B. Aunt B raised her eyebrows.
The picture went from hand to hand until I finally got it. Radomil was pretty. There was no other word for it. His hair, a rich golden blond, lay in waves on his head, framing a perfectly symmetrical face. A generous mouth stretched in a happy smile showing white teeth, a touch of stubble on the chin, high cheekbones, and glass-bottle-green eyes, framed in dense, dark blond eyelashes.
Curran looked over my shoulder and studied it with a perfectly neutral expression.
“Radomil’s older brother and sister pretty much run the pack,” Barabas said. “We don’t know very much about them. Look here.” He lifted another photo. Two parents and two grown sons, both handsome, dark-haired, hazel-eyed, with narrow faces, short haircuts, and clean-shaven square jaws.
“Gerardo and Ignazio Lovari, sons of Isabella and Cosimo Lovari. We’re interested in Gerardo.”
“No, dear,” Aunt B said. “We’re interested in Isabella. I’ve met her before. That woman rules Belve Ravennati. All of the Wild Beasts of Ravenna answer to her including her two sons. They’re a very disciplined pack. Mostly lupine and very acquisition-minded.”
“Try to remember their faces. All these people will be there,” Barabas said. “And that brings us to our lovely destination. We’re actually going to Abkhazia. It’s a disputed territory on the border between Russia and Georgia, and it’s directly across the Black Sea for everyone involved. Once every fifty or sixty years, Russia and Georgia have a war over it and it changes hands. The local pack is a werejackal pack, not large, but enough people to slaughter the lot of us. We don’t know anything about it. But we do know several things.” Barabas held up a finger. “One, the alpha couple will be the most likely target.”
Everyone looked in our direction. Curran smiled.
“That’s how I would do it,” Mahon said. “Split the alphas and you split the pack. If you do it right, the pack will turn on itself.”
Being a target didn’t thrill me, but it wouldn’t be the first time.
Barabas held up two fingers. “Two, they’ll try to reduce our numbers.”
“Buddy system,” Curran said. “Nobody goes anywhere without someone with them. Pick your buddy and stick with them.”
“Three.” Barabas raised three fingers. “Trust no one. I don’t know where they’ll put us, but we’ll have no privacy. Even if your rooms are empty, you can be sure that someone is listening to you breathe. Don’t discuss anything important unless you’re outside and you can see a mile around you.”
“And four,” Curran said. “We will be provoked on every turn. Collectively the three packs want us there. Individually, they don’t. The only reason they want an arbitration is that none of the packs is strong enough to take the other two. If two clans fight, the third will
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