Purple shirt snorted. “Bullshit. No one can do half the things Lilith says they can.”
“She believes it, and that means it’s real to her. So we’d better believe it, as well.” Polka-dot gave a casual shrug and stabbed an overripe peach with his knife and lifted it to his mouth. The juice ran down his arm and dripped onto the table. “Seems that this particular woman, Skyler, has all these superpowers because of her blood. See, she’s Dragonseeker, but she’s also got this Mother Earth thing going on, too. Everyone thinks her mother was strictly human, but she wasn’t. She was mage, and her family was even more powerful than Xavier’s.” He grinned, revealing three gold teeth and a mouthful of peach.
Pink shirt rolled her eyes. “That’s not telling us anything. Why wouldn’t all Carpathians know Skyler was mage? What’s the big deal?They all seem to be one with the earth. Even Gaia is. She can do all sorts of things with dirt.”
“Sheesh, how the hell would I know what that means,” polka-dot asked. “I don’t care one way or another. I’m just telling you what I’ve overheard. I don’t think Skyler even knows why her mother is such a big deal.”
Purple shirt threw his cards down right in the middle of the peach juice. “I hate being cooped up in here. I should be out there finding this bitch Skyler. There’s no reason for me to be pulling this kind of duty when I have seniority.”
“Think of it as a vacation. We can eat and drink for a few days and rest. Just do nothing. We know no one’s coming our way. If they did, the spiders are going to take care of them. We’d hear screams by now,” polka-dot shirt assured them. He stood up abruptly. “Speaking of screams.” His grin turned obscenely evil. “I think I’ll go pass the time with the new widow and her daughters. She didn’t like me eating her husband, but it did make her cooperative. Does anyone want to go with me? I explained to her about buying protection from those pesky demons, and she agreed she needed it now that her husband was gone.”
Purple shirt stood up so fast his chair fell over. “I’ll go with you.”
“Wait a minute,” pink shirt said. “That’s not fair. I want to go, but someone has to be here just in case.” She stood up. “We should draw cards for the chance.”
“I’m not drawing cards against you,” purple shirt said.
Vasilisa, is it possible to target all three of them as they stand?Afanasiv asked.
Her response was to shower them from above and spray them from all sides with the blue crystalline flames. While Afanasiv had been listening to the conversation to gather information, she had been setting up for a battle. The moment he gave the go-ahead, she was ready, engulfing the three demons in pure flames.
The instant the three demons were incinerated, Afanasiv gave theorder for Gaia to move the group forward. She did so quickly, and Afanasiv joined her. The passageway led upward steeply. It was a crude underground corridor, hastily hacked out of the dirt with few supports. At times, they had to find their way over large piles of dirt, where the sides of the tunnel had collapsed and the mounds of soil slid onto the narrow floor.
The door to the portal is just up ahead,Gaia informed them.Afanasiv, you will have to check to see if there are going to be enemies waiting. It’s possible she ordered them to guard every portal to this side.
Thank you for your aid, Gaia.He wasn’t about to waste time on arguing with her to accompany them.
Afanasiv’s spirit slid under the door, taking the small piece of Vasilisa’s spirt with him as he entered the world. The sun hadn’t yet come up, but he would be racing the clock. There were five demons on either side of the portal and another five facing it. Fifteen in all.
I cannot use the demon killer flames on them,Vasilisa admitted.It takes so much energy to wield the flame, and I am unable to produce enough.
Afanasiv could hear the exhaustion in her voice.There is no need, my lady. This can be done another way. You rest, you have done much this rising.
He sent word to Gaia and the others.I will have to retrieve my physical body in order to keep these demons under control while you escape with your women. It will only take a few minutes.
He didn’t wait for an answer. He raced the sun, streaking across the sky to the small cabin where his lifemate protected his body.
I should tell you, there was a little bit of trouble at the cabin,Vasilisa confessed.In all the excitement of rescuing my brothers, I forgot to mention it. I was going to tell you right away, but you wanted to make sure...
What kind of trouble?he demanded.
A couple of demons showed up and performed a little act. They tried to make me think one was my friend, the owner of the inn, and when Irefused to let her in, she said she was leaving a basket of things to restock the cabin.
I do not care in the least about baskets, sívamet, and you know that very well. Get on with it.
I did not open the door, so stop acting like you think I did.
I did not say I thought you opened the door.His tone was milder.I dislike leaving you alone. It is my nature to protect my lifemate. Hearing that you had trouble is upsetting to me. I apologize if I sounded gruff. I knew you didn’t open the door simply because we are here together, and we rescued your brothers and their women. I am not running about looking to find where they have taken my lifemate.
Vasilisa sighed. She didn’t want to tell him she’d been fooled by Odessa. In her defense, she knew the cabin was due to be restocked. It was on the to-do list posted on the wall at the inn and again in her office at home. Her aunt, when she visited, could have easily seen the schedule, and so could anyone visiting the inn.
Why do you keep this information from me now?
They were approaching the cabin. The dead bodies of the demons were nothing but ashes lying in the snow not far from the cabin steps. Afanasiv was an elite hunter. He would be able to read exactly what took place without her having to confess a thing. He was asking her out of courtesy.
I’d prefer to show you the images, Siv. I don’t come off looking very intelligent. I took Odessa at face value instead of paying closer attention and really watching her every move.
Afanasiv was silent as he studied the replay Vasilisa had stored in the memories of her encounter with the demons.I would say you did very well, considering restocking the cabin was already expected. Not certain where you want to go from here, my lady.