Ashes of the Firebird (The Firebird Fairytales Book 2)

by Kuivalainen, Amy

“I’ve wanted to be left alone. Something that is almost impossible around here.”

  “Is something wrong?” Anya watched him run a hand through his wet hair. He looked dishevelled, unshaven and tired.

  “Nothing is wrong. Not anymore.”

  “Well, if it’s worth anything, you’re much easier to talk to than the firebird.”

  “Did you mean it?”

  “What?”

  “What you said?”

  “About my supposed immortality? So Ruthann says. As long as I take care of myself and don’t get my head chopped off I should live a long time.”

  “That wasn’t what I was talking about.”

  “You were talking about Trajan.” Yvan nodded and Anya tried not to twitch with nerves.

  “Yes, I meant it. I want to be friends with him but I’m reluctant to draw too close to him again. It has caused too much pain and complications. Two things I don’t need any more of at the moment.”

  “I see. I think you will find Trajan will be very opinionated about that.”

  “It’s not his decision. It is mine. I need time to sort things out. Who knows what’s going to happen once we get Yanka. I don’t want to make enemies with the Álfr so I want to reconcile them with her if I can.”

  “Did Aramis tell you what they have against her?”

  “No.”

  “Interesting.”

  “Please don’t start. I will confront him about it but not yet. I came straight from the airport to you. Tell me what has been happening.”

  “Not a lot,” Yvan said as he shred one of the pastries with his long fingers. “We are all geared up and ready to go tomorrow. You’ll be able to rest on the drive. It’s a long way and we couldn’t risk trying to get on a plane with all the illegal equipment we have. Mychal has been a big help. You should see him watch Aleksandra. He can’t stand it if she is out of his sight for a few moments.”

  “He’s seriously concerned that a demon will attack her. He’s the only thing that could stop them so I understand his intensity. She can handle it. She didn’t do well without him around. It’s a bit like me and you. I couldn’t go one night without talking to you. That’s needy.”

  “I don’t mind. I didn’t like you going away with Aramis.”

  “What? You thought I wouldn’t return?”

  “It’s not that. I didn’t know how the Álfr would react. I didn’t like the idea of them wanting to kill you for something Aramis did. I didn’t like the way he kissed you the other night.”

  “It stopped Søren. Aramis is my guardian now. I’m not sure what exactly it entails though it sounded very platonic. I know he is a little jealous of my trust in you.”

  “I have done things to earn that trust not made things worse for you. Don’t let him pressure you into anything.”

  “I don’t get it, Yvan. A year ago, there wasn’t an eligible man around, and now there’s Trajan and Aramis and maybe even the Lord of the Forest. Don’t ask me what has changed. I am still boring old Anya. The only male not hitting on me is you.” She was only joking but Yvan was pensive.

  “Maybe I’m better at waiting than the rest,” he shrugged. Anya laughed, her stomach doing a strange little flip. He had never mentioned anything to her, even during all the times she had been drunk around him.

  “Well, lucky me that I have plenty of time so I can waste everyone else’s.”

  “All your suitors are immortal as well,” Yvan pointed out.

  “In that case, they can all go away until I’m ready,” she said exasperated.

  “I agree they should leave you alone. It would certainly be a weight off my mind.”

  “Oh, I see, so that would leave room open for you to come make a move?”

  “I told you I am biding my time.” Yvan leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. “I will wait until you come to me.” Anya threw a pillow at him, which he easily dodged. It took a moment to realise that Yvan was laughing at her.

  “I’m glad my complicated love life amuses you so much.”

  “I have a feeling that once Trajan knows you are back, it’s going to be more complicated.”

  Anya went back to her room very late and carefully snuck in so she wouldn’t disturb Mychal and Aleksandra. She had shut her bedroom door when Trajan materialised.

  “I was wondering when you were going to leave Yvan. I was thinking you were going to spend the night,” he said.

  “I don’t owe you first visitation rights anymore,” Anya replied, her heart thudding with shock.

  “Of course, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to frighten you. I wanted to say hello.” He went to hug her, hesitated and then stopped himself. “I’m pleased that the Álfr didn’t decide to keep you. What is this I hear about you meeting the Lord of the Forest?”

  Anya lay down on the couch and told him of the council in the forest and the stag god himself. “I didn’t think gods like him existed anymore,” she said with a sigh. There was something akin to loss when she thought about him. When she had awakened that morning, she found a scar under her left breast, over her heart, where he had placed his hand. At first, she mistook it for a Rune but it was of a stylized stag antler. He had claimed her as one of his own and marked her.

  “They exist. The Celts call theirs Cernunnos, you would call him Tapio.”

  “He said he would rise the Spring in me,” Anya smiled as she blushed. “It was a bit overwhelming for a girl.”

  “I can imagine. He’s a fertility god after all,” Trajan said tetchily. “Did you take him up on that offer?”

  “Why would I?”

  “Well, he is a god after all and I know that you haven’t been with anyone else. I thought perhaps Yvan…” He shut his mouth very quickly, realising he had gone too far. Anya sat up slowly and looked at him.

  “You thought perhaps what with Yvan?” she asked.

  “I thought that you may have been…with him. You can see why I would think that. You spend a lot of time alone with him. You go away and he spends all of his time as a bird except to talk to you on the phone. Even in that, he was the only person you called to say that you were safe…”

  “You need to be quiet right now,” Anya interrupted. She took a deep breath as she tried to rally a reply. Then something occurred to her. “How did you know that I had met the Lord of the Forest? I have only spoken to Yvan about it.” Trajan fiddled with the cuffs of his sleeves nervously. “Trajan, how did you know?”

  “I saw Aramis come back and when you weren’t with him, I went to find you. And where did I find you? With Yvan, of course.”

  “Were you listening at the door the whole time? No,” Anya sat back in horror. “You faded and came into spy on me didn’t you!”

  “I wanted to see…” he didn’t answer. He was looking at his shoes.

  “See what? If I was fucking him?” Anya hissed. “I cannot believe you. Yvan is my best friend, the closest thing I have to family. He has been the only thing helping me keep it together the last few months. He would never ever spy on me like you have done tonight.” She got to her feet and walked to the door. “Get out, Trajan. I love you but I cannot look at you right now. And don’t you even think about fading before you leave.” Trajan walked to the door and hesitated.

  “I love you, Anya. I only wanted to be sure your heart didn’t lie elsewhere.”

  “You should have asked,” Anya closed the door behind him before she started to cry.

  ***

  Trajan stared at the closed door for few moments, his hand on the varnished wood. He could hear her crying and there wasn’t anything he could say that she would listen to. He shouldn’t have spied on her but he had felt such jealousy that he couldn’t help himself.

  He took to the streets, seeking solace in the heavy tropical air. He wanted more than anything to mend things with Anya. The memory of her hurt still ran through him. He should’ve explained himself better after Cerise had summoned him from the ice.

  Trajan was concentrating so heavily
on Anya that he didn’t notice the chalk patterns that had been sketched onto the side walk. Power circled round him and pulled him to his knees with a crushing pain. Vasilli was leaning against a brightly painted fence a few feet away, his smile glinting in the darkness like a knife blade.

  ***

  By 6 a.m. the next morning, Anya was up, dressed and waiting downstairs with Isabelle and Hamish.

  “We will take the vehicles over to pick up Harley and Fox,” Isabelle said primly. “That is if the rest of the slugs wake up. Not to worry, Anya, everything is under control.” Hamish handed Anya a cafe a lait with a smile.

  “You alright? You’re looking a little peeked.”

  “I had a fight with Trajan,” she admitted. “I…I don’t think he is going to turn up this morning.” Don’t cry, don’t cry, Anya silently willed.

  “I would be really surprised if he didn’t, kiddo. He was probably blowing off some steam. He’s not the type of bloke to back out of something once he has started it.”

  “Cerise had to drag him back last time.” An hour later, everyone was downstairs and waiting for Trajan.

  “I won’t be long,” Izrayl growled before he disappeared up the fire escape.

  “I heard you fighting,” said Aleksandra softly. “Are you doing okay?”

  “I’m fine, Aleki.”

  “I don’t get it,” Izrayl said when he came back. “All of his gear and everything is still there. Something isn’t right.”

  “I’d say his attitude. Whatever game he is playing it’s his business,” said Katya. “We leave without him. He sat in on the planning and he knows where we are going, our designated stops, and so on. If he is determined, it wouldn’t take long for him to catch up.”

  “I can’t believe he has run again,” Anya said softly. Cerise was pacing the marble floors, muttering curses and chewing her manicure away.

  “Not to worry, chicka.” Honaw took Anya’s wrist that she had wrapped his beads around. He gave her hand a quick kiss. “I’m sure he will turn up.”

  Chapter Thirty-Three- Tortures and Travelling

  “Anya has left the city. Where is she going?” Vasilli asked when Trajan had stopped screaming. Völundr had been adept but he didn’t have the fraction of the power that Vasilli held. Völundr had pulled his human form away from him in a painful rush, while Vasilli was peeling his guise away piece by piece like he was skinning Trajan alive.

  “Anya is going to get Yanka,” Trajan answered as steadily as he could. “You know that she is alive. Otherwise you would not be here.”

  “I’m here because you love Anya and I want to cause her as much pain as I can. I need what information you have locked in that head of yours and you seem to take to torture like a duck to water.”

  “You have clearly never met Eris,” Trajan wheezed.

  “I’m going to go into your head and pull what I need out,” Vasilli hissed by his ear. “It is going to hurt much worse than anything we have done to you, anything you have ever felt before.”

  Vasilli gripped the sides of his head and Trajan screamed. It felt like Vasilli’s fingers were boring into his skull. Images started bombarding him like vengeful phantoms and he screamed again.

  When the pain and pressure stopped, his human form was gone and fluid was running from his eyes, ears, mouth and fingertips. However, that was only the beginning of the real pain.

  “It seems we have a need to go to the Brooks Mountains,” Vasilli said as another man entered the room. “Prepare him for transport.”

  ***

  Anya woke with a sharp jolt that left her heart pounding. Countryside swam by blearily as she rubbed her eyes.

  “You are okay, shalosť? You scared the life out of me,” Yvan said next to her.

  “Where are we?”

  “No idea. I stopped asking.” They had been driving for three days and they were blurred together in Anya’s mind. “Bad dream?”

  “Not that I can remember. It was like someone screamed my name,” she ran her hands through her hair. She didn’t tell him the voice sounded like Trajan. She hadn’t talked about him since New Orleans. She still felt like she had a chest full of broken glass and talking about it made it worse. She shouldn’t have yelled at him. He shouldn’t have abandoned her again. Yvan looked at her a little disbelievingly.

  “What happened to your shirt?” she asked to distract him. He had a dark stain on the grey fabric.

  “Oh this?” he said as he lifted it up. “This is your drool.”

  “Der’mo, I’m sorry,” she mumbled, her face going red. “There is an awful lot of it.”

  “You were asleep for a long time. I didn’t mind even when you chewed on it for a while.”

  “I did not!”

  “You totally did,” said Fox from the front seat and threw some popcorn at her.

  “Don’t worry, guys we will sleep in proper beds tonight. We are making awesome time,” said Harley from the driver’s seat. “Then tomorrow night is the night.” Anya felt butterflies jump to life in her stomach. Looking for a distraction, Anya rummaged around in her bag until she found the letter Søren had given her five days ago. It had a beautiful green wax seal that she was reluctant to break.

  “Are gentleman sending you love letters again?” Yvan asked.

  “Søren gave it to me. I couldn’t open it with Aramis around. He has brother issues almost as big as yours. You aren’t jealous, are you?” After Trajan’s outburst, she had been cautious.

  “It’s my shirt you like to chew on,” Yvan shrugged. Anya smiled at him and opened her letter. It was short and written in an elegant hand.

  Elenya,

  The jewel around your neck can be used to call our kind if you need assistance. All you have to do is put a drop of your blood to the stone and we will be able to find you. I hope you never have to use it, but knowing my brother, he will get you into some kind of trouble.

  Know that you have friends in the Álfr, and despite first impressions, you may also have a friend in me.

  Søren.

  “You were wrong. It wasn’t a love letter after all,” Anya said as she handed it to him. She looked down at the ruby around her neck and played with it between her fingers. There was so much she didn’t know and what was possible never ceased to surprise her.

  “That will be valuable to have,” Yvan said as he scanned it. “I agree with him though, and hope you don’t have to use it.”

  “If only he knew the trouble we are about to get into.”

  “He will know soon enough and so will the entire world,” he said ominously.

  That night, Anya paced her hotel room repeatedly. She was as nervous as she was the night before she closed the gates. Trajan still hadn’t turned up, which meant they were down a valuable fast, strong and invisible man. They would have a magic person in each team so that they could communicate between each other. They would take out the night perimeter guards as Mychal had suggested.

  Fox had discovered who supplied the facilities with medical equipment and had managed to get them scrubs that were the same as the doctors wore. Anya, Aramis and Cerise would be the ones to go in and get Yanka, while the others ran distraction and, if needed, to rush to their aid.

  They had planned it out perfectly, but Anya was still jittery. Hopefully once they got Yanka back, she could get some peace and quiet. She doubted it. Not unless she went back to the Álfr for a while, and there would be no way they would let Yanka anywhere near them. Anya sat down on her bed, cold and alone. There was a knock on the door a few minutes later.

  “Anya, let me in,” Yvan said from the other side of the door. She got up and opened it. He walked in, gathered her in his arms and held her tight.

  “You’re broadcasting your emotions again. You think you would have learnt by now. You need to be aware of it more, especially tomorrow night when they will have sensitive people around.”

  “It’s been so long since I have done it. I’m sorry I…”

  “It’s fine, yo
u only did it for a few moments. The firebird is attuned to you, that’s all. He becomes quite pushy when he senses something is up with you.”

  “I’m okay. Really. It’s nerves,” she brushed off as she stepped out of the circle of his arms. She relied on him far too much. It wasn’t fair to him.

  “I know you’re upset about Trajan and you are doing your best to not show it.”

  “I’m not going to talk about it with you,” she cut him off as she sat on her bed.

  “Why not?”

  “Because talking about it will upset me more and I need to be focused for tomorrow night.” He sat down beside her and she curled in against him. His arm came up around her shoulders and warmth flooded her chest.

  “There are thirteen of us standing with you. You’re far from alone.”

  “I will have some more family tomorrow night,” she said and attempted a smile. Even with her few dream walks with Yanka, she didn’t really know her or what to expect.

  “If Yanka can’t stand the sight of me because of my family, will it change anything between us?” he asked sadly.

  “Not a chance, Prince Yvan. You’ll still be my shoulder to cry on.”

  “And drool on, and chew on…”

  “Let it go, princeling. If you let me sleep on you, then it was bound to happen.”

  “I have let it go but you shouldn’t grope people even unintentionally. I told you that you would come to me. I just didn’t think it would be that soon,” Yvan said, a smile playing about the corners of his stern mouth. Anya felt the blood drain from her face.

  “I didn’t…” Her lungs didn’t seem to want to work. Yvan started laughing loudly and she saw that she had been fooled.

  “You ass! You…” Anya started to hit out at him. “How dare you pretend that I sexually harassed you!”

  “Will you stop hitting me?”

  “No.” She went to hit him again but he was too quick. He grabbed her wrists and pinned her down.

  “Behave yourself,” he growled, his eyes changing to the vibrant reds and gold of the firebird.

  “If I must.” He let her go and sat up. He rubbed his eyes and when he opened them again, they were dark blue.