Page 28 of Sanctuary

Finn’s eyes turned dark. “He said I was chosen by a pagan god. He couldn’t tell which one, so he narrowed it down to two: Ullr and Morena. When he said her name, it was like a bell rang in my head.”

Better than pain.

“I looked up what she is,” Finn said. “She is evil, cold, and dark. She’s the goddess of death and winter. There was a family in New York that offended her, and she froze all of them, even the babies.”

“She did. It wasn’t just a family, it was Lihoradka’s cult, and they incubated a plague inside themselves, but yes, she did freeze them all. Even the babies. Subtlety isn’t what gods are good at. That’s why they have us. We mitigate.”

“Well, I don’t want to worship her. I’m not even Slavic. None of our family is. She shouldn’t have picked me.”

“You don’t have to be Slavic for a Slavic god to pick you. My neighbor is Polish. Not a Celtic bone in his body. But druidism spoke to him, and so he is a druid.”

“Well, at least he had a choice!”

The sbiten was clearly doing its job. The kid had come back to life.

“And you didn’t?”

“It didn’t feel like it. She left me alone during this last summer, but in September it started again. Snow, blood, cold, every night. I’d wake up, and my windows would be frozen. The pipes in my bathroom burst twice. It cost a lot of money to fix.” Finn slumped. “She hounded me.”

“They do that.” Roman took a swallow of his drink. “Speaking of hounds, when did the dog show up?”

“A month ago. I found her shivering in the rain by our porch.” He petted the puppy, and she licked his hand. “I didn’t know Athena was a special dog. I only found out three days ago.”

“You named Morena’s sacred animal after a Greek goddess?” Roman sighed.

Finn’s jawline hardened.

“I get it,” Roman said. “An occasional screw-up is allowed. Just remember you have to earn it. What happened three days ago?”

“I had a nightmare.”

It must’ve shaken him. His eyes turned haunted.

“What did you see?”

“My parents. They were dead in our house,” Finn said quietly.

Heavy. “Anything else?”

“A priest in front of an altar. He had Athena on it. He cut her throat with a long, curved knife. Her blood was all over the altar, and it was glowing with green and purple lights. It felt…real.”

The shepherd whined softly. Finn petted her again.

“What happened next?”

“Her blood froze, and I heard a woman’s voice. She said that if I wanted to keep my parents, my dog, and myself alive, I had to run. She said to follow the dog, and when I got to the fir tree in front of a big house, ask for sanctuary, and stay there until my sister came. Then she told me to wake up, and I did. I got dressed, took my backpack and Athena, and left.”

Mystery solved. Morena must’ve been really convincing. Probably scared him out of his mind. Didn’t clarify why those assholes outside were hunting him though.

“I’m sorry,” Finn said.

“For what?”

“For coming here. You got hurt because of me.”

Roman shrugged. “All part of the job. I have to say, that’s the first time someone asked me for sanctuary, but turns out, I’m rather good at providing it. Catholics, eat your heart out.”

“You joke a lot,” Finn said.

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