“Yes. He says he’s not Russian and warns us that if we kill him, his brother is going to come after us.”

“Will he?” The old man looked interested. “Who is his brother?”

“No clue. I’ll ask.” I turned back to the mystery man. “The doctor—and he is a doctor, not some deranged head-bonking murderer—wants to know who your brother is.”

“I will answer none of your questions,” he said with what I thought was a whole lot of dignity considering the fact that he was naked except for a small towel. He got to his feet, clutching said towel, and weaved for a moment but managed to remain upright.

I had to admit that for a man who’d been unconscious and bashed around a bit, he looked pretty damned good. His chest had a few scars around the ribs and a nasty line across one pectoral that interrupted that nice chest hair, but the rest of him wasn’t at all hard to look at.

“What did he say?” the doctor asked.

“He refused to answer.”

The man glanced around the room, a dark frown on his brow. “Is this where you intend to torture me? You should know that my brother will, eventually, avenge that as well.”

“This is an examination room, not a torture chamber,” I said with a mixture of impatience and amusement. What a drama queen he was.

“Then you will take me to my cell,” he said with haughty indifference. “And bring me some clothes, unless you intend to expose me to the elements in an attempt to kill me that way. Not that such treatment will have the effect you desire. It’s been tried before, and I survived for many years before I was freed.”

“Someone tried to kill you before?” I asked, aghast at the idea. My gaze dropped to the scars on his ribs. “Maybe instead of asking us who we are, we should be asking you just who the hell you are. So I will. Who the hell are you?”

He made a sound like he was annoyed. “I am Kostya. What is your name, mortal?”

I gave him a look to let him know I didn’t appreciate the condescending attitude. “Aoife. This is Dr. Ek.”

“What is he saying now?” the doctor asked, plucking at my sleeve.

“His name is Kostya, and someone tried to kill him before.”

“You will cease speaking in whatever Nordic language you are speaking. I cannot understand it, and it irritates me.”

That sort of attitude didn’t go far at all with me. I ignored Kostya. “He seems to think we’re holding him captive, and evidently likes to threaten people with his brother, whoever he is. He’s also demanding that we bring him clothing.”

“Is he? Your man is quite obstinate.”

“Annoying, isn’t he? And for the record, he’s not mine.”

Kostya glared at us both. “You are clearly making plans for my demise. Very well. I cannot stop you, but I can repeat that my brother—”

“Yeah, I know, your brother’s going to beat us up if we kill you. What sort of people do you hang with that you get those sorts of scars, and are left exposed to the elements for years, and have to threaten people with your big brother?”

“Drake is my younger brother,” he said, clearly offended.

I laughed right out loud, which obviously offended him all the more.

“I’m sorry,” I said, putting a hand out and touching him on the arm before I realized what I was doing. He stared at my hand as if it were a three-headed crab. “I don’t like laughing at anyone, but you looked so enraged, it was impossible to stifle. Look, we seem to be at cross-purposes, so let’s start over again. I’m Aoife, and I found you lying unconscious on a beach outside my house. This is Dr. Ek. He’s retired but kindly offered to take a look at you when I hauled you out of the ocean. Neither one of us is interested in killing you or torturing you or leaving you out in the cold naked, although it’s July, so it’s really not that cold right now. Evidently you took a smack to the head—I don’t suppose you remember what happened to you?”

“What have you done with my clothes?” he asked, moving slightly away from me so that my hand dropped off his arm.

“I didn’t do anything with them. Dr. Ek cut off your shirt, so it’s probably not wearable, although your other clothes are behind you, on the chair. They’re sopping wet, though. Why aren’t you answering my question? I asked it nicely enough.”

“You have nothing to offer me for the answers,” he said dismissively, turning to grab his clothes, then obviously realized that he was exposing his butt to me. I got an eyeful before he whipped the towel around with one hand while grabbing his pants with the other. He held them up with a look of distaste. “They are wet.”

“How very nice of you to confirm what I just told you.”

“Your man’s clothes are wet,” Dr. Ek said, evidently wanting to join in on the let’s-say-the-obvious fun. “I suppose I could part with a pair of trousers. You wait here with him and see that he doesn’t break into my drug cabinet.”

Dr. Ek bustled past me to the door, where the dog, which had been lying down, sat up and watched him leave.

“Where is he going?” Kostya demanded. He now had the chair between us, using it as a shield for his modesty. “Is he fetching those who would destroy me?”

“You really do have a one-track mind, don’t you?” I spread my hands to show him that they, at least, were empty of threat. “He’s gone to get you some dry clothes, as a matter of fact. And if you think I’m going to pay you to answer a couple of civil questions, you’re more nuts that I ever was.”

He was about to answer, but some movement behind me must have caught his eye, because he stepped to the side and stared for a moment before turning a surprisingly furious expression upon me. “What are you doing with Jim?”

“Jim who?” I asked, confused.

He pointed to the door. “Do not deny that you have captured Jim. Or has it been sold into your employ?”

“I think Dr. Ek’s first name is—”

“Not the mortal. Jim,” Kostya said, pointing again. I turned to look. The dog sat there watching us.

“Oh,” I said, understanding dawning at last. “That’s your dog? I had no idea. I mean, he wasn’t near the beach at all when I ran him—er—found him. But he did snuffle you a lot when you were lying on the beach. Talk about serendipity, huh?”