“My father has riches, not me. Last night I gave up my place on the Council and Father stripped me of my inheritance. My cousin is taking my place and this house belongs to him. I am nothing more than a simple merchant now.”
Her hands clenched into fists, rumpling the dress she clutched to her chest. “What kind of merchant?”
“I buy and sell horses now.”
“You gave up your place on the Council?” Faba screeched. “To your cousin? To...to sell horses!”
Jael shrugged, unable to suppress a petty twist of smugness in his heart. If she’d determined to make him miserable, he’d repay her in kind. Living in a modest house with no servants, wife of a merchant even lower in status than her wine merchant father, rather than becoming the wife of the future leader of the village, served her right. “Had you asked, I’d have told you that was my plan. You and your father bargained for a marriage to my father’s son without consulting me. Well, you got what you wanted. Here I am.”
She’d never forgiven him for what she saw as a betrayal. It didn’t matter. Maescia, born nine months from their wedding night, kept them together. Faba didn’t care anymore for him than he did for her, but they loved their daughter.
He should have tried to love Faba. Maybe they could have had a happy life together. Although he’d adored Maescia, and she suffered anyway. His wife murdered. His daughter’s soul trapped in his swords and now fed to mage fire because of his selfish actions. Did he deserve to be happy now?
Reliving every harsh word and small hurt inflicted and all the things he’d done wrong, said no.
CHAPTER SIXTY SIX
VIKTORIA
IN HER NEW STRYGOI form, Viktoria rose from the bed where Lurky lay so still. His heart beat under her fingers, but his mind was miles away.
Memory tapped on the door and came in. “Shadow! You’re all marvelously whatever, like Ember!” She picked up some of Viktoria’s hair to examine its new black color. “Can you change back, or are you always going to be like this now? Oh! Has Mother seen you?”
“I’m sure Mother knows what a strygoi looks like. I can go back and forth.” Viktoria spun around and held out her arm. Shadowy tendrils coiled around her body, up to her shoulder and down to her hand. “Look!”
“You don’t need light to make shadows anymore?”
“Nope. They come from my strygoi magic now, at least the ones on my body do. I can still pull bigger ones from around me if I need to.”
“Has your vampire been awake yet?”
“For a few moments. He called me Dragă, but I’m not sure he’ll remember what happened. He seemed lucid, but after we bonded, he was confused about what was real and passed out again.” Viktoria pressed her hand to Lurky’s forehead and cheek. “He’s burning up. He never felt hot before.”
“I think the worst is over. I took you out of all his bad memories, and now that he’s fed, Mother says his vampire blood will chase out the last of the toxins from all the spider bites.”
“That might be part of it, but now that we’re bonded, I feel what he does. He was happy at first, but he was in so much pain before he passed out. I don’t think he wants to come back, and I can’t reach him. What if what the mage did is permanent?”
“It’s not. He’s just deep in his remembering. You should take him to see Auntie Kipu-Tyttö.” Memory poked Jael. “I didn’t take his memories because you said he would want them. But he could lose the pain that goes with them and still be who he is, right? You don’t even have to call Surma. He’s already here.”
“He is?”
“Yes, I was coming to tell you — you’re going to have to take the spiders back to your house. Grandmother took some poison from them. I think she’s making a new kind of beer, but one bit grandfather and he sicced Surma on them. Dream brought them back from Tuonela to save them, but Surma came anyway. And it’s too cold. The poor things are shivering and our sisters keep trying to put clothes on them.”
“They’re dressing spiders?” Even after her thousand-year, self-imposed exile in the human world, it was easy to fall back into the role of a Pohjola Maiden and find great entertainment in silly things. There was nothing that could harm them in Pohjola. Louhi eliminated all threats. Even when they were kidnapped, it was only a matter of time before their Mother fixed everything and they were home again. But her sisters were free now. They should be focusing on what they wanted to do in the future.
Memory nodded. “The spiders don’t seem to mind the hats and scarves, but they can’t walk in socks and keep slipping and sliding all over the place. When I left, Dream, Weaver, and Rainbow were talking about trying to make them some boots or putting tape on their feet.” She lowered her voice. “The whole thing seems to be making Mother crazy, so that’s a bonus, but I’m afraid she’s going to grind the fuzzy guys up and use them in a spell if we push her too far. I didn’t think I would like them, but they’re kind of cute. It’s not safe here for them.”
In spite of her worry for Lurky, Viktoria couldn’t help the snort that escaped her as she imagined spiders dressed in winter wear. Living sheltered in Pohjola brought out the joy of being innocent and naive in all Louhi’s daughters, where the most dire decisions they faced were what color to make the socks to put on some shivering spiders and whether they should have boots.
She clapped a hand to her mouth, but the snort was followed by a titter, then a giggle, and before long she couldn’t stop the laughter from taking over. Tears slid down her face and she wrapped her arms around her middle as she doubled over and laughed.
Memory leaned out of the room and whistled for Surma. He, having apparently decided to get along with rather than kill the spiders, bounded into the room festooned in socks on three of his four paws, plus a hat, and a scarf of his own. He carried the four spiders with him — one on his massive head, one hanging from his snake tail, one on his back, and one perched on his chest.
Viktoria laughed until she wheezed and Memory smacked her on the back. “He’s not going to be very effective at scaring people away from Tuonela dressed like that, is he? Grandfather is going to have a fit!”
CONVINCING THE SPIDERS to climb into her bed where it was warm had not been difficult. Getting Surma to give up his new accessories had been more complicated. In the end, she’d let him keep them, and he hadn’t fussed too much about carrying Jael on his back through her shadows to Tuonela.
Four black swans slept on the grassy shore in front of the wide, dark river, heads tucked under their wings. Opening one eye to watch her, the birds sleepily sang death spells. Standards were slipping around here. Surma, the guardian of the underworld gates, played with spiders instead, and the swans, more guardians, couldn’t be bothered to hurl their death spells hard enough to cause harm. Anyone could wander into Tuonela. “Silly birds. I know I’ve been away for a long time, but don’t you recognize me?”
She moved from swan to swan, coaxing them to wakefulness as she scratched itchy beaks, smoothed ruffled feathers, and led them to their places in front of a raft. “Will you take us to Aunt Kipu-Tyttö’s house, please?” The birds ceased their death spells and waded into the water.
Viktoria heaved a sigh of relief as she coaxed Surma onto the ferry. She’d been half-worried because Lurky hadn’t awakened and half-worried he would fight her over trying to take his anguish away.
He did a good job of blocking her, but the emotions, so raw and deep, leaked through. How had he lived with all this for so long and not gone insane? But he hadn’t felt emotions, had he? As a vampire, he would have felt nothing. This was happening to him because of her and the bond she’d wanted so badly.
Aunt Kipu-Tyttö would take Lurky’s pain — all of it. The more the Pain-Girl had from others, the less she felt herself.
The swans waddled onto shore where three black rivers met in front of a steep hill covered in blue stones. A small wooden cottage sat at the base of a trail that wound up the incline, smoke curling from a chimney. The door opened at the sound
of the swans honking, and a skeletal woman with choppy grey hair, wearing a ragged grey dress over her skeletal body, came out onto the small porch.
“Who is this?” Aunt Kipu-Tyttö asked as Viktoria and Surma disembarked and walked farther up the rocky beach to approach her home. She touched Jael’s forehead. “This one is full of pain. He can supply me for years.”
“This is my Lurky. I love him, Aunt Kipu-Tyttö. Will you ease his suffering?”
“Of course, my dear.” Her aunt winked, the dark circles under her sunken eyes lightening with her amusement. “I haven’t seen so much ruckus as those drunken spiders of yours have caused in decades. Take your Lurky up Kipumäki and face him towards the three rivers.” Kipu-Tyttö waved at the hill. “Lay him on the cup-shaped rocks. The stones don’t cry for pain.”
Surma padded alongside Viktoria as they climbed and lay down at the top so she could wrestle Lurky’s body into place on the rocks. She regretted not being able to make him more comfortable, but he had to be touching the rocks for them to take his pain, so she couldn’t cushion him.
Slumping next to him, she laid her palm over his heart, letting the steady rhythm beat against her fingers. “I haven’t asked for help in over a thousand years, vampire. Not for anything. But I don’t know what else to do to bring you back. I don’t want to be in love by myself. Please, Lurky, help me.”
CHAPTER SIXTY SEVEN
JAEL
STONES DUG INTO HIS back, but Jael couldn’t bring himself to move. While an uncomfortable surface to lay on, there was a draw, something soothing about the rocks jabbing into his spine. Where was he?
Overhead, a night sky flickered with streaks of green and yellow light but no moon or stars, and from his view on the side of a hill, a black river wound through other rocky hills and a larger landmass, with a sandy beach and green trees.
Where was Viktoria? His beating heart and the scent of vanilla meant she was close, but he was alone.
A woman walked toward him, dark hair flowing down her back. A purple sleeveless gown gathered under her breasts by a blue ribbon Her light eyes watched him as she stepped through the air and stopped next to him.
Faba.
She sank to the stones gracefully and curled on her side next to him. “Hello, Jael.”
“Faba.” He couldn’t keep the wariness out of his voice. Maybe it was a good thing Viktoria wasn’t really here.
“Relax. I didn’t come here to fight.”
All they’d ever done was fight. “What do you want?”
“To talk. I can show you some things now that I couldn’t before.”
“What do we have to talk about?”
She gave him a small smile. “Why.”
“Why what?”
Instead of answering him, Faba held out a hand.
Jael stared at her. What did he have to lose at this point? And she’d been dead for over three thousand years. After all this time, he owed her this much. He linked his fingers with hers and, once again, his mind was not his own.
“NO, MAMA. I WON’T!” Faba stood in her bedroom, hands on hips, light eyes rimmed in kohl blazing. She wore a sleeveless dress of green, and discarded gowns lay scattered over the blue coverlet on the bed and tile floor. Sunlight streamed in the open windows, giving her a golden halo.
“You must do it.” An older version of her daughter, slim, dark-haired, and light-eyed, Faba’s mother seized her daughter’s shoulders with hands covered in black leather and shook her. “Marry Jael.”
Faba lifted her stubborn chin. Jael had seen that haughty look often enough. It almost made him smile now to see it directed at someone else. “He doesn’t want me, and I love Bashaa.”
“Foolish girl!” Amati shouted. “Bashaa will turn you and all your children into slaves forever! He doesn’t understand who he’s dealing with.” Her mother gave Faba a vigorous shake, snapping her head back and forth, then pushed the girl away. “I’ve already spoken with your father. He will make the arrangements. You will marry Jael whether you like it or not.”
“I won’t!”
“You will, or this is your future.” Amati removed her gloves.
Eyes round, Faba shook her head wildly and backed away. She stumbled over a trunk at the foot of her bed and rolled to the other side “No, Mama. Please, don’t!”
Relentless, her mother stalked Faba around the room, trapping her in a corner. One bare hand shot out to grip Faba’s arm.
The jolt zipped up his arm where his fingers gripped Faba’s.
Older now, Faba lay on a cot in a cell lit by a guttering torch, a heavy wooden door preventing her escape. Why wouldn’t the light just go out? There were fewer monsters in the dark. She stared at the dingy stone ceiling of her prison, wishing for death.
Jael shuddered at hearing her bleak thoughts in his head. Her light eyes held suffering that matched the ropy and livid scars on her naked body where she’d been cut and whipped. What happened to her? There was no sign of the woman he’d known.
Footsteps echoed down the corridor. It wasn’t time for the drugged food and water they left for her.
Bashaa.
He was her only visitor, and only when he wanted to... She couldn’t stop her body trembling, setting the chain locked around her ankle rattling.
A key slid into the lock and clicked. The door opened, admitting Bashaa.
The sight of his face, so handsome once, sent nausea rolling through her. He had white hair and eyes now, even though he wasn't any older than her.
“Hello, wife. Are you not happy to see your husband?” He stripped off his tunic and dropped it to the floor. White symbols flowed over his skin.
Faba averted her eyes.
More clothing rustled and Bashaa climbed on top of her. “What do you think, wife? A fourth set of twins? The mages inside me like that you always have two.”
His stomach sick, Jael turned away, mind rebelling. Thankfully, the scene reverted to Faba’s bedroom.
“But why would Bashaa do that to me, Mama?” Horror and grief made Faba’s voice thick. “I thought... I thought he loved me.”
“The boy does. The man he will become will love power above all else, including you.”
Faba’s mother pulled her hand away. Her eyes filled with tears. “If you do not marry Jael, Bashaa will ask for you. Is that what you want? Jael’s family is more powerful than Bashaa’s. No one can argue the match. Jael doesn’t love you, nor you him, but you will be saved this fate. You are the great-granddaughter of Mamitu, and stronger than you know, but there is no reason to endure what Bashaa will do to you.”
Tears welled and slipped down Faba’s cheeks.
A hand, safely covered in leather, wiped the sadness away. “You and Jael are two people who have grand fates set for you. Unfortunately, those with noble destinies have lives steeped in tragedy. But you can know some happiness with Jael if you let yourself.”
“OH, FABA... I WISH I had known. I would have understood.” He could have, couldn’t he? Certainly he wouldn’t have blamed her for escaping that life no matter what it took. What kind of man would have refused to help her? “All the petty things I did. I wouldn’t have been so cruel.”
She laughed. “You weren’t the only petty one when we were young. I did what I could to make you pay for every slight, real or imagined. You thought I robbed you of your life. I did, because I didn’t want the alternative. Would you have believed then that my mother saw the future? If even a rumor of her ability had been known, the mage’s men would have come for us long before they did. Bashaa was your best friend at the time. I especially didn’t want to believe he had such cruelty inside him. I loved him. But Mama was never wrong.”
Too much. This was all too much. Was this even real? Or were these more false memories? An imagined conversation meant to put his mind at ease before more terrors resurfaced. Jael tried to pull his fingers away.
Faba tightened her grip, refusing to let him go. “Wait. There’s one more thing I have to show you. Please.
.. please try to understand.”
Jael disappeared into another vision.
FABA PACED THE LENGTH of her girlhood bedroom. She screamed in agony, arms wrapped around her enormous belly as pain ripped through her.
Removing a hooded cloak, Amati hurried in and guided Faba to the bed. “I’ve sent for the midwife and Jael. Lie down.”
“Jael’s buying another stupid horse.” Faba groaned, trying to get comfortable. “He cares more for those animals than me.”
Guilt stabbed Jael. He had been away buying a horse, after brushing off Faba’s complaints of pain. She complained about so many things all the time, her words blurred together.
Her mother slid pillows behind Faba to brace her back. “He’ll get here when he should.”
With Amati guiding Faba through the birthing, the baby was born what seemed like moments later.
But this wasn’t right. He’d been present at Maescia’s birth. Rushed at breakneck speed to arrive in time. Held the baby even before Faba, which she never let him forget. And Amati hadn’t been there at all. No one saw her that day, or any day after.
Amati swaddled the infant and handed the baby to Faba. “Enjoy the time you have. It is short.”
Faba cradled the baby close. “Is there no other way, Mama?”
“No, my girl. The other ways, all of you die. You can give this girl a chance. The second one is coming.”
Second one? Gods. In the other vision, Bashaa said Faba always had twins. Maescia had a twin? His mind spun.
Amati picked up her cloak, fastened it around her neck and pulled up the hood to obscure her face. “I must go. Tell no one you saw me today or about the first child. Promise me.”
“I promise.”
“Give me my granddaughter. I will keep her safe.”
Tears streamed down her cheeks. Faba kissed her daughter on her head and let Amati take her.
Viktoria's Shadow: Jael Page 33