Vasilisa reached for Afanasiv’s hand as the high mage was carriedaway from them, spinning through the trees toward the portal, where he slipped through as it collapsed behind him.
“No, take me with you,” Olga implored. Without Xavier, his spells were broken, and she had her voice once more. “You promised me. They won’t accept me here. You promised me.” She stumbled to her feet and looked around fearfully.
CHAPTER
7
Snow fell in light flurries as silence once again settled over the forest. Afanasiv wrapped his arm around Vasilisa. She didn’t want him to. She was terrified she would break down weeping uncontrollably, and he would see what a hot mess destiny had stuck him with. At the same time, she wanted to lean into him, press her face against his chest and, just for a few moments, let him comfort her.
“I think I would much prefer the latter.” Afanasiv’s large palm cupped the back of her skull to hold her against his broad chest. “Holding you is always going to be my first choice, Vasilisa. I know you’re strong. You never have to pretend with me.”
“I don’t feel very strong right now. I don’t understand what happened to my aunt. If she was having problems or doubts, why wouldn’t she come to her family? Why wouldn’t she first talk to us? Didn’t we deserve her trust and loyalty after all the years of loving her?”
“Jealousy is an ugly flaw, and it can destroy people from the inside out. It can eat away at relationships, erode them slowly,sívamet. I have seen this happen many times in my life over these centuries. Your aunt was jealous and perhaps didn’t recognize it at first because she had herdancing. Once that was taken from her, she felt lost. She didn’t know who she was anymore.”
Vasilisa could understand what he was saying. Olga loved dancing. She lived to dance. She would often take out her ballet shoes and talk to Vasilisa about dancing on the stage and how magical it was. A light would shine in her eyes, and her entire face would light up. She seemed to go somewhere else. Vasilisa loved to see her so enthralled, but then Olga would look so sad when she put her slippers away that it made Vasilisa’s heart ache. She would wrap her arms around her aunt’s neck and kiss her face all over to try to make her feel better.
“It was so sad to see her when she would reminisce about dancing on the stage. And that horrible Inessa woman, who betrayed their friendship the way she did, made it all the worse for her.”
“Inessa certainly didn’t help, but I think by that time, Olga had already started down the path of destruction. Barnabas, no doubt, had already come into her life. This conspiracy against your family started some time ago, Vasilisa. It is well thought out and planned. It is their bad luck that you and I were destined to become lifemates. Clearly, they had no idea that you are such an excellent demon slayer.”
Vasilisa sighed and lifted her head. “We should check on Garald and then track Olga. I’m sure she is heading toward the portal the demons are slipping through. We need to find it. Then we have to find a way to get my other two brothers back out from under the demons’ commands.”
She was going to have to rest soon. Vasilisa knew that the kinds of spells she was working with, fighting against those in the underworld, were particularly draining. Afanasiv was shoring her up, but even his vast strength couldn’t last forever.
Without a word, Afanasiv lifted her into his arms and carried her close to his chest as he whisked her through the snow to the shelter her brother had taken Taisiya to. The small shedlike building was one the shepherds often occupied. It had a good wood heater and was alwayskept supplied. Garald already had the woodstove glowing hot, and he was attending to Taisiya’s many wounds. The cuts appeared to be mostly superficial, but a few were deeper lacerations that had to be closed with stitches. They covered her entire body.
Garald looked up as they entered.
Taisiya covered her face with her hands. “Don’t look at me,” she implored.
“Little sister,” Afanasiv said. “You suffered each of those wounds protecting Garald. Protecting the royals. Those are badges of your courage. They speak well of who you are and why Garald thinks you are an extraordinary woman.”
“That is so,” Vasilisa agreed. “I have soothing ointment to cover the wounds after my brother finishes. It will help to heal each injury much faster and leave no permanent scar.”
“If I hadn’t looked at you in the first place, this never would have happened,” Garald snapped, his eyes glittering a deep blue. “I was wrong to ever seek you out. I’m sorry, Taisiya. I let myself believe for one moment that I could find happiness with you. That I could protect you from enemies. They surround us all the time, chipping away at us. And then there’s the family curse.” He flicked his gaze to Afanasiv. “I’ll bet my sister didn’t mention the family curse.”
“Garald, I know it hurts to see Taisiya this way, but—”
Garald cut his sister off. “You think it hurts to see her this way? Itkillsme to see her this way. Itdestroysme. I did this to her just by looking at her. Just by showing in public that I cared about her.”
“Don’t say that, Garald,” Taisiya pleaded. “That means you take away my free will. My choices. I would never have willingly done this for anyone other than you, because you are my choice. Always my choice. From the moment I saw you there in the shadows all alone. Those demons tried to break me. That hideous woman tried. They said things about you, but I wouldn’t believe them because I believed in you. Don’t take that away from me.”
Garald’s answer was to bring both of her bruised hands to hismouth. He kissed them gently and then turned her wrists up to be kissed equally as tenderly. “I could never leave you, Taisiya. Ignore the crap coming out of my mouth. I’m venting.”
“What hideous woman?” Vasilisa asked. “If you don’t want to repeat what you suffered out loud—and who could blame you?—please allow the three of us to link together, and we can look at the images in your mind and see who did this to you. We will not view anything else. On that I give you my word.”
The last thing I want to do is stumble onto her fantasies about my brother.
Taisiya’s eyebrows drew together in a delicate frown. “You can do that?”
Garald kissed her knuckles and nodded. “It’s a gift handed down to royals. We have various other things we can do. I tried to tell you we’re not always what we seem. Our life isn’t royal balls, it’s mostly serving our people. I didn’t want you to come into it with rose-colored glasses.”
“It’s just that if you can read my thoughts...” She trailed off.
He grinned at her. “You can’t lie to me. I meant what I said when I told you there would never be other men in your life.”
“Or women in yours,” she added.