I stopped and stared at the girl again. She might not seem much for now, but I knew deep down that this innocent human could be my secret weapon to get back at Alex. If I could convince her to bring out her clan, it would be easy to use the hunters as my puppet too. I never thought I would have to rely on my backup plan, but Alex was the only stumbling block I had to toss aside. There was no way I was going to spend the rest of my eternity being the underdog. Not anymore, not to Alexandra Romanov.
"So you're a hunter, huh?" I said, arching my eyebrow in disbelief. "Who sent you here?"
"Just kill me already," Rosa hissed through her teeth. Her bright green eyes gazed at me with hatred. I knew hunters had their code of conducts, so I wasn't going to spend my energy interrogating her either.
Walking toward the girl again, I grabbed her by the throat and stood her up to face me.
"Let me tell you something, honey," I said and brought the sharp blade to her soft freckled cheek. I pressed the edge against her skin a little. Rosa winced in my hand. "I can kill you with just a snap of my fingers, in any way I want at any time I want. But I figure that you can do something for the greater good, so I will give you a chance to live up to it."
"What do you mean?" Rosa asked through her tight throat. I released her from my hand. She dropped back on the couch and coughed.
"Just so you know, I wasn't your real target, young lady. If you and your hunters join force with me..." I said and threw the knife down the table. The sharp curved blade sunk half way through the thick wood. "We all will be freed from this excruciating hell together."
Rosa stared at the knife wide eyes and then turned her face back at me. I reached my hand out and cupped her chin. My face hovered over hers as I stared deep into her green eyes.
"Rosa, you're a smart girl, do you know you can be the one to bring the downfall to the Russian empire?"
"You think I'm going to believe that?" she said with a grimace.
"I understand how miserable your people feel. I was human once," I said. "Seeing you being enslaved like animals just breaks my heart."
"You could have fooled me," Rosa said.
I let out a laugh.
"Alright, so what about this?" I said. "If you don't do as I say, you will die a horrible, painful death, not to mention a worthless one. Just think about it, sweetie. You've got nothing else to lose."
"How can I know whether you will turn against us?" she said.
"Silly girl, I was from the Bolshevik party. You think I forget my enemy?" I pretended to say. Rosa's eyes flicked as if she was molding the idea inside her young naive mind.
"And what do you want me to do?"
I beamed at the girl.
"Tell your hunters that if they follow my plan, they can have the imperial princess—first in line to the Russian throne. How about that?"
"You mean Grand Duchess Alexandra?" Rosa said. I could see her eyes lighted up with nervousness and excitement.
"Exactly." I smiled.
It didn't take me long to find the good old starets man. He was in his office as the guards had told me. Rasputin had just returned from one of the raids he had ordered. The high-profile attacks from the hunters seemed to have multiplied in the last few days. No wonder why the man looked stressed when I entered his room.
"Long day?" I asked, closing the office door behind me and leaned against it. Rasputin jumped in his chair at the sound of my voice.
"What are you doing here?"
"Let me get to the point," I said and walked to his table. Putting my hands on the desktop, I leaned myself forward him. Rasputin stared at me with his mouth flung open. I knew he was trying so hard not to look at the area of my chest.
"I know you've been a good friend to the Czar family," I started. "You gained their respect from your so-called rituals and whatnot, but guess what? You were still the reason why the Bolsheviks dethroned the Czar."
"What are you talking about?"
"What I'm saying is that no matter how hard you try to work for the Grand Duchess, it's still useless," I said. "She will never forget the misfortune you brought to her family."
"That's not true!" Rasputin stood up, his nostrils flared with rising anger.
"Relax," I said and floated to his side. "It's not like we can ignore the fact that you had caused quite a rumor with former Czarina. And we all know Alex loved her mother. Even I don't know whether your love affair was true or not, it had already left a black spot on your name. No one is going to trust you. Admit it, Rasputin, you and I are the dirt in Alexandra's eyes."
"Why do you bring this up? What do you want?" Rasputin was breathing hard now. His violet eyes bore into mine. I knew I had worked him up pretty bad, it amused me.
"I have a plan for you," I whispered, leaning my face toward him.
"A plan?"
"I know it sounds bad and it is," I said with a small giggle. "You can never be great and powerful if someone's already at the top. I know you want power. I just want my freedom back. How about you sit here and do absolutely nothing while I shake my stick and get our wishes granted?"
"Holy sh—" the starets cried as his brain started to work around the scheme, "Don't tell me you want to..."
"Yes, that's what I want to do, and you're now a part of the plan."
Rasputin stumbled backward and then slumped himself down on his chair again. It looked as if the shock was too heavy for him to handle.
"You have no idea what you're up against, Nikol," He spoke in a trembling voice.
"Of course, I'm not that stupid to do the job myself, Rasputin," I said, rolling my eyes at him. "No one can even know that it's us. Think about it."
"How could that be possible?"
"Just bring the tiger out of the cave," I said with an alluring smile, "The hunters will take care of the rest."
I reached my hand out and patted him on the cheek before leaving the room.
Chapter 41
Anastasia
“Long time no see. Are you up for a good ride today, Stardust?" I said to my thoroughbred horse as I stepped in the barn, a bag of pieces of apple in my hand. Stardust's cotton white coat shone like a puffy morning cloud. The mare hung her head over her stall door and let out an eager whinny in response. Her white mane flowed like raw silk. I reached up to pat her strong shoulder. Stardust's ears twitched in delight as I motioned to our human stable boys to take the horse out.
The white mare shook her powerful neck as she walked into a stream of spring sunshine. I took the reins from the stable boy and fed some more apple pieces to the horse.
"You want to get out and go as much as I do, don't you?" I adjusted the saddle on Stardust's back and fastened the throat latch. Then I slipped on my helmet and buckled it up, not that I needed protection. It was an old habit. Before I led my horse outside, my eyes glanced at an enormous coal-black stallion at the end of the stable. It was Alex's favorite horse, Thunderstorm. The horse was all clipped and groomed; his whole body glowed with a coppery shine. In fact, Thunderstorm was even faster than Stardust and much stronger. But now the animal just hung his head low over the stall door, his sad eyes looked at me. I felt sorry for Thunderstorm. He was probably missing his mistress. I turned my head back and tried not to think about Alex.
Once we were out of the barn, I swung onto Stardust's back, taking a deep breath of the fresh morning air. Stardust's impatient hooves pawed on the ground.
"Let's go for a warm-up ride, shall we?" I said and pressed the heels of my riding boots against the horse's sides. Stardust began to gallop forward.
I had left a note for Avery to wait for me at the backyard of the mansion. It was still early and I didn't want to wake her at this hour. But Avery was already there. She was sitting on a loveseat inside the cabana. The silky curtains flicked against the breeze around her. She rose up from the seat when she saw me approaching.
Avery was in her beautiful high-waisted wool dress, which I got for her. Her brown hair braided down one side to match a Byzantine d
esign on the flowing fabric. Her face lighted up. I smiled back at her and then stopped the horse.
"Oh my goodness, Anastasia," she gasped as she eyed the white horse. She walked toward us but then stopped a few steps away. It was more like she didn't want to startle Stardust. I got off the horse and walked toward her and took off my riding helmet.
"Good morning, beautiful," I said, taking her lovely hand in mine and bowed down to kiss it. Avery giggled at my action. I smiled and slid my hands around her waist and pulled her delicate body against mine. Her youthful cheeks blushed crimson.
"You look like you come straight out of a fairy tale," Avery said. She traced her lovely fingers over a row of gold buttons of my white gothic long-tail coat, my favorite riding coat.
"I could say the same thing to you," I said.
Avery giggled and twirled my long wavy blonde hair around with her fingers.
"I don't know whether to call you beautiful or handsome, Anastasia."
"You can call me both," I said with a smirk.
"How vain!" she teased back.
I burst out laughing.
"Right, I can be your princess, and you can be my Cinderella," I said. "Now let me taste those sweet lips before midnight comes."
And I pressed my lips against hers. She took my face in her hands and deepened our kiss. Spring sunlight broke through the clouds and bathed us with its golden warmth.
We would have kissed forever if it wasn't for a snorting sound from Stardust. We broke off and turned ourselves to look at my horse. Stardust shook her horsehair and snorted some more. Avery and I laughed. She walked slowly towards Stardust. I was relieved that Avery wasn't afraid of horses. The creature seemed to welcome her with calmness. Avery reached her hand out and gave a gentle rub on Stardust's white snout.
"She's beautiful," Avery said, "so white and huge like a unicorn!"
I laughed again.
"Her name is Stardust," I told her, coming to stand by her side. "She's a thoroughbred racehorse. Today, Stardust will bring us to places you have never been. Are you ready for a ride with us?"
Avery smiled and nodded. I kissed her lips one more time before proceeding to help her get on the horse's back. I made sure the seat was steady and comfortable for Avery before I got myself up behind her too.
"Ready?" I asked and Avery nodded, looking excited of the feeling of being on a horse.
Gripping the reins, I was also holding her in my arms. Our cheeks brushed faintly against each other. I couldn't stop myself from smiling. Then I tugged the reins, wheeling Stardust around. We headed out of the backyard, going up the small hill then further to the wood.
As we finally got out of the woodland again, Stardust took us into a wide beautiful meadow. Wildflowers of all kinds blossomed everywhere. I made Stardust gallop through the tall green grass and chased little birds just for the thrill of it. Avery laughed and screamed in joy, and she was my joy herself. We rode like that through cold wind and the sunshine. I felt so alive.
Stardust led us to a small creek with clear water running and we decided to take a rest around there. I helped Avery off the horse then let Stardust free to munch on the fresh grass.
Avery and I walked hand in hand up toward a big chestnut tree. She looked around the field with sparkling eyes.
"It's so beautiful here," she breathed. "A small creek, a mountain view and a meadow full of flowers, it's even beautiful than the garden."
"The garden?" I asked. Avery looked at me and then she shook her head.
"Let's rest here," she said instead.
I nodded, and we sat down on the soft green grass under the tree. I gave a peck on Avery's cheek again before rolling onto my back and resting my head on her lap. She giggled and brought her palm to my cheek. I played with her long braided hair and simply enjoyed each other's company.
"I don't want this moment to end," I said later, "If I could stop the sun from setting, I would. I want to stay like this with you. It feels like being in heaven. You make everything even more beautiful than it is."
"You're exaggerating." Avery smiled, stroking my cheek with her thumb.
"I'm not. I do want to stay like this with you forever."
"Forever is not in my time zone, you know," she pointed out.
I looked up into her dark brown eyes. She had grown slowly into a beautiful woman, no longer an innocent teenager I had seen many months ago. Then I moved myself over to make room for Avery and motioned for her to sit down next to me. I pulled her body in my arms, resting her head on my chest and rubbed her back. Neither of us spoke again. We both looked at the high blue sky together.
"Aren't you afraid?" I said again.
"Of what?"
"Of having to be with me for a very long time?"
"No," she said without a pause. "I hope I can live to be a hundred year like you." And we both broke out giggling.
"Then I'll be over two centuries old."
"Except that you don't look the part," Avery added. I laughed again and kissed her on the top of her head. Avery wrapped her arm around me and I tightened my grip around her. If possible, I just wanted to have her close to me at all time.
"Someday I will die, you know," Avery suddenly said, "unless—"
"I still don't want to change anything about you," I interrupted her.
"So you're afraid then?"
I thought of it for a moment before I spoke.
"Yes, I am."
"Why?" Avery's head turned, and she looked at me with a deep frown. Her eyes stirred with confusion. "You think I will end up like Nikol?"
"No, you are you. That's entirely different," I told her. "I'm scared because you mean to me more than anything. You are everything I think about. Everything I've ever wanted. But you don't have to pick a flower because you love it."
"The flower will die anyway," she said.
"Yes, but not so soon."
"Anastasia, why are you talking like that?" Avery said.
"I just want to let you know that you deserve something better. You give me so much, but you forget yourself." I said, looking back at her. "Even it burns my heart to picture you with someone else, I have to admit that sometimes love is about letting go. I wish I had realized that earlier. Alex did."
"Why does everybody always keep saying that to me?" She cried and sat up, crystal tears welled up in her eyes.
"Avery, have you ever stopped to think, that what if I'm not the right person for you?" I said as we stared at each other. "What if it hasn't always been me, but Alex you've been in love with? You chose to be with me, but your heart is in Russia. I could feel the tug of your pain every time the thought of Alex crossed. You saw her first, and not me."
"But I didn't love her then, I loved you, and I still do now."
"I know," I said. "Alex didn't realize she fell in love with you either. You both are quite the same. You're both deeply in love with each other, yet unable to understand your own hearts."
"Anastasia, please!" Avery cried, covering her ears and turning her face away from me. "I don't want to hear it anymore." I looked at her as she wrapped her arms around her knees and began to cry. How I wished she knew I would do anything to kiss the tears away from her face.
"Avery." I moved over to her and pulled her body into my arms again. "I want you to be happy."
"I'm already happy with you, Anastasia," she insisted in a choking voice. She turned around to wrap her arms around my neck. I held her with a sigh and stroked her hair to calm her down.
"Imagine if you were happy with the wrong person, how happy would you be with the right one?" I said.
"Please stop, Anastasia, it hurts," Avery pleaded in tears. Her whole body shook, her breath hitched. I winced at the same pain inside my chest. A small tear rolled down my cheek as I kept holding her.
"I'm so sorry Avery, I love you too much, I have to let you go," I whispered. Avery pressed her face against me and sobbed even harder. In that moment, I realized there was nothing left but two broken hearts.
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Chapter 42
Nikol
The door creaked and Rosa's petite form stepped inside. I rushed over to her and pushed the door shut again. I grabbed Rosa by the wrist and led her back into the room.
"Did anyone see you?" I asked in a low voice.
"No," she said. "I was alone."
"Good." I nodded in relief. "Now tell me what your hunters said about my plan."
"Well, it was hard to convince them, but they finally agreed," Rosa replied. "I told them what you had told me. When everything comes to an end, you will set our people free. We only wait for your turn."
I looked at Rosa, somehow I felt bad for this young girl. It didn't take much for me to twist her mortal mind. Did she actually think I would help them, humans?
"Don't worry about it," I said with a satisfied smile. "The time will come."
"What about the other Romanov?"
"Huh?"
"Grand Duchess Anastasiya, another imperial princess, remember?" Rosa said, sounding as if she was scolding me. I didn't forget about Ana. After I was through with Alex, she would the new heiress of Russia. Of course, that was exactly what I wanted. But I wouldn't tell Rosa that. She had no part in this one.
"Ah," I breathed, pretending to go along with her. "Anastasia won't be much of a problem to us. The princess doesn't care about the politics. Besides she will be exiled from Russia anyway."
In fact, I was more excited to have Anastasia back in my hand. I know I would have to forgive my young duchess for losing her mind over a slave girl. Once I crossed that human girl out of the equation, Anastasia would never dare to escape me ever again. I would make her mine, and we would rule the world together.
"Are you sure we can take them down?" Rosa asked.
"As long as your side doesn't mess up," I said. "But I trust your people."
"You don't look like the trusting type or the trustworthy one," she said, eyeing me in a total judging way. I fought the urge to snap my teeth at her. This little hunter girl was starting to get on my last civilized nerve, but I tried not to let it show. Rosa didn't know the rest of my plan. After the hunters take care of Alex, they would put themselves right into another trap. I had already plotted the whole scheme with Rasputin. One stone kills two birds, how brilliant is that? And when Russia finally falls into my hand, no one could tell me what to do. I will get Anastasia and the empire all to myself. And if anything goes wrong, Rasputin will be the perfect figure for me to frame for this treachery.
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