Rise of the Firebird (3 page)

“The truth of the matter is that her idiocy
should
be punished,” said Vasya Melenko. She was sitting in a chair in Ruthann’s temporary office smoking one cigarette after the other. The smoke was annoying Søren but he didn’t let it show. Søren had met her a few times and still didn’t like her. She’d power but she tried to shield it as much as possible. Søren hadn’t seen her for many years and she hadn’t aged a day past thirty. Ruthann had told him that she was the shadow head of the Illumination, but Søren still didn’t trust her.

“What would punishing her achieve?” Ruthann countered.

“I didn’t say you must punish her, only that she should be.”

“It is hardly her fault. It is not like Aramis or Anya was aware of Yanka’s true involvement with Vasilli or the Darkness,” Søren found himself saying before he could check himself.

“Aramis should’ve come to us when he found out that she was still alive,” Ruthann said.

“Of course, he wouldn’t have come to us! He knows what the Álfr and we thought of Yanka. Only Aramis held some kind of emotional attachment to her after she started to turn dark. He probably thought he was saving her like he was always trying to save her.” Vasya Melenko was watching him coolly, but he didn’t care that he was interrupting and continued, “It’d be in everyone’s best interest if you told Anya everything. Yanka’s betrayal and Vasilli murdering Trajan devastated her. She
wants
to kill them. Let her.” Vasya Melenko and Ruthann shared a long look.

“Do you think she could succeed in such an impossible task?” Ruthann asked finally.

“With the truth and a bit more control over her magic, there’s no guessing what she could do. She will find a way with or without our help.”

“What about Ilya’s prophecy?” asked Vasya Melenko.

“Which one? He had hundreds,” Ruthann answered vaguely.

“You know the one, Ruthann. The one that Aramis has no clue about even though he has collected every single prophecy concerning Yanka and her family.”

Søren knew of Aramis’ obsession. If there was a prophecy that he hadn’t found, it must’ve been extremely well hidden. It would be one more thing that his brother would be angry about.

“I will consider showing them,” said Ruthann coolly.

“Do that, she has potential. As for me, I am going to turn in. I’m not as young as I used to be.” She got up and smoothed her skirt before lighting another cigarette and leaving the study.

“How is Aramis?” Ruthann asked once the door had closed.

“He’s much better because of Anya. When we brought him back here, he was half mad. We had to amputate his hand. There was no way we could save it.”

“What did Anya do to him?”

“I was actually hoping you could tell me. I walked into his chamber, and she was lying against his chest and magic was pouring out of her and into him. It was as if it melded with his and became something different. I’ve never seen anything like it. She was glowing where they touched. Afterwards, Aramis said his pain was almost gone and was actually laughing with her. It was like they were both high.” Søren started to pace. “It wasn’t the first time it happened either. Anya said Aramis had done it to her once before. They have this strange bond and their magic wants to touch all the time. Anya described it as her magic being infatuated with Aramis.” Ruthann got up and poured himself and Søren some wine.

“If what you said is true, then it sounds to me like she cleansed his soul.”

“Excuse me?” Søren choked on his drink.

“I cannot be certain but it has been known to happen. It shouldn’t be possible between those two though. In the only documented cases, the participants had years and years of training to develop the talent.”

“What do you mean by cleansing his soul?”

“She takes his soul into her body and fills its place with her magic to heal him while she pulls the darkness out of his soul and then puts it back into his body,” Ruthann explained and refilled their glasses.

“And she had no idea what she was doing,” Søren said feeling a little dazed. “She only wanted to make him feel better.”

“She has a very soft heart but a vast amount of power. She could’ve killed him.”

“If we tell her that, she’ll panic. She would never harm him, not even after all of this. She doesn’t even blame him for Vasilli killing Trajan, her
ástir
.”

“It’s a lot of trouble that has landed on us,” Ruthann sighed.

“We knew it was bound to happen one day. Yanka was still alive even though she was incapacitated. It’ll never stop until she is dead.”

“We have tried to kill her. We tried every way possible. The closest we have achieved was to hold her in a coma. Even in that state, her power protected her from harm.”

“Anya will kill her,” Søren said with absolute certainty.

“Will she? Yanka is
blóđ
.”

“Yanka is not her family. They are her family. Vasilli and Yanka killed her Thanatos and destroyed the bodies of the Thunder Twins. Yanka wanted to kill her and the rest of them. She didn’t anticipate that Anya could block a magical attack.”

“Only for herself though. If the others live, it is because Yanka wanted them to.”

“You’re wrong. Anya shielded all of them. Her power mingled with Aramis’s and she blocked Yanka’s attack. It wasn’t perfectly done but it worked for the most part.”

“If she has that kind of ability, then she may very well be the only thing that could match Yanka. I fear, if she isn’t stopped soon, this world is going to burn.”

Aleksandra sat next to the carved wooden bed watching Mychal toss and turn in his sleep. Mychal had been extremely firm with her on the matter of touching him when he was dreaming. Now she was forced to wait out the nightmares and try to comfort him when they were over.

Mychal was still uneasy in a crowd, but he was slowly becoming accustomed to the other people around him. Helping the Álfr get all of the wounded through the gates had been a turning point. He actually made an effort to appear comfortable around them now, even though he wasn’t. He still carried his “I could kill you before you draw your next breath” aura, but she doubted that would ever change.

Mychal inhaled deeply and then stilled. His black eyes opened slowly and fixed on her. She smiled gently and offered him a damp cloth. He sat up slowly and ran his hands through his thick black curls before taking it.

“How long have you been awake?” he asked huskily.

“About an hour,” she said as she got up, kissed his forehead, and walked to the kitchen. The Álfr had given them all fully self-contained rooms, which Aleksandra was thankful for. She filled a glass with cold water for him and when she turned, he was sitting at the bench. She passed him the water and brushed his hair back from his eyes.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“Nothing to talk about,” he replied as he drank his water. The hurt must’ve shown on her face because he took her hand. “It’s not because I wouldn’t like to tell you. It’s because I can’t remember it.”

“This better not be you trying to lie to me like you did to Vadim all those years,” she said firmly.

“Why would I do that?” he asked innocently, a very small smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

“Don’t you dare try to distract me! It’s not going to work about this,” she said with as much conviction as she could muster. Mychal distracted her so easily that it was embarrassing. It would take a cold woman not to respond to him when he was being cheeky and playful. She was slowly getting to know him, but sometimes he made it hard work.

“Fine, keep your secrets,” she said when he didn’t reply. She turned to go back to bed but he pulled her back, hugging her close to his chest.

“Thank you,” he whispered.

“Don’t forget that we are in this together, my heart. You don’t have to carry your burdens alone.”

“God, I could murder a cheeseburger right now,” said Fox as she paced.

“Will you stop talking about cheeseburgers!” snapped Harley, as she scratched at the bandages that covered her wound. “God, this thing is itchy.”

“I can’t help it. I’m bored. I want a computer. I need distraction or more alcohol.”

“I’m sure if you asked for a laptop that they would give you one.”

“I doubt that.”

“We aren’t prisoners you know. Ask for one or I will ask for you.”

“How long do you think we need to stay here?”

“God, Fox, I don’t know. I will go and ask Anya right now.” Harley got off the couch and wandered out into the hallway. She loved Fox with all of her heart but when she was bored, she became intolerable. She found Anya in her chambers dozing on a sun bed, the black circles around her eyes giving her a haunted look that Harley found unnerving.

“How are you, Harley?” Anya asked as she stretched.

“My wound is itching, but Fox is driving me crazy.”

“Why? Is she okay?”

“There is nothing physically wrong with her, but having no computer is absolutely killing her.”

“I’m sure that Søren could organise one for her.”

“That’d be a relief to her and a huge one for me. You wouldn’t happen to know when we are going to leave.”

“It won’t be very long away if I can help it. Once I get the information I need from Ruthann, I’ll be leaving to hunt Yanka and Vasilli. I did tell you that you are all free to leave whenever you like without me.” Harley waved her comments away with a flick of her brown hand.

“Fox is in a mood. It will pass once she has something to distract her.”

“I’ll go and find Søren immediately and get her a laptop. Hopefully she can use it to get us some kind of news on the outside world.”

Following obscure directions from various helpful Álfr, Anya finally found Søren in a training room. She went in quietly, so not to disturb him and so she could watch him in action.

Aramis had always hidden his
Dauđi Dómr
tattoos, but Søren wore his proudly. They stretched in a long wave from the front of his right hip, across his stomach, curved around his back to his shoulders where they splayed out in branches of a tree, and curled down his arms to his hands. It was beautiful and bold against his pearly skin.

Søren’s fighting style was completely different to Aramis. Aramis fought fluid and cool like a dancer in water. Søren was all fire and heat. He was quick as a flame and just as terrifying, hypnotic, and deadly. All Anya could do was watch with her mouth hanging open. A fine silver knife flew from his fingertips and thunked into the wall beside her ear. Anya stayed perfectly still, too afraid to move.

“What do you want,
Elenya
?” he asked as he walked up and pulled the knife from the wood.

“Um.”

“Um?” Søren mocked. He was standing extremely close and she wasn’t quite sure where to look. She could smell the heat off his skin and her magic rose to her throat.

“I would like not to have knives flying toward my head for a start,” she said as she tried to remember what exactly she was there for.

“If I wanted to kill you, you’d be dead.”

“That’s not reassuring.”

“It’s not meant to be.” Anya took a step back from him quickly, bumping into the wall behind her and banging her head. The corners of Søren’s mouth turned up in an almost smile.

“I wanted to know if I could have a laptop for Fox. She’s bored and giving her one would make her happy. Please.”

“Why ask me?”

“Aramis is incapacitated and…”

“And I am second best?”

“It’s not like that, I didn’t know who else to ask.” Anya felt surprisingly hurt and more than a little wary. His abnormally green eyes stared her down, so she focussed on the damp black ends of his long hair.

“I will see that one is sent to her,” he said after an uncomfortable silence.

“Thank you, I’m sorry to have disturbed you.” His arm shot out against the wall to stop her from leaving.

“I want to show you something.” Anya caught the look Søren was giving her and she reddened.

“It’s not what you are thinking.”

“You don’t know what I am thinking.”

“I don’t have to be able to read your mind,” Søren moved away from her and pulled a black singlet over his head. “My magic can feel it.”

“Great,” Anya muttered.

“Come with me.”

“Are you going to throw anymore knives at me?”

“That all depends on if you are going to behave yourself.” He walked out before she could reply, so she hurried after him.

“Where are we going?”

“It’s a secret.”

“You’re really not one to give anything away, are you?” Anya stuffed her hands into her jeans pockets.

“Can’t you let anything be a surprise?”

“I’ve had far too many bad surprises lately, so now I am viewing them all with suspicion.”

“Hmm, so that means you’re going to be extra surprised by what I show you?”

“You threw a knife at my head, so now I am
extra
suspicious at what you consider a good surprise.”

“You really need to get over that,” Søren replied as he pushed open a heavy set of doors. “Don’t be nervous, it’s not like I’m trying to kidnap you. Believe me, if I was going to, you would know about it and there wouldn’t be a thing you could do to stop me.”

“How odd,” Anya said as she walked toward him.

“What is?”

“Aramis said something very similar to me once.”

“Typical! He was always stealing my best lines.”

“I am going to kidnap you and you can’t stop me is one of your best lines?”

“When it is said the right way, they
want
me to kidnap them.”

“So you think,” Anya couldn’t resist saying. Søren grinned again and Anya peeked at something that could very well be charm.

“Stop arguing with me. We are in a library, you are meant to be quiet.” The spots in front of Anya’s eyes cleared and she saw that they were standing in a long hallway. Massive shelves lined the walls and the hallway lead into a massive vaulted room three stories high.

“Wow,” she said as she stopped to look up at the domed roof.

“No time to gawk,” he said as he took her hand and kept walking. His hand was warm around hers and when she felt her power reaching for his, she pulled her hand free with a jerk. He gave her an odd look.