Flare of Villainy: The Imdalind Series, Book 10

by Ethington, Rebecca

  How he didn’t remember anything. How he pieced together dreams to try to find me. How Nastya used him.

  I knew part of me should be sad. I was sure Wyn and Ryland expected me to be with how they sat on either side of me. But I was just pissed, and I was getting angrier by the second.

  “So, Nastya spent years torturing him, seeing how far she could push his magic?” I asked, my voice strained thanks to the tightness in my jaw. Katenka nodded.

  “Míra?” I asked as I stood, dropping Ry and Wyn’s hands as I turned to her. The girl’s eyes widened as she jumped to attention. She actually looked scared.

  “Yes?”

  “Thank you for cutting that woman’s head off.” I gave her a hug, Míra stiff and lost beneath me as Ryland chuckled. I would have to assume that the gasp and ‘my stars’ that echoed from the door in Ukrainian came from Katenka.

  “And thank you for helping me.” I turned back to Katenka who was still looking lost in the doorway. I held out my hand, but she just stared at it. “Thank you for caring for my husband.”

  She didn’t move for a minute, she just stared at my hand, almost as though she was scared of it.

  “They say you’re the Queen, is that true?” she asked in nearly a whisper, looking back at me with wide eyes. Her trepidation suddenly made sense. I nodded. “So, Ja- Ilyan… he really was a King?”

  I paused, I had spent the last few minutes listening to what she had to say about Ilyan. But we hadn’t told her anything about him.

  “Is a King,” I corrected, “and, yes.” I grinned, and waved Thom over from where he had been lounging in his chair, making origami dinosaurs out of the maps. “This is his brother, Thom, and his other brother Ryland. Ilyan has been the king for--” I had to stop, my brain going on overdrive as I rubbed my nose. “I don’t actually know.”

  Thank god for Wyn. She laughed jumping to her feet as she threw her arm around my shoulders.

  “Don’t worry. I got this. I’m the oldest one here save for the winged sourpuss.” She knocked her head back, Katenka’s eyes following to the winged Vilỳ who was neither brown nor poisoned. Her eyes widened into saucers so big that I actually tried to get Wyn to stop. All of this information had come as a shock to me, I had no clue how Katenka was going to take it. Just seeing Rinax appeared to be pushing her over the edge.

  “Ilyan was born like a thousand years ago, started ruling about two hundred years after that. He’s old.” Thankfully Wyn seemed to see what I did and reeled her explanation in, keeping it short, before poor Katenka exploded from shock.

  “He’s also very powerful. If Nastya truly knew what she had--” I pressed my lips together, not wanting to think about it anymore. “I need to find him. Save him.” My voice choked as my heart seized in my chest and I turned back to the maps that held a million possibilities of where Ilyan could be.

  They were also folded into giant paper dinosaurs.

  “I think I can help with that, too.” I turned back to Katenka so fast I was pretty sure I smacked Ryland in the face with my hair.

  “You can?”

  She nodded, “My daughter, Kaye, she’s quite the whizz with stuff like that. She has a tracker on the dark web. I know the code to the site. I just need a phone.”

  Before she had finished speaking three phones were extended to her, all of them blazing to life thanks to our magic.

  She looked at them before grabbing the one closest to her and typing a few things into a browser.

  “This is the only thing I know how to do on these. She taught me, just in case we could ever get out…” A few more taps and she turned the phone to me, to a map of the globe and the three dots that were flashing. One for Kaye, one for Katenka, and one in the middle of Mongolia.

  “Ilyan,” I gasped, reaching out to the light as though I would be able to just pull him through the phone.

  He was right there. I was right.

  I snatched the phone before anyone could stop me, using my two fingers to zoom in as much as I could. I could barely see the building on the satellite images from the phone. No wonder the scouts hadn’t seen anything.

  The building was a wide mass, clearly painted and designed to blend in with the landscape. There were even trees growing in between the narrow wings, so if you weren’t paying attention you would just think it was another building.

  Except it was a building that housed the most precious thing in the word.

  Well, to me anyway.

  Phone in hand, I raced back to the table and to the maps that Thom had thankfully unfolded. China, Mongolia, and Japan were spread over the table top. My fingers were already stretching out.

  “Here,” I said, marking the map with my magic. Looking at the spot on the map and the detail on the phone in turn. “This tracker is clear enough that I bet I could Stutter in and get him. I mean, he’s right there…”

  Again, I resisted the urge to fondle the blinking dot on the phone.

  “How did she do that?” Ryland asked, looking over my shoulder to the phone. “Most of the towers are down. We can only get our phones to work because of our magic.”

  Katenka just shrugged. “I have no clue with that girl. I don’t even know what she’s using to track me. She didn’t tell me about it until a few days ago. I wasn’t too happy to learn she’s put something inside me.”

  Katenka shuddered in horror, but I rushed her, wrapping my arms around her.

  “I take it this helps?”

  “It does.” I gave her another squeeze before I turned to everyone, only vaguely aware that Katenka was sneaking out the door. “Who is ready to finish this?”

  Once again, everyone raised their hands, everyone but Wyn who was looking quite grumpy about it. Even Míra had raised her hand, which earned her a look from both Ryland and me.

  “If Wyn’s not coming you are going to need me. Besides, I’m pretty sure I proved myself.” And the smug grin was back. I hated that she was right.

  I also hated that everyone in this room knew if we didn’t bring her she would just follow us anyway. Considering how pale Ryland had just gone, I was thinking I needed to find a place where she could do some damage and still be safe.

  “Fine. But no more cutting off heads, and you stick to Thom’s side like glue.” I was firm. Both she and Thom did not seem too happy about my decision.

  “You can’t be serious?” Thom was nearly whining.

  “Why can’t I stick with Ryland?” So was Míra.

  “Ryland is with me,” I said, cutting them both off. Rinax sat up from where he had been lounging in a chair but I gave him a warning glare. I didn’t want to deal with his sourpuss expression right now.

  “Ry and I are going to get Ilyan,” I tapped on the map of China where Ilyan was, “Thom, you and Míra are going to lead the armies right to the Kyō headquarters.”

  “Wait. All of them?” Thom was looking at the mark of the Kyō headquarters in the middle of Japan’s map in confusion, I just smiled.

  “All of them. They will be so focused on the masses heading their way they won’t even notice Ry and I coming. We’ll get Ilyan--”

  “And if the leader of the Kyō is there I’ll find him.” Ryland was firm, maybe even beaming. “Worst case we get Ilyan out and then meet up with you. We are finishing this today.”

  This was it, we had found Ilyan, we knew where the Kyō were, we had an army ready to fight, and a foolproof way to get there.

  “And I will be Queen Empress,” Wyn said, rising to her feet as though she was already taking the crown.

  “Wouldn’t you have to be at the battle to take the throne?” Míra asked through a giggle. Wyn turned on her, eyes flashing dangerously as the true Queen Empress she would be shone through.

  “A good Queen Empress knows when to strike. Besides, unless vomit turns into a good weapon, you don’t want me on this trip.”

  “Ew.” Míra was officially no longer gushing over the baby.

  “Okay, when do we leave?” Ryland pulled us al
l back as he straightened the maps.

  I put my hands over his, knowing he was going to hate what I was going to say next.

  “How about now?”

  “Oh, no,” Ryland moaned. Wyn suddenly wasn’t the only one who had gone green.

  “How quick can you get the army moving, Thom?” I didn’t look away from Ryland. I needed him to know how serious I was.

  “With how antsy they are, we could be in Tokyo in about thirty minutes.”

  “Just enough time for us to find Ilyan.” I stood, holding my hand out to Ryland who, as pale as he was, actually looked determined.

  “Ready?” I asked, my entire body feeling as though it was going to burst out of its skin.

  Ryland looked at me, not a drop of fear in his eyes as he stepped closer and put his hand in mine.

  “Let’s go save my brother.”

  My magic surged around us as we stood there, Thom and Wyn already running to the door as Míra stared at us.

  It was too late to warn her not to follow, though, we were already being pulled into the Stutter, dragged through all those ribbons of time and life as I focused on that spot on the map. Focused on that building in the middle of the mountains where Ilyan was.

  When we emerged, it wasn’t to him however, although judging by our surroundings we were in the right place.

  The building was old, made up of dark stone and fogged glass, and full of Kyō soldiers. A hundred eyes turned to us at the pop of our arrival, eyes widening as one after another they recognized who we were.

  “Okay, so maybe we should have planned this out better,” Ryland sighed, already moving to stand before me.

  I let my magic flare, pushing through each of the soldiers and then through the rooms of the building as I searched for him. Just like in the hospital in Kiev there was no sign of his magic. Except, this time, I knew he was here.

  My magic laid out the building for me perfectly, every inch of the place mapped out as I thought back to Kaye’s map and the light that was right above us.

  “What would a rescue mission be without a little fun?” I quipped, grabbing Ryland’s hand as I winked at him, and pulled him back into the Stutter, to a room a few floors above us, and away from the charging army.

  24

  Ilyan

  There was only one time a day the light from the window stretched far enough to reach my bed, to fall over my face and arms. I lay still, eyes closed as I attempted to transport myself to that beach. To our Tȍuha.

  I would get back there. Soon.

  I sent more than a dozen letters, a dozen notes, with the girl. One of them would get me out of here.

  I knew it would.

  The warmth began to leave and I opened my eyes, stretching my hands toward the beam of sun that fell over the edge of the bed. The light made weird shadows over my skin as the curtains billowed in the slightly rancid air from the heater. Light and dark swirls danced over skin as the light began to fade, the warmth leaving along with it.

  Still, I did not move.

  The creak of the door sounded behind me, the sound of rusty hinges a soft whisper before gentle feet stepped into the room, each step hesitant. I didn’t even turn, I just lay still, staring at the window.

  Had I paid attention to the steps, I would have recognized his approach. I would have recognized the tap of his leather shoes. I would have expected to see the blond crop of his hair and the dead pierce of his eyes.

  I would have braced for it.

  But now, the appearance of the Russian filled me with a sickly combination of stubborn defiance and dread.

  He stood beside my bed. His hands behind his back as he rocked on his heels, his smile growing.

  The look he gave me turned me to ice, but not as much as the two words that followed.

  “Ilyan Krul,” he said, the slime in each syllable turning the little secret that I had hidden so well into noxious fumes that billowed in the air.

  “What do you want?” I did not know how he had discovered me, or if the woman with the books had simply ratted me out, but it didn’t matter. Not with the way he was looking at me.

  If I was going to find a way out of here, now was the time. Magic or not, I couldn’t wait any longer.

  “I want what everyone else wants,” he sneered, the triumph in his voice making my stomach turn. “I want the woman from Prague. I want the Oheň.”

  I hesitated, watching him as the exhilaration of a hunted prize colored his eyes, the look becoming that much more frightening as the daylight continued to dim, the sun painting the windows in a red hue as it set.

  “I do not know where she is.” It was the first honest thing I had said to him, and I couldn’t be more happy with the truth behind them.

  He rocked on his heels, his shoulders shifting as his hands did, the motion making it clear he was hiding something behind his back. Shackles creaked as I shifted, my hands balling into hard rocks against an equally hard mattress as I prepared for the emotional and physical blows that were inevitably coming.

  “Do you really think it is wise to lie to me?” he asked, the hostility in his eyes tensing my muscles further.

  “I’m not…”

  “I already know you are looking for your mate.” The way he said the word made my stomach turn. “This… Joclyn is it? Such a pretty name for such a pretty girl.”

  “You…”

  “Ah-ah,” he stopped me, his features shifting to condescending mockery as he stepped closer to me. “You already gave me the keys to find her. To find you…”

  “How?” I growled, the word barely a question. I already knew, after all.

  I already knew.

  Clenching my teeth as tight as I could, I kept my temper at bay, something that was proving to be much easier without the flood of magic behind it.

  His smile grew as the paper he had been hiding behind his back was thrown at me. I recognized it at once, the letter I had written to a journalist in Paris, near one of the many tunnel openings and close to a safe house Wyn had used for centuries.

  It had instructions on how to find the house, and written in tiny Czech at the bottom was a letter to Joclyn.

  I love you, my darling. Never forget.

  “You led me right to her, you know. To this little house in Paris. The place was empty. Forgotten. But now we know. Now we will find her.”

  Shackles clattered as I jerked toward him, ready to rip him limb from limb. My hands reached in vain, my thoughts pulling toward my nonexistent magic as I flailed in a desperate need to reach him. To hurt him.

  Anything to protect her.

  Unfortunately, all I had was words, “If you even get near her…”

  “You will lunge through the air?” he interrupted me. He laughed at his own joke, the cold cruel sound cutting through the air like ice.

  “Accept it, Ilyan,” he said, the use of my real name twisting through my gut. “You can’t reach me. You can’t even escape that bed. If you had any of the power these pictures show you would have done it already, you would have murdered me.”

  He leaned in close, driving his point home, like an iron barb right into my heart. I refused to move, refused to shimmy away from his proximity. I would not give him that, no matter how true his words might be, I would not back down.

  “You have nothing,” he said with a sneer, his yellowed teeth far too close for comfort. “And neither does she.”

  “You are wrong,” I said, the strength in my voice catching me off guard. I could almost feel my magic spark inside of me at the strength. “I will do nothing. I do not need to. She, however, will destroy you.”

  His smile faltered as the humor was wiped from his face. As much as he tried to keep it there it continued to slide away, his own fear replacing it with each word I spoke.

  “You have seen the photos. You have heard the stories. You may think you know what she is capable of, but you don’t. Not really. She can walk in here, stop every bullet, kill every man…”

  “Does she st
op bullets as well as you did during your ill-fated escape?” The question was a chuckle, but I plowed right on, refusing to let him take control of the conversation.

  Refusing to let him deflate me.

  “And destroy you in less time than it would take you to blink.”

  He blinked.

  The exaggerated motion was a clear mockery of everything that I had said. Perhaps it was. She was not here after all, she was not on her way to save me.

  As much as I knew she could destroy them if she found them, and would in her attempt to reach me, I also did not know if they had been successful in finding her. I did not know the world outside of these walls.

  The only consolation was that the Republic did not have all of the information. They did not know the outcome of Nastya’s testing. If they did, I did not know if Joclyn would be able to combat that.

  “I would like to see that.” He said with a smile, the drip of warning that seeped from his voice making me shiver.

  “Then keep looking for her,” I said, letting my confidence bubble to the surface as I sat up straighter, the restraints around my ankles pulling awkwardly as I attempted to posture him.

  “You can rest assured we will.” He smiled and stepped back, pulling the clipboard from the hook on the wall, looking very much like your everyday doctor.

  “Then lie in confidence of your impending death.” The words were strong, the warning clear.

  He stood facing me, jaw tight, before a tiny pop filled the room, the shrill sound bursting against eardrums as two people materialized between the foot of my bed and the heavily guarded door.

  I stared at them, not believing what I was seeing as both my wife and my brother appeared before me in a mass of dark hair and swirling magic.

  The Russian was not even able to gasp in surprise before he fell to the ground, crumpling in a heap that was heard not seen.

  I could not see it, for I was only looking at her.

  “Mi Lasko,” I gasped as I tried to shift my weight, as I tried to shift toward her.

  I had never felt so trapped.