Drake Sisters 03 - Oceans of Fire

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.”

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    “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