Chapter Seven

Nadya

Sleep evaded me once we’d returned to my cottage from Frau Stegemann’s. The mother had little bleeding through the night, her body seeming to heal just fine. The newborn was suckling easily. A blessed and rare birth of a beautiful child into the world. All seemed well.

Then why did I feel so rotten? So on edge?

“Here, Deimos.”

I gave him some scraps of fatback from the pork I’d cooked down in a skillet in the stove with some broiled potatoes and carrots. My feline companion lapped up his meal greedily, purring like a little motor.

It was Uriel. And his digging into my time at Ivangorod. I’d avoided thinking of that place for so long. But his reminder that Vladek was still searching for me had put me on red alert. Of course I didn’t want him to find me. But neither did I want to live in some cave or barricaded fortress for the rest of my mortal life. I’d been caged for as long as I’d planned to be. If he recaptured me, then I’d take a permanent way out.

Deimos had shredded his meal, leaving bits on the woven rug under his bowl. When he walked away, I lifted the rug, curling the ends inward, and opened the door to shake it out.

The snow had stopped during the early morning, leaving a frosty blanket on the field and woods, the trees looking like ghostly statues in the gloom. I’d noticed Uriel walking the perimeter when I first awoke. I peered around as I shook out the rug but didn’t see him now. Deimos poked his tiny head out of the cracked door, sniffed the frigid air twice with his pink nose then ducked back inside. Smart kitty.

Just as I turned to follow him, movement caught my eye. From across the field, Skaal strode through the drifts. I waved. He nodded with a smile but halted at the old road that wove alongside the field about fifty yards from my cottage nestled into the trees. He looked to the left and right, hands on his hips.

What was he doing?

Bracing my hands around my mouth, I shouted, “What’s wrong?”

He pointed to nothing along the road. Frowning, I stepped farther into the yard as he shouted back, “I see you’ve got wards now.”

What?

I shook my head, walking closer, when Uriel flew down out of nowhere, flapping his magnificent white wings with two sharp beats to slow his descent. Stirring up the snow around Skaal, who watched him land. He took two strides and said something to Skaal. My demon friend nodded, then Uriel gripped him by the forearm, walked across the road, and then dropped his arm.

Huh.

Uriel had put wards around my cottage. The only way a demon could cross was by being walked across with one of angelkind. Sifting within wards—at least strong ones put in place by a powerful otherworlder—was impossible. It was the reason I’d needed another way out of Ivangorod. Except for Vladek’s hidden unwarded hotspots, no one could sift in or out of his domain.

The fact that Uriel and Skaal walked rather than sifted across the distance told me something I already knew. Uriel was intensely powerful, and no one of demonkind was getting close to my cottage without an escort now.

I backed toward the door and held it open for the two of them. “Come on in.”

So interesting to see this high demon and archangel side by side. Yes, Skaal had always worn danger like a cloak, an alertness to his dark gaze that said he watched and saw everything. But Uriel… It wasn’t danger or the threat of menace that hovered around him. It was a pure, potent force—a dormant power one might not heed or recognize until it was too late. His cool exterior hid what was burning in the depths of his cerulean gaze. And it wasn’t a threat or a warning that haloed his being. It was a promise.

Skaal took a seat on the sofa. Deimos didn’t budge from his spot in the corner on my white wool throw. Uriel leaned against the wall next to the mantel of the fireplace, the flames crackling.

“I’m glad you got wards around your place finally,” said Skaal, his tender expression aimed at me, tinged with a small pang of hurt. He’d offered before but I’d told him no. Demon wards only kept out angels. What good would it have really done when we knew there was only one person, a very high demon, who meant me harm?

“Honestly, I didn’t know anything about it.” Looking up at Uriel, it didn’t seem as if he’d comment at all but finally did in his typically detached manner.

“It was necessary.”

Necessary? Sure. But I was still shocked he took it upon himself to do it. The process could be draining for the spell-caster. And I didn’t think Uriel wanted to weaken his strength one tiny iota considering what was ahead of him. The real problem was I’d never wanted the wards, because they were like a flashing neon sign to any otherworlder in the vicinity. Ward barriers gave off a low-frequency vibration that warned angel and demonkind to stand back.

“I never wanted wards for a reason,” I said to Uriel whose cool gaze remained unnervingly steady.

He shrugged. Shrugged.

Taking a calming breath, I said, “If any demon is in the area, he’ll know that something or someone is on the other side of the wards that’s worth sticking around to find out.” It was like an arrow pointing to my cottage. To me.

“Nothing can get past my wards,” he stated matter-of-factly. Confidently. Because it was true. His power was immense.

“That’s not the point. The wards put a target on my back.”

“You said yourself that demons don’t come here. It’s the middle of nowhere. No one could find you here.”

“Yes, but there’s always a chance one could stumble through.”

“Exactly,” he said with steel in his rumbling timbre. “And if one should happen to pass through, he’ll never get across my wards.”

“But if he waits for me, and—”

“Then I’ll kill him.”

I could do nothing but stare before I said low, almost in a whisper, “You won’t always be around.”

Uriel looked as if he’d say more, but he clenched his jaw tight, his mouth closed. Skaal had remained quiet throughout our argument. I was glad when he broke the tense silence swallowing up the room.

“You were right.” He was looking at Uriel. “Vladek is using captured angels and demons who break his laws or just piss him off to make drakuls.”

Tearing my gaze away from Uriel, I asked, “How?”

“Have you ever heard of a snuffer?”

I shook my head.

“We killed them all over a millennium ago after they wiped out a third of humanity,” muttered Uriel.

“Yeah. I remember the Dark Ages all too well. Not a fun time,” Skaal gritted out sarcastically. “Vladek found a few of his own somewhere in the bowels of hell. There are dark corners there where creatures can survive for centuries in the shadows.”

“What are they?” I asked, growing impatient.

“They are essentially life-force feeders.”

“Like the soul collectors?” I remember seeing one of the five soul collectors, also called the rivers of the underworld. Her name was Styx, a pale, banshee-like creature with white eyes and black lips who fed on otherworld beings.

“Almost,” said Skaal, “but not exactly. The collectors feed on souls. Once they’ve devoured their prey, the eaten disappear into Erebus.”

Erebus. The deepest, darkest pit of the underworld.

“Snuffers are small,” interjected Uriel. “Like demonic fairies. They can inhale the essence of any living creature—human or of the otherworld. So, how’s he getting the essence from the snuffers into the drakuls? The metal coins.”

Skaal winced, his lip curling in disgust. “Once the snuffers are bloated with essence, he uses a spell to turn them into metal statues. His forgers melt and pound them into the coins. And that’s how we’ve got a magical currency being passed around.”

Pressing a hand to my stomach, I said, “That makes me sick.”

Skaal reached over and covered the hand in my lap with his own, giving me a squeeze. “That’s because you’re good, Nadya,” he said softly. “Most demons don’t care and would probably relish the idea if they knew the truth. The only reason Vladek is keeping it a secret is because he wants to be in charge of the valuable currency.”

“So he remains top demon,” added Uriel, his gaze on Skaal’s hand over mine.

“Exactly.” Skaal straightened, taking his hand with him. “I have other news.”

“What is it?” I asked, lacing my hands together in my lap.

“I’ve gotten you passage into the first circuit of fighting pits,” he told Uriel. “The first is under the command of a high demon named Yorick in Prague. You’ll meet your escort on the Charles Bridge at midnight in three days’ time. There’s only one problem that we didn’t discuss before.”

“What’s that?” asked Uriel.

“You need a master. A demon master.”

Uriel’s blue eyes darkened into flinty shards, his jaw clenching tight. “I will not have a master.”

Skaal scoffed. “Then you won’t go. No angel goes into the demon underworld pits without a master of our kind.”

Uriel said nothing, but the electricity sparking in the air warned me he was angry. Very angry.

“Yorick wants you, because no archangel has ever fought in the rounds. He’d be host to the most popular scene anywhere.”

“And ironically,” I added, “he’d make a ton of drakuls off the event.”

“Indeed, he would,” said Skaal.

Uriel said nothing, obviously still infuriated.

“What about Axel?” I asked. “He might be willing to do it for us.” While he’d helped me escape Ivangorod, no one had ever discovered how I’d gotten out or who had helped me.

Skaal frowned doubtfully. “I don’t know. You can ask him. Or he may know someone who will.”

Rising, I exhaled a deep breath. “All right. We’ll check with him and go from there.”

Skaal rose. “I’ll be tending to Odin Shans the night of your fight. If you make it,” he said to Uriel, “I’ll meet you here the following day.”

I winced. Make it meaning survived. The fights in the demonic underworld were always to the death. My heart fluttered with a sickening beat.

Uriel gave a stiff nod as I walked Skaal to the door. He could exit the wards on his own, but I stepped outside with him anyway.

“Thank you,” I said. Skaal paused and looked down, his dark eyes swamped with emotion. “You’ve helped me so much already. Risked so much. I can’t thank you enough.”

He cupped my face gently, stroking his thumbs just below my cheekbones. “I’ll do anything for you, Nadya.” His voice dropped to a low, husky region. “You know I would. How I feel. About you.”

Closing my eyes, I wrapped my fingers around one wrist, unable to make the circumference. “I know, Skaal.” Opening my eyes, I wanted him to understand clearly though I spoke the words with gentle intent. “I’d still be there in that castle if it weren’t for you. I owe you so much. But I can’t…I care for you as my friend, Skaal. My dear friend. That’s all I can offer.”

Sadness pierced his expression before he righted it with a small smile. “I know. I understand.” With a gentle squeeze, he dropped his hands away from my face. “I know that you’ll likely never want a man in that way again. I understand why.”

Swallowing hard against the lump forming in my throat, I wished I could have feelings of love toward Skaal, the way lovers should, not friends. But he was right. Trusting a man with my heart and soul again felt like an impossibility. And yet…

I glanced toward the open doorway of my home where Uriel stepped through holding my cloak, his expression unreadable. I wondered how long he’d been watching. And listening.

“Thank you,” I told Skaal.

With a stiff nod to me and a stiffer one to Uriel where he glanced at him holding my cloak out to me, he marched across the road, and then sifted out with a flashing spark and crackle.

Clasping my mantle and pulling on my gloves, I walked alongside Uriel across the road and the wards where we could sift out.

“Do you know Axel well?” I asked.

“We’re acquainted.”

“Then you know where to find him.”

“Yes.”

We crunched across the road, then Uriel’s hands slipped under the flaps of my cloak to band around my waist. Sucking in a quick breath in surprise, my gloved hands landed on his chest.

“It was good you made it clear to Skaal that you two would never be more than friends.”

Shocked at his blatant admission of eavesdropping, my heart skipping several beats, I didn’t know what to say. His body seemed closer. His face dipped lower than normal when he took me in his arms to sift away.

“Wh-why?” I asked, the heat of his body radiating into mine.

“He can’t get over you until he knows there’s no chance.” His expression tightened as his gaze swept from my cheeks to my lips then back to my eyes, leaving a heated trail in its wake. “A man needs to know where he stands with a woman he has intentions for.” His voice held a gravelly timbre that seemed to add hidden words he couldn’t say.

“What kinds of intentions? Emotional or just physical?”

“All of the above.”

Then his fingers gripped tighter, digging through the fabric at my waist as we sifted away. Spinning through the Void, my mind turned and turned in unison to the spiraling, dizzying world around us. Since when did Uriel concern himself with the intentions of women’s hearts? And since when did a fire burn behind those icy blue eyes…for me?