by C. T. Adams
I tapped my fingers on my jeans. I didn’t look at him. I just stared out the window into the lightly falling snow. “For what it’s worth, Bobby—I really didn’t know. I did screw up and you could have left me that way.”
The scent must have been strong to break through the cologne. The distinct scent of midnight in London drifted through the van. The misty, fog bank scent means sorrow. The scent surprised me. I expected anger or frustration.
“Yeah. I know. I’ve watched you take a lot of shit in your life and bear up under it. But you need to start using that brain of yours for something other than figuring out ways to punish yourself for being Sazi. It’s not your fault, Tony.”
I started visibly and turned to stare at him open-mouthed. What the hell was he talking about? I stepped out of the car and turned to ask him but he pulled away from the curb with the door hanging open. I watched the van swerve slightly on the snow about half a block down as he reached over, pushed the two storage boxes through the sliding door before both doors slammed shut.
Chapter 9
I STOOD ON the sidewalk in the snow, staring down the road long after the van disappeared. Bobby’s got that same nasty habit as my old friend John-Boy. They psychoanalyze people against their will. Still, the words stuck. Was that what I’ve been doing? Do I intentionally piss people off so they’ll beat the crap out of me? No. Of course it’s not my fault I am what I’ve become. It’s Babs’s fault that I’m a frigging half-breed animal.
Ah, got it.
I shook my head and walked down to where he had pushed out the boxes of guns and gold. I needed to get them inside or the bottoms were liable to collapse from getting wet.
“Tony?” I turned to the voice and saw Sue standing in the doorway of the building, clutching a jacket around her shoulders. “Are you okay?”
I smiled to ease the worry on her face, picked up the boxes, and started back to the building. “I am now.”
As I walked past her she stopped me with a hand on my shoulder. Her touch flowed through me like an ice pick, raising the hairs on my body and tightening my groin. Oh, my, it was good to see her. I was feeling plenty good enough to tuck her in now. I leaned in for a kiss.
“We have company,” she said in a whisper before our lips touched. I furrowed my brow. Now what? With a sigh I followed her inside and up to the apartment. I set down the boxes in the hallway and followed Sue into the living room.
A slender old woman sat primly on the couch. Intense brown eyes looked out of a pale, wrinkled face. Snow white hair was pulled back into an elaborate bun. She wore a high-necked blouse with lace down the sleeves, tucked into a long black wool skirt. Sturdy, black leather boots with tiny buttons completed the antique portrait. On the coffee table in front of her was an ornate porcelain samovar—a Russian teapot, along with two tiny matching cups. They were white with pink roses and heavy gilding. It was an electric model, not as traditional as I would expect from a woman her age. Still, all that the scene needed was sepia tones. If she had an underlying scent, it was overpowered by the strong smell of tea oozing from the samovar.
Sue’s voice was soft and nearly reverent. “Tony, this is the Duchess Olga Ivanevna. She’s Nikoli’s mother. Duchess, this is my husband, Joe Giambrocco.”
The woman raised lightly-penciled brows. Her voice was heavily accented Russian, but the words were clear and concise. “Choose one or the other, young lady. If you call him Tony in your private life, introduce him as such. Many nicknames are allowed in human society. It will keep the curious at bay.”
Sue’s mouth dropped open in surprise. I merely nodded. It was a good thing to notice, and the reprimand was mild. I’d caught it, but hadn’t been going to bring it up in front of company.
“A pleasure to meet you, Duchess. Is that a conferred title, or your name? I wasn’t aware that there were any Russian royals unaccounted for.” I’ve read a number of the books in Carmine’s collection. One of them was on the Romanov family.
She smiled brightly, showing even white teeth. The smile took years from her face and I could see that she had once been a very beautiful woman. I wondered just how old a Sazi would have to be to show the years so visibly.
“That is a very personal question, and one that most have feared to ever ask me.”
I smiled lightly, ignoring Sue’s panicked look. “So I take it that you’re not going to answer it.”
“On the contrary,” she replied. “Such a brazen challenge deserves a reply. You understand that in Russia, a title is born into, and the patronymic, or second name, is conferred upon adulthood, based on the father’s name—evna for a girl, and vich for a man?”
I nodded and stepped into the room. I sat down in one of the kitchen chairs that Sue had placed opposite the couch.
“You can say that Duchess is an honorary title. When I was born, such a title did not exist.”
She let the statement hang in the air with raised brows. She was waiting to see if I would figure it out. Her hands were loosely clasped together and her scent was calm but amused. Small wisps of steam rose from the teacup, pulling her scent up and away from me.
Sue spoke up. “But the Imperial Royal Family in Russia has existed for centuries. I’ve been reading about it in the books that Lucas gave me. It goes all the way back to—”
I saw Sue’s eyes go wide as her voice froze from shock. A small smile played across the Duchess’s face.
“The first person to name himself as Tsar was Ivan the Terrible in the sixteenth century.” My voice was a challenge, but likewise filled with amazement.
“Is that so?” she asked craftily. I could feel Sue’s sudden realization of Duchess’s patronymic name.
“You can’t possibly be that old!” The words matched the sudden and abject fear that knifed through me.
“No? Then perhaps it’s your imagination. You young people believe you know all the answers, after all.” Her smile was patient and amused. Her scent was a sunny citrus. She was enjoying this—a lot.
It took me a moment to get my feet under me, so to speak. But if she wanted a challenge, I was up for it. I don’t have a photographic memory, but it’s damned close. “Then why didn’t you become Tsarina when your brother, Feodor I, died? Why did it take fifteen years to put another Romanov on the throne?”
She cocked her head and smiled sardonically. “So, you know your history. Very good. But you note that it was a male Romanov who ascended to the throne. It wasn’t until two hundred years later that a woman came to rule Russia, after Peter decreed that the Tsar could choose his own successor.”
“And that successor was his widow, Catherine.”
“Very good, young wolf. In addition, I would never have taken the throne, because my mother was Sazi. I was an embarrassment to my father. He acknowledged only Feodor as his heir. But, blood is blood. He would not see me put to death. It would tell the world that the ‘Tsar of all of the Russias’ had made a mistake. Since that could not happen, I did not exist but, likewise, could not be killed.”
I looked into the smiling face that had witnessed over four hundred years of history. I was having a hard time grasping the concept, even though Bobby had warned me. I just never thought I’d meet anyone that old. It was a struggle to think of something better to say than ‘wow,’ so I changed the subject.
“I believe we have you to thank for curing Sue’s headache. What was the cause?”
I could feel that she was no longer in pain. I was pleased, since it would make our little “festivities” more enjoyable once our guest was gone.
The Duchess’s face turned serious. “I wish I could accept your thanks, young one, but I have yet to determine the cause of your wife’s misfortune.”
Sue’s forehead wrinkled, her scent echoed the confusion on her face. “But my head doesn’t hurt anymore, and you used your magic on me. When you finished, the pain was gone.”
“My magic did not ease the pain, Jessica. Of this I am certain. Nor do I know the cause of the distress
. I have been reading your leaves to try to determine your future and see if there are any keys to the past.”
“Reading her leaves?” The sudden insult on the Duchess’s face told me that my words had come out condescending.
“Do not scoff at what you do not understand! There are many gifts in the Sazi world that cannot be understood by the human mind. Seeing the future is but one of my talents.”
“And what did the leaves say about me?” I tried to keep my voice neutral, but it was hard. Tasseography is a load of bunk.
Her voice was cold and could cut stone as she replied. “Perhaps we should see what your future holds. Your impertinence and brashness could have an impact on the future of our kind.”
She opened a small satchel and removed a third delicately fluted cup. She placed it on the table before removing a small metal box. A fingernail popped a hatch on the side and she reached inside to pull out a few tea leaves. The scent of tea was strong and clean. It was high quality stuff. That’s hard to find.
She sprinkled a few leaves into the new cup. “You understand that this is not zavarka for drinking.”
“You can’t read leaves from the infusion. I know that. Plus, I don’t think you’re supposed to drink proper tea from the cup. Isn’t it the saucer you drink from?”
She smirked a bit. “Such a brilliant mind, but with so little intellect.”
“Hey!” I exclaimed, but she ignored my outrage. I didn’t like that slam at all. “I will not be insulted in my own home.”
“You will be insulted where and when I feel it is necessary, young one. Now you will pick up the cup and swirl the leaves. It would be best to not make me force your actions. I prefer a clean reading.”
But she was willing to do it the hard way. Yeah, I got the point. Her face was still calm, but I could see her eyes starting to glow. I needed to watch my step. Playing into Sazi hissy fits was definitely hazardous to my health.
I made my voice carefully neutral. I picked up the cup and started to move it until liquid inside picked up the leaves and spun them around in a vortex. “Fine. Tell me when to stop. Or am I supposed to drink the tea?”
The light in her eyes brightened. Soon they were twin amber suns that sucked me inside. I could hear her voice in my mind and my senses were suddenly wide open. The room was filled with colors I could hear and sounds that I could smell.
“There is no need.” Her voice whispered and hissed on the air grown thick enough to touch. It pressed around me. It was getting hard to breathe. She reached out and touched my hand. I got my second shock.
I was standing in the woods. There was deep snow under the canopy of pines. I heard loud voices in the distance and saw the form of a young woman running across the frozen ground. She was huddled inside a thick fur wrap, seeming tiny in the vastness of the forest. Her eyes were wide and panicked and she turned often to look behind. Her breath came out in frosty gasps that filled the air. She favored one leg. I could smell blood flowing from a deep cut to her thigh. For a moment, the face stared right at me. Familiar hazel eyes looked out from a lovely heart-shaped face of about sixteen. A single wolf suddenly appeared in front of her, and then more joined, until the clearing was filled. She looked forward and then back, unsure of which way to run.
“Come with us, Lelya,” said the lead wolf in a sweet, ringing alto. I knew it was Russian, but it sounded like English to my ears. “Leave the world of the humans behind and join us.”
“He tried to kill me! My own father!” the girl sobbed.
“He fears you as he feared me. The fear attracted him, but it grew too much and he must destroy the fear if he hopes to rule. Shed your skin, my daughter. Let the moon free your true self.”
The girl looked up just as the moon peeked from behind a cloud. The voices were closer now. I could see a bright orange light bouncing in the distance. She looked behind once more and then threw off the cape of fur. The moonlight highlighted her auburn hair, turning it silver. The glow expanded to turn her whole body into a shining beacon. I had to shield my eyes from the white light that left patterns on my retinas.
The yelling crowd of people arrived just as the silver-tipped timber wolves, one bearing a scar down one leg, disappeared into the night. A large, barrel-chested man with a wide nose and permanent frown picked up the fur cape and glared after the retreating animals. Two men behind him, armed with swords and shields, started to press forward. He held up a hand and they stopped. His words were clipped and guttural.
“We will waste no more time here. She is gone and will not dare to return.”
I came to myself with an abrupt shake of my head. If the Duchess noticed that I had gone missing, she didn’t mention it. She was busy concentrating on the scene in front of her. I had to admit that even after what I’d just seen, it was impressive.
The porcelain teacup was still locked in my fist, but I didn’t need to swirl the liquid anymore. The caramel colored fluid soared upward out of the cup like a tiny water spout, carrying the tea leaves into the air. When the water retreated, the leaves didn’t. They continued to swirl in the air in front of my eyes, held aloft by the power of the Sazi magic that glowed in the Duchess’s eyes.
“Stop,” she said in a whisper, and the leaves obeyed instantly. They formed a shape that looked like an airplane, and then like a closed book. The leaves hovered, waiting for the next command.
“Show me more.” I could barely hear the murmured words, but the bewitched bits of black and green heard her. They once again began to spin until her next command to stop.
Another two shapes appeared. One was a double-sided axe with wide curved blades. The other was a modern pistol, a semi-auto.
Her eyes flared brighter still and the leaves spun a final time. A deer on its back legs with wide antlers jumped away from an eerily complete eye, followed by a series of wavy lines. Then the leaves dropped back into the cup. Not one missed to land on my pants.
Sue and I glanced at each other while the Duchess continued in a sort of a trance. “That’s what they did for me, too,” she said quietly. “I got a wolf, a boat, a rabbit, a head of lettuce—I think, and a dagger.”
“And what do they mean? I only recognize a few of mine from an old article.”
She shrugged. “That’s where we were when you arrived. She hasn’t told me yet what they mean.”
I glanced back at the Duchess to find her staring intently at us. “Give me the cup,” she said with an unknown emotion. There was too much strong tea smell coming from the samovar to figure out what her scent was.
I passed her the cup, but she grabbed my hand instead. I tensed, waiting for another picture show to start, but nothing happened except a strong electric shock that I felt sear through my body. I hissed through gritted teeth because it burned, cutting through bone and muscle. My heart fluttered and danced in my chest.
“Jessica, give me your other hand.” Sue glanced at me nervously, but obeyed. I felt a flash of the same pain shoot through her. It tore through our bodies in a loop. I tried to let go of her hand, but it was like grasping a live wire. I couldn’t make my fingers move. Sue’s face was covered with sweat and her eyes were twitching from the burning sensation.
The Duchess’s serene expression changed only slightly. I could see her eyeballs moving behind closed lids and her mouth was slightly open. Her chest rose and fell as her breath quickened. I was wondering whether she could let go either. Finally, I’d had enough.
“Stop!”
Her eyes shot open.
“It is not possible!” she exclaimed, and dropped both of our hands as though they had burned her, too. The pain disappeared the instant the connection broke. I stared at the Duchess. Her eyes had grown wide and slightly panicked. The scents of surprise and sour milk hit my nose in a flurry.
“Apparently, anything’s possible with you people,” I said angrily, rubbing my hand where it had begun to itch from the power surge. My fingers were still tingling. “Warn a guy before you do something like tha
t again.”
The Duchess looked at each of us in turn. I could feel Sue’s nervousness and reached out to stroke a gentle finger down her arm. She shuddered and took a deep breath with closed eyes. But it cured the fear. When she opened her eyes again, she was calm.
“You two interest me,” the Duchess finally said.
Good to know. “What do you find so fascinating?” I wasn’t quite done being angry.
She pointed a long, bony finger at Sue. “You have no Sazi blood in you. You are fully human.”
“Yeah. So?” I said strongly. “You’re not going to start with that ‘Sazis are better than humans,’ are you? Because it’s bullshit. I’ve been both, and I can assure you that I prefer human.”
She looked at me curiously with furrowed brows. “Why would you think I believe such a thing, Anton? Humans are the superior species. Otherwise Sazi would control the world. We have many flaws—some of which you share.”
“I may not know what you believe, but your teachers and pack members are teaching the kids that humans are inferior.”
She leaned back into the couch cushions and regarded us with intense amber eyes. When she spoke she avoided the issue of the children. Instead, she said “It should not be possible for a Sazi male to have a double mating with a human. And yet you do share magic and thoughts. I felt it when we touched.”
“Is that what the burning was—a touch? Wow. You need to tone down your magic, lady. You’re dangerous. I don’t know why you’ve got Nikoli ruling the pack. You’re a lot stronger than he is.”
Her brows raised and a lilt of amusement flowed through her voice. “You understand then why I say you interest me? You are the first person to recognize that I withhold my true power—even from my son. You are fully mated to a human. You have futures that both are bound to but are unique from each other. You are the person, but also two. It is very special. You hold in your hands great promise for our pack.”
“So, those symbols meant something to you?”