Alterations

by Lucretia Stanhope

  Witches hit the ground, heads covered, braced for the onslaught.

  It never happened.

  The blazing cloud pulled and Brac swayed, his face looked pained as the fire was yanked from him and flung far into the air.

  “That will be enough of this.” Gwen stepped toward the group.

  Brac and Matvei turned to Gwen, both with hate in their eyes.

  “Maybe you should be training him, mother.” Matvei took a few long strides to her and gripped her arm, his fingers became a vise.

  “I want to talk with my son.” Gwen looked to Brac who still held hate on his face.

  “Brac, practice with Gina. Gina, I want them training until he can no longer stand.” Matvei walked with Gwen in tow away from the courtyard. Once they were away, he let his grip loosen. “It amazes me how often you remind us of the varied values you have. You should be on the battlefield.”

  “I will never fight for you. Why is Brac learning to steal magic?”

  He clicked his tongue. “Seems traitors are embedded in the ranks of the ogres.”

  “Witches?”

  He raised his brows. “Sure you won't fight for Timofei? Protect your witches here from the treasonous warlocks?”

  “Where is Lucian?” Her mind drifted to Kyna and she suddenly felt happy that in spite of her efforts, Kyna never harnessed fire.

  “Site two. His job here is done.” His tone held what she interpreted to be disgust.

  “Site two?”

  “You didn't think I would leave him here with you to plot against us, did you? You are alone again, always alone.” He reached out and touched her face.

  She swatted his hand away. “What is site two?”

  “Brac already told you all you are going to know about that.”

  “Brac told you?” She stepped back, feeling the hit of Brac's betrayal more than any blow Matvei ever landed.

  His face said he knew it hurt and he planned it that way. “I told you he was mine. Go home, rest, eat cake. Plan your next move. Make it fun, I'm still bored. Leave the wars to those suited for it.”

  Her thoughts clouded. Brac told him. Brac told him after she asked him not to. Kyna was gone, Brac was pulling away. She needed to regroup. She still had what they coveted most, and now that she had again created magical life with unknown value to them, she would be safe. They both wanted to see what her and Lucian could create. They both wanted her. That was the answer. Father and son could not both have her. This had to go beyond the baby and resources.

  It needed to be all about her.

  She needed to up the level of desire.

  “Enjoy your war games, Matvei.” She turned and walked away, feeling his eyes on her. He had not fed from her. That was a first. It loaned credence to her thought that she would be even safer now. Safer to push them. Safer to plot.

  He followed her. “That's it. You are just going to walk away? No fight. Not even a protest? Is the baby already messing with your will?”

  The mention of the baby gave her all she needed to do what came next. “I'm done with you. You are not going to teach me anymore. Your father will.”

  “He has offered you nothing but things. I offer you knowledge. Far more valuable than a silk dress or some luxurious food.”

  “He will offer me what I need to know. You take from me. You have no idea what I give him or what he would offer if I stopped giving. You only feel stolen peace.” She stopped and turned to him. “When the time is right he will show me the veil himself. In fact, if you keep pushing me, I will show him what you have done and laugh while he returns the beating.”

  Matvei turned his head to the side, his eyes looked her over. “Your peace would never be enough for my father to break his own line. You understand nothing about us, sweetheart. To train another heir would be virtually impossible.”

  Now came test time. She had never given Timofei peace freely, but she had with Mikhail. With Matvei she would ramp it up. She walked to him and took both of his hands in hers. When she filled his aura with peace and love he relaxed slightly.

  She needed more.

  If she were going to flip this game, she needed to do something she had never done before. She started to pull his blackness away from the surface. Afraid of what it would do to her and the new life she was growing, she let go of one of his hands and aimed her free hand toward the ground.

  His presence softened. The cold became cool. She reached deeper, and pulled more away. Her magic tugged at the rage, pulled at his hate, and sent back to him all of the love and happiness she could muster.

  “Feed,” she whispered.

  His bite wasn't painful, it didn't even pinch. Soft kisses played on her neck.

  She pulled again until she felt the rage and hate softened to unease. She opened her eyes and looked to see they were encircled by rose bushes. All of the darkness she pulled from him and forced into the ground sprang up as black roses with huge thorns.

  His eyes opened. His face held a look that wasn't smug, wasn't malicious, and wasn't filled with hate. He pulled her to him, breathed her in and sighed.

  She felt some of his cold return.

  The effect wouldn't last long, hate and rage came from their core, but she imagined some of the peace would linger as it did when they fed. She hoped it would play on his mind. Hoped he wanted it with the same recklessness he wanted her blood. She had no way to know how strong the effect had been, but with her entire being, she hoped it was strong enough to be worth fighting for. Strong enough to trade knowledge for.

  When he released her, she picked one of the roses and handed it to him. “Your father will teach me what I want. Do you doubt me?”

  He took the rose and looked at it with curiosity. “You make hate into beauty.” He twirled a finger in her hair. “You are the most dangerous creature alive. Don't be hasty to end our arrangement. I have a lot to teach you.”

  “You stole my son. We are finished.”

  His nostrils flared, coldness grew. “Well played.” He pulled her hair, yanking her to him and kissing her. “I will talk to Brac about what happened today. He must train for war, but he can also remain soft with you. Will that suffice?”

  “It's a start. Matvei, don't think I have forgiven you for Lucian. I do not appreciate being used, not to make hate and not to breed slaves.” She turned to walk away but he reached out, stopping her.

  “Had you leveled with me sooner, my queen, I might have understood on a more personal level why Timofei resisted sharing you and why he coddles you so.”

  “It's not personal with you and I. It's business. You'd do well not to forget I still love your father.” She felt those words burn more than usual. After what she saw, she would never love Timofei again.

  He smelled the rose again and kept it in his hand as he walked away. His gait was slower, his posture less rigid.

  She watched him leaving and felt hopeful. Not wanting to leave all of her plans hinging on Matvei, she let her magic reach out, searching. Sebastian was around somewhere and he too felt connected with her. Perhaps the connection was still strong enough that he could help her test the cloak.

  After hours of walking she could not locate Sebastian. She returned home, tired and frustrated. She wanted to test the cloak, but it seemed that test would be while she was using it. It would work or fail. She would need to use it the first few times on minor missions that wouldn't be great losses if they failed.

  Out of habit, she went to the clearing in the woods. Lucian was not there. She knew he wouldn't be. She hoped her small win today with Matvei could counter the loss of such a strong ally.

  Bitterness crept in when she thought of Brac and the look he gave her. She was alone again.

  Anger started to bubble under the surface. They kept taking. She had nothing left to give, yet they always found something to take. She pulled water from the ground and froze it with her sorrow. She imagined a destructive force that would cleanse the clearing and take away her memories.

  Sh
ards of ice formed arms that pummeled the trees. She watched, still angry and sad as the trees fell around her. An arm wrapped her waist and tugged her out of the path of destruction. She fought against the arm and ice melted.

  “Let me go.” She slammed her elbow into them, freeing herself. When she turned and saw Brac, she pulled him back to her. “I'm sorry. I didn't realize it was you.”

  He wrapped his arms around her. “It's my fault you are sad. I didn't mean to lose my temper with you. I was trying so hard to impress Matvei.” His hand rubbed her back. “Mom, teach me how to call magic away like you do.”

  She pushed out of his embrace. He lacked compassion. He wasn't sorry, he wanted her help. She looked at his face, her little boy and couldn't feel anything but love and hope when she saw his eyes. “Not tonight. I'm tired. Go see your friends. I want to be alone.” She walked away, not wanting to see his disappointment. He hadn't come to rescue her; he came to learn how she got the better of him.

  She slowly walked home, thinking about what she wanted to do next. She didn't want to sit and wait for Timofei to come home. Pitting them against each other couldn’t be her only plan. She needed through the veil. How did Mikhail report? There must be a connection somewhere.

  She turned away from the fortress and started walking in circles again. This time she was looking for cold clusters. Maybe he was taking some longer route around other realms to get there. If there was one, it would be guarded.

  She found nothing. Did that mean that Mikhail also knew how to tear the veil at will? Talking to him gained more and more reasons to make it worth the risks.

  “You should rest. I understand you lost a lot of energy the last time you made life.” Matvei stepped into stride beside her.

  She stopped walking. “I'm restless.”

  “That's my job.” He laughed softly.

  Gwen looked at him, still seeing some peace behind his eyes. She might have to try that with Timofei. It seemed to last and would solidify his adoration. She considered what to say next. Tears never moved him. Desperation annoyed him. He appreciated bluntness.

  “When are you expecting Timofei?”

  He pursed his lips. “Soon. He is expecting to verify our results. Did Brac apologize?”

  She quickened her pace. “As best he can, I guess. It will do. Can you leave me alone? I really need time to adjust to this new nightmare you have set in motion.”

  “No, you are up to something. I've felt you circle the whole realm twice since finding out Lucian was gone. Whatever you are plotting, know that I understand you are not so fragile, not yet, perhaps not ever.”

  She stopped walking, spun around, and narrowed her eyes at him. “You want to end your experiment and save me the effort?”

  He smiled. “You wouldn't. You are a lot of things, Gwen, but you would never hurt a new life. You don't have that inside of you, not anywhere.”

  “What are they like? The children you have on site two?” She tried to ask in a nice tone, but her words dripped with hate.

  “Yours will be different. One of a kind.”

  “That's not what I asked. If you want me to consider us helping each other, you can give me some information. I did get into the room as you asked.”

  “The two I have old enough to notice seem to be eternal by virtue of birth.”

  She felt herself get weak. “They are vampires?” Her hand reached out for his support.

  “Easy. They are not. They do not feed; they do not kill or hunger for blood.” He held her close to him. “What they are is as much a mystery as what you are. What else do you have, Gwen? Each time I think I have peeled back the last layer, you offer me another delight.”

  She wiggled and stepped back from him. “I've not offered you anything. You push and take.”

  “Give me more. Show me more. I will take you to places you never imagined.” He kissed her with a bruising force.

  She smacked his face. “Stop it. I don't want your dark places. I want your help.”

  “You want both. I will give you both, in time. Tonight, you will go home and rest.”

  She eyed him. “Why are you being so dismissive tonight. Are you all out of snide remarks, fresh out of nips?”

  “You want nips? I always have nips for my delicious queen.”

  She turned and started walking. He was not himself and she wanted to leave before he found himself again. The peace made him a muddled sort of uneasy that she wasn't sure how to approach. His anger she knew, his reckless blood drunk she knew, mild unease she would need to think about.

  He left her alone, careless, but good for her. She pulled the cloak on and headed back into the night. Not sure what good it would do, she wanted a visual of the compound. She wanted to be able to send her wind wraith inside and to do that she would need to be able to call up a memory of the place.

  It was time to test two new theories at once. As she started to feel the cold presences inside, she tucked herself as small as she could. Drawing up moisture from below her, she froze the small drops in her aura, trying to create a new feeling. She hoped that the cloak had worked to mask her own magic and that the frozen water would emit the feeling they did. Mikhail would have been the best first test, but since he wasn't an option, she had to guess at the right amount of chill to send out.

  Before she stepped from the woods she glamoured herself to appear as Sergei. She took a few more steps and hit the gate. That was as far as she had ever been.

  She reached out and pushed it, but it was so heavy it didn't budge. It would need magic. Her eyes scanned the grounds between the iron bars. It looked empty. She summoned a few sturdy roots that tugged it opened and she slipped inside before it closed behind her.

  The sound of the gate closing and latching again caused an involuntary shudder. She was locked inside now. One step at a time. Getting out would be later. She stepped with as much authority as she could. Sergei was a squad leader and always carried himself with an air of power.

  The gods would have to be on her side and keep her from running into him. In front of her stood a large, rounded building. There were several doors and she wondered which one she should open. Some looked smaller. She started toward the double doors, assuming they were the main entrance.

  One of the doors flew opened and a few winged creatures appeared. It occurred to her that they wouldn't use glamours behind the compound wall. She shifted her glamour to match the beasts and carried on. They didn't approach her. She swallowed and stepped through the doors. Her eyes took in every detail.

  As long as she didn't enter rooms she wasn't supposed to, no one should stop her. Maybe if she memorized the whole hall, the wraith could get under doors and show her places she hadn't been. It was a new gift and she had more theories about it than facts.

  She continued her walk, the corridor winding and coming around full circle. There were cold spots moving behind the closed doors, but none came out to see who walked by. Once done inside, she exited and made a lap around the whole building. Behind it there were several buildings that she assumed held private rooms.

  Vampires stood scattered around those buildings and she turned, walking away before she drew any suspicious glances. Snarling caught her attention and she turned to see a fight taking place. There were three vampires locked in a biting and shoving match. She didn't stay to see how it ended. Her memory was filled with enough to at least start testing her ability to see under the closed doors.

  Back at the front, she puzzled over how to get out. The latch was higher than she could reach. The glamour she had on was tall and burly but she was still short even for a human. She would need to flip the latch free from the catch and then find a way to pull the door at the same time.

  Again, she flicked her eyes across the area. She was alone, but she felt someone coming. Her eyes landed on a shadow a few feet away. Grabbing the stone in her pocket she made a hasty escape, appearing in her altar room.

  She threw the glamour off and folded the cloak, locking it in a
chest, and shoving it out of sight. Her heart raced with excitement. Before she settled in she called up the winds to allow her a peek at the compound courtyard. It was important to see who had come and if they had reacted. She had not planned on using the shadow stone because that could leave magic. The courtyard was empty.

  That no one was standing around sniffing, made her relax and her heartrate slowed to normal. The cloak worked, at least at a distance and with weaker vampires. Her aura shift must have worked too. She smiled to herself and walked down to the kitchen to get a cake reward.

  She sighed as the first velvety bite melted in her mouth. Chocolate had been her biggest craving with the twins from day one, this time she wanted carrot cake with extra cream cheese frosting.

  “Where have you been?” Matvei sat hard in the chair across from her, his eyes burned with anger.

  She swallowed and took a sip of milk. “Keeping things interesting. I wouldn't want you to get bored.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  “W ill you be here long?” Gwen spent the last few days practicing controlling wind wraiths whenever Matvei left her to herself. Now that Timofei was back, she would get some more practice.

  He walked over to her and kissed her nose. “Long enough to cherish you.”

  “Can you please ask Matvei again to arrange a meeting with Mikhail?” She kissed him back and brushed her hair aside.

  He nuzzled and kissed her neck and then stood straight and frowned. “I should have thought he would have arranged that by now. I will fix that for you, my love. How are you feeling?”

  “Fine.” She tried not to be short, she wanted them both craving her, but her hatred was keeping her from easing the tension she felt coming from him.

  She could still hear him talking about taking Kyna's head, and to give him any peace seemed wrong. She knew Matvei would kill Kyna as well, but she expected no less from him, from Timofei she expected more. She expected he loved the kids too. She knew in truth he didn't love, not her, and not the kids.