Page 50 of Fate and Fury

Wordless, Elena nodded. Squeezing her friend’s hand, she went next door to check on the Vila children whose parents were clearing the debris left by the attack. The next time she saw Aly, her friend was all smiles, filled with relief they’d survived unscathed. She didn’t say another word about Niko and Katerina, and Elena was only too happy to let the subject drop. But she couldn’t stop thinking about it, and that night, after Aly had fallen asleep, Elena pulled her shawl off its hook, slipped on her shoes, and made her way through the silent village, determined to rid herself of her worries once and for all.

She tiptoed up the path to Niko and Katerina’s cottage, expecting him to throw the door open and demand to know what she was doing there. A Shadow’s job was to guard his Dimi, and Niko would be on edge now, after the demon attack. But the door remained stubbornly closed, and the seed of doubt Alyona had planted in Elena’s heart bloomed larger still.

She crept up to the side of the house, where a loose shutter banged in the breeze, and stood on her tiptoes to look inside. Katerina’s fire blazed high, casting shadows on the walls. Thecottage was dark otherwise, but there was more than enough light for Elena to see the impossible.

Niko and Katerina lay on her bed. She wore her nighttime shift; he was bare from the waist up. Her hair was down, and one of his hands was twined in it. He leaned on his other elbow, looking down at Katerina, his gray eyes fixed on her face.

“It’s harder than it used to be, fighting beside you.” Niko’s voice was husky, but the night was silent save for the chirp of crickets and Elena could hear every word. “Sometimes, I wish our fates lay along another path.”

Katerina made a small sound of surprise, and he loosened his grip in her hair, his hand skimming over her body until it came to rest on her hip with the familiarity of long acquaintance. “I don’t say it from cowardice, my Dimi. You know as long as I draw breath, I’ll keep my vow. I just dream, sometimes, that there is a peaceful place where the two of us coexist, without bloodshed, or demons, or the Dark. Where I’m free to love you the way I wish.”

Katerina curled her fingers around the back of his neck, pressing him down to her. Their lips met, until Niko broke the kiss with a growl.

“When I think of what could have happened—all the things that could have gone wrong?—”

“Hush.” Katerina sounded gentler than Elena had ever heard her. She traced Niko’s bare back, following the lines of his scars. “We’re both here. We’re safe.”

Niko trailed kisses along her throat, then lower still. “I could have lost you,” he said against her skin.

“But you didn’t.”

“I could have. So easily. It would kill me, Katya.”

Katerina propped herself on her elbows, glaring at him. Elena was sure what she must be thinking of: how his mother had died of heartbreak after his father had been sent away.“You’re not allowed to say that. Don’t ever say that again. If I died, you’d go on. You have to.”

Niko groaned, pulling her tight against him. “I know we shouldn’t. But I need to feel you. To know you’re all right. Can I—please?—”

Katerina didn’t answer in words. Instead, she arched so Niko could pull her shift over her head, then moved so he could kick his breeches to the floor. Elena watched in shock and horror as their bodies merged into one by the light of the flickering fire, Niko murmuring all the while how gorgeous Katerina looked, how brave she’d been, how good she felt.

Elena lost her grip on the shutter. It banged against the house, but Niko and Katerina didn’t notice a thing. She thumped onto her heels and ran, down the path that led to the village square and into the darkness beyond. Heedless of the danger, she fled through the woods, tears streaking her cheeks and brambles tearing her clothes. Her breath came in great sobbing gasps, and her head was filled with an incoherent buzzing, like the sound of a thousand angered bees.

How could Niko do this to her? She loved him. She’d trusted him. Soon, she was supposed to stand before the village and give him the gift of herself. As for Katerina—the Dimi was supposed to be herfriend.

Niko was steadfast and loyal. No matter what Alyona had tried to tell her, Elena clung to that belief. Someone didn’t change overnight, going from being kind and honest and true to betraying their betrothed in the worst manner imaginable.

It was Katerina’s fault. It had to be. She was the Dimi, the witch who could bend an entire forest to her will. What was one man’s heart, in the face of that kind of power?

She had stolen him. Had used her magic to cast some kind of spell, and woven a web around his heart. Had taken what was Elena’s, disrespecting the time-honored traditions of theirvillage. How could she do this? Didn’t she know that violating the prophecy this way would bring them all down?

Swiping at her eyes, Elena blundered through the woods. The trees rose tall, choking the light of the moon from view, and she moved by touch alone, shoving branches out of her way to forge a path. Then her foot hit the corner of something hard—a stone?—and she tripped, falling headlong.

Hiccupping, she sat up, drew her bruised knees to her chest, and looked around. The waning moon shone down, bathing the place where she sat in light.

She’d tripped over the ruins of Kalach’s old chapel, destroyed by a Grigori raid a century ago. Rose-briar vines encircled the half-broken columns; moss carpeted the cracked steps. It was a forsaken place, a forgotten place.

The forest had reclaimed the chapel, nibbling away at it. Still, this had once been a place of grace, of power. Surely some of that strength and magic remained, embedded in the stones, sunk deep into the earth. If Elena could find peace anywhere, it would be here.

She got to her feet, climbed the moss-covered steps to what remained of the cobblestone altar, and fell to her knees.

“Saints and angels, hear me.” Her voice rose, still thick with tears, into the silent forest. “I am Vila Lisova, betrothed to a Shadow, bearer of Vila and Shadowchildren. I keep your promises; I honor your covenant. Sant Viktoriya, I am your most loyal child. Hear me now, for I call on you for aid.”

Her eyes closed, Elena lifted her face toward the star-streaked sky. Hands folded in prayer, she drew a deep breath, inhaling the scent of roses and ruined things.

One breath. Two. Three.

There was a change in the air, a tempering of pressure. The pattern of the light gracing Elena’s face altered, moonlight sliding sideways into shadow. Her breath hitched.

“Open your eyes, child.” The voice came low, melodious.

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