Page 15 of Ironheart

Zori couldn't help feeling a brief flicker of hope in her chest. She'd given up on the thought of having any family out there at all.

Maxim had shut those kinds of questions down by the time she was ten years old. He had been her mother's best friend. Zori had no family to look after her; only Maxim was there to take responsibility for her. She could've ended up in an orphanage without him, and he’d made sure she knew it.

If Vladik was telling the truth and Maxim had been using her that whole time, sheneededto see it for herself.

Taking a deep breath, Zori said a prayer, hoped she wasn't making a huge mistake, and flushed the pills down the toilet.

9

For the first time since Zori could remember, she woke up without feeling foggy in her head. She stood under the shower, the water feeling amazing on her hypersensitive skin. She felt…good.

Zori had an appetite which she never had either. When her breakfast arrived, she all but stuffed toast into her mouth before starting on her eggs. Her eyes caught on the building outside. A gargoyle was watching over her, just as he promised. The thought made her feel soft all over.

Zori had been too caught up in trying to process everything Vladik had been saying the night before to kiss him goodnight. She suddenly really regretted that oversight.

What would his lips feel like when he was in his gargoyle form? His skin hadn't felt hard as stone when he'd carried her. She needed time to check him out properly when he was like that. For science. The thought made heat curl low in her stomach and her nipples harden.

Zori groaned. What was wrong with her that she had such a reaction to him? Was it because he was a gargoyle and she was, allegedly, a swan wife? Was it some kind of chemical reaction?

If the pills she'd been taking had smothered her magic and the swan wife side of her, what would she be like around Vladik when she wasn't on them? She shivered. Probably not the best thought to have when she had no way to find out. Not yet anyway.

Zori found her phone and pulled up their messages. He had warned her to be careful with them in case they were being monitored. Would Maxim really violate her privacy like that? She didn't even know how someonewouldmonitor them, but she knew it would be better to never put a record of her asking Vladik about his gargoyle form.

Zori made more coffee and tried to think of where she could investigate first. She spared a glance out in the hall and saw that the cleaners were in the other side of the penthouse, which ruled out her snooping until that night.

She found her laptop and tried to find the myth that Vladik had told her about. She didn't find it, but she did find a lot of information on Morana, Chernobog, and Kitezh.

The latter was the real mystery. The city of Kitezh had been located on Lake Svetloyar, and there was a legend that the Golden Horde lead by Batu Khan had tried to attack it in 1237. When the scared citizens had prayed to God to save them, it had sunk into the lake like some Russian Atlantis. Now the hidden city was legend.

Maybe it wasn't hidden by God, but a whole bunch of priestesses of Morana? Zori couldn't rule it out. Magicwasreal. She had seen it for herself in the form of a massive, hunky gargoyle. All the research did was leave her with more questions than answers.

* * *

Zori waiteduntil Nina had visited her before she attempted to check the other side of the penthouse. She had held the tablets under her tongue until the nurse had left, then she'd spat them out into the toilet.

Her phone buzzed in her back pocket, and she pulled it free to find a message from Vladik.

Vladik the Handsome:How are you feeling?

Zori: I took your advice and feel better than I have in a while.

Vladik the Handsome: That's good to hear, puppy.

Zori wanted to say more, but now she was feeling paranoid about her phone. This was the worst. She checked to make sure the hall was empty before tiptoeing her way down to Maxim's side of the penthouse. Her phone buzzed, and she glanced at the message.

Vladik the Handsome: It's a nice night if you have a balcony to look at the moon.

"What?" Zori didn't know what he was playing at. She risked turning on a light and went out to the balcony. On one of the chairs was a phone. She looked around, but there was no Vladik flying about.

Zori picked up the phone and found another picture of him had been set as a background. A message was waiting for her.

Vladik the Handsome: Thought you might need this, seeing how we can't trust your other one.

Zori: I've wanted to message you all day but have been too nervous to. I saw you hanging out on the building opposite. Do you do that often?

Vladik the Handsome: Irina has commanded I keep an eye on you. Not a hard task, especially when you walk about in your lingerie.

Zori: Good to know I need to start closing my curtains.

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