“Same thing you are,” he said, giving me a wink. He had the same dark green eyes I had, and though there was some silver in his brown hair, it was nowhere near the amount my dad had. Maybe living a life of women and wine was less stressful than living a respectable one on the Moroi Council. Rand was tall, even among Moroi, and had to lean down to leer at Olive, making her cringe against me. “She’s cute,” he said. “And I see you’ve got your own little sideline family going, eh? I’ve got a couple of those myself. These dhampir girls breed like—”

“It’s not like that,” I interrupted, getting tired of explaining this. “I’m not—that is, Olive’s just a friend I’m checking up on.”

Uncle Rand perked up. “So she’s available? I haven’t seen her around—”

“No,” I said through gritted teeth. “She’s not available. Look, it’s nice to see you and everything, but this really isn’t the time or place. I have things to do.”

I started to turn away, indicating to Olive that we should head back to Diana’s cabin. To my astonishment, Rand grabbed my arm and turned me back around. That close, the scent of vodka coming off of him nearly knocked me over.

“Don’t be like that!” he said hotly. “A snob like the rest of your family. Your dad and his holier-than-thou wife always acted like I wasn’t good enough to hang out with the rest of you. But look at you now. You’re here, no better than me. And I hear all kinds of things about you too—do you see me judging? We have a lot in common.”

I jerked my arm away. “I don’t think so.”

“You are just like the rest of them!” He lunged toward me, his steps faltering drunkenly. I didn’t know if he was trying to hit me or just grab me again, but I never found out because a tall figure suddenly stepped in between us and sent him flying with a right hook. I looked up and saw Dimitri regarding my uncle, who was now lying sprawled on the grass, with an expression of intense disgust. Rose, Sydney, and Lana came hurrying up to us.

“What the hell’s going on?” exclaimed Rose.

“Thanks,” I told Dimitri. “Though I don’t think we needed quite that much intervention. I was holding my own.”

“He’s an animal,” growled Dimitri. “He has no business being here.”

“Well, I suppose it—” I stopped and reconsidered Dimitri’s words. “Do you know him or something?”

Dimitri eyed me. “Yes. Do you?”

“Yeah,” I said. “He’s my uncle. Rand Ivashkov.”

“Oh?” Dimitri’s hardened expression didn’t change. “He’s my father.”

CHAPTER 10: SYDNEY

CHAPTER 10

SYDNEY