“Did you have him altered?” Matvei looked puzzled in the shift on a matter they skirted around for years.
“No, I haven't been here. Have him bound.” Timofei continued to rub his head. “Make notes, Matvei. I want to see if the strange effect we noticed with two elementals plays even stronger with my Gwen, and this special male once altered.”
Matvei watched his father start to pace. “Humans are loyal. She's not going to be so easy to breed now that she thinks she loves you, or owes you some debt.”
“Don't be foolish son, she hates me. I hold her captive. I reminded her as much tonight. She is angry. Humans make bad choices when they are angry. If she resists mating, we can get creative.”
“Of course. Did you want the soldiers here, positioned in the colony?” Matvei turned his attention back to the map. His eyes scanned all of the ways to get to the occupied realm touching them, without actually opening a direct tear.
“Yes, but not in numbers to alarm Gwen or the others. I need the kids bonded. They need some added strength.” Timofei walked over and tapped out the realms to hop that would make a short but indirect path.
Matvei nodded and smiled at the solution. “Bonded only seems to grant strength relative to the vampire they bond with. Did you have a soldier in mind?”
Timofei bristled. “I want Brac and Kyna bonded to the strongest available vampires. We can't afford them to be so vulnerable. Soldiers?”
“It's easy enough to whisk an aging active elemental away to site two to bond them, but the kids? Gwen will know.” Matvei pulled his attention from the realms to his father.
“Gwen will feel however I tell her to. In case you haven't noticed, they are not kids anymore.”
“Me?” Matvei put his hand to his chest. “I've said you coddle them all from the onset. Do what you will, but don't underestimate how upset Gwen will be. A human and her children have some unreasonable connection with each other.”
“Just do as I say, so I can get back to war. I'm trusting you here with my most valuable resources. I don't need the distraction while I fight.” Timofei walked back to the table, his eyes intense as he stared at the newly highlighted realms.
“Who then? Family? Your siblings?”
“Malvina is almost as strong as you.”
Matvei laughed. “Perhaps. She has no time for bonding. She has yet to even pick a mate. I dare say, she is more restless than I am.”
“Exactly why she is perfect. She can bond, nurture it every few months, years, whenever, and I won't have to worry with her wanting to take a true master. She'd never share her rule with a vampire, much less a human. Brac will be bonded, and free to continue his promiscuous explorations with all of our witches.”
Matvei shook his head. “I still don't see it. We get one bonded mate forever. A human? It's a hard sell to one as powerful as Malvina.”
“Gwen is a human. He is of the same line, he may one day discover mastery of his latent elements. The line must continue to produce. Gwen is the only one that has all four active so far.” Timofei ran a finger across his chin. “I shouldn't need to remind you that has to change.”
“Gwen is different. These witches, her kids included, while they offer peace, it is so mild and temporary compared to her. Look at how relaxed you have become. That would be incentive to bond, not a temporary nice feeling. Keep them as slaves, sure, bonded mates, no way.” Matvei enjoyed watching his father finally reach the conclusion he’d made long ago. Though he wasn’t sure about bonding both of the kids, until he knew how it affected their offspring.
“She will. I will tell her to.” Timofei continue to pace. With each step his tone became more exasperated. “If need be, I will sweeten the pot.”
“Bribe her? With what? Another realm? More resources? Maybe a few of your elementals?”
“Whatever it takes. Her blood will help Brac. Brac will help us.”
“Kyna? She hates vampires, you aside, and you are already bonded.”
Timofei looked at him, his eyes narrowed.
“No.” Matvei crossed his arms over his chest. “No. There is nothing you could offer me to do that. Not with her. I can't stand to be near her. She loathes me almost as much as I do her.”
“No? No?” Timofei balled his hands at his side. “You will do what you are told.”
“No, I never do what I am told, and I will most certainly not bond with that termagant. Pick someone else. I will arrange the meetings.” Matvei stood straighter and broadened his shoulders.
“You, will bond with her. You, have no intentions of taking a queen.”
“If I did, you can bet it would be something powerful and magnificent, not some little witch that grows grass and ponders the meaning of life. She is no queen. In fact, considering her line, she is wholly unremarkable.”
“I thought you understood the importance of this line. What good is one Gwen? Resources, son, they are resources. Her children hold the same potential in their beings. Do you need bribed as well?”
Matvei shook his head. “Ha. With what? Odeen, Gwen?”
“Don't covet my things. You think about what you want, because you will be bonded with Kyna before the week is out.”
Matvei's footsteps echoed as he stormed out. He slammed the logistics room door behind him. “Like hell.”
Timofei rubbed his temples and sat at his desk. He knew Matvei would do what he was told, eventually. He laid out the orders to be followed while he was away, for what he hoped would be just a day or two. When he looked up from the extensive list, it was already morning, and he could feel Gwen moving around, heading in his direction. He locked the papers in his drawer.
Gwen approached the door, her apprehension arrived well before she did.
Her voice was barely above a whisper. “Timofei.”
“Come in.” He watched her move, her night gown trailed behind her, making it cling at her hips. “I'll be leaving soon.”
She sighed to hear his tone still so harsh and see his eyes held no love or desire. War did not touch them like the ogres seemed to want to force it to now. She hoped that was the only cause for his changes. She walked over to him and he stood stiff in her embrace. “You are unhappy with me still?”
“Yes, Gwen. It makes me very unhappy that you are so impertinent. I have a lot to get done. To help you understand my requests, not that I need to justify anything to you, ogres are one realm away from our colony.”
She gasped.
“Yes, and I am here arguing with you and Matvei about simple things, when I should be planning the battle to empty that realm again. Do you understand?”
She nodded and tears started to well in her eyes.
“There is no need for you to cry or worry about the children, if you just do as I say.” He turned his back to her.
She walked over and put her hand in his. “I will.”
“Good. I am closing us off to earth.” He tapped a foot. “I am closing the connections to all realms temporarily.”
She swallowed. “Closing?”
“Yes, closing. When the war concludes, I will reopen the realms that I deem safe for you and our colony here.”
“But how will you travel? Or get to worlds from home?”
“I believe the response you are looking for is, 'yes, Timofei, thank you for protecting us.'” He dropped her hand.
She stepped away from him.
“I am leaving Matvei and a battalion. They will be more than capable to handle any breaches, along with the presence already here,” he said.
The room filled with a worried static Gwen built up as she thought about some monstrous creatures there on colony grounds.
He watched worry fill her features. “Matvei is a skilled general. He will see that no matter what should happen, not a single witch is harmed. Due to the nature of our new threat, I will have the children bonded.”
She blew out an audible breath.
“Before you protest, consider wars rage on violently for centuries. Should they ev
entually be discovered, I think you would appreciate them having tougher skin.”
She wiped the tears that flowed free from her eyes. “I don't want them bonded. Can we take them somewhere safer?”
His anger filled the room with a biting chill. “Is there somewhere safer? Where do you have in mind? Are you now more in tune with my realms than I am? Do you fancy yourself the strategist that will save the colony? Perhaps you should leave it to me?”
“Can we talk more about that? Please, Timofei. It is forever.” Her eyes pleaded with him. “You promised no monsters would touch them.”
“No, it is decided. I want you at the colony with a brave face. There is no need to panic any of the witches about what is happening. I will, of course, tell Kyna and Brac about the importance of not disrupting the flow of harmony we have created.”
“You want me to go to work? Hold meetings, spin yarn, teach kids, all the while worrying about you, wars, ogres, my children being made into some, some, whatever new breed of monster I am?”
“Yes, I would take it a step further and say I explicitly expect it. You will act like a queen and put the greater good before your own disappointments.” He held his hands together with his thumbs tented. “I can’t have a queen who will fret at every wartime decision I make. This will last centuries. Will you remain a sniveling mess the whole time?”
“Sniveling mess?” She felt the room spin. Everywhere she went, someone was accusing her of doing things for her own reasons, when she never did. Never. “I'm sorry, Master. I will be as you need me to.” She turned and left the room, before she lost control of the sobs that pushed against her efforts to hold them back.
Chapter Seven
“W ho is she? Is she powerful like dad and you?” Brac asked Matvei, and then took a bite of his pizza.
Matvei laughed, loud and booming. “Your lack of fear is going to get you killed one day, son.”
Brac chewed, and chased the bite with a sip of water. “Nah, Timofei would never send me to danger. Besides, you are going. So, who is she? Do I have to stay there?”
“She is your aunt, and no. You will stay as you are now, with your mother or myself. Of course, at war time we have to stay with your mother. It is our job to keep her safe.”
“Do I get a weekend alone with her at least?” Brac grinned before he started the last bite.
“Pfft, Malvina would eat you alive. I figure she'll want a bit to chat with you and see just what sort of nonsense she has agreed to. You will like her, she's a warrior. Fierce. I wouldn't think many could survive being on her bad side.”
“And she's mine?” Brac pulled his brows together and then grinned, before mocking a frown. “Does that mean I have to stop being so unseemly as mom would say?”
Matvei kicked his feet up on the empty chair across from him. “No, Malvina has no interest in humans, other than as a delicacy. She is doing this for Timofei, probably at great cost to him.”
“What about Kyna? Is she being given away too?”
Matvei put his feet down. “Yes.”
“To who? Will she still get to stay here as well?”
“Yes, she will stay. She is being forced on someone who has even less interest in her.”
Brac felt the air change and got up to walk his plate back to the kitchen. He could tell from the reaction that Matvei was unhappy. It only happened occasionally and he knew what it felt like.
Brac thought more about what the changes might mean as they walked away from the colony. “You don't have to start bringing Kyna with us do you? I mean, after you do whatever with her?”
“No.” Matvei closed his eyes for a few seconds. “Let's go. No sense dallying. Timofei wants you stronger before he leaves.”
“Does mom know?” A flash of sadness danced behind his eyes.
“Likely. It is also more than likely she is very unhappy about it. You will do her a great favor by letting her know how easy, painless, and even pleasant it was for you.”
“Yeah, sure.” Brac knew how his mom felt about the vampires. She never told him, but he watched her over the years and he saw it in her eyes, heard it in her voice, and felt it in her aura when they neared.
Her special gifts made her coveted by them, he knew that. He also knew they changed her, just like they wanted to change him. Even though it would hurt her, he would agree. It would make things easier for her if he did. He understood that just like with her, the more he agreed with Timofei the easier things would be.
“Smile, Brac, it's just another step in your evolution.” Matvei walked toward the tear they used to start most of their journeys.
When he followed Matvei through the final tear, he felt excited. While he did not trust vampires on the whole, he did trust his brother. If Matvei thought this was a good idea, that was good enough for him.
“I was told he was something special.” Malvina circled Brac. She studied him with cold, steel gray eyes.
Brac watched her move gracefully around him with her long muscular legs, covered in tight knee-high boots that caught his eyes.
He liked that she was as tall as him, most girls and women were not.
They locked eyes when she circled back around to his face. When she started to talk again, Brac's focus was drawn to her full lips.
“He's certainly not a timid one.” She looked to Matvei. “Leave us a moment.”
Brac didn't flinch as he felt Matvei moving away.
Malvina curled a long, slender finger and put it under his chin, turning his head from side to side. “I hear you have a unique quality in your blood, child.”
Before Brac could even start to respond, he felt her teeth sink into his neck. He stood steady and reached a hand up, twining his fingers in her thick blond hair and tugging her away gently. “I'm not here to feed you.” He watched her eyes that grew softer, and more peaceful.
Her lip twitched. “No matter what Timofei has in mind for you, once you are mine, I expect you to serve me first. Why do you taste so different, witch?”
Brac took a step back. “I am not here to serve you either. I understood this was just a trade, your bond for whatever Timofei offered you.”
She wrapped her fingers around his upper arm and walked him back to the wall. “What you understood? Tell me why are you so important to him, if he has a whole group of witches? You know he offered two of them to have as slaves, as well as other perks, in trade for sharing my blood with you.”
He fought against the fire that always burned inside of him. “That is between you and Timofei.”
She slammed him against the wall. “Do you know what it means to bond with me?”
“Sure, it means I will be stronger and not die.” He pushed back against her and found her stronger than he anticipated.
She laughed. “It means forever we will be linked, youngster. I can make it a very strong link, which could have perks for you, or just enough to appease Timofei. That depends entirely on your worth.”
Brac cocked an eyebrow. She chewed the side of her lip and then placed a hand on the side of his head.
Brac felt a sharp coldness enter his mind and wash over him. He fought against the white flashes that tugged at his consciousness and remained on his feet.
“You are a strong human already. That is an interesting secret you keep from Matvei and Timofei. We will leave it for another day.” She pressed against him and kissed him with forcefulness.
He felt her teeth sink into his lip and tasted a strong copper taste as their blood mingled together. While he kissed her, he held back from swallowing as he considered if he had another option.
Her hands in his hair pulled him harder to her and she bit down on his lip again. Her teeth punctured his flesh, the pain caused him to swallow. He did not feel regret or sadness; she would make him stronger. He wanted to be stronger.
When she backed up a step he reached his hand up, feeling the bite. “Is that it?”
“Did you want more?” She pushed him back again. She leaned down and bit
into the muscle of his shoulder.
A smile erupted, claiming his entire face. “Yes.”
They exchanged blows, her delivering bites and him countering with shoves and pushes when she tried to drink too deep. Between the painful dance, they shared kisses, each time strengthening the bond again.
Brac could see the same peace in her eyes that his mother gave Timofei. He also knew his mother had used that peace to her advantage. As soon as he was able to figure out how Malvina fit into things, he would do the same. He would help his mother see her dream of freedom.
When Malvina opened the door for Matvei to join them, both her and Brac looked like they had been at war.
“Heal him, Malvina. If he goes home like this father will be upset, most upset.” Matvei shook his head.
Brac shrugged. “It's okay, she didn't give any more than I wanted.”
Malvina laughed. “He's cute. Bring him back…” she started to say, and tapped a finger on her lips. “Next week will do.”
“Week?” Matvei asked. “You don't need to nurture him that often. Next year will be fine.”
“Matvei, don't be disagreeable. Your father wants him strong. I will see him next week. My master will not be some weak little boy. He needs the attention to shape him into a deserving mate.”
“Mate? You and I both know you don't want a master or mate in this human.”
Malvina looked at Matvei, her eyes flitted to Brac, and then she walked over to him. She bit her wrist, ran her thumb through the blood, and rubbed it hard against the various bites and cuts on Brac. He smirked at her while she did, and kept his eyes on hers.
“I will discuss the meetings with Timofei, you are clearly not aware of the arrangements.” She cut her eyes at Matvei.
Matvei turned and started out of the room. “Come on, Brac.”
“See you soon, my little firestorm,” Malvina said, and laughed.
Alterations Page 7