Lockhart's Confirmation (Vespari Lockhart Book 2)

by J. Stone

  “My family was murdered. Killed by a revenant.”

  “This is terrible. I am sorry to hear.”

  “Thanks.” A silence followed, and for some reason, Wynonna found herself filling it with more details than she typically provided. “I would’ve been,” she said.

  “What do you mean?”

  “An aunt. My oldest brother, Roscoe. He had just married. His wife had moved to our ranch not weeks before it all happened. I don’t think she was pregnant yet, but I know they wanted kids.”

  “Does it hurt to talk about such things?”

  She shrugged. “A little. Bittersweet, I suppose. Thinking of all the good things that will never happen now.”

  “Well,” Magnus told her, slapping his big hand on her shoulder. “I know of loss too. If you want to talk more, I will listen.”

  She smiled up at him. “You’re really not like the other vespari I’ve met, you know?”

  “I get that often,” he replied. Then, pointing forward, he added, “We have arrived. Come. I introduce you to wife and little ones.”

  Wynonna looked at the building where Magnus pointed. There was a stretch of houses, all connected, but all with their own charm, construction, and paint colors. The one the vespari indicated was a combination of cream-colored stones and dark wood. The builders had used red bricks for the house on the left side, while the right was largely wood, painted blue. The whole row of houses had their own unique qualities, but they came together in a lovely way that Wynonna quite appreciated.

  As she looked at each of the connected houses on this cobbled road, Magnus moved ahead of her and grabbed the knob to his home’s door. He pushed it in and had to actually duck a little under the low frame to get inside.

  “Anya!” he shouted. “I have returned!”

  Following Magnus inside and closing the door behind her, Wynonna saw a woman greet the large vespari with a smile, teary eyes, and a big hug. He picked her up and spun her around in his arms, not being nearly as tall or strong as he was.

  Anya had light brown hair that fell in waves to her freckled cheeks. She wore a simple off-white dress with a brown belt around her midsection, and over the dress, she had a long tan coat with sleeves that ended midway between her elbows and wrists. Her feet, however, were bare, and as Magnus sat her down, she tapped her toes against the wood of the floor.

  “It’s good to see you,” Anya told him in that same accent that Magnus had. “I was worried you wouldn’t return this time.”

  “Nonsense. I always come back for you and wee ones.” He looked around. “Where are they?”

  Anya nodded behind her. “Playing out back. Do you want I should get them?”

  “No,” he told her waving his hand dismissively. “They can meet later.”

  “Meet?”

  Magnus pointed over to Wynonna, and Anya just now caught sight of the vespari. “I have brought new friend,” he said. “New vespari. Wynonna Lockhart is her name.”

  “Hi,” Wynonna said with a little wave.

  “Hello, Wynonna,” she replied with a smile.

  Wynonna held out her hand to give the woman a handshake, but she brushed it aside.

  “We give hugs in this family,” she told the vespari.

  The gesture was short lived, however, as Anya pulled back mid embrace. “You smell of filth,” Anya told her, waving her hand in front of her face.

  “Yeah, I keep getting that,” Wynonna replied. “Sorry.”

  “Yes,” Magnus agreed. “I was too polite to mention earlier.”

  Wynonna looked down at herself. “Well, yeah. I mean, I was in the sewers after all. I tried to clean up, but--” She raised her sleeve and sniffed at it. Immediately, she pulled back just like the Volkovs and coughed. “I guess my clothes could stand a cleaning though.”

  “Mm, yes,” Anya told her, rolling her fingers forward in a circular motion. “You strip.”

  “What?”

  “Strip,” she repeated, grabbing the collar of Wynonna’s duster and starting to assist in such an action. “I wash clothes, so strip.” When the vespari didn’t immediately move to action, she repeated, “Strip.”

  Magnus smiled. “I get you something to wear in meantime.”

  “Okay,” Wynonna replied, uncomfortably allowing Anya to take her duster off. When Magnus had gone, she stepped back and told his wife, “I think I can handle the rest on my own.”

  Anya nodded, taking the duster and folding it over her arm. “Very well.”

  Before stripping down any further, she emptied her pockets and took off her gun belt, placing everything on a nearby table. She then reached into the pockets of her duster as Anya held it up for her and did the same to it. Once she’d cleared everything out, Wynonna tugged her shirt out from her jeans and, not bothering to unbutton it, she continued to pull it up and over her head. Afterward, she draped the shirt over her duster in Anya’s out held arm. Next, she kicked her boots off, and pulled her jeans down and finally, she bent over and pried her filthy socks off her feet. After piling all her clothes in Anya’s arms, Magnus’s wife simply took them and just left Wynonna standing there in their entryway, completely naked except for the vespari medallion hanging around her neck.

  Awkward as it was, she didn’t have to wait long. Magnus soon returned, eyes shielded by his massive forearm and holding out some blue fabric in his other hand.

  “Here,” he told her. “I borrow from Anya.”

  Wynonna leaned forward and took the garment, undoing it to see what it was. “Is this a dress?”

  “Yes,” Magnus replied, still covering his eyes.

  “I don’t really do dresses much these days.”

  “Is all Anya wears.”

  “Well, what about you? You have anything I could wear?”

  “I think we are not same size.”

  “Fair point.” Wynonna sighed again. “Fine. I guess it’s not a problem. It’s been a while since I got to be pretty.”

  “I’m sure you look very nice,” he told her, turning around and waiting for her to get dressed.

  Wynonna slipped into the blue dress, trying to think of how long it had been since she’d worn that kind of clothing. Not since she was just a kid and her mom picked her things out, if she remembered correctly. She much preferred pants and a simple shirt to a dress, but as she slipped it on, she felt strangely comfortable in it.

  “Alright,” Wynonna finally said. “You can turn around now.”

  Magnus did so, and he smiled as he looked her over. “You look lovely.”

  She folded her arms at her chest and glared at him.

  “But… I won’t… tell anyone that,” he offered with a vague shrug.

  “Good,” she replied.

  At this point, Anya returned. “Your clothes soak now.”

  “Thank you,” Wynonna told her.

  “Not problem. So, you are vespari too?”

  “I am. I’m going through the confirmation right now.”

  “Ah, Magnus had to do that not long ago.”

  Wynonna turned to the large vespari. “You did. Why?”

  “I’m not from Alexandria,” he said, telling her nothing she didn’t already know. “In Glazino, vespari not as formal as here. My master trained me there, but sent me here for confirmation. Like you, I expect?”

  Wynonna nodded. “I’m from the desert. My master is the only vespari I knew until I came here.”

  “Desert is very different from where we come from,” Anya said.

  “Oh yeah? I’ve heard of Glazino, but I don’t know much about it.”

  “No surprise,” she told her. “Small island. Not much to speak of.”

  “It’s very cold there,” Magnus added. “We didn’t have much there.”

  “Just each other,” Anya said, grabbing his tree trunk of an arm with both her hands.

  “Yes,” he replied, smiling down at her. “Each other.”

  “Speaking of,” Wynonna began. “Where are these little ones of yours?”
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  Magnus smiled wide. “Yes. Come out back. I introduce you to little devils.”

  Both Anya and Magnus turned and walked toward the back of their little home, while Wynonna followed. Before she’d even made it outside, she could hear the children’s shrill, playful screams. Their back door was open, and past the Volkovs’ silhouettes, Wynonna saw small forms dash by. When all three of the adults made it outside, she got her first look at the children playing in the back alley behind the house.

  Magnus stepped outside first, and when the children saw him, they all stopped at once and charged him. The large vespari leaned down with outstretched arms to hug all his children, but they came at him with such speed that they actually managed to knock him backward to the ground. Giggling, the kids dogpiled on top of him, each asking him their own indistinguishable questions.

  Watching this family reunion, Wynonna just smiled and leaned against the doorframe. Eventually, Anya had to reach down and pry each of the children off, so Magnus could get back to his feet.

  “We missed you, papa!” the smallest of them told him.

  Kristina, from what Wynonna remembered. The little, brown haired girl was still wearing her blue and white striped pajamas but had put on big boots suited for cold weather and a jacket over her top. In one hand, she held a stuffed animal of some sort, dangling it just off the ground.

  “I missed you too, little one,” Magnus said, leaning down and picking Kristina up. He propped her up on one arm and looked down at the other two. “Were you all good for your mother?”

  “I was!” their son, Ilya, told him.

  “Mm,” Anya muttered, folding her arms at her chest.

  “Did you bring us anything back?” he asked.

  Ilya had at least dressed for the day unlike his younger sister, but his clothes were fairly hodgepodge, and he’d likely dressed himself. On his head, he wore a knitted toboggan of blue and red yarn, and the curls of his shaggy brown hair crept out from underneath it. Below that, he had on a tan shirt and a yellow and black sweater, and his pants were made of a bright red fabric. Just like Kristina, however, he wore big boots as he stomped around outside their house.

  “No toys,” Magnus told his son. “But I brought guest home.” He pointed over to Wynonna.

  All three children looked over at her, and she offered them a weak smile and timid wave. The Volkovs’ oldest child, Roza, approached her and held out her hand to Wynonna.

  “It is a pleasure,” the young girl told her. “My name is Roza.”

  Wynonna took her hand and shook it. “The pleasure is all mine, Roza.”

  The girl smiled at her and did a little curtsy, pulling out the fabric of her dress to the side as she did. Of the three children, she was the calmest, and she seemed to act more mature than she should have been. Roza wore a simple blue dress not unlike the one Wynonna now wore, and the girl had a white coat warming her arms. Unlike her younger siblings, she didn’t wear the same type of boots as them, and she just had on a pair of slippers over her feet.

  “So, no toys?” Ilya asked, looking up at his father.

  Magnus frowned down at the boy, while Kristina tapped at her father’s arm, alerting him that she wanted down. He obliged and set the little girl down on the ground. Kristina folded her arms behind her back and stepped toward Wynonna.

  “My name is Kristina!” she declared. “What is yours?”

  “Wynonna,” she replied.

  “You wear a medallion like papa,” she quickly pointed out.

  Wynonna nodded, reaching up to her neck and lifting up the seven-pointed star medallion with the little crescent moon etched into it. “I do.”

  Kristina leaned in closer. “Does that… does that mean you’re a vespari too?”

  “Yep,” she said.

  “Really? You’re really a vespari?” Kristina asked with a big smile.

  “I am,” Wynonna replied.

  “I knew it! I knew girls could be vespari too!”

  “Oh yeah?”

  The little girl tapped her chest proudly. “I’m going to be a vespari when I grow up too. Like papa! Like you!”

  “Good to hear,” Wynonna said, bending down to her eye line. “But being a vespari is pretty tough. You think you can handle it?”

  “I’m as tough as papa! He’s been training me!”

  “He’s what?” Anya asked, slapping her husband’s shoulder.

  “Oh, no, it’s nothing,” Magnus replied with a way too big smile. “Little games, we play. Nothing more.”

  “Mm,” Anya muttered, folding her arms at her chest once again. “We discuss later.”

  Kristina started tapping Wynonna’s leg. “Wynnie,” she said.

  “Yes?” she asked, looking down at the girl.

  “What kind of monsters have you killed?”

  Wynonna smiled, leaned down, and picked her up. “Well, a bit of this and that. My most recent was a pair of nagas.”

  The little girl’s eyes lit up and she turned around. “Papa! Have you ever killed a naga?”

  Magnus shook his head. “Not yet.”

  Kristina turned back to Wynonna and started tapping her chest. “Have you ever killed a denerator? Papa has killed bunches of those.”

  “A denerator?” Wynonna asked, looking to Magnus.

  “Degenerator,” he corrected. “And they don’t seem to live here, far as I see. Just in Glazino.”

  “Well, I guess the answer is no then,” she said to the little girl. “Never even seen one.”

  “They’re gross,” she replied, scrunching her face together.

  “They steal people from their homes in the middle of the night!” Ilya added.

  “Oh?” Wynonna asked.

  “They take them down underground!” he elaborated. “No one sees them ever again!”

  Kristina tapped Wynonna again. “And then, and then, the denerator turns the people into more denerators.”

  “They feed ‘em filth and make ‘em change!” Ilya said, throwing his arms up in the air.

  “You’re both gross,” Roza said, mirroring her mother’s crossed arms.

  “Roza is right,” Wynonna said, making a face at the little girl in her arms. “That does sound gross.”

  Kristina matched the face and nodded.

  “Perhaps, we should find another topic,” Anya suggested. Rubbing her arms, she added, “Inside house.”

  “Come on, wee ones,” Magnus said. “Inside.”

  Ilya groaned a little before stomping his big boots and heading that way, while Roza didn’t object and moved right on past Wynonna. As for Kristina, Wynonna sat her down and she happily skipped inside after her sister and followed by her brother. Wynonna let both Magnus and Anya go inside first, and she then came in with them, closing the door behind her.

  After moving indoors, Kristina insisted they all play a game she loved called snapdragon, where they’d attempt to snatch raisins from a shallow pool of brandy set alight. Wynonna agreed, eager to spend time with the sweet girl. Magnus and her brother, Ilya, played as well, while Anya and their eldest daughter, Roza, prepared a small lunch. When the food was ready, which Wynonna found to be sandwiches, they paused their game and ate.

  Following lunch, Kristina and Ilya had both forgotten about their game of snapdragon and all three children insisted Wynonna tell them a story. Though much of what had happened to her of late wasn’t very appropriate for children their age, she did have some stories she could relate to them. These weren’t tales that happened to her, but rather ones that her mother had told her when she was young, ones passed down through their family.

  Most of the stories involved the animals of the desert, like coyotes, rabbits, and birds, especially ravens. Each of the tales either tried to relate some moral tale or an explanation for the way the world worked. There was a story for how the sun came to be or why the desert was so dry. There was a reason for the color of the sky and the monsters of the world. Wynonna never gave any of these stories much thought as either a child
or an adult; she always just enjoyed them for what they were and tried not to look too deep into what they really meant. Regardless, they were a big hit with the Volkov children, and Wynonna found them quickly enamored with her, most notably Kristina.

  ***

  After Wynonna had run out of stories she could tell the children, Magnus tried telling one of his own. The children had all heard it, however, and they lost interest. By this time, the sun was nearing the horizon, which Wynonna was increasingly finding meant a sooner night than it had in the desert where she’d grown up.

  This also meant that dinner soon arrived and went. Magnus had been right to call it a feast, and by the end of it, Wynonna just leaned back in her seat, feeling paralyzed by the meal. When everyone had eaten their fill, Roza and Magnus cleared away and cleaned the dishes, while Anya had the task of sending their younger children to bed.

  Given Kristina’s near instant affection for Wynonna, the vespari agreed to help, carrying the sleepy young girl into the children’s shared bedroom. Once Anya helped them change for bed, Kristina asked Wynonna to tuck her in, which she gladly did.

  The night’s experience was pleasant, but it just reminded her of what the Gentleman had taken from her. If he’d never stopped at their ranch, she’d likely be at home with her own family, waiting for her sister-in-law to provide her with a niece or nephew. Tucking Kristina in, Wynonna found tears welling in her eyes, and she wasn’t sure if they were from sadness or happiness. She preferred to think the latter and wiped them away, giving the young girl a kiss on the forehead.

  Her brother needed no special attention, and soon Roza joined them as well, getting ready all on her own. Wynonna and Anya soon left the children’s room and returned to the living area to find Magnus sitting in front of the fireplace, stoking it with a poker in one hand and holding a glass in the other.

  Both women joined him, and he poured them each their own glass of what turned out to be vodka. With the children down, the adults enjoyed a bit of quiet. Magnus related the story of his most recent monster kill and Wynonna did the same, leaving out a few details when it came to what she found in the nagas’ lair. After a time, they were all ready for bed, and Anya set to give Wynonna a place to sleep for the night.