Page 107 of Cry of the Firebird

"Do you want to come out of there?" he asked gently.

"I c-can't m-move," she said, shivering badly from shock.

Yvan kicked off his shoes, turned the water hotter, and sat down beside her fully clothed. He draped an arm around her, and she leaned into him sobbing.

"You are okay," he whispered and gently stroked her hair. "Do you want to tell me about it?"

Slowly the whole confusing story tumbled out of her—the Shishiga and her peeling bloody skin, the Ovinnik, the crow slaves, and Völundr torturing Trajan.

Yvan held her tighter when she spoke about the huge amount of power that had taken over and ridden her. She couldn't remember anything after she started to give Trajan her energy except for the horrifying night terrors of Hell, distorted crow slaves, and Völundr screaming in the darkness. When Trajan had woken her, all she could see was his thanatos form looming over her.

"Anya, take a deep breath for me," Yvan instructed once her story had turned into a ramble of words and images. "I think the heavy drugs Völundr was injecting you with are slowly wearing off. You're coming down from a long high, so you need to try and relax. Vasilli and Ladislav weren't even aware that you were captured. That gives us a few days to get out of Paris, and by the time they realize what has happened, we will be long gone. They aren't ever going to get their hands on you again,shalost."

"I killed them, Yvan. They were screaming, and I left them to die," she said, the horror of it clawing at her insides.

"They would have done worse to you, Anya. Think of all the others that they would have hurt and experimented on in that building. This is war. You survived. There is no shame in that," he replied.

Anya gripped him tighter. Her whole world was turning upside down again, but Yvan was her rock, the only thing keeping her from getting swept away in the madness.

"You want to know something?" Anya asked shakily. "I met another two fairytale creatures when I was captive. I'm here with you, a wonderful, cursed fairytale prince from Skazki. It's like I am trapped in a fairytale of my own, but this isn't going to have a happy ending, is it?"

Yvan chuckled softly. "I'm not much of a prince anymore. One thing I've learned in my life is that we can never predict the future with certainty. You have been given a massive gift, and you have been using it for good. You have given a Shishiga and an Ovinnik a much happier ending than they thought possible. Think about them and the lives they have now because of you. Don't think about the lives you had to take."

"What are we going to do now?" she asked, sniffling.

"The first thing is you need to get out of this shower. Then when we are packed and ready, we are getting out of Paris. The others have been making the arrangements since we found you.Trajan was screaming when he woke up too, so don't feel bad about you being the same way."

Anya flinched at the mention of Trajan.Oh god, you screamed in his face.

"Can you do me a favor?" she asked.

"Anything."

"Can you talk to him for me? He's going to think I'm afraid of him. I was screaming because of the dream, and then he was looming over me, and I didn't know if I was asleep or awake"

"And coming down off drugs probably made the nightmares and the world in general terrifying. I'll tell him."

Yvan stood up and climbed out of the shower. He unfolded a massive towel and held it out for her, discreetly looking away as she stood, turned off the taps, and stepped into it. Yvan wrapped it around her like a little child and dried her face with a corner.

"Go and get dressed. You need food," he said with a smile. "I'll talk to Trajan."

"Thank you for everything, Yvan. You always know the right thing to say to calm me down."

Yvan smiled and flicked the end of her nose. "Of course I do. I'm the hero, remember?"

"Just because an old woman in Skazki said that doesn't mean it's true," Anya teased, feeling better just from making him smile.

CHAPTER FIFTY-EIGHT

Yvan found Trajan in the library with Hamish and Izrayl, a whiskey by his elbow and his head in his hands.

"Wouldn't have been you," Izrayl was saying to him.

Trajan looked up as Yvan interrupted them.

"I’ve just rescued Anya from my shower. She's coming down off the drugs she was given and was hallucinating. She was dreaming, and she panicked when you woke her, Trajan, that's all. She's embarrassed she screamed at you," he said, folding his arms. He was still pissed off at the thanatos for not calling for backup and then feeding off Anya, but him fighting with Trajan wouldn't help her.

"See? Told you not to beat yourself up," Hamish said, the big Australian slapping Trajan on the back so hard, it brought tears to his eyes.

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