Did she marry? Was she in love with someone who possibly died, and she couldn’t stand the thought of waiting for him?
No. She never married. She took lovers, especially during the... um... heat cycle. But she never said if she fell for a man. Or a woman, for that matter.Vasilisa rubbed her face against his shoulder, unaware she looked to him for comfort.This is going to really hurt my brothers. They loved her so much.
You loved her so much, sívamet, but this is not the woman you loved.She is a replica of her, yes, but that is only the outside shell you see. Inside, she is not your beloved aunt. Think of her as an illusion.
Vasilisa lifted her head and nodded. One hand came up to his jaw, her fingers feathering lightly along the hard edge.You managed to say the right thing. Thank you.
I have no doubt that you would have figured that out sooner or later, but I’ll take credit, as I’m certain I will make many mistakes.
Olga abruptly turned away from the demon she had killed and walked briskly through the snow toward a little-used path through the trees. Brush parted for her and closed behind her, cutting off sight should any try to follow her. Vasilisa and Afanasiv took to the air, careful not to display too much energy or allow it to leak out around them.
Lycans were very sensitive to energy, particularly to Carpathians’ low-key energy. They were one of the few creatures that could sense the presence of a Carpathian hunter in the vicinity. Vasilisa was used to hiding her presence from her fellow Lycans. The change in her had taken place slowly. She had time to practice the things she needed to before she was fullySange rau, which was what Lycans called the mixed blood of Carpathians and Lycans. They were rogues, killers. They destroyed entire villages in a single night, leaving no one alive. It took hunters banding together and suffering tremendous losses to bring a singleSange raudown. That was not the same thing as what Carpathians thought mixed bloods were. To them, they were guardians of all, unless they had already turned vampire, and then they were referred to as theSange rau.
When Vasilisa had first become aware that she was changing, that she was growing into somethingmore, she had been terrified. Her natural inclination was to go to her brothers and confess, ask for their advice. She’d brought up the subject tentatively, and all three of her siblings had instantly voiced their opinions in loud, negative ways. She changed her mind about telling them when they spoke with such vehemence against theSange rau.
Alone and frightened, Vasilisa waited to see if she suddenly developed murderous tendencies. When it didn’t happen, she wondered if women fared better than men. But there was Dimitri. He wasSange rau. The Carpathian community called them “guardians of all” in their own language. She didn’t think it made much difference what they were called. Only that some were murderers and some were protectors, just as Lycans and Carpathians could be both.
Olga continued to hurry through the forest on the now perfectly closed path of thick brush. Vasilisa and Afanasiv couldn’t afford to lose their prey, so they moved through the air above her about fifteen feet behind. Afanasiv shielded both of them from Olga and any others who might be watching. He did so automatically, not because Vasilisa was a woman or because he thought her not up to the task.
Why do you ask if Olga had one man in particular?
It was possible she wanted to bring him back from the dead. No one goes willingly to the underworld. She is there now by her choice, but to voluntarily go to serve, you have to make that choice. Justice, the one held behind the gate, is a scarred Carpathian. He willingly sacrificed himself and his soul in order for his family to live. There was a young Carpathian child taken. She had no choice but to stay until recently, when she was offered a way out. She chose to stay so Justice wouldn’t be alone. As far as I know, Justice is still holding out from serving those ruling the underworld. The child is fully grown now. I believe she is holding out as well.
He fell silent for the first time, saddened by the story of the two Carpathians lost to them. Justice, like all the ancients who had lived in the monastery high in the Carpathian Mountains, bore the scars of his sins on his soul.
Afanasiv didn’t look at his lifemate. Had he been wrong to claim her? To tie her to him? He hadn’t imparted the actual concern he had when giving her the explanation. If anything, he’d downplayed the danger.
My aunt is strong-willed. Once she gets something in her head, she would need to follow it through. She wouldn’t change her mind.
We will see who Olga meets.There was no point in speculating. Soon they would have an answer. If he managed to kill whomever Olga was reporting to, would that end the hold she had on Vasilisa’s brothers? Or could it do irreparable harm to them? He turned that thought over and over in his mind. He doubted if Olga had the kind of power needed to bring her nephews to such a state—serving a master and fighting it every step of the way. Someone more powerful than she had created the illusion for her, but Olga thought she was the one with the control over her nephews. It would be a terrible blow to her ego if she found out.
Olga suddenly stopped her forward momentum, snapping to attention like a soldier. Afanasiv half expected her to salute. An eerily familiar, not-so-welcoming voice greeted her.
“Idiot woman. What have you brought to me?”
“The blood of Garald, as you have instructed,” Olga replied shakily. “The demon servant did not get Vasilisa’s blood. We had her in the trap you devised, but she escaped with her lifemate.”
Silence stretched out, long and uncomfortable. Olga’s hands went to her throat as if she were choking. She tried to talk but no sound emerged. On her neck, great purple and blue depressions marred the smooth perfection of her skin. Her face went from beautiful to ugly, lines carved deep. Her eyes began to bug out of her head. She went to her knees, tears running down her face.
Vasilisa started a forward movement, but Afanasiv’s arm around her waist effectively stopped her. The instant Vasilisa moved, those hands left Olga’s throat, and a transparent figure dressed in a long robe shimmered into view. He stood behind Olga, a ceremonial knife to her throat, one hand in her hair, tipping her head back.
Olga shrieked. “Xavier. No.”
“Vasilisa. How kind of you to join us. Put down your weapons if you want your aunt to live. I am not a patient man. Your lifemate can testify to that fact.”
“And I’m not without intelligence, Xavier. My aunt went to you willingly and sold out my brothers and me, as well as our people, forsome selfish reason of her own. If you kill her, it will spare me having to do so. Get on with it.”
Afanasiv was proud of Vasilisa. She didn’t give away where she was. Xavier couldn’t detect her, how close or how far from him she was. There was no energy spilling from or around her. He was helping with that, but still, she could have done it on her own. She had extremely good skills. The more he was with her, the more he admired her. How hard it must have been to say her aunt meant nothing to her and to go ahead and kill her, but she spoke in a disinterested, almost bored tone.
Afanasiv watched the mage carefully and saw that he was loosening his hold on his victim and bending closer to whisper to her. Leaving Vasilisa, Afanasiv floated closer to hear what the mage’s orders to her were, and then he invaded Olga’s mind. She might be Lycan, but he was ancient Carpathian, and few could stop him when he was determined.
She wanted the power of the royal family to be hers alone. She wanted to rule and have the people bow down to her. She felt she didn’t get the respect she deserved. Those feelings had started when a young lover had rejected her, wanting to go to Vasilisa without the stain of taking what Olga offered him first. Afanasiv shared those memories with his lifemate as they unfolded.
Olga let out a terrified wail and then pleaded for her life as the mage loosened his hold enough to allow her to talk. “He forced me, Vasilisa.Forced me.Do you think I would betray my beloved nephews? Or you? Our people? Why would I do such a thing?”
Olga was a superb actress. Her voice trembled. She sounded and looked tragically frightened and remorseful. Siv had no idea whether or not Vasilisa would hesitate even though she knew her aunt was lying.
You are a fighter of demons. Xavier does not belong in this realm. How do we return him to the underworld and seal him there?He sought to keep his lifemate focused on the reality of their situation. He could send demons back to the underworld, but sealing them there was beyondhis capabilities. Demons were a specialized field, and his partner certainly had an expertise in that particular realm.