One of us.
Sisters? Billi stopped herself. No. She wasn’t anything like them. They were monsters. The Beast Within was trying to trick her.
They parted as they came within a few feet of the house-sized black rock. Frost-covered moss and ivy shimmered on its surface. Billi spotted faded patterns and worn-out engravings under the ivy, but they were too weathered to make out. The Polenitsy retreated into the forest, but Billi knew they weren’t far. She could join them whenever she wanted.
“Below,” ordered Olga.
At the base of the rock was an opening, a hole leading into the earth. It was almost invisible under the deep shadow of the boulder. Olga led the way, followed by Vasilisa. Svetlana pushed Billi, who spun and shoved the red-haired girl back.
Svetlana crouched, her loose hair framing her face. She had deep red lips and was as tall as Billi, but more muscular. However, her powerful physique only made her more feminine, not less. Her features were strong and dominated by her green eyes, set above high, hard cheekbones.
Billi gritted her teeth and hissed. She wanted nothing more than to rip that mocking smile off Svetlana’s face. Ivan grabbed her wrist, pulling her back.
“We’ll pick our moment,” he said. Svetlana snorted with derision. But Ivan didn’t let go until Billi had acknowledged him. Then he released her as she turned back toward the hole and slid down.
The passageway was too low to stand in, and the rocks it was made of were uneven and undulating, probably shaped by an ancient underground stream. The narrow channel was lit by candles that sat in small, chiseled-out alcoves. Above them was a gallery of artwork from pre-history. There were massive bulls with huge arched horns, and charcoal-outlined mammoths strolling across the ancient stone. Small, potbellied horses galloped over the rock, full of vivid detail and motion.
The animals were lavishly colored with rich shades of ocher-reds and yellows. The outlines followed the shape of the walls so they seemed almost ready to break out of the rock and take living form. Matchstick hunters darted back and forth, throwing their puny spears and darts. The animals had been drawn and painted with great love and beauty, but the humans were featureless and pathetic.
Feet scuffled overhead, and Billi realized that the passage had opened up. More Polenitsy moved along natural ledges higher up on the walls, watching Billi and her party. All women, despite the men in the camp. They were marked by symbols, bones, and decorations that were prehistoric and simply beautiful. Polished stones hung off twine necklaces, and small carved animals dangled from their braided locks.
“Babushka,” called Olga. She raised her hand, and all movement ceased.
Water chimed ahead, echoing in the large space.
Billi caught her breath. The air trembled as though the Earth itself were sighing. Ivan came next to her. His face was open with wonder as he gazed at the ancient artwork surrounding them. He touched the head of one of the bulls, tracing the curve of its horn with his fingertips.
Olga entered, and they followed. Billi gasped at the size of the innermost chamber. The entire Temple Church could have fit in here without touching the top or sides. The roof formed a high dome, and around the widest part ran a deep ledge decorated by huge crystalline formations that glowed deep ocher. Thirty-foot-long stalactites dripped water into sparkling pools.
Olga led them down the ledge to the largest pool, and they stopped at its edge. Thick columns of the same glowing crystal formed a forest of stone where the Polenitsy lurked. The walls were decorated with paintings and carvings of flying reptiles, man-beasts, huge monsters with wings and claws and humans with the heads of animals. The walls were marked with grooves where the wolves had sharpened their claws.
“Babushka,” repeated Olga.
Something moved through the crystal labyrinth. Clack clack clack went a staff of bone. Bare feet with leathery soles shuffled along the stone. The Polenitsy hissed and went to their knees.
Red shoved Ivan down onto his knees, and he stifled a cry. Billi knelt unbidden; it just seemed right. She was in the presence of the goddess. Only Vasilisa and Olga remained standing.
Invisible waves of energy rippled across the vast chamber, and each one shook Billi to the core. She put her hands into the water, but fought to keep her head up. The weight of the goddess’s presence was overwhelming.
This was why man feared the dark. From the earliest times he’d known that something wild lurked just outside the flickering flames of his cave, with the beasts and the monsters. The Dark Goddess.
She shuffled into the faint candlelight, and the shadows deepened around her. She walked hunchbacked, but even so was thirteen feet tall. Rags covered her skeletal frame-animal skins and ancient furs. Insects scuttled in her floor-length white hair, which formed a veil over her face. Only the eyes peered out. Black, shiny, ancient. Her nails-long, curved daggers-clicked against her bone staff.
“Come, MY little OnE.”
Vasilisa hesitated and glanced back at Billi. But Billi couldn’t help her. Vasilisa crossed the pool to take the withered hand of the ancient witch.
Baba Yaga drew Vasilisa into her arms and laughed. It sounded like the crackling of dry sticks on a fire, or of river water battering against rocks and cliffs. It rose, and now it was a bonfire, piled high and blazing.
34
BILLI ENTWINED HER FINGERS WITH IVAN’S, HOLDING tightly to stop herself from shaking. Baba Yaga shuffled through the pool and peered at them.
“WhO Are you, DAughterrr?” she asked. There were ten thousand voices on her tongue. With Billi’s acute hearing she could differentiate some. Men, women, children. Some were nearly articulate, while others screamed incoherently. All Baba Yaga’s victims. No wonder Vasilisa was terrified, standing in the clutches of the witch.
“Billi.” Her own voice cracked with fear. She cleared her throat and tried again, pushing some courage into her lungs. It wasn’t easy. “Billi SanGreal.”
“A wolf-killer,” added Svetlana.
Baba Yaga’s breath rolled like an icy wind over Billi’s face. Her talonlike nails click click clicked, and Billi was painfully aware of how any one of them could rip clean through her chest and out the other side. Ivan rose and took a step forward. His face was a mask of fear, but he stared at the Dark Goddess, determined and defiant.
“She did it to save me,” he said.
Baba Yaga’s attention snapped toward him, and she stroked his throat with her cold nails.
Red spoke. “They are to be punished, Great Mother. They killed Silver Paws, an elder.” She glanced back at Billi, smiling. “Give me the honor, I beg you.”
“Babushka, she is my friend,” said Vasilisa, her small voice ringing through the cave. She looked up desperately at the old witch.
“We’re here for the girl,” said Ivan. “Let us take her, and there will be no more trouble. It will be better for you.”
Billi looked at Ivan, shocked. What the hell was he talking about?
“There are hundreds of Bogatyrs on their way,” said Ivan. “And Templars. With swords, axes, and guns. You will be destroyed.”
It was one hell of a bluff, but Billi remembered the mural Koshchey had shown her back at the Ministry, and his tales about how the Bogatyrs of old had fought Baba Yaga before and driven her into the forests. If there was any fear in that black heart, maybe the memory of the Bogatyrs would reach it.
But if the old woman felt any trepidation, she did not show it. She swayed, her white hair trailing back and forth, and the twigs and bones knotted into the strands rattled and clattered together. She idly tapped her staff as she held Vasilisa.
“Man iZz a DEStroyer.” She tugged a small bone in her wiry hair, a curiously childish action. “BuT so Izz Nature.” Baba Yaga looked at Billi, and there was a gentleness, a pity in her stony eyes. “I gave BirtH to Maan, I DElivereD hIM to the World, OUT of his Fear and OUT of the DARKnez.” She glanced at Ivan. “HIzz time iz OVER, Billi SANgreal. It is the way of THINGZZ.”
“
You can’t just wipe out mankind,” said Ivan. “It’s not for you to decide the fate of an entire species.”
“Is that not what you do? How many species, races, too, have become extinct because of you?” snapped Olga. “Mankind is a plague. Look at you. You rape and pillage, you suck the Earth dry and kill all your kindred. What species has prospered under man’s dominion? Not one. This Earth is not yours. Its bounty was to be shared by all, not devoured by one species who claimed it as their god-given right.” She spat at his feet. “Dominion over land and sea. You sought to enslave nature. You have poisoned the very air you breathe.”
“So your answer is annihilation?” said Billi.
“Nature always wins,” said Olga. “With the blight of man gone, nature will reassert itself. The Earth will be reborn. It always has and always will.”
“The Law, Great Mother. What of the Law?” Red stepped closer to Baba Yaga. She pointed again to Billi and Ivan, more desperately this time. “She is a wolf-killer, and the Law demands her life.”
“The Law, YEzzz.” Baba Yaga pointed at Billi. “She IZZ Like yoU, SvetLANA. No Wonder yOU Hate herr.” She looked Billi up and down, with no more interest than she’d look at a strange insect-curious for a moment. “YeZZ, Kill Zem bOtH.”
Billi gasped. She backed away, knowing it was useless. Ivan scraped up his crutch. Heart banging away, Billi turned slowly, her fists ready. The Polenitsy blocked the only exit.
“Great Mother, I ask a boon!” Olga’s plea stopped the Polenitsy in their tracks.
The old witch raised her head, the noise of her teeth grinding echoed within the limestone chamber and it made the hairs rise up on the back of Billi’s neck.
Olga lowered her gaze respectfully. “She has been blessed by the bite of Silver Paws. The change is upon her. She will be one of the Polenitsy by tomorrow.”
Baba Yaga pointed her claw at Ivan. “AnD ze Man-ChilD, wHatt of him?”
“He is Tsarevich Ivan Alexeivich Romanov.”
“RoMannoFF?”
Ivan gulped as the witch stepped up to him, so close they were almost nose to nose. Her throat rattled with a laugh.
“WElcomme, romaNOFF.” The old crone’s eyes sparkled with amusement. “The blood of MaNy princeZZ and kingzz run in the veinZZ of the PoLenitsee. He wOULD make a FINE consort, do you not tHiNk, SVetlana?”
Svetlana hissed. “I think we should kill them now.” The old crone glided next to Billi. She took hold of her chin and turned her face toward hers.
“The BEASt Callzz, DOes it NOT?” Baba Yaga grinned grotesquely. “Join Uzz, BILLi sanGREAL. Join your Siisterzz.”
Billi glared up at Baba Yaga. “I am not an animal.”
Baba Yaga laughed.
“Have you told them of Fimbulwinter?” Billi asked. “That the wolves will die beside mankind?”
Olga started. She shot a look at the old witch.
“I HONor MY PoliNNItZzee,” The witch drew a fingernail along her chin. “YoU Humanzz aRe full of LYzz.”
“Then tell us how you can eliminate mankind while keeping the Polenitsy safe.” Billi crossed her arms; it was the only way she could stop herself from trembling. Any second now the old witch was going to kill her, but she had to first make the Polenitsy understand that Baba Yaga was deceiving them.
Olga stepped forward, her head low and humble. “Great Mother. How will we remove the curse of mankind and still save the others who worship and honor you?”
Voices rose out of Baba Yaga, troubled and discordant, no longer driven by a single will. They babbled a thousand-a million-things. Baba Yaga glowered, looming over them all.
Billi and Ivan backed away, and even the Polenitsy around them moved nervously, their bare feet scraping on the smooth stone. Many fell facedown, kneeling in terror at the anger of their goddess.
“SILEnZZE!” Baba Yaga leaned close to Olga, her long iron fangs just inches from the old werewolf’s face. The witch hissed. “iT Izz NOT YouRRplace to QUesTion MEEE!”
Olga bowed low. But unlike many of the other Polenitsy, she did not kneel.
“I meant no disrespect, Great Mother.”
“ReMmember who zervezz wHo, Olga. Who zervezz Who.” Baba Yaga gazed deep into each of the werewolves’ eyes, a gaze full of evil malice and anger. “I Am YouRR godDD and iT is Not fOR morTalzz”-she hissed the last word, spiteful and contemptuous-“to QuesTion the WiLL of theirrR godZZ.”
She swung around. Svetlana, who had been beside Olga, shot a look of anger at her grandmother, then took hold of Vasilisa. Baba Yaga tapped her way back into the darkness of the caves. “Go Noww.”
Only when Baba Yaga had gone did the Polenitsy’s silence lift. Billi watched them, perched in the alcoves and ledges above. Some glared down at her, their hatred clear. How dare she question the goddess? Others looked uneasy, whispering and arguing among themselves.
Svetlana met her grandmother as she crossed the pool, pulling Vasilisa behind her.
“Ty dolzhna byla naklonitsa pered boginyey!” said Svetlana.
Olga looked coolly at her granddaughter. “My zhe Polenitsy, nye ryaby.”
Svetlana turned abruptly and stormed out. Billi caught a glimpse of Vasilisa reaching out to her with a free hand as she was dragged away. She wanted to be safe, so she reached for Billi. Hadn’t Billi crossed Russia to find her? To save her?
“What did she say?” Billi asked Ivan.
Ivan’s eyes narrowed as he watched the Polenitsy depart. He whispered, “The red-haired one said she should have got to her knees before the goddess.”
Yes, that had been strange. Olga, almost alone among the Polenitsy, had remained on her feet. She had been practically defiant.
“What was Olga’s reply?”
“That they were Polenitsy, not slaves.”
“Come,” said Olga, sounding weary. Three other Polenitsy came down off the ledge and escorted them back out.
Billi’s mind churned over the options.
Her dad was coming, but when? He had no idea how many Polenitsy were waiting here in the forest. The Templars would be slaughtered.
There would be no last-minute rescue. She and Ivan were on their own.
The sky was darkening as Billi crawled back out. But already the moon hung over the treetops, casting its pallid light over her. Sharp pangs shot through her stomach and across her chest. The Beast Within tore at her, trying to break out of her skin.
“I am not a beast.” The pain made her drop to her knees.
Ivan bent down beside her and locked his arms around her.
Eyes closed, Billi rocked gently in his embrace. She was not a beast, not yet. She had one thing to do before it was all too late.
“I’m all right,” she said. It wasn’t true; she was anything but.
Vasilisa.
It hadn’t been so long ago that she’d been at home with her family, safe and ignorant of the monsters outside. Through no fault of her own, through a freak of birth, she was now at the heart of the Bataille Ténébreuse.
I’m sorry, Vasilisa.
As the Polenitsy waited impatiently beside her, Billi pressed her fingers into the snow, willing the cold to leech into her blood and freeze her heart. She had to turn whatever pity, whatever compassion she might have, to ice. There was no room for it now.
There was only one way to stop Fimbulwinter.
Billi would kill Vasilisa tonight.
35
OLGA WALKED BESIDE BILLI AS THEY EVENTUALLY made their way back to the camp. Ivan had fallen a few paces behind with the other escorts; it wasn’t easy getting through the snow with his injured leg.
“I suppose I should thank you. For saving our lives,” said Billi. She didn’t get it, though. With all that had happened, why had the old woman protected them?
“I was honoring a debt, nothing more.”
“A debt? You owe us nothing.”
“You saved two lives. Natasha and Maria. You helped them escape the Bogatyrs in Moscow.”
The paisley woma
n and the young werewolf girl. “They were friends of yours?”
“They were Polenitsy.”
“But the woman’s dead. Koshchey killed her.”
Olga nodded. “But Maria lives. For her life I saved yours.” She slowed down, pressing her boot tip into the snow. “And you are now one of us. We protect our own.”
Billi shook her head savagely. “I’ll never join you. Even if I transform, why would I want to be part of this?”
Olga grabbed Billi’s arm and swung her around. “Then where will you go? Do you think the Templars will welcome you? You that are Unholy in their eyes? You will join us and live a life you could not have dreamed of. What is better than this freedom?”
“It doesn’t mean anything. With Fimbulwinter to be unleashed tomorrow, we’ll all be dead soon enough.”
“Fimbulwinter so you say. Who told you about Fimbulwinter?”
“Vasilisa. You must know that Baba Yaga has been sharing her mind. Vasilisa learned about Fimbulwinter from the goddess herself.”
“No…that cannot be true,” said Olga, her voice wavering.
“I don’t know who’s worse,” said Billi to the old woman. “That mad witch, or you, for worshipping her.”
If she’d wanted a reaction, she got it. Olga knocked her off her feet with a single swipe. She stood over Billi, flexing her fingers. The nails were normal, human. She didn’t need claws to tear Billi apart.
“Get up, Templar,” Olga said. “Why do you provoke me?”
Billi got up and dusted the snow off her coat. “Provoke?
You don’t think kidnapping children and planning the apocalypse is provocation?”
“You should have stayed in London.”
“Why? Because it’s safer? Baba Yaga wants to use Vasilisa’s powers to blow Yellowstone, a supervolcano. When that goes there won’t be a place on the planet that’s safe.” Billi thought about the devastation Vesuvius had caused. That eruption would be a puff of smoke compared to what was going to happen tomorrow unless she found a way to stop it. “Ash and sulphur dioxide will fill the sky and block out the sun. The world will freeze. We’ll all starve, human and wolf.”
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