The demon began to drag Odessa up the three stairs to once again gain the porch so he could break down the door. This time, when he placed his feet on the stairs, the embers dancing in the darkened sky above his head began to whirl around to the beat of her fingers on thewindowsill. Her spirit directed them from above the two demons, moving the sparks together inside the fast-spinning cones.
The demon stopped when he heard crackling fire. Looking up, he could see what amounted to a roaring wildfire already out of control, but this one had telltale blue flames. He dropped the knife from Odessa’s throat and tried to run, leaping off the stairs and, with a hoarse cry, turning in midair to face the raging fire. Odessa shot to her feet and dove away from the cabin in the opposite direction from Kendal. That didn’t stop the deadly fire from finding either demon.
Inside the cabin, Vasilisa opened her arms wide, directing the blue flames to drop down over the demons and consume them. Staggering, nearly drained completely of all energy, she almost fell over backward. She had to hang on to the chairs and then stumbled her way to the bed to lie down beside Afanasiv.
It was the bad luck of the hapless demons that she’d been taught to wield blue flames—a demon killer—since she was a child. She’d started out controlling it on her palm. Making the flames spring to life and then dance. She had many scorched curtains and covers. Twice she’d set her room on fire. Bronya, her mother, had been so patient with her, laughing and turning Vasilisa’s frustration into laughter, as well.
Bronya had regaled Vasilisa with the many times she’d set things on fire, including her father’s best shirt as he was escorting her mother to a play. She’d hurled the blue flame out the window, not realizing her parents weren’t in the carriage yet. The flame had landed on the back of his shirt and raced up the material as hungry as could possibly be.
Fortunately, her mother was facing Bronya’s window and saw the blue flame streaking like a comet out of the sky, and she dealt with it, getting her husband to change his shirt without any fuss. Her mother was very skilled in that area.
Vasilisa lay for a long while, savoring the memories. They were good memories, ones she treasured. Thinking of anything her mother had told her about her life—especially now, when the wheel of fortuneseemed to be upside down for her—gave her a necessary boost of confidence.
When she felt strong enough, she made her way to the window again. Looking out over the snow, only ashes drifted away on the wind. She went back to the small cot and sat beside Afanasiv.
“Tell me, lifemate. Do you have a plan for getting my siblings out of that vile place? Is there even a remote possibility of doing so? Is Andros already too far gone?”
Now that she was once again intact, all but that small part of her spirit with Afanasiv, she paid strict attention to details around her lifemate where he was in the underworld. Before he’d descended to the lower chambers, Afanasiv had attempted to have her stay behind again. She’d refused. If her brothers were there, she was going. Truthfully, she didn’t want to risk losing her lifemate, and she felt the risk was very real.
She was horrified at what she saw in the arena. Worse, the moment they’d gotten to those corridors, she’d felt the berserker, the demon, in Afanasiv rise and threaten to take over. She was not going to let what happened to Justice happen to Afanasiv. He wasn’t sacrificing his life so her family could live.
The royal family had a duty to their people, and that included sacrifice. It was expected of them to lay down their lives for their people. They understood that premise, and everything they did, they did with that in mind. Afanasiv had been raised to be a protector, a guardian, but this was Lycan territory, not Carpathian. He wasn’t going to die for all of them only to be reborn as a demon, not when he’d lived so honorably for several thousand years.
She’d remained very quiet at his demand as they were forced to go past the two demons guarding the staircase leading to the arena, where Afanasiv was certain Andros had been taken. She’d felt the demons’ hunger as they slipped through. It was raw and edged with violence. One stared straight at them as if he could see the spirit moving through the darkness. She’d fought with her heart, keeping it slow and steady, matching Afanasiv’s.
It was possible she really was going to endanger everyone. The demon guard looked horribly suspicious, his gaze following them down the spiral stairs. She didn’t make the mistake of looking at him directly.
The sights sickened her. The demons in the curving stands were clearly cannibals, just waiting for the chance to tear into the losers of the contest. Andros used a bullwhip as if he’d been born with it in his hands. The bullwhip glowed red and orange, appearing on fire as he lashed the skin off a demon’s back. The demon had lost his own bullwhip and was using a flimsy shield and spear to try to ward Andros off. The crowd had come to their feet, demanding blood and death. They wanted Andros to separate the head from the body.
Andros is half-crazed right now,she whispered.Afanasiv, Grigor, Lada and Karine are in terrible danger.
It was so difficult to see her beloved brother with such a cruel look on his face. The demon had taken over, and he was enjoying what he was doing.
No, there is still a part of him holding out. Trying to think his way out of all of this. Do you royals have a way of communicating no one else knows? Something he would recognize came only from you. Your aunt wouldn’t know it. Only you, Andros, Grigor and Garald would know.
Naturally they did. They were siblings, growing up in a world of secrecy. They’d developed all kinds of code. All kinds of ways to communicate the rest of the world knew nothing of.
Yes, but how will we get him out from under the control of Lilith?
Don’t say her name here. Try not to think it. She can be called very easily.
It was the first time there was an edge of nerves to Afanasiv’s demeanor. He hesitated, and then came an admission.Gaia can remove the evil one’s control. It is not an easy task. She will have to start with Andros first because his is the strongest. He has been worked on the most.
For one terrible moment, Vasilisa nearly jerked away from him.Afanasiv must have anticipated her childish reaction because he surrounded her with his warmth.
You know her,Vasilisa accused.You acted as if you didn’t, but you know her. She has been in your mind.
She is part of the things I wished to forget. She aided me in escaping, and I... left her here in this vile place. It was her wish, but no Carpathian male worth anything leaves behind a female in such a situation. I buried the memory of her deep so I could continue. It was only when I saw her and watched her hands moving as she chanted the healing chant that I began to remember her again and the shame of leaving her here.
Vasilisa detested that she found herself upset that the Carpathian woman had been in Afanasiv’s mind. It was an intimacy only she should ever share with her lifemate. The closeness she felt with him was due to getting to know him through the thoughts and images of the past he allowed her to see. He had the same access to her mind. They might not have yet shared their bodies with each other, but she had never felt so close to another human being. She didn’t want another woman to feel that same way.
Carpathians have a mutual path we can communicate with one another on. I didn’t use it to talk to Petru or Nicu because the vampires would hear. The ancients who have been in the monastery all use a different pathway, so I used that one. Gaia needed blood. Once we exchanged a small amount, she could talk to me and I to her. She helped me escape at great cost to herself.
Was there a reprimand in there? She was looking pretty pathetic to him if she was jealous. She started to explain but then just stopped questioning him. They could hash everything out later.
So, Gaia comes to help. What are we doing?
You let your brothers know you are going to get them out of here. That someone is coming to help them get out from under the evil one. They can’t give it away that anything is different. Can you handle that?