“Vasilisa Sidkorolyavolkva?” One of the four strangers stood at the side of her table, staring down at her with hawklike eyes. “I have a few questions to ask you. Do you mind if I join you?”
She didn’t care for the way he was looking at her. There was just a little too much male interest. She forced a smile. “I was just leaving, but perhaps I could stay for a few minutes. Not long, though.” She glanced toward the bar, where she knew Odessa would be waiting for any kind of signal from her. She indicated the tea set with a small lift of her chin. Odessa hurried through the crowd to retrieve the tea server, never saying a word that part of it was missing.
Around the table, several of the villagers crowded close, cutting off the stranger from his companions as he slipped into the seat Sorina had vacated.
“My name is Nikolay Sokolov and I served with your brother Andros. We were good friends for many years and then lost touch. He told me he lived in a remote village, but honestly, I never considered it wasthisremote.” He gave her a quick grin that was mostly teeth. The smile didn’t reach his eyes. He waited several heartbeats, but she didn’t reply. What was there to say?
So far, she couldn’t detect a lie. Nikolay Sokolov had probably served with Andros in the military. They certainly could have been friends. Once Andros was home, it was more than likely they had lost touch.
“There’s a rumor that Andros is royalty, that these people follow his rule rather than the government’s.”
It wasn’t a question, but Vasilisa first stared at him with shock on her face and then burst out laughing. “Surely a man as intelligent as you appear to be hasn’t fallen for that persistent rumor. Our home, which is on the old palatial grounds, keeps those rumors alive. I must tell my brothers we should burn down the existing house rather than modernize it. Renovations are very costly, so we can only do a little at a time. How utterly ridiculous that you would think they would turn against the government when my brothers served our country with distinction and were honored to do so.” She kept her tone light but with just a touch of contempt. She’d perfected that touch over the years.
Nikolay’s eyes were sharp. Shrewd. A chill slid down her spine. This man was an adversary worth watching. He was most likely an interrogator. The worst of it was, she could smell treachery. The stink of betrayal. Someone in her village was talking to this man. That meant she would have to ferret out who they were being betrayed by and why.
She didn’t like the way his gaze moved over her face and down her body. “I’ll let Andros know you’re staying here at the inn and would like to visit with him.”
“Forgive me for asking a personal question, but I don’t see any evidence that you have been claimed by a man as of yet.”
Her stomach clenched hard. They were on very dangerous ground. She forced a pleasant smile. “I do have a man,” she said simply. “I really must go.” Vasilisa stood up decisively, dragging on her gloves and fitting her hat on her head. She pulled her white fur coat more closely around her, making certain the buttons were in place.
“You have no escort?”
“This is my home, Nikolay Sokolov.” She inclined her head to show respect to him. He was older, the same age as her brother. “I have no need of an escort, but thank you for your concern.” She turned to leave.
“You truly are a beautiful woman.” The compliment slipped out almost as if he couldn’t help himself and hadn’t been expecting it. “Your brother has hidden you away from the world.”
She smiled at him. “My brother knows I do not do well away from the forest and mountains. I can’t breathe in the cities. Here, he protects me.”
“And this man of yours?”
“He is the same.” She hoped she spoke the truth. She had no way of knowing whether she did or not. She knew nothing of the man whose soul had been handed down from mother to daughter and guarded so carefully for centuries. Only that he was close now and that he was in trouble.
She lifted a hand, gave Nikolay Sokolov an enigmatic smile andmoved into the crowd. They parted to allow her through so she could get to the door. Behind her, they closed ranks, making it nearly impossible for Nikolay Sokolov or his three companions to follow her quickly. By the time they made it outside, she was gone. They couldn’t even find her tracks in the snow.
CHAPTER
2
Vasilisa raced through the larch forest going up the mountain toward the area she had always known as Drifter’s Point. It was a rocky, cavernous, treacherous overhang that dropped steeply into a deep gorge. She was fairly certain the man she had connected with was somewhere near Drifter’s Point. She had the impression of that terrain. She ran fast, her feet skimming the snow, making ten- and fifteen-foot leaps to save time.
Urgency was on her now. That whisper of conspiracy. She tasted a hint of betrayal in her mouth as she raced up the mountain. She was connected to all her people through her bloodline. If one fell, she was aware. If one turned, she knew. But which one, that was always the question.
A trap had been set, and she was running straight toward it. Vasilisa swerved off the trail, slowing to consider what to do. She needed to get to her destination, but she had to find those lying in wait for her and dispose of them first. She didn’t dare have them at her back.
Removing her boots, she plunged her bare feet into the snow, driving down as far as she could go, seeking a connection with the earth. She felt a disturbance approximately three miles up the mountain,close to the point. She took her time, letting the connection grow. Four men. All four were her kind. Her people.
For a moment, she felt anger flare, hot and bright, the rage that could take hold and destroy all discipline, destroy all thinking, reducing her from intellect to animal in one flash of fire. Her hands hurt, knuckles popping and fingernails burning. Her toenails sizzled in the snow, fiery, scorching, and she knew if she looked at them, they would be bright red.
She had a choice. She could annihilate her enemy—perhaps—or she could stay in control and know for certain she could do it by using her brain. They could simply shoot her if she threw herself at them like an animal, and she would never know whether or not she could have defeated them had she kept her wits about her. With effort, she pushed down the animalistic temper and regained control of herself.
Vasilisa shoved her boots into the larger inside pockets of her coat and once more began the approach to Drifter’s Point. This time, she stayed off the accepted path, using the cover of the trees. She called softly to the owls in the area to spy for her. There were several red squirrels in trees near the site where the conspirators waited to ambush her. The squirrels eagerly accepted her orders.
She couldn’t call in the wolf pack. That would be too dangerous, considering there were four betrayers waiting, but there was a vicious little wolverine skulking close to the icy stream not too far from where the four men waited somewhat impatiently for her arrival. She touched it. Wolverines were tricky. This one was female. Sometimes they were cooperative; other times, not so much. Mind-to-mind images with animals didn’t always work, but she was adept at it, and wolverines were intelligent. This creature had no problem helping her. Vasilisa cautioned her to be careful of any weapons the men might have.
She was within striking distance of the four Lycans now. One betrayer was close. She recognized him and her heart sank. Her twin brothers, Garald and Grigor, had grown up with him, gone to schoolwith him, served with him. They counted him as a friend. In the evenings, they often met with him at the inn to talk and drink and have a good time. She couldn’t imagine what would have convinced Alik Bykov to betray her family and their people. She knew her brothers, as tough as they were, would be brokenhearted.
“I thought you said she would be here any minute, Alik,” one of the men groused, lying prone in the snow covered in a white snowsuit.