Chapter 10

Anya woke mid-afternoon with the sun streaming through the cabin"s dirty windows. She pulled on her coat and boots and stepped outside into the fresh air. Her mouth tasted weird again, like ashes and tears and blood when Tuoni had grabbed her. Maybe Yvan would know what he did to her? Except the shapeshifting prince was nowhere to be seen.

"Yvan?" she called. Her stomach clenched, wondering if he had left without her. Why do you even care? He"s the one who brought Vasilli to your farm.

Despite that, Yvan was growing on her, and it was a rare thing for her to like anyone. Suffering made people interesting, and after his story last night, there was no doubt that Yvan had suffered.

Destiny or not, your abandonment issues are next level to worry about a man you barely know.

Now that Anya was outside, the blood and ash taste grew in her mouth again as lost childhood memories of the cabin hit her hard. Eikki had taught her to glean in the forest for berries and mushrooms and track foxes and rabbits. Grief pierced her low in the gut, and she wished he was there with her, if only for a moment.

Anya followed an overgrown path down to a small, clean stream and drank handfuls of water to rinse the taste of ash from her mouth. She washed her face and tried her best to re-braid her hair without a comb or a mirror. As she wandered back to the cabin, she spotted Yvan coming through the trees with freshly caught trout dangling in one hand and fishing gear in the other.

"I thought you might have left for Skazki without me," Anya said, trying to disguise the relief in her voice.

"Sorry to disappoint. I was hungry, so I went exploring," Yvan replied and then shifted on his feet. "I also went back to the house to see if I could spot Vasilli."

"The animals?" Anya croaked.

Yvan shook his head. "I"m sorry, Anya. He really left nothing but ashes, and there was no sign of him. He could be hiding out in the village and waiting for tonight to check the house ruins for our bodies."

Anya sat on the porch steps of the cabin, the wind knocked out of her. Yvan went inside, coming out again with his fish on a frying pan, and set about making a fire under the trees.

"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked, not looking up from what he was doing.

"The animals were the only things I cared about in the world," Anya said, brushing a tear off her cheek where he wouldn"t see it. "It might sound dumb to you, but they were the only things that got me out of bed some days. They were my friends, even before Eikki died."

"I understand that. I always found animals easier than people too," Yvan replied with an understanding smile. "Except for the firebird. It was always an asshole."

Anya let out a soft laugh and sniffed. "Yeah, I can imagine. Do you think the firebird could tell if Tuoni left some kind of magic on me? He said I had been made to forget things, and it was time I woke up. Since then, it"s like I keep having these memories appear, and I get a weird taste in my mouth."

"What memories?" Yvan asked as he got a fire going.

"Last night, I dreamed about a dog I brought back to life after it got hit by a car," Anya said, feeling stupid for forgetting the incident. "There was another one about a boy teasing me, and I gave him a rash. I know it sounds weird, but both things felt too real to be a dream."

She didn"t mention the man who smelled like autumn, whose smile filled her chest with warmth. This time, in her dreams, he hadn"t been arguing with Eikki but talking with her. How could she forget someone like him?

Yvan set the fish in the frying pan over the fire, washed his hands in a bucket of water, and walked over to her. "Let me see the hand Tuoni touched."

His eyes were glowing again, and Anya figured the firebird was in a helpful mood. She gave Yvan her right hand, and he rested his large palm on the back of it as he turned it over.

"The firebird says he can feel Tuoni"s power still living here," Yvan said, his voice changing with a metallic timbre. He rested fingertips on her forehead. "And here. He also says there"s another shaman"s magic locking up your mind. Maybe Eikki really took some of your memories away."

"I don"t understand why, though. We were always so close," Anya said softly, looking down at her palm. "At least, I thought we were."

"Maybe he didn"t want you to know about this world because he knew how dangerous it was," Yvan replied. He got the fish out of the pan and onto plates. "As soon as the sun goes down, we run, so eat up."

Anya took the plate from him. "Has anyone ever told you that you"re incredibly bossy?"

"Yes." Yvan sat back down in front of the fire, and Anya rolled her eyes when he couldn"t see. When she was finished with her fish, he took her plate and set it aside. "Good, now I have something to show you—a sauna and washhouse. Do you remember them?"

Anya did, but the images were fuzzy. "Maybe a little? Eikki came here by himself more than me. Why? Do you feel like a sauna?"

"I do, actually, but it"s not going to be possible. I"ll show you why."

Anya followed Yvan through the trees. A small log shack came into view through the trees, and Anya smiled, remembering Eikki showing her how to make vasta out of birch branches.

"The shamans of my people often used banyas to perform their magic," Yvan said as they looked around the building. "And Norsemen used saunas to invoke visions."

"That was probably because of dehydration. As you can see, there is no evidence of magic," Anya said and pulled open the sauna door with a flourish.

Yvan cleared his throat. "You were saying?"

The old benches had been removed and replaced with a small stool and a table. Dried herbs hung from the roof, and paintings and symbols covered the blackened walls. Blood rushed to Anya"s head as the smell of the herbs hit her. The signs on the walls pulsed, and her vision swam. The blood and ash taste hit her mouth again, and she gagged.

Eikki really had been a shaman. A part of Anya hadn"t believed it entirely. Now, there was evidence of her grandfather"s secret life right before her.

Yvan put his hand under her elbow to steady her as she bent over, trying to get air back in her body.

"Oh god, Yvan. He lied to me so goddamn much," she said, spitting the tears from her mouth.

"I"m sure he had his reasons. I haven"t gone through his things, but there could be things in there that could help us in Skazki," he said gently, helping her straighten. Anya sat down on the small stool, feeling out of place and confused as she stared at the walls and objects around her. She was mad at Eikki, and her heart ached for him simultaneously.

Yvan walked around the room, examining the paintings and curious objects. Anya looked down at the table and started toying with some smooth stones she found in a clay bowl. She picked one up and dropped it. A ripple passed through the tabletop and rustled the leaves outside the sauna door.

Yvan froze and looked outside. "Did you feel that?"

Curious, Anya picked up the stone again and dropped it against the pine table. The same ripple occurred, but stronger. Yvan turned to look at her.

"What? I didn"t do anything," she exclaimed. Yvan strode across the room and snatched the stone from the table.

"These are rune stones!" Yvan hissed, looking into the bowl. "You don"t drop these against a surface unless you"re casting them. Who knows what you"ve just attracted to us?"

"How was I supposed to know?" Anya said, standing up and getting in his face. "You know what? Take whatever the fuck you want. I don"t even care."