Viktoria's Shadow: Jael

by Ysobella Black

  Dream jolted and blinked. “I can’t help it. There are so many dreams behind that wall.”

  Viktoria scrolled through her re-arranged icons. “We’ll get you phones on the way home, okay? I don’t know if they’ll work in Pohjola though.”

  Soră! The girlish voice sang in Viktoria’s head.

  Hello, Soră. It’s nice to hear from you again. The words were true, and it surprised her what a relief it was that the magic spoke to her again.

  You brought sisters! Come in!

  The gate opened, and they wended through a forest, following the driveway past the largest hedge maze in the world, an orchard and elaborate gardens. A stable, a hangar and a lighthouse were some of the buildings they passed. Viktoria watched the miles roll past on her odometer until they rounded a lake, complete with a waterfall, and parked in front of what could only be called a palace that overlooked the ocean from on top of a cliff.

  And I thought my closet was ostentatious.

  “The vampires here are weird,” Dream announced.

  “Because they live in a nice house instead of a gloomy castle or holes in the ground?” Memory asked.

  “Well, there’s that.” Dream pointed at three people in front of the house. “And then there’s that one, standing half-naked in the sun. Bête noire, indeed.”

  Stryx still carried the imperious air Viktoria wasn’t sure she liked. He had a firm grip on Ember’s left arm as he held out his shirt to her, leaving scratches and bites on his chest and back on display. He snarled at a second vampire, who had his eyes squeezed shut and held Ember’s right hand in a death grip.

  The curly-haired vampire stood still as a statue as he ignored Stryx, like he thought the slightest movement would cause the sun to notice he was there and burn him.

  Ember was almost unrecognizable with long black hair, eyes and skin glowing silver. She radiated magic, but bit her lip as she caught sight of their car.

  Dream smacked Viktoria’s thigh. “You didn’t tell us she’s a witch.”

  “She didn’t use to be.” Viktoria tapped her finger on the steering wheel. “I’ve never seen her looking like this.” She pushed the door open and climbed out of her car.

  Memory slid over the side. “Hurry up. I can’t remember meeting a witch like this one before.”

  The three of them approached Ember. Viktoria eyed her friend up and down. “Marvelously monochromatic is my thing, darling.”

  Ember’s nervous smile spread into a grin. “I can’t seem to help myself. This just sort of happens when I... ”

  “Use magic?” Memory finished. “Don’t be shy about it. I’m Memory, by the way. We can feel your magic, and we can tell this place is full of vampires.”

  Ember elbowed Stryx, who stopped glaring at the other vampire and greeted them. “Ladies.”

  Memory waved a hand at him, a gesture dismissing Stryx as a threat and a topic of interest. “We’ve seen lots of vampires.” She turned her gaze to Ember. “A witch like you, though, I’ve never seen before. And I remember everything that’s ever happened in Pohjola.”

  “I’m Dream.” Dream hugged Ember.

  Stryx growled when Ember pulled her arm away from him to hug Dream back.

  Dream laughed. “You were right, Shadow. He is a scowly, growly one.”

  “I have a name.” Stryx muttered.

  Ember raised an eyebrow. “Shadow?”

  “My sisters are the only ones who call me that. I prefer Viktoria.”

  “Your name being Shadow explains a few things.” Ember tilted her head. “There’s someone else who wants to meet you.” She turned to the curly-haired man. “Norrix, that’s enough practicing for now. Let’s go inside.”

  Norrix spun on his heels and fled through the door behind him.

  Stryx smirked.

  Ember smacked his chest hard enough to make him wince. “He’s helping. It’s been eight thousand years since he’s stood in the sun. Give him a few minutes to adjust.”

  Viktoria and her sisters followed Ember and Stryx into the house. Norrix had his back to the wall just inside the door, fending off a blond-haired, blue-eyed vampire poking a finger at him.

  For a second, magic flared, and Jael’s dark hair and black eyes looked at her. Viktoria blinked.

  “Get lost, Alaric.” Norrix swiped at him.

  The spell broke, and the blond-haired, blue-eyed vampire returned. “I’m just checking to see if you’re well done or not.”

  “You’re going to be done for if you don’t fuck off.”

  Ember chuckled. “Ignore the angelic one. He’s impossible to get rid of once you speak to him.”

  Alaric pouted, his eyes widening as he took in Viktoria and her sisters. “First twins, and now triplets!” He closed his eyes, fell to his knees, and clasped his hands together in prayer. “Please, whoever arranges these things, let me be next and send me quadruplets.”

  “We’re not —” Memory said.

  “Don’t bother.” Ember led the way through a living room nearly the size of Viktoria’s closet, full of couches, tables and ottomans arranged in separate seating arrangements. She stopped outside a silver door. “He’ll be useless the rest of the day now.”

  Viktoria was relieved and disappointed to not see Jael, although they passed several other vampires that Ember warned off with a glare.

  Stryx pulled Ember to him and kissed her. “I will make arrangements for the flight. We’ll leave as soon as you are ready, now that we know Norrix can be in the sun, too.”

  She nodded, then turned to lead the way up a winding stone staircase to a tower room. A tower that had not appeared from their view of the house outside. Ember didn’t knock, just opened the door and went in.

  A burly red-haired vampire, apparently they only came in size extra-large here, sat next to Musette, who resembled a sleeping princess in one of the two beds in the room. An ebony-haired woman with lilac-colored eyes sat up in her bed, holding a small girl made of silver magic in her arms.

  Viktoria sucked in a breath as power older than her shadow magic washed over her.

  The red-haired man stood as Ember made introductions. “Idris, Selene, this is Viktoria, Memory, and Dream. They’re from Pohjola, and might be able to help Musette wake up. The silver girl is Soră. She must be busy somewhere else right now.”

  Dream stared at Musette, a frown on her face. “What happened to her?”

  “We don’t know.” Ember sat on the other side of Musette and took her sister’s hand. “We... well, a group of men kidnapped us and intended to sell us to mages. After we tried to escape, they separated us. Normally we can feel each other through our twin connection, but I haven’t been able to feel Musette since I found her. I can call her and she can find me in my Dragă space, but —”

  “Dragă? What’s that?” Memory asked.

  “A Dragă is a witch a vampire can love.” Selene explained. “Like a soul mate. She can summon her vampire to her in a place only for them, but Ember uses it to bring her sister to her as well.”

  The image of Lurky, naked and braced over her, saying those words flashed in Viktoria’s mind. She shoved it away. “You’re Stryx’s Dragă?”

  Ember tossed her head, and her silver eyes blazed. “He is my vampire.”

  Selene burst out in laughter, and Idris’ worry-creased face lit up with a grin.

  Viktoria’s lips twitched in a smile. If she was interpreting the looks Idris gave Musette correctly, she was his Dragă. That explained why the vampires would kill and die to protect the twins. A tightness in her chest eased. Ember and Musette weren’t in any danger from the vampires. She could leave and not worry. Unless... “What’s this about men kidnapping you to sell to mages?”

  “One is dead. The mage that... We have a mage locked up. There’s one vampire who can sometimes get information out of them. But he hasn’t been able to find out what the mage who took Musette did to her.” Ember sighed. “It’s why we’re leaving this afternoon to go to Ashana.”

&
nbsp; “Ashana?” Viktoria took Ember’s hand. “For someone who didn’t have any magic a week ago, you’re not wasting any time exploring the Other World.”

  Ember nodded. “The mage said there’s another auction. One where they’re selling spells, relics, and books. We’re hoping there might be something that can help Musette there.”

  “I’ll see if I can find her dreams.” Dream crawled onto the bed, laid in between Musette and Ember, and intertwined their hands over her chest. She closed her eyes and dropped off to sleep.

  Idris paced, raking his hands through his hair. Its disheveled state suggested he did this often.

  “Musette will wake, Idris,” Selene said.

  “I know. I can feel her, I just can’t find her. She’s calling me, but I can’t get to her.” He clasped his hands on top of his head. “I don’t know how to help her.”

  “Is Musette your Dragă?” Viktoria asked.

  His eyes fell to Musette’s sleeping face. “When she wakes, I hope I can be her vampire.”

  Viktoria grinned at Selene. “I’m not sure about Stryx, but this one I believe can learn.”

  “Ember and Stryx will find their harmony.” Selene shifted a pillow behind her and sat up. “How is your mother, Viktoria?”

  Stunned, Viktoria blinked. “You know our mother?”

  “In another lifetime neither of us were so limited as to where we could go. The last time I saw her, she had only sons.”

  “She’s fine. She doesn’t leave home much anymore.” Viktoria shrugged.

  “She doesn’t have to.” Memory laughed. “Trouble still finds her often enough to make her happy.”

  “So, Pohjola.” Idris said. “I haven’t been that far north. You have vampires there? None of you seem surprised we exist.”

  “Not really anymore. We have more again-walkers. Draugar,” Viktoria said. “They rise from their graves, are very strong, and some of them can control the weather around them. They tend to haunt their barrows to guard their treasures, and can change their shapes and sizes. Vampires have been to Pohjola, but we learned to keep our distance from them.”

  “One of our sisters let a vampire bite her,” Memory added. “He thought he owned her after that, and wouldn’t leave her alone. Mother told him what he had to do to win her, but he tried to defy her. I can’t remember her ever being so mad since Shadow stole her Sampo! She... well, after that, vampires stopped coming to Pohjola. And our sister is still grounded! She’ll never leave Pohjola again.”

  “The changed ones here are not like other vampires,” Selene said. “They can —”

  “Musette isn’t asleep!” Dream opened her eyes and tension filled her voice. “She’s separate. Memory, you will have to help her remember her way back. Ember remains with her. Join us.”

  Memory sat on the bed, placed one hand on Dream’s forehead, and closed her eyes.

  “What did she mean, Musette is ‘separate’?” Idris asked.

  “She’s blocked from herself somehow. Memory and Dream are good at what they do. They’ll bring her back.”

  Dream opened her eyes again. “Shadow! Hurry!” Her gaze fell on Idris. “You have some muscles. Come with me, too. Touch my skin.”

  Viktoria laid a hand on Dream’s leg, gesturing for Idris to do the same. “What happened?”

  “We found Musette, but there are so many shadows, and... Just come on! We need to fight!”

  CHAPTER TWENTY ONE

  JAEL

  JAEL LAY ON HIS BACK in his cave. It was an austere place, functional and unadorned. Having lost everything once, he found it easier to not have anything to lose again. Carved out from the cliff beneath the main house, his room contained a table with one chair, his bed with one blanket and a single pillow, and a fireplace he’d never used in the thousand years he’d occupied this space.

  This far underground, the temperature remained constant year-round, though he didn’t feel the cold, anyway. He felt nothing, physical or emotional. Until last night. That witch made his heart beat and caused him to feel things. Crazy. Infuriated. Proud. Needy. Worse, the buffer of emotional numbness that came with being vampire had disappeared, leaving him to feel the loss of his wife and daughter as if it had happened yesterday.

  Since he hadn’t bonded with Viktoria, when he got some distance his apathy returned, but the sensations of rage and grief were fresh wounds and urged him to hunt and hurt mages.

  Jael squeezed the small bottle of Viktoria’s perfume that he’d intended to return last night. After she’d trapped him and had her way with him, he’d kept it to spite her. He hadn’t minded her having her way with him so much, but if she wanted to play games, he’d let her know he had it, and if she wanted it back, she’d have to...

  His thoughts broke off as he caught her scent. Vanilla and that mysterious essence he couldn’t identify before. But having seen her magic at work, he was positive that was what shadows smelled like. His eyes darted to the bottle he clutched in his fist. Worried he’d broken it, he spread his fingers. Nothing had spilled.

  He stared at it, the fragile bottle containing the scent of delicate shadows cupped in a calloused palm that wielded blades and darkness. He’d never thought of shadows as alive before, but they lived in Viktoria’s hands, and his hands were death. If he bonded with her, would he kill her shadows, too? Or would they engulf him and allow him to find some peace in a new kind of dark?

  Clearly he’d not recovered fully from the effects of his heart beating. Jael shook his head. An assassin had no business being so maudlin.

  But the scent remained in the air, and it didn’t come from this source. He groaned. Now, in addition to emotions he’d not had to feel in over three thousand years, he was losing control of his senses. A breeze drifted under the door, carrying more vanilla and shadow with it.

  That shouldn’t be possible. While not airtight, his quarters were far enough from any tunnel leading to the outside to prevent random air movement, even in the strongest storms. He preferred the air in his sanctuary to be still. Any movement in it meant an intrusion.

  If Viktoria’s scent was coming from outside his door, as impossible as that might be, it meant she was here, at the compound. He set the perfume aside and lunged for his unsheathed swords. Colorful witch magics swirled into view as he touched the hilts of his blades. A wisp of silver darted for the door, and he pointed one sword at it.

  “Not so fast! I see you, Soră. I should have known you would stir things up, running amok in the house.” He tried to sound stern, but Soră hadn’t been able to venture so far from Selene’s tower or become visible in a thousand years. Seeing her like this again made him smile even though that would only encourage her. He would never admit it, but he missed the silver girl who ran around causing mischief.

  The silver thread stopped its dash to slip back under the door and swirled in the air, forming a question mark.

  Jael snorted. “Yes, you.”

  Soră’s magic blurred into a cloud, and an exclamation point burst out.

  “Oh.” Jael laughed. “You’re insulted, are you?”

  Splitting in two, the strygoi magic streaked towards him. Each stream smacked into one of the medallions in his sword hilts, in either a kiss or a high-five, then rejoined to form one mass. It performed a precise about face, giving him the impression the magic had turned its back on him, and slid under the door to leave.

  “Blaming my swords. Cheeky.” Jael stalked to the door and opened it. The silver magic had vanished, no doubt finding trouble to cause some other hapless vampire, leaving only vanilla and shadow in its wake. “I don’t know if it’s worse when strygoi magic is on its own, or when it’s conspiring with a witch.”

  The hilts of his swords heated in his palms.

  “I didn’t mean you.”

  He pulled a pink silk scarf from his under his pillow, wrapped it around the bottle, and replaced his prizes under the cushion. Reminders of two blondes who made him crazy.

  Sprinting from his room, he tr
acked Viktoria through the house, passing Norrix pressed to the wall next to the front door and Alaric on his knees mumbling something about quadruplets, to the door of Selene’s tower.

  Of course. He’d told his Dragă about Musette. How shadows could help he didn’t know, but it made sense Viktoria would come to see her friend. He sprinted up the spiral staircase. As he neared the top, an unfamiliar female voice said, “We need to fight!”

  Swords in hand, Jael shoved Selene’s door open with his shoulder and scanned the room for threats. His eyes sought and found Viktoria. She sat in a chair next to Musette’s bed. Ember, two blonde women he didn’t know, and Musette lay on the bed. Idris sat on the other side. All of them touched the blonde woman in the middle, who clutched Ember and Musette’s hands in her own.

  Viktoria wore a black dress, missing half of its material, leaving her upper back, one shoulder and part of her chest bared. Did she have no clothes without missing sections? It was like someone took scissors into her closet and cut holes into her clothes, like they were making snowflakes from folded paper.

  Magics swirling around his swords darted towards the women on the bed. Power was everywhere. Ember’s unique blend of black and orange twined with silver surrounded her. Viktoria’s grey shadows roiled, ringed with curious silver but not blended with it. A pale pink edged with white hovered around Musette. The woman in the middle glowed a dark purple, the woman next to her a vibrant blue. Their magics encompassed everyone in the huddle.

  “What the fuck?” He blinked. They seemed like they had fallen asleep at the start of an orgy or playing some weird version of Sleep-Twister. He took a step forward, reaching for his Dragă. “Viktoria?”

  “Oh.” The single word from Selene was full of smug knowing and amusement. “I wondered which of you it would be.”

  Jael spun to face Selene. She sat in her bed, cross-legged on top of the covers, cradling the not-as-innocent-as-she-looked Soră in her arms. More alive than he’d seen her in decades. Her appearance hadn’t changed, but she seemed more... vibrant, like her energy had been recharged. But he wasn’t ready to talk about Dragăs with her. “I heard something about a fight.” His eyes tracked back to Viktoria.