Page 42 of Fate and Fury

Katerina lifted her hands and summoned the wind. It came, bending the trees that lined the square low, as if in obedience. “As you speak, Baba Petrova,” she said, “so shall it be. As for you, Andrei, servant of the Kniaz—I advise you to cease regarding my Shadow’s betrothed with such avarice. If he pressed his blade to your throat for the mere implication that the Kniaz might like to bed me, I shudder to think what he might do if you laid a finger upon his wife.”

Without waiting for his reply, she turned her back on the crowd in the village square and stalked off, leaving a shocked silence in her wake.

21

KATERINA

The three Shadow-and-Dimi pairs rode out that afternoon, at Andrei’s back. The rest of them trained all the rest of that day and into the night. After that, Baba bade Niko and Elena to come to her cottage, to discuss details of their impending nuptials. Pretending like this didn’t tear her apart, Katerina walked home with Ana and Alexei. They spoke of Niko’s fight with Andrei, the way Katerina had thrown the man into the grove, whether Nadia and Oriel were well on their way to the Magiya and what they might learn there. By the time the three of them reached Katerina’s doorstep, she ached with the effort of acting as if nothing was wrong.

She didn’t do a very good job of it. But so much wasalreadywrong that perhaps her glum demeanor aroused little suspicion, because Ana, usually quick to call Katerina out, didn’t say a word.

Katerina had changed out of her leather training gear, swept the floor of the cottage, and taken a bath by the time Niko came home at last. She was sitting in front of the fire in a midnight-black gown that matched her mood, staring into the flames, when his step echoed on the walk. A moment later, he’dunlocked the door. It creaked on its hinges as it swung inward, the wind stirring Katerina’s hair and making the flames flare higher.

She should have turned to greet him. It was petty to do otherwise. But she wasn’t ready to see his face. She didn’t trust what she might say, what she might do.

There was silence as he paused behind her, assessing her mood. Metal clinked as he set his blades down on the table. Then he came on, the floorboards protesting as they took his weight. He knelt in front of her, peering into her face.

“Katya,” he said. “Forgive me.”

She had to clear her throat before she spoke. When her voice came, it was harsh-edged. “There is nothing to forgive.”

“No?” His lips quirked. “Then why are you glaring at me like you’d like nothing more than to burn me down to ashes?”

“I don’t wish to incinerate you,” Katerina said haughtily. “Who would fight by my side then?”

Niko gave a rough sound that, under other circumstances, might have been a laugh. “I had to go to her, my Dimi. Baba insisted.”

She didn’t bother to ask him to clarify whoherwas. They both knew. “She’s your betrothed. Of course you did. I have no right to protest.”

“And yet,” he said wryly, scanning her—arms wrapped tightly around her bent knees, defiant gaze meeting his—“clearly youdo.”

Anger welled up in Katerina. “What do you want me to say, Niko? That I begrudge every word you speak to her, every second you spend by her side? That the thought of you touching her makes me wish to vomit? That I’d rather face a thousand Grigori than imagine the night when you take her to your bed?”

Her Shadow’s eyes narrowed. The firelight played on the long line of his throat as he swallowed. “That depends,” he said slowly. “Is it true?”

Katerina looked away. “Does itmatter?”

“Of course it matters. I thought you didn’t want this.” He gestured between them. “That it was to be once and once only. To satisfy your curiosity, as it were.”

Katerina’s eyes sprang wide. She shot to her feet, infuriated. “You think being with you was some sort ofexperiment? That I wanted to…to try you out and then cast you aside?”

He gave the one-shouldered shrug that meant something was truly troubling him. “What was I meant to think?”

“You were meant to think that you’re betrothed to another! That there are demons afoot, and Iriska is crumbling! That there’s a prophecy that forbids us to be together, lest we bring about the end of everything we hold dear and the death of everyone we know!”

A faint smile lifted Niko’s lips before they fell back into a grim line. “I told you, Katerina. I believe the prophecy to be superstition. As for Elena, I’m not wed to her yet, am I?”

“But youwillbe.” Katerina couldn’t keep the distress from her voice. “And soon. What kind of people would that make us, if we…”

Her voice trailed off. She closed her eyes, not wanting to look at him anymore. He was too much—too immediate, too beautiful, with his black hair tumbling loose from its tie. Too wild, with the firelight streaking his body, dark as demon blood. But a small current of air caressed her face, and when she opened her eyes again, he’d moved closer. “You are my Dimi,” he said, his voice husky. “I am your Shadow. Only claim me again, if that’s what you want, and I will be yours.”

“Wecan’t,” Katerina protested. “It doesn’t matter what I want.”

One of his dark eyebrows rose. “Come now, Katerina. When have you not taken what you wished, and damn the consequences? Am I meant to believe that you don’t truly want me, then? Is this a game for you?”

“A game?” Rage heated her cheeks. “I toppled a bridge for you, because I couldn’t stand to watch you claim Elena’s silly little boat for your own!”

Her Shadow’s jaw dropped. “But you said?—”

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