I could tell from Adrian’s face he wasn’t so certain and was in danger of falling into one of those terrible depressions of his. His recent spirit usage with Nina would only make him that much more vulnerable. Adrian might not have any doubts about me and our love, but the future Rand had predicted—us bouncing around with no place to live—might very well be a real one. That scared me, and it had to scare Adrian too. With great effort, I watched as he tried to force his dark thoughts away and put on a cheerier expression.

“Well, I guess on the bright side of all of this, I can celebrate a new family member.”

I’d nearly forgotten the startling revelation about him and Dimitri. “Is it really true? How could you have not known that?”

Adrian gave a rueful headshake and began walking again. “From what I’ve heard about Uncle Rand’s ‘activities,’ he might very well have dozens of illegitimate children around the world. Why not Dimitri?”

“It just seems weird Dimitri wouldn’t have said anything before this,” I remarked.

“That surprised me too,” admitted Adrian as Diana’s cabin came into view. “Though to be honest, I never thought of him having a father. He just seems like the kind of guy who sprung into being fully grown up. Or, if I was going to picture a dad for him, I guess I’d just go with a gray-haired version of him, complete with duster.”

I laughed at that and followed him up to the cabin’s porch. Someone called for us to enter when we knocked, and we found Rose and Dimitri sitting in the cabin’s little living room. Diana had apparently left. Olive was lying on a bare-bones sofa, looking pale. “Is he gone?” asked Dimitri. His tone clearly told us which he was being referred to.

Adrian and I sat down together on a wooden bench. “No,” I said. “He’s staying in their guesthouse and seemed to think we would too.”

“I can think of a dozen forms of torture I’d rather undergo than spend a night under the same roof as him,” said Dimitri, deadpan.

“I’m sure it won’t come to that,” Adrian replied.

“Olive says we can stay here for the night,” Rose explained. “If you don’t mind making a bed on the floor.”

“Considering the alternative? No problem.” Adrian fixed his gaze on Dimitri. “When were you going to break the news that we’re one big happy family?”

A pained expression crossed Dimitri’s face. “I honestly didn’t know.”

Adrian threw up his hands. “Come on. You’ve got, what, two or three sisters? That guy was obviously around a lot. It never occurred to you that Rand Ivashkov might be related to another Ivashkov you knew?”