BELLATRIX

by Natalie Grey

  How could she just turn around and walk away. God, relationships suck and monumental relationships sucked worse.

  Alec poked his head out the back door of the kennel. “You done with your call?”

  “Yeah.” Yelena nodded and headed in.

  “Who were you talking to?” She heard the worry in his voice.

  She tried to give herself an easy out, “Work.”

  He wasn’t fooled, “It was Ciprian, wasn’t it?”

  “Alec, let it be please.” She pushed past him, annoyed with herself. “I don’t want to talk about it, okay?”

  Luckily for her, he didn’t get a chance to answer.

  “Hey, there!” Dmitri called to them from across the room. The big, barrel-chested, man came to enfold Yelena in a hug. “Yelena! Good to have you back.” He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her across the room. She could hear the yipping of dogs beyond. “So how long are you staying?” His eyes full of joy.

  “I don’t know,” she admitted. She smiled up at him. Once, he had seemed impossibly tall to her. She’d teased him about the salt and pepper in his hair. Now it was all grey, and she was almost as tall as he was, “So, I hear there’s a new litter?”

  “Right here.” He held a door open for her and led her over to a large enclosure. Several black balls of fluff tumbled over one another, yipping, while Inger, a massive German Shepherd, reclined in the corner. She looked immensely pleased with herself.

  “Oh, look at them!” Yelena smiled as she reached down to brush her hands over one of the puppies. It tipped over, barked, then righted itself with a shake of its fur.

  At this stage, the puppies looked like little bear cubs. She patted one on the head and laughed as another toddled toward her. “This one! She’s so tiny!”

  “Oh, that’s … yeah.” Dmitri rubbed his hand through his hair and shrugged. “She’s the runt, and no mistake about it. I don’t think anyone’s going to take her.”

  “But she’s so fierce.” Yelena laughed as the puppy struggled for freedom in her arms, giving a growl that was not as intimidating as the puppy hoped. “There, there, little one, you’re safe. You’re safe.” She sat down and let the puppy roam about on her lap. In this moment, she was perfectly content. She watched as the puppy asserted itself, trying to sit proudly and puff out its chest. “Look at her, Dmitri!” Yelena looked up at the older man, then back down at the little puppy, “She’s perfect.”

  Dmitri squatted down next to her. He looked dubious as he scratched his chin. “You have a name for her?”

  “Hmm.” Yelena picked the puppy up and put it right in front of her face. It opened its jaws to try to bark at her, and got caught in a yawn. She laughed and put it down, and the little black puppy snuggled against her.

  Yelena smiled as an image formed in her head. In it, the puppy was the size of a small pony and its fierce growl had the other puppies cringing and rolling onto their backs.

  Yelena’s smile slowly faded as she noticed more details of the image. Things like it being a little out of focus and the whole scene lacked good three dimensional detail, looking flat.

  One last thing started her frowning. She had no control over the image, she could not change the details to better reflect reality. The image faded, as the little puppy’s legs started twitching and she fell asleep.

  “Yelena?” Alec shook her shoulder gently.

  “Hmm? What?”

  Alec pointed at the puppy in her lap, “Dmitri asked if you had a name for this one.”

  “Oh.” Yelena looked away from the puppy, thinking of the little scene she had in her mind. “Hmm, Bellatrix?”

  “Bellatrix?” Dmitri raised an eyebrow. “Big name for a little pup.”

  Yelena looked at the little puppy, all snuggled in her lap. “It means, lady warrior and bringer of light.”

  “That’s an even bigger name,” Alec laughed. But he reached out to stroke the puppy’s head and Yelena felt contentment radiating from the little ball of fur.

  “I like it, though,” Yelena told him. She looked over as Dmitri scooped the puppy off your lap annoyed. “Hey, I wasn’t done cuddling!”

  Dmitri shrugged, “Well, you’ll have to come back tomorrow and help me train them, then, won’t you?” He grinned. “Your brother told me you might like to. I’d be glad to have you. Never met anyone who can communicate with dogs the way you can.”

  Yelena wavered, “I really should go back to my job….”

  “Just stay a week,” Alec suggested. “Say Mama’s sick or something, they’ll let you take off work.”

  Yelena wavered, but Bellatrix’s pitiful mewl caught her heart strings and jerked them hard. She smiled and reached out to tickle the puppy’s stomach. “Okay, one week. Then I go back to the real world,” she promised herself.

  CHAPTER TWO

  “Because I like it here!” Yelena’s voice rang out. There was a chorus of yips from the other room, and she lowered her voice to a whisper. “I’m happier than I’ve been since before I met you, Ciprian.”

  It was true. The last week had been amazing. Every day, the puppies learned something new. Their mother had taken to escaping over a small partition to rest, and only a few of the puppies had figured out how to climb over it and follow her. To Yelena’s pride, Bellatrix was one of them.

  The little puppy was still smaller than the rest, but she was absolutely determined that nothing would slow her down. She would nap in Yelena’s arms for a few minutes after her exertions, and then Yelena would set her down so she could go back to playing, climbing, play-fighting.

  She didn’t follow her brothers and sisters anymore. She explored on her own, utterly fearless.

  “Don’t be ridiculous.” She could practically see Ciprian rolling his eyes. “What are you going to do, work in a kennel for the rest of your life? Wear flannel? Date someone who works in a factory?” he ridiculed her.

  “I didn’t say I was going to—” Yelena started.

  “You don’t have a plan.” He lectured her like she was a small child. “You’re just throwing a tantrum, Yelena. You want me to believe that you would actually stay somewhere there’s no hope for a career? That you’d live in a little cabin? Is there anything in that town?”

  Yelena pressed her lips together angrily. Ciprian couldn’t imagine a life here, that much was clear. At one point, she had felt the same way he did. There was no place for a career here, no way for her to earn as much money as she could in the city.

  But she didn’t miss any of it: not the fancy restaurants, not the suits, nor the elegant apartment. She liked slipping into jeans and a warm shirt at the start of the day, pulling her hair back in a ponytail rather than taking an hour to blow dry it.

  She liked not having to wear makeup. And now that she wasn’t watching women in thousand-dollar dresses throw themselves at Ciprian, she was beginning to realize he wasn’t much of a catch, either.

  She was wondering what the hell had made that fish not smell so bad earlier.

  Ciprian hadn’t realized what she was thinking. “You don’t have to say anything.” He sounded so smug that she wanted to punch him. “Just don’t hurt yourself because we had a little spat. You don’t want me to move on and find someone else while you’re gone, do you?”

  A little spat? Her eyes drew together, her teeth clinched.

  “That is not what happened.” She was shaking in her anger. “What happened is that we broke up, asshole.”

  “What?” He laughed. He actually laughed at her.

  “I said, because apparently we have a bad connection, is we broke up.” She paused a moment to think about it, then added, “No, really, I broke up with you. You cheated on me Ciprian—again if you don’t remember—and I left.”

  Damn, this felt good!

  She smiled out at the view of the valley, leaning back in the chair. “So don’t call me anymore. I’m staying here. And you know what? Don’t find anyone else. It’s not about me wanting you—it’s for their good. N
o one should have to put up with your shit. Goodbye.”

  She hung up. She was shaking, breath coming fast. Had she actually just done that? Had she broken up with him?

  Every woman she knew was crazy about Ciprian, and she’d been the one who got him. She’d be crazy to give that up. She visualized what she always did when she made him angry and he left the apartment in a huff. Him, going out to a club and a dozen women, prettier than she was, throwing themselves at him.

  But somehow, instead of making her sick with fear, the thought didn’t hurt at all right now. For the first time in months, she felt happy. The idea of never talking to him again made her feel like she could fly.

  “Hey.” Dmitri’s voice made her jump. He was at the door to the main room. “You all right? I heard shouting.”

  She started nodding her head, “I’m all right.” Yelena could not stop smiling. “I’m better than all right.”

  “Good.” He smiled as well. “I have an idea. How about you take Bellatrix home tonight?”

  Yelena’s eyes opened, “What? Really?”

  Dmitri shrugged, “Yeah. She’s old enough—eight weeks today, actually. I think it would be good for her to explore a new place. You know I’ll never be able to sell her as a guard dog. And ... it’d take a heart of stone to split you two up.” He grinned wickedly, “Just be careful she doesn’t go on your rugs, ok?“

  Yelena got up from the chair, feeling too damn good to be sitting still, “I will Dmitri, my Mama would flip out.”

  She might flip out anyway, but Yelena would be able to say … well, she’d be able to say that she’d be getting her own place soon.

  Because she was staying. She really could not stop smiling.

  “All right, then.” Dmitri held open the door to let her pass, “Come get a crate and some blankets.”

  ____

  Hundreds of miles away, a door slammed and Ciprian made his way down the stone stairs of his apartment building, fuming.

  He was wrapping a Burberry scarf around his neck, pulling on leather gloves that fit him perfectly. Normally, putting on the clothes that showed his wealth made him happy. He knew how good he looked. Men got out of his way on the sidewalk and women looked at him appreciatively—sometimes they did more than just look.

  Right now, nothing even dented the fury in his chest. She was leaving him. She was leaving him? No one left him, ever!

  He paused on the landing two floors down and looked speculatively at their neighbor’s door. She would ask him inside. She would pour him a brandy and go slip into something lacey, and when Yelena finally came home, she’d find that Ciprian had moved on.

  She’d beg to get him back.

  The thought should have made him smile, but it only infuriated him. He left without knocking on the neighbor’s door, walking out into the sun.

  He found himself walking without purpose, fairly snarling at people to get out of his way. Dammit, he was going to be one of the city’s highest powered attorneys within a year. Certainly worth millions within a few years.

  Yelena was throwing a fit, but she shouldn’t even dare to think for a second, she shouldn’t even dare to pretend that she thought she could do better without him in her life. When she came home she would realize…

  He stopped, staring around himself for a moment, taking in the area, the cars, the people and forced himself to stop ignoring the truth.

  The truth that was making him so angry, and the realization of the truth didn’t make him any happier.

  She really wasn’t coming back.

  When she’d hung up on him this last time, he could feel she’d meant it. She wasn’t coming back. She didn’t even miss him. She’d just walked out without so much as a by-your-leave and she was happy without him.

  He ground his teeth. Then he set off, with a purpose this time.

  To the train station.

  Like hell she was going to leave him.

  CHAPTER THREE

  Bellatrix toddled across the unfamiliar rug, a jumble of not-quite-coordinated puppy legs, until she came to an obstacle. She mewled piteously and looked up at Yelena.

  “You can do it.” Yelena sat cross-legged nearby and smiled down at her. When Bellatrix tried to come snuggle against her, it took resolve not to hug the puppy close. “No, you have to be brave. Come on. Over the books.” She trailed her fingers up one side of the stack of books and down the other. “Come on, you can do it. Then you get a bit of bread,” she whispered to the little puppy, looking at the door to the room, “if you promise not to tell Mama.”

  Emboldened by the promise of treats, Bellatrix propped her front legs up on the books and tried to climb up the side.

  “No.” Yelena started laughing at the spectacle. “You have to jump, Bellatrix. Come on. You can do it!”

  A knock sounded at the door and she looked down at the puppy, smiling. “Come on.” The knock came again and she remembered that she was the only one in the house right now.

  Alec was off skiing, her father had gone to help someone trim a tree that was threatening to fall on a nearby roof, and her mother had gone to the market. “Coming!” She yelled out as she stood up and brushed off her pants.

  She pointed at the little black ball of fur, “You need to keep practicing.”

  She made her way through the house, still smiling as Bellatrix yipped piteously after her. Yelena paused briefly when the image came to her.

  The scene the images depicted had been getting clearer as Bellatrix got older. Somehow the little black fuzz-ball was communicating with her. This latest image almost made her laugh. Bellatrix was the size of a mouse and the books in front of her took on the proportions of a mountain range.

  She turned to call back down the hallway, “What happened to my fierce Trix? You can do this!” By now, she was almost used to the flashes of what felt like Bellatrix talking to her.

  She hadn’t mentioned it to anyone else. It should be impossible. She probably just had a sense of the puppy’s emotions, she decided.

  That would be normal enough, right?

  Then she opened the door, and forgot all about the puppy.

  Her mouth dropped open, “Ciprian?”

  He stood outside the door, tight-lipped, in his elegant wool coat and plaid scarf. He still had his work shoes on, black leather, and his suit. He had taken the overnight train, it seemed, and he did not look pleased.

  The sight of him hit her in the gut, and a wave of anger followed right after it. She wanted to slam the door in his face and lock it.

  How dare he come here? Her voice dropped, “What are you doing here?”

  “Let me in.” He didn’t wait for an answer. He shouldered her aside and she fell back, rubbing at her arm where he’d pushed her out of the way.

  “What are you doing here?” She didn’t like the look in his eyes. “You should go.”

  “I will.” He rounded on her, his hand holding paper. “With you. I got us tickets back to the city.” He held them up as if they were a legal document.

  She slowly backed up and stopped when she ran into the door. “I’m not going back.”

  He walked next to her and slammed one hand against the wall. “You are! Stop this nonsense at once, Yelena. You are coming home!” His breathing was heavy, his frustration came broiling to the surface.

  “I’m not.” She wanted to roll her eyes at his childish banging around. What, did he really think he was going to intimidate her? “And that place isn’t home.” She turned around and pulled the door open. “This is, now.” She pointed outside, “You should go.”

  He spun her around, his touch sudden and unexpected, and pulled her close for a kiss.

  Normally, his kisses melted her. She would forget why she had been mad—it was another woman, it was always another woman—and she would forgive him everything.

  He would smile and say it was so much better when she was happy, wasn’t it? And the fight would be over.

  Now she felt a physical revulsion. Her hands were at h
is chest, pushing him away. She shoved, hard, his surprise evident as he watched her wipe her mouth with the back of her hand.

  She wanted to spit out the taste of him.

  Her eyes furious, she said low and slow, her anger barely held in, “I… said… go!”

  He stared at her in shock. “What did you just say?”

  “Go.” She flung her arm out to point at the still open door. “Is that too complicated for you? I told you ... we broke up! Why is that so difficult to understand? Aren’t you a full blown lawyer that can figure out the vagaries of documents and rules hundreds of years old? What is so difficult about we are finished that you can’t understand it?”

  “Yelena.” His voice was soft now, but something about it scared her. If she were a dog, her hackles would have gone up.

  She hadn’t ever heard him use that tone before, but she knew it instinctively. He stepped toward her, and it took everything she had to stand her ground. “We’re going home.”

  She said nothing. This was a side of him she’d never seen before. She wasn’t entirely sure what to do with it.

  “Yelena….” He was losing patience.

  And then she was furious. That motherfucker!

  “I’m not going.” She stood up straight. “I’m. Not. Going. You leave. We’re done. Go downstairs from your apartment and beat on 2G or go to a club and have them all rub up against you all night, I really don’t give a shit anymore.”

  He hit her.

  He moved so fast she never saw it coming, his boxing training giving weight to that single hit. His hand cracked across her face and she slumped against the wall as she went down. On her hands and knees, fingers tracing over her cheek in shock.

  Had that asshole actually hit her?

  “Get up.” His voice was ugly, his hands clenching and unclenching. “We’re going.”

  She didn’t think, she just reacted. Fury hot in her veins.

  Like hell he was going to get away with this. She launched herself at his knees and took him down, sprawling in the corridor that was now full of cold winter air. She scrambled up and ran for the door, hearing him yell behind her.