“I am.” His voice boomed out across the silent room.
No. George, please don’t do this. I concentrated every bit of my energy into trying to get the message to him.
The Koldun took a ring from the center of his large book and held it over his head. “Holy Ones, we invoke you. This ring will protect George Alexandrovich and keep him safe when he is within the sacred circle.”
George, I love you. I couldn’t stop the tears that began rolling down my cheeks.
There was no hint on his stone-cold face that he’d heard my message. He held out his left hand for the Koldun to place the ring on his finger. The Koldun kissed George on each cheek. Then both wizards stepped back and took their original places with the others.
The Koldun looked around and smiled. “Now our coven is complete. Thirteen of the most powerful sorcerers in all of Europe. Tonight we shall combine our powers and cast the most ambitious ritual attempted since the mage Levi left the physical planes. Tonight the lich tsar Konstantin Pavlovich will be conjured and destroyed.”
Destroyed? Killing Alix was going to save the tsar from Konstantin? There had to be another way. I glanced around the circle and then frowned. Even with George and the Koldun, there were only twelve robed wizards present. Did Grand Duke Vladimir miscount?
George, you can’t let them do this.
He remained as still as a statue. There was no hint that he’d heard me.
Someone has to save Alix. And if you won’t, I will. I tried another step toward the shield but was held back. I was afraid I would lose my shadow cloak if I tried to penetrate the magic circle a third time.
The thirteenth robed wizard slowly approached the circle. He was allowed to enter, but I still could not pass the magical barrier.
Hidden or not, I could not stand by and watch Alix be sacrificed. I took another step forward.
“I’m afraid you are too late, my beloved. The fun is just about to begin.” The thirteenth wizard pushed his hood back and smiled. It was Danilo.
CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
The crown prince had been deceiving me all along. I should not have been so shocked. But George’s deception hurt even more. How could he willingly give up Alix’s life to defeat Konstantin?
“He cannot risk it, beloved.” Danilo’s voice was poisonous in my head. “Of course, there is a chance that the lich tsar could be defeated some other way, but would you risk the tsar’s life on it?”
Why did you bring me here, then? If you planned to help them kill Alix all along?
“We needed the full coven. We needed to be sure the tsar’s son was committed to his initiation.”
But why … I felt so foolish. And used. Danilo had wanted George to see him kissing my hand. And it probably seemed as if I were enjoying it. I looked across the circle at George. I am so sorry.
“It’s a little late for that now, Duchess,” Danilo said with a sneer.
There was a pounding and the Great Hall doors opened. Suddenly, the room was flooded with the tsar’s imperial guard. It was the Preobrajensky Regiment. Members of the outermost circle of the Order.
“What are you doing?” the Koldun roared. “This is a private ceremony! You are forbidden to enter this room!”
A familiar voice barked out, “This ritual is over by the order of the tsar.” It was my brother. I’d never been so happy to see Petya in my life before.
One by one, the Black Magi were being arrested, and their hoods were removed. I watched Papus and Sucre as they were handcuffed and led away. The protective circle was weakened just enough for me to slip inside.
I knew my original plan was ruined, but I still hoped to get Alix back to Smolny before the headmistress realized she was missing. I fortified my shadow cloak and brushed past two wizards toward Alix. Right in front of the Koldun, who was being arrested by my brother.
I bent down to untie the ropes around Alix’s feet. “Don’t be frightened,” I whispered. “It’s only me. I’m going to get you out of here safely.”
“Do not touch me, demon.”
I let the shadows fade from around me. “Alix, I am so sorry that Monsieur Sucre came after you. I won’t let them harm you.”
“I can take care of myself, Katerina. Take your hands off of me.” She growled softly, only for my ears to hear.
She unnerved me but did not frighten me. I finished untying the knots around her ankles and reached for the rope around her hands. “Nicholas must be worried sick about you. Don’t do anything that would take you away from him, Alix.”
She glared at me. “It is unnatural to walk in darkness as you do.”
“No more unnatural than changing into an animal and ripping someone’s throat out.” I grabbed Alix’s hands. The knots were finally undone.
Alix jerked her hands out of mine. “If I could have changed, I could have chewed through the ropes and killed the Koldun.”
“And you would have been executed for killing the tsar’s brother. We’ve got to let the tsar’s men take care of this. Come back to Smolny with me. We can sneak back in before Madame Tomilov knows any of us are gone.”
Alix shook her head. “The tsar’s life is in danger. What if they bring back Konstantin? We must stop the Koldun.”
“It was you,” I said. “Fighting with us at Peterhof. The white wolf.”
“Of course,” Alix whispered. “My sisters were there as well, but I kept close to protect the tsarevitch.”
I glanced around the room. “The guards have stopped the ritual. The tsar should be safe.”
Elena approached us in the dark shadows of the hallway where we were hiding. “I know a way out of here. Where no one will notice three silly students.”
But at that moment, some of the magi began to fight back. A blinding light filled the Great Hall as Papus broke free of his captors and shouted, “Brothers! Do not surrender!”
The soldiers fell to the floor, moaning and writhing in pain. I gasped, searching wildly for Petya. But he was not in the Great Hall. Where had he gone?
I looked around at the other wizards, all of whom had now been unmasked by the imperial guard. I did not see George or Danilo.
I was worried that Papus would kill the tsar’s men with his spells. The Koldun was fighting back against the guards as well. “We’ve got to help the guards.”
“Katerina, are you insane?” Elena asked. “We have to get out of here. We can’t fight wizards.”
Alix looked at me, her face grim. “I don’t think that mage wanted to protect the tsar,” she said, pointing at Papus. “It sounded to me like some of the members of the Order were planning to double-cross the others.”
Sucre and Danilo did not have the tsar’s best interests at heart, I was sure. And neither did Papus, it seemed. Had the Koldun been aware of the true goal of tonight’s ritual? Had he plotted against the tsar as well?
“Where is your ribbon?” I asked. “If you can distract the Koldun, I think I know a spell that can stop him.”
Alix put a hand on my wrist and squeezed it painfully. “No. You cannot use evil to fight evil, Katerina Alexandrovna,” she said.
“Both of you are insane,” Elena said, exasperated. She shook her head and ran off.
“Elena, wait!”
Alix glared after our roommate. “She will not help us.”
“But what if she goes to warn her brother?”
“I think the grand duke can take care of him,” Alix said, nodding behind me.
I ran to the doorway where Alix was looking. We could hear lots of shouting and crashing of furniture coming from beyond the Great Hall. George and Danilo were fighting. “No!” I gasped, feeling sick and dizzy at the same time.
It was a magical duel. The crown prince and the grand duke circled each other warily. Danilo held up his left hand and muttered something in Serbian. The room began to fill with smoke.
George waved his hand and the smoke cleared just as rapidly.
Alix was behind me, tugging on my sleeve. “Come on,” she
whispered. “The Koldun has to be stopped.”
But I couldn’t move. I was frozen with fear for George.
“There’s nothing you can do to help him,” Alix said. “They’ve sealed the room.”
There was a magical barrier similar to the empress’s Smolny spell preventing me from entering the chamber. I wasn’t sure who had put the barrier up, but I had a feeling it had been George.
The tsar’s son was holding his own against Danilo. He deftly countered everything the crown prince threw at him. It was beautiful watching him. Both wizards had shed their robes and were wearing only black uniforms that allowed them to move more gracefully.
A ball of blue fire shot across the room from Danilo. George ducked and the fire slammed into the wall behind him, scattering chunks of plaster with its blast.
“Katerina!” Alix was still behind me, trying to pull me away. The Koldun was still attacking the tsar’s men in the Great Hall behind us.
I turned reluctantly to follow her as George went on the offensive and blasted Danilo with a bolt of lightning.
Most of the tsar’s men were already incapacitated and writhing on the floor. I could not do what Alix wished. I could not stand by and not use my powers, when there were innocent people being hurt. I closed my eyes and gathered up every ounce of power I ever believed I possessed. The cold light stung as it uncoiled from deep inside me. I did not want to kill the Koldun, but I would not let him hurt another member of the imperial guard. I had to save my brother.
My cold light reached out, seeking the Koldun. The cold light was attracted by the wizard’s shadowy aura. He was wounded, already dying.
Alix took her ribbon from a hidden pocket in her skirt and drew it around her neck. The transformation from girl to wolf happened so fast I could not believe my eyes. A blur of white fur blew past me and leapt at the Koldun. The two went tumbling back and slid into the wall on the far side of the room.
When the Koldun ceased casting his spell, the last of the protective wards fell apart.
CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
There had been more than two times as many imperial guards as there were wizards, and yet the wizards seemed to be holding their own. Until the Koldun lost his concentration. The last of the magic protections ended and the Great Hall was flooded with everything the wizards had been keeping out. Their ceremony had attracted all sorts of spectral attention, and not all of it had been beneficent. Which made perfect sense. A Dark Court ritual would of course attract the darkest of spirits.
I saw and felt the bone-chilling cold light sweeping past me as it rushed toward the Koldun. Alix tumbled out of the way. I caught a glimpse of the damage she had done to the Koldun before the angry spirits surrounded him. They attacked him much like a swarm of angry bees. It was a horrible death. Even if he had been a horrible man.
I repressed a shudder as I hurried over to Alix. I reached for the ribbon around her neck, to help her change back, but she growled at me. Her fur was matted with blood. “Let me help you, Alix.”
With her fangs still bared, she pushed past me and ran for the door. It occurred to me that perhaps she did not want to transform in front of everyone. I hoped she could return to Smolny safely.
There was only one thing left for me to concentrate on: George and Danilo’s duel. They were still at it in the room outside the Great Hall, throwing balls of energy at each other as well as trading sword blows. I ran to the doorway, but felt someone approaching behind me.
“Katiya, what the devil are you doing here?” It was Petya. Behind him was Nicholas Alexandrovich.
“Trying to save the grand duke. Let go of me. I have to help him.”
The tsarevitch shook his head and chuckled. “Georgi’s doing just fine on his own, Duchess.”
A fireball exploded behind the Montenegrin crown prince. He ducked and almost lost his right ear to George’s sword.
“Enough of this,” Danilo snarled. From his breast pocket he pulled out a revolver.
I gasped. “Danilo, no!” I pushed out of my brother’s arms into the hall, flinging myself in front of George. I felt sharp pains in my head as I hurtled through the magic barrier.
“Katiya, wait!” George shouted. He mumbled something in Greek as I heard a shot.
The room filled with gun smoke. Danilo’s revolver had misfired. He dropped the weapon to the ground as he searched for a way to escape in the haze.
George’s arm was around my waist, pulling me closer to him, and I felt his warm lips pressed against my ear. “Go back to your brother, Katiya. I can’t worry about you right now.”
Mon Dieu. There were so many things I wanted to say to the arrogant grand duke, but there wasn’t time. He let go of me as several men rushed into the room from all directions. I could not find Petya or the tsarevitch in the confusion.
My arms were grabbed from behind by two very strong hands. “Oh no, Duchess. You are coming with us.” Sucre had found me.
“How did you get away from the guards?” I asked. I looked around, hoping Petya was unharmed and would realize that I needed his help.
Sucre just laughed. “Do not worry your little head about such things. We have business to finish.”
“You are insane. Let me go.”
I struggled, but his fingers dug more deeply into my arms. “Without the Koldun, we are not obligated to protect the tsar any longer,” he said. “Konstantin will be raised with your help, little necromancer. And not so we may put an end to him.”
The Koldun hadn’t been part of the true plot, then. He’d really believed he was helping to destroy the lich tsar. I didn’t know if I’d ever be able to tell Alix the truth.
Sucre pulled me into a smaller chamber off of the Great Hall. Here sat the golden throne I had seen in the Crimea. The sight of the throne filled me with dread. “No …” I tried to pull back from the wizard but he wouldn’t let go.
“Oh yes, Duchess,” Sucre said. His grin was wicked. “You are going to help us find the lich tsar. And then you’re going to help him return to us.”
“I won’t help you.” I looked all around the room, looking for doors, weapons, anything. I needed to get back to help George. Even if he didn’t need, or want, my help.
I heard the door behind us close and the bolt slide into place. Danilo appeared. He was in on the plot as well. He smiled as he walked around me. “I will finish dealing with your grand duke later. After you have helped us raise the lich tsar.”
“We knew you wouldn’t help willingly, Duchess,” Sucre said. “But we know you wouldn’t want anything to happen to your Smolny friend, now, would you?”
The crown prince pushed the throne around and I saw Alix, back in her human shape and wearing a dirty Smolny uniform. She was gagged and tied to the throne. Her eye was blackened where one of the wizards had hit her. Sucre smiled a nasty smile as he showed me Alix’s ribbon and tucked it away in his coat pocket. My heart sank.
“You don’t want anything else to happen to the Hessian princess, do you?” Sucre asked. “I will cut the bitch’s throat in a heartbeat if you do not help us.”
“Why?” I asked Danilo. “Why would you want to bring Konstantin back?”
The crown prince’s face was like a mask. “Thanks to the cursed talisman we used for my ascension, I am now bound to Konstantin. If I give him what he wants, I will be free.”
“He wants to kill the tsar, Danilo. You can’t let that happen.”
The crown prince almost looked apologetic. “If I do not, he will end up killing me. Or worse, possessing me.”
The thought of being bound by blood to the lich tsar in the crown prince’s body made me physically ill. “Surely there is another way.”
“We’ve run out of options, Duchess,” Sucre said. “Help us raise the lich tsar, or the German princess will die.”
I could not allow them to sacrifice Alix. “What do you wish me to do?” I whispered.
The princess’s eyes grew wide and she struggled against her ropes. Sucre struck her wi
th a violent blow to her cheek. She grew very still, but I could see the tears welling up in her eyes as she fought against the pain.
My fists were shaking. I could feel fury rising inside of me. I wanted to let the cold light loose and do something horrible to these men. They had no right to hurt us. “Let her go, and I will help you.”
Danilo laughed. “You must be joking, Katerina.”
“I am not.” I fought to stop trembling. I fought to keep my fears down and looked him coolly in the eye. He wanted a cold-blooded necromancer, and that was what I would be. “Let Alix go, or I won’t cooperate.”
Sucre swore in French, and nodded to the crown prince. “We don’t need her anymore with the Koldun dead. Let her loose.”
Danilo had the sense to look frightened. “But she’s a wolf.”
“Not without the ribbon, she’s not. Let her go. We need the necromancer more.”
Alix glared at me. She was still in too much of a daze from the blow to her head to hurt either Danilo or Sucre. Staggering, she stood up from the throne and somehow managed to lunge for me. I held my arms out to catch her. “Katerina Alexandrovna,” she hissed. “I would rather die than see you do this.”
“See to the grand duke. And please find my brother.”
I could have sworn I heard her growl as she ran past me into the Great Hall. I did not look back at her. Instead, I held Sucre’s gaze, and summoned all the cold-light power I could. It had helped to kill the Koldun. Would it work again?
“Tsk, tsk,” Sucre said, shaking his head at me. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you, Duchess. The Koldun was killed not by you but by the dark spirits he unleashed. Don’t waste your precious powers trying to fight me.” He took a step closer and grabbed my hands, bruising them with his force. “It won’t work.”
The fae cook could read my mind. I closed my eyes. “Tell me what you want me to do, so I can leave.”
Sucre laughed. “Of course. If you would be so kind, Monsieur,” he said, holding out his hand. Papus appeared from the shadowy corner of the room. He pulled a faded scroll from the inside pocket of his vest and handed it to Sucre. It was the scroll he had retrieved from the cave in Massandra. He’d betrayed George and the Order all along.
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