“So where’d you get the bird?” Charlotte folded her arms over her chest and lifted an eyebrow. She didn’t trust him yet.
“I was being hunted. There was this…boy. He followed me along with his pet.” He indicated the falcon. “He was strange…like you are.”
“I resemble that remark.” Mr. Třínožka drew himself up.
“And he had these odd, pointed ears. He started throwing things at me—balls of fire. I couldn’t figure it out.” Nikolai’s eyes narrowed at the memory. “When he got too close…I killed him.” Nikolai unsheathed a pocketknife from his jeans. It was stained with a blue-black sort of blood. “The falcon adopted me, so I named him Ears –for his strange owner.”
Charlotte felt all the blood drain out of her face. Impossible.
“Ha!” Mr. Třínožka instantly burst with laughter loud enough to cause little flurries of snow to rain down from the lower tree branches. “You killed an Elf! Come ’ere, boyo!” The Spider grabbed Nikolai up off the ground in a giant embrace. “Any Elf-killer is a friend of ours! Ain’t that right, Charlotte?”
Charlotte’s mind flashed to the image of Valek clinging desperately to Aiden’s throat on her almost-wedding day. The horrified look of death in Aiden’s face –the dark, bluish liquid that had seeped from his throat…Valek’s skin had cracked and singed to smithereens and she’d thought she’d never see either of them again. Could that Elf have been Aiden? Had this mere half-human really dispatched the most ruthless warrior with a mere pocketknife?
“Charlotte?”
She pulled herself away from her reverie to find the three creatures staring at her. Nikolai, in particular, looked at her with the strangest curiosity, the intense frown distorting his features again. The way he looked at her with so many questions. It was as though he knew her.
“Are you all right, there, girly?”
“Yes. Of course.” She forced a smile and shrugged, her cheeks blooming.
Of course Nikolai looked at her that way. He was probably wondering what another mortal could possibly be doing with the likes of these odd two.
Sorry, she thought in his specific direction. He didn’t respond. His eyes only slanted further at her. Maybe he was unable to read thoughts.
“Great! You kin join our band a misfits, Nikolai! Affer all, we can’t jus leave ya out here in this awful chill, kin we?” The Shifter offered warmly. “You’ll catch yer death…or…sumfin’.” He laughed louder at his horrid joke, pulling Nikolai up onto his back and then Charlotte. He tucked Edwin back into his vest. Ears launched himself overhead, circling around the bunch on the ground and screeching. Charlotte’s stomach lurched. Something didn’t feel right.
“I hate riding up front,” Edwin mumbled.
“Good. Wandering around alone was growing tedious,” Nikolai admitted. “I didn’t know what to do next.”
“So, you have no idea who tried to attack you?” Charlotte asked, already gripping tightly to Mr. Třínožka’s scarf. “The one who killed your family?”
Something else flashed in his eyes, but quickly dissipated. “I don’t know. It was too dark. The memory is too hazy.”
Mr. Třínožka’s massive body rocked as he moved over rocks and knolls. Awkwardly, Nikolai wrapped his arms around Charlotte’s middle. Surprised by his bold action, she stiffened against his touch. Noticing this, he instantly released her.
“I-I’m sorry,” he stuttered nervously. “I’ve just never ridden atop a…spider before….”
“No.” She shook her head. “No, I’m sorry. That was my fault. Just an initial reaction.” She smiled politely and faced forward again. “No, you need to hold on, or else this guy will throw you off at full speed. Trust me.”
Mr. Třínožka chortled his response. She thought she heard Edwin harrumph. Again, though a tad more cautious this time, Nikolai wove his arms around her middle to secure himself there. She tried very forcefully to guard her thoughts, just in case, as she felt his breath stir her hair. The muscles in her throat tightened. Her stomach turned upside-down.
“So, is that what you think I am?” he murmured to her. “A Warlock?”
The tiny hairs on the back of her neck prickled, her skin tightening into chill bumps and she hoped he wouldn’t notice. She cleared her throat. “Well…it’s a theory,” she whispered back.
“Look!” She heard Edwin cry.
The oddest house she’d ever seen appeared through the trees just ahead of them, the smokestack billowing up into the sky. It stood, rickety and unkempt with crooked gangway stretching down from the front door and into the snow. Charlotte’s eyes grew wide at the sight of it as she cocked her head. What the heck kind of a place was that?
“Ew.” she heard Nikolai say from behind her. Ears cawed just above them. Charlotte looked to see that the trees in the forest were enchanted—strange eyes were carved into the bark, blinking back at her. These woods seemed heavier than the ones in her Occult. Somehow, they were more malevolent. Darker. How far had Mr. Třínožka’s tunnel stretched and where did they end up?
“Mr. Třínožka, where have you taken us?” She called.
“I jus followed the smell of tea and crumpets. It’s a friendly smell. I know my tea and crumpets, lass. And these days, we need sumfin’ friendly, don’ we?”
Edwin gasped at something in the distance. Her gaze snapped up to spot him. This time she knew it was him. It had to be. There couldn’t possibly be a second Nikolai. Stepping through a thicket of trees into the large clearing, his tall form eclipsed the light filtering down, freezing Charlotte in all of her wariness. Nikolai went rigid behind her as well, but she didn’t care to pay much attention to him. Tears pricked in her eyes, the anger and every ounce of bitterness returning. She did not expect that reaction. That was not how she’d reacted earlier, when she thought Nikolai had been him.
“Stop, please,” she said quietly to the spider. She saw Valek’s silhouette freeze from where he stood down the path. Though still unable to see the details of his face, she knew he was looking right at her. A lump swelled up in her throat again, but for a completely different reason this time.
Mr. Třínožka plucked her from his back, silently setting her on the firm ground. She wound her fingers into tight knots at her sides, the tears streaming down her face in those moments of utter stillness. They felt so warm on her skin in spite of the fresh winter air she hadn’t smelled in days. She could only stand there, studying his silhouette against the…light. Apparently, Valek had been keeping up with his own addiction to the daytime. She wondered how many Fae he’d slaughtered. The dust particles filtered in the golden stream of sun around him. Her knees were locked, refusing to push her forward. If this were another mirage, she would be heartbroken.
Suddenly, he began advancing toward her, slowly at first, beginning in a staggered, broken walk before breaking into a human-paced run. She couldn’t move –could barely breathe. She could only stand there and let the tears burn into her face. But it was Valek this time. She recognized the insurmountable guilt that weighed down each of his steps. The fluid, almost human movements.
He finally reached her, his body striking her as lightning would. His arms enveloped her, crushed her –swallowed her into him.
She couldn’t have dreamed this in a million years. Her mind wasn’t capable of making up so much fantastic detail. The familiar musk of his hair. The honey smell of his breath. The cold feeling of his skin and the electricity that lived in his fantastic inhuman eyes. He was really there before her again. He set her feet back into the snow, though continued to cradle her face with both of his hands. His gaze bore into hers so sadly.
“Lottie, I am so sorry. I should have never left.” He crushed her lips to his, which caused her jaw to instantly go slack as she sighed, feeling his fangs slide along the edge of her bottom lip. Her heart raced as her blood did, her joints condensing to gelatin. But then….
WHAP!
She sent her hand sailing across his face. His mouth fell open. The
look in his eye was a fusion of both shock and despair.
“How could you?” Her whisper shook with furious electricity.
Valek looked at her. There he stood, in all of his magnificence before her. An angel of both death and mercy. He had returned to her, and now she was going to give him hell.
She suspected he probably perceived her strike like he’d been pelted with a sheet of paper. But it was the feeling behind it that counted. “How could you do that to me?” she growled again through gritted teeth.
Valek pulled away from her, a deeper sadness instantly filling his expression. “Lottie, you’re right. I am sorry. It was such a mistake. I believed I was doing the right thing—”
Her eyes stung. Her breaths started to come in involuntary gulps. “How could you just leave me alone? Just like—”
“Please, don’t say it.”
“My parents.” Charlotte silenced herself and dropped her gaze from his. He moved in, grasping the sides of her face again.
“Charlotte, you have to know, I would never just leave you. I had every intention of returning. I would never leave you alone if I knew you would be in any sort of danger. By now, you must understand that.”
“Really?” Bitterness buzzed in her chest. “And what if something happened? What if you found yourself in some sort of trouble? Or what if—” She dropped her words and wrapped her arms around herself, stepping back from him.
“Lottie?” He moved a hair closer, lifting his hand to her chin, but she shoved it away.
“Please, don’t touch me,” she murmured.
Valek fell silent. She didn’t miss what he was doing when she felt that slight, however familiar, pulling headache at her temples. Any other human would not have noticed the sensation at all, but she recognized at once that he was tapping into her mind.
“And please get out of my head,” she warned with a glare up at him.
“Charlotte,” he began, affirmation filling his eyes. He had already heard the thing she wanted to hide. He paused for a minute, studying her face. “Lottie, did…someone…hurt you?”
There was a dangerous energy in the way he said those words. Charlotte bit her lip, tears rolling over her lower eyelid. She turned away from him to look back at the spider, Edwin, and her newest friend, who continued to watch her in wonder.
Immediately, Valek grabbed her shoulders and whirled her around, pulling her close to him again. She felt his cool, soft cheek rest atop her head. They fell silent as he held her for a long moment, listening to her mind in spite of what she said.
“I’ll kill him,” Valek whispered, his voice breaking.
Untitled
Chapter TwentyNight at the End of the Tunnel
* * *
Valek’s words weighed a ton. Dangerous. She knew there was probably so many other profanities he wanted to say, but only those three words came hissing out like wind. Not a threat. Not a warning. A promise. The sound of it was dark and deep.
Finally, he pulled away from her again, glancing up to acknowledge Mr. Třínožka and Edwin. “Thank you for bringing her to me. I wasn’t sure the trail the Witch left would work.”
“Not at all, Valek.” Mr. Třínožka’s massive mustache bristled. “We were happy ta get er outta there. I only followed the smell of Earl Grey. That’s the easiest way to get me to come a callin’!”
“And we were happy to escape as w-well,” Edwin concluded.
“What’s up?” Nikolai jumped off the Spider’s back and rather humanly (clumsily) landed on his knees in snowy ground. Valek, who had apparently not noticed him, appraised the new guy, not breathing while his gaze scoured his ragamuffin appearance. Charlotte noticed again that Valek’s expression seemed somewhat surprised.
“I apologize. I suppose I was a bit distracted, uh—”
“The name’s Nikolai.”
This time Nikolai didn’t offer his hand. There was something angry and territorial about his stance as he studied Valek’s features. Charlotte’s gaze flicked back and forth between the two. Ears screeched from a tree branch above them, the sound reverberating off the surrounding forest.
Valek looked expectantly at Charlotte, who did the very same back at him. She was hoping he might have more of an insight into this stranger’s mind, but Valek only shrugged. Apparently, he heard nothing of much interest.
“We found him after escaping the house.” Charlotte’s cheeks scorched again with the memory. “We happened to bump into him—”
“Quite literally,” Nikolai added.
Valek took a curious step toward the boy. “You are new to our…society?”
“For the most part,” Nikolai said blankly, his stance still broad and unwavering. It almost looked challenging.
Valek’s eyes narrowed. “And who…made you this way?”
“No one made me this way,” there was a sharp edge to Nikolai’s tone. “I’ve always been like this. My parents had no idea. And then we were all attacked.” Nikolai’s voice dropped on the last word, as if it was supposed to hold some significance for Valek.
Ears crowed high above them again. Valek’s eyes widened. Charlotte suspected it was upon seeing something of importance within Nikolai’s mind.
Valek’s mouth went slack, falling utterly still as he continued to study the boy’s face. “Do I…know you?”
Nikolai shrugged and looked past Valek. “I don’t see how you could, being that I thought I was human before all of this. Being whatever I am comes with some interesting perks. Having insight into everyone’s mind. You get to learn a lot.”
So he could read minds, Charlotte deduced.
“What I do know is that I am famished, and at the risk of snacking on your girlfriend, or whatever she is to you, I’m wondering if there’s any food inside that hut. Any food. I’m not picky.”
Charlotte gaped at his brazenness.
Valek cleared his throat. “Yes. Yes, of course.”
The falcon cawed eerily again. The more noise it made, the less and less she liked the thing.
“You’re coming with me, now.” Valek hoisted her into his arms and began weaving back through the dense alley of trees from where he’d come. “I’m not letting you out of my sight again.”
She didn’t answer. She merely proceeded to study him. He looked as magnificent as in every single one of her nightmares. The sun did something to the unnatural fairness of his skin, and the electric color of his eyes, just somehow magnifying the effect they had. She could see every crack of every scar from his battles at the Regime. They were normally cleverly hidden in the shadows. Thinking he was handsome was not enough of an accurate description. God, or the devil, whoever was truly responsible for Valek’s existence, had no idea what they’d created. The world’s most threatening thing. The most dangerous predator. And he belonged to her.
Valek gazed down at her, a small somber smile playing in his eyes as he regarded her, though his mouth remained in a serious line.
“How can you think of me in such a way?” He spoke quietly as he ambled through the afternoon, the reaching tree branches casting wicked shadows, like veins, over his face. “After everything I have done to you. After everything I have put you through, you still adore me?” The expression on his face was distorted, almost sickened even. “You should hate me.”
Charlotte averted her gaze. Of course she could never hate him. No matter what happened, that would be impossible. But she was still very angry and wanted to change the subject. She didn’t need to cease her anger in order to adore him. It was automatic. Involuntary. Unconditional.
“You should hate me, Lottie.” He returned to the argument. “Do you even comprehend what I’ve caused? I’ve broken every promise I’ve ever made to you.”
“It’s not exactly your fault,” she offered quietly at last, still not looking at him. Even thought she agreed she wanted to keep the peace for now. “You assumed you were doing the right thing.”
“It is my fault!” Charlotte could have sworn she saw him blin
k back a wash of red in his eyes. “You’ll never realize it, Charlotte. You’re far too forgiving. You’re naïve.”
“Only when it comes to you.”
“That’s the problem. I’m the one you should be the least forgiving with!” His tone was beginning to build, get angrier.
“What do you want me to say? That it’s because you left I will never be the same? That I can never forgive you and I never want to see your face again? Can we please change the subject? How did you know I was coming? How did Mr. Třínožka and Edwin know where to go?”
“Baba Yaga told me to go outside and wait at the start of her clearing. I suspect Mr. Třínožka’s knowing where to take you was her doing as well. She’s very powerful. She said my constant whining was driving her mad, so she sent me out. I don’t mind. I couldn’t remain in her stuffy little hut any longer.”
Charlotte grimaced. “Is she…nice?”
Valek laughed slightly, though the sound was hollow. “She’s an ally.” He thought for a minute. “For the most part.”
Charlotte wondered what that meant.
“Sarah is there, waiting for us as well. They are devising a plan.”
“For what?”
“To cure you. Baba Yaga believes she knows how to fix you.”
Charlotte clenched her teeth. That never failed to make her blood boil. “You don’t need to fix me,” she muttered.
Valek sighed, but fell silent. Gray moss hung from the low-growing branches, like cobwebs on the trunks of the impossibly tall trees that stretched up to the sun. The hut was just a few steps up ahead. She wondered what time it was.
“Nine.” Valek answered warmly, glancing down at her with a fleeting though devastating smile that made her pulse flutter.
Her teeth chattered. She wound her fingers around material of his coat, burying her nose in it. Valek stopped walking.
“Cold?” he asked, though he didn’t wait for her to answer.
Swiftly, he set her down, her flimsy boots sinking into the deep, wet snow. She hugged her arms tightly to herself, though she was more focused on the surrounding beauty than her own condition.
Of Blood and Magic Page 37
