Niccolo (Blood Brothers) by Eve Vaughn Read Free Book Online Page B

that one never died from natural causes, but there was a price to pay. Not unlike rogue vampires, there were witches and warlocks like her father who craved more power, and stopped at nothing to claim another’s power by fair means or foul. There were even those who were not true immortals and stayed alive solely by practicing black magic. They were called the dark ones.
    She gave the butler a sympathetic smile before walking past him, then took another deep breath as she made her way to her father’s study. Sasha would have turned back around if this weren’t so important to her.
    Her son was missing.
    Her brothers were on a sojourn, unable to be reached, and Niccolo ... well, if she could find Jagger through other means she didn’t want to worry Niccolo before she deemed it necessary.
    She entered the study to find her father, his back turned to her, looking out the window. “So you’ve come crawling back, wanting my help. It figures.” Ivan Romanov’s deep voice echoed throughout the room even though he barely spoke above a whisper.
    Sasha moistened her parched lips before she answered. As always her father’s words were blunt and cutting. “Papa, can’t you for once put aside your dislike of me? I’m sure you already know that my son, your grandson, is missing. Please tell me where I can find him.”
    Ivan turned around; his sky-blue eyes, so unlike her own, glittered with an emotion she couldn’t read. A malevolent smile spread across his face. Her father was nearly six hundred. With his aristocratic features and thick platinum-blond locks that cascaded past his shoulder, he didn’t look a day over forty in a human’s life span. He stood just over six feet and had a stocky build. He would have been quite handsome were it not for the harsh stamp of arrogance he seemed to wear with pride. “So you come here as my daughter now? Were you not the one who left the protection of our coven?”
    She balled her fists at her sides. “Only after you made it impossible for me to stay.”
    He raised a blond brow. “I?”
    “Yes, you. You’ve made it clear from the day I was born how disappointing I am to you. Your constant need to control everyone was suffocating. I dealt with it most of my life but I refused to subject my son to that.”
    “You dare stand there and criticize the way I run my family when it is you who turned my sons against me? Your sister is dead because you are a poor excuse for a witch. Despite that, I didn’t force you to leave. That was your choice.”
    “Papa, no matter what you think, I’m not stupid. You might not say it in words, but your every look conveys how you feel. When I went to you and Mama to tell you I was carrying a child I needed you love and support, but you turned your backs on me. There was no telling how you would have treated any offspring of mine.”
    “Sasha, I would never have treated Nikolai badly. He is my grandson.” Ivan popped in front of her before she could respond and lightly caressed her cheek. Her father had never been a demonstrative man. She wondered if this was his way of trying to cross the chasm between them.
    For a moment she wanted to believe him. All her life, all she ever wanted from her father was his love. Her eyes moistened with tears. “You wouldn’t have?” she asked with uncertainty.
    “Of course not, child. I would never blame an innocent child just because his mother is a worthless second-rate witch. It’s a shame you weren’t born human. At least you’d be dead by now.”
    She cried out, backing away from him. If he had slapped her it wouldn’t have hurt as much. Her father had a way of cutting her to the core without batting an eye. He’d said hurtful things to her in his lifetime but this was by far the worst. Her insides felt as though they’d been ripped by sharp razors.
    She wanted nothing more than to turn around, walk out the door and never step foot in this house again. But she swallowed her pride for the sake of her