Raphael intercepted my march not a minute later. He looked so much like Gavril that it caused me to sob a little.
“All the Sisters are well. Although Mother Superior was asking far too many questions,” Raphael reported.
I felt relief at his words. I didn’t know the kind of chaos Asmodeus or the Count had caused. I nodded back at him without looking him in the eye. I felt shame and guilt. He stopped me, placing his hand on my shoulder.
“Thank you,” he said.
I shook my head with pent-up tears threatening to change into Niagara Falls. I fixed my gaze on his Nike shoes that were stepping on consecrated soil. It comforted me that he had a soul now. I extended my hand to him as my only display of moral support to him. He took it between his, granting that he was the one giving me the moral support. I raised my glance back at him. He offered me a faint smile.
“You loved him?” a blurry Raphael asked me.
I wiped my tears, but it was useless, more flowed like an unleashed storm, keeping my sight blurry and distorted.
“Yes, he—” I hiccuped. “H-iss my best friend,” I said, feeling the enormity of our mutual loss.
Gavril opportunely manifested next to his unaware brother. He was rolling his eyes and making funny faces. A faint, sad smile drew on my face without my permission.
“Maybe I can be your friend too.” Raphael kissed my forehead. Except, I didn’t deserve it.
“It is a very dangerous job position,” I told him, wiping my tears.
“It is vacant. I’ll take it,” he said. His glistening eyes shared a pathetic grin. He was offering me his sincere olive branch. However, I wished he had torn my head off instead. I didn’t deserve that. None of that. He should stay away from me. I was the harbinger of doom, no matter how much Queen Anne thought contrary. But I had no energy to explain all of this.
The drizzle had died, and I could see the first light of dawn in the skyline. We had to attend Gavril’s funeral. I didn’t know if I was going to survive it, emotionally speaking.
“The queen thanks you and welcomes you and your brothers,” I explained to Raphael, although I suspected the rest of the royals would not be so welcoming.
He nodded with a grump. Surely, he had come to the same conclusion as me, or worse, he had heard my thoughts. Which turned me into the worst diplomatic ambassador ever in history. Raphael then changed our topic which was making us feel somewhat uncomfortable.
“Your friend who fought by our side…” He paused, so I could keep up with him. I wondered which one was he referring to, Tiffany or Tricia. “The cute blonde wants to take pictures of my brothers and me,” Raphael complained. Tiffany.
“Cute?” I arched my brow to him. His ears went dark red, and he nervously shuffled his feet. He cleared his throat.
“That’s beside the point.” He cleared his throat again. “What she wants is impossible, and you know it.” I understood his predicament well. It was better if the world didn’t know our worlds existed.
“I’ll try to talk her out of it. Although, have you considered that she might want your phone number instead?” I suggested, waggling my eyebrow at him.
He looked at me as if I had grown a third head, then he grinned to himself and left me to join Nicholas and Francis. They stopped talking the minute they saw me approaching. They had moved closer to the chapel and had taken a seat on a hidden stone bench.
Chapter 59
The sun was emerging from within the forest once again, and the storm clouds were dissipating. It gave me hope that we’d lived to see another day. I caught my breath steaming in the chill of sunrise.
My infamous ghostly best friend Gavril was occupied in deep conversation with Nicholas. Nicholas had a frown for ghostly Gavril. He despised Gavril before as a werewolf, but now it seemed to have escalated to different proportions. I put aside the fact that my prince had stoically accepted the weird and the crazy out of this whole situation. I didn’t know how happy he was about it but, hey, we had just fought evil.
Francis looked like he had seen a ghost. All gazes stared at me, as I marched toward them. Tension built in Nicholas’s broad muscles with veins popping thick as he saw me. Crap. He was barely holding himself together. So was Francis. He looked like he was preparing to slay Nicholas at any given moment.
But Nicholas exchanged a secret glance with Francis and a hungry, tensed smile for me. He really looked dauntingly less Strzyga and less human by the minute. The Sisters would assume he was a demon if they caught sight of him.
I pretended not noticing any of that. “So what is going on?”
“Ailie, I would like one word with you.” Francis’s formal tone of voice told me they were avoiding some topic in front of me.
“My apologies. I need to get out of daylight view. We don’t want to scare the entire convent with my appearance.” Nicholas barely looked at me, striding with unnatural speed toward the old chapel where I was sure he was planning to remain hidden until we could all find a discreet way off the island.
I inhaled, understanding his plight. I wondered how long he had before the hungry beast could break loose. Not much was my humbled guess. I waited to speak until Nicholas out of hearing range.
“Francis, we need to find something to feed him. He can’t go on without food.” Something that wasn’t me or anyone else.
Francis nodded back. “He seems to be holding back good for now. Help is on the way. We got to wait for it,” he explained.
I nodded back, trusting he had taken care of that and praying at the same time that help would come before losing Nicholas. The entire school and convent were at stake. I turned to see him.
“You look like you have seen a ghost,” I prompted him, sitting next to him, unwilling to give into my negative thoughts anymore. Somehow, it felt surreal that just a few hours ago we had been in a battle in this place.
“Did you know Gavril is haunting Our Royal Highness?” he asked me.
“Yup.” I patted his hand.
He looked at me with a very serious you-must-be kidding-me kind of look.
“It sounds like you had a three-way conversation.” I tried to make light of the situation.
“Worse than that. Our Royal Highness almost lost his control arguing with him,” Francis said. Yup, that would be like Gavril. I almost broke into chuckles. “I suggested shackles and chains if he can’t behave.” My pseudo-positive sense of humor was gone. The reality of the situation hit both of us.
We remained silent for a long moment, troubled with the unsaid. Nicholas couldn’t be seen like that. His Royal blood was tainted, and his life was at stake now. Even worse, it was really, really bad that Nicholas could lose control that easy. And it was dreadful that Gavril was now a ghost.
“I will take on as the kingdom’s adviser to the queen,” Francis said, breaking the news.
“That is wonderful, Francis.” I was about to hug him, but he stopped me.
“It’s just temporary,” he explained.
“Why? If my guess is correct, the queen has no clue how to run things. Frankly, the first thing you should do is to pass some law so all female Strzyga become educated. Enough with this ‘so last mediaeval women’ philosophy,” I ranted. For God’s sake, this was the twenty-first century. Little women were a thing of the past. Girls went to school, worked, drove cars, and were independent.
He grinned back at me. “I would like that,” he said. But there was a big BUT coming my way. “But, I don’t want to conflict with any of the lovers the queen may want. I don’t want to be in such position.” His tone of voice went low, and his eyes looked at the ground. Oh, boy.
“Oh. My. God. You are seriously crushing on her, aren’t you?” I asked him.
Startled, he raised his face to see me. He had it bad for the queen. He cleared his throat and straightened up.
“Have you ever considered that she has never been happy? Forced to marry and then took all those lovers. Maybe all she was looking for was for true love,” I told him
.
He arched his eyebrow at me. “When did you become so wise?” He didn’t expect me to answer that. I wasn’t any wiser. He sighed. “I don’t think I am her type,” he sounded defeated.
“Mr. Battle-Hero-of-the-century loses his first battle. Pathetic, really,” I provoked him.
He broke into laughter. “I’d rather face a dragon or two,” he said. That figures. An immortal with all the knowledge of the world, and he is a teenager with women.
“What if you could have children with her?” It was better I broke the news to him.
He gave me that look, the one that says I had grown a couple extra heads. “That would be impossible. I explained to you the rituals—”
“What if by mistake I had changed that?” I flinched my eyes waiting for his response, which could go either way.
“You mean…” He paused, and I nodded back to him to confirm his unspoken suspicions. “What kind of mistake?”
“I tried to heal her with water, and abracadabra.” I snapped my fingers.
“You just saved our kingdom,” he said. “I wished that were true, but without Nicholas as the future crown holder, there will be no kingdom in six years’ time.
“Not really, and unfortunately, I also lost the medallion.” I had to tell him. I sighed, waiting for his reaction.
“No, you didn’t. Gavril has it. I suggest we bury it with him. No one should know,” he admonished.
I nodded back. Then we heard the booming whirring sound of blades in the air, interrupting our thoughts. I knew then who was coming to our rescue—Demyan. Crap.
“Seriously, him?” I raised my voice. The sound was getting rapidly closer. We both turned our sight toward the sky as two large military helicopters flew over. I supposed they were going to land outside the academy as they had done in the past.
“He is our Éminence Grise, Ailie.” He raised his voice for his explanation, but it was not helping me understand.
I looked at him, waiting for more.
“A powerful military secret advisor for the kingdom,” he shouted.
I shook my head, feeling his explanation was still not helping.
“How can we trust him if he works for Ash?” I shouted. The noise was too loud, but the helicopter’s blades were slowing down, which meant they were landing away from our viewpoint.
“I believe Lord Aurous’s cover has blown away. Master Greco would be wise to keep himself clean of any association with him,” Francis explained.
Demyan considered Ash like a father. We couldn’t trust him. I turned my gaze toward the chapel.
“Don’t think about it,” he chastised me.
I shook my head. There were so many things I had to speak with Nicholas about.
“Your impending conversation can wait. He understands it well.”
“But I need to—”
He drew air impatiently before speaking, stopping my plea. “Ailie, he begged me to keep you out of his range or to defend you if worst came to worst,” he explained. Crap.
I hated Ash so much at that moment.
Chapter 60
The signs of Demyan’s military operatives running in different directions inside the convent and the academy had me suddenly worried about Raphael and his pack of werewolves.
A large group of ten marched, armed with heavy equipment, toward the chapel. Four of them carried a large metallic heavy trunk. I feared what that trunk was for. I turned to Francis.
“Come on, lets take care of Gavril’s body,” he said to cue me. We didn’t want the medallion to be found or lost.
I sighed, giving up. I could do more wrong if I was in the vicinity of Nicholas’s hunger frenzy. Everything was out of my hands. I prayed help wasn’t too late or too harsh or too violent. After all, we were all crossing our fingers that no one would see another monster this morning.
Werewolves, hags, warlocks, and hissing Strzyga weren’t the normal thing to live through, at least not for the Sisters or the girls at the academy. As we got closer to the central courtyard, where Gavril’s body still lay next to the large cross, guarded by two wolves, we encountered a mob scene.
Raphael held a carboard box while Tiffany and the other girls threatened him with brooms, pitchforks, candle holders, and I even saw a couple of them holding rocks. None of them had shoes, and it had to be freezing cold. Crap.
“Give us our phones back,” Tiffany ordered him, still wearing the crappy black poncho I gave her. Crap. Phones.
I strode faster to aid Raphael.
“It’s her.”
“She is back. She is back.”
“Ailie…”
Multiple voices called for me as soon as the mob of girls saw me, dropping their rudimentary weapons and rushing to greet me. Simone hugged me first, then the others followed. I gasped because hell had frozen, and this was probably the consequences of that.
What in world was going on? I was suddenly attacked by a mob of loving and adoring girls who used to despise me. Crap. This was weird to say least.
“Let her breathe,” Mother Superior’s voice said, opening a path among the girls to reach me. “Welcome back, Miss Gregory,” she said. She had a beautiful and very sincere smile as she politely grabbed my arm. Why was she using my cover name? I felt like I had fallen inside a rabbit hole. Last time I’d seen them, they all had ruled to exorcise me like Sister Clementine, may her soul rest in peace.
“You did this. Happy? They have all been under your spell since you left. But I know what you are…” Tiffany’s voice raised above everyone else’s. She still held the brass candle holder against Raphael. She was really angry.
“Oh, don’t pay her attention. She has been so strange and difficult since you left,” Simone said to me. Simone, Tiffany’s best friend. This was so-oh confusing.
A second group of military operatives set up two tables very efficiently, one with a large stainless-steel beverage thermos with some hot drink in it, and the second table had boxes. That is when I saw Demyan coming in.
Raphael, give me that box. I’ll make sure they won’t have those phones until we depart. I was planning to electrocute those phones or at the very least take all their memory cards out.
“Mr. Greco and Mr. Tarbelli, what a great pleasure to see you again.” Mother Superior was all smiles for them. Last time I saw her, she had been very upset at Mr. Tarbelli. Things were weird to say the least.
They both greeted her politely.
“We brought you hot chocolate and boat shoes,” Demyan Greco announced.
Everyone screamed with joy and rushed to make a line for the boat shoes first.
“Girls, clean your feet first.” Mother Superior joined them.
I couldn’t help but smile. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught the first group of Demyan’s operatives I had seen before, moving as fast as they could out of the way. They were rolling the black metal trunk they’d brought with them, but this time it was rolling toward the helicopters. The humming was stronger. I knew then who was inside the trunk. Nicholas. I turned to Demyan Greco, who had caught me watching the scene from afar and nodded at me slightly. Our attention detoured from it as we watched Raphael run with the strength of an American football superstar to avoid Tiffany’s candle holder.
“Give my phone back,” she screamed with utter frustration, waving her weapon dangerously as she ran after Raphael. She was not fast enough.
We heard the booming blades of the helicopter picking up speed. Nicholas was in it, but I held back a sob and focused on Raphael, who was reaching for me. Francis and Demyan instantly made a front to protect me, not understanding that he was just delivering those phones not attacking me.
“I will take those phones. Thank you,” I said, pushing Francis and Demyan out of my way. Sister Joana interceded also, standing between Raphael and Tiffany.
“Tiffany, enough. Violence is never the answer,” she said to her, taking the brass weapon out of her hands. “And you, young man.” She raised her finger at Raphael.
> “I will make sure your phones get back to all of you,” Demyan said, taking the box from Raphael’s hands. Raphael growled, holding onto to the box for a split second.
He will take care of the phones, I reassured Raphael. Even though I didn’t trust Demyan, I understood how the brotherhood operated. It was their duty to protect the kingdom’s secrecy first. And phone pictures were a definitive no.
Demyan snapped his fingers, and one of his operatives took the box from his hands.
All the girls now had happy feet and felt warmer with the hot chocolate. I felt grateful for the help despite not trusting Demyan Greco. I moved to get Francis and myself some of that hot chocolate, but Demyan Greco stopped me.
“I suggest taking the coffee instead,” Demyan whispered back at us.
I opened my eyes wide and decided to get into his thoughts.
In about one hour, everyone will fall asleep. We better hurry with everything. Crap. I drew air, trying not to start another scene. Why was he doing this?
We should let him do his job. Last time he was here, the school was in good hands. I shouldn’t have growled at him, but this girl is getting to me, Raphael said, interrupting my murderous thoughts.
Tiffany escaped Sister Joana, confronting Raphael and our little group again.
“Miss Miller, what a pleasure to see you again.” Demyan knew her name. Crap.
“You and you did this.” She pointed fingers at Demyan and me. God, was she ever going to let this go?
“Miss Miller, may I remind you that your parents were about to send you to a psychiatric ward, if it were not for the compassion Mother Superior has for you and convinced all your friends to stay this winter at school to support you, sacrificing their winter vacations to help you. I would advise to be very careful of how you behave at this point,” Demyan Greco threatened politely.
Crap. I felt terrible. They all thought she was crazy, like I was. Hell seriously must have frozen or I had fallen into an alternative world. What was next? Unicorns? Tea with the Mad Hatter? A yellow brick road? Crap.
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