Chapter 2

Anya"s palm tingled alarmingly as Tuoni tightened his grip, and black shadows shivered around their hands. She pulled hers away quickly and rubbed at her eyes.

You must still be drunk. Eikki had loads of weird friends. Remember the fortune teller with gold teeth and only one ear? He"s probably just here to pay his condolences.

Sudden cold pressure built behind her eyes, and Tuoni laughed softly.

"Perhaps you are still drunk, so let me try to put you at ease. I really am that Tuoni."

Sweat prickled the back of Anya"s neck. "Even if you are, how is that supposed to put me at ease?"

Tuoni smiled. "I"m here to talk to you, Anya, not frighten you. Unless you can see my true form, and that"s what"s disturbing you?"

True form. Eikki used to tell her stories about magical creatures and beings that used glamor and guise to hide their true forms and to lure unsuspecting humans to violent deaths.

"Unless your true form is wearing a suit far too nice for this place, then no, I can"t see anything," Anya replied, trying to keep her voice steady. She didn"t rattle easily, but the longer Tuoni stared at her, the more her hand burned with the imprint of his touch.

"That"s strange. I"m sure Eikki once mentioned you could see things," he said with a slight tilt of his head.

"Yeah, sure he did," she scoffed. "Maybe in my PTSD-induced nightmares after watching my parents die." Nightmares that had come back after she had seen Eikki mauled by wolves in the forest.

"I"m not talking about any nightmares, Anya." Tuoni was watching her with a predator"s interest. "It is a shame that you don"t. It"s a useful talent for a shaman to have."

"So you"re here to pay your condolences to Eikki?" Anya interrupted, her patience running out. Just play along, and he"ll leave.

"I"ve come to talk to you about Eikki and your family legacy."

"Legacy? You mean the farm and his estate?"

Liisi came back to refill their coffees. "Who is this nice man you are talking to, Anya?"

Tuoni"s brilliant smile flashed across his face. "I"m Eikki"s lawyer from St. Petersburg, here to talk to Anya about her inheritance," he said.

"I knew you were no farmer with that suit," Liisi replied in shaky English.

Anya cringed internally at her pronunciation. Her parents, a schoolteacher and a lawyer, had taught her English, Finnish, and Russian as she grew up, hoping they would all travel when she got older. After their deaths, Eikki had continued their lessons.

Much good it did me, seeing how I"ve gone nowhere.

"What happened to that old man was a tragedy. Attacked by wolves in the middle of summer. It"s unnatural?—"

"Sorry to interrupt, but Anya and I have much to discuss before I leave today," Tuoni replied, cutting her gossip off.

"Of course! It"s so nice to see a new face, especially a handsome one."

Anya rolled her eyes. Liisi was a liar because no one gave a shit about Eikki except her. Liisi just wanted someone new to flirt with.

"Let me know if you need anything else," Liisi said, touching Tuoni"s shoulder before bustling away.

Anya sipped her coffee. "You said legacy. What do you mean by that?"

"I"m talking about your responsibility to be a gatekeeper and shaman, like Eikki was."

Anya coughed as the coffee went up her nose. "You think he was a shaman? At most, he was a joiking enthusiast when the Sami performers came through, but?—"

"I am many things, Anya, but I"m not a liar," Tuoni snapped, his eyes flashing angrily. "There was a lot Eikki kept hidden from you, his magic included. He wanted to protect you and make the world believe you were as devoid of magic as your father was."

"Enough! I don"t know who you are or who put you up to coming here to piss me off, but don"t you dare speak about my grandfather like he was crazy and never, ever talk about my father," Anya snapped.

She had endured enough teasing about Eikki over the years. The village loved gossiping about him until something terrible happened, and he was the first person they called.

Cold radiated from Tuoni as his lips lifted in a sneer. "Do you think I"m going to obey a mortal like you? I"m here to help you, so shut your mouth and listen."

"No, thanks. I"m done with your bullshit," Anya replied and tried to get up. Tuoni made a slight gesture, and her body froze.

Blood and fury roared in her ears. "What the fuck did you do to me? Let me go."

"I don"t want to frighten you, girl, but I need you to sit still and listen." Anya opened her mouth to tell him where to go when her jaw shut tight. Fuck.

"Much better. As I was saying, Eikki was a shaman and a gatekeeper. There are only a few places in the human world that touch an Otherworld, and your farm borders are one of the strongest in Russia. Like your ancestors before him, Eikki protected this gate into Skazki his entire life."

The forest at night is their domain.Eikki"s warning words rushed back to Anya. He had said that the night her parents died, trying to convince them not to leave. How did I forget that?

Anya"s jaw loosened. She said, "What do you mean by a gateway to Skazki?"

In the fairytales, Skazki was the name of the land of heroes and myth, and Mir was the human world.

Tuoni laced his fingers together in front of her. "It"s a place where two worlds touch and weave together. Sometimes, people and creatures with magic can cross through. Your family has always been gatekeepers, and because of that, Eikki had enemies. Unless you have a lot of power, you need a gatekeeper to world walk, and people like Eikki would be petitioned. He was particular about who he let through. The night your parents died? That was a disgruntled petitioner lashing out because they wanted to punish Eikki."

They were murdered? Anya shuddered against the invisible bonds holding her as she remembered the shadows surrounding the car, blacking out the windscreen as they all screamed. Then, the deafening silence when they hit the ditch.

"Why are you telling me this?" she asked, swallowing the emotion in her throat.

"Because Eikki can"t protect you anymore. You"re lucky that word spreads so slowly between the worlds because when the creatures and magic users in Skazki find out he"s dead, they are all going to break in. You need to learn to become a gatekeeper to keep this world safe. You have a great power hidden inside of you that needs to be unlocked because if you don"t keep the gates closed, anyone and anything will get in. Like the skin-changers that killed him, for example." Tuoni studied her curiously. "You saw them that day, didn"t you?"

Anya had thought she had imagined seeing the skinny, humanoid forms hidden under the wolf furs. By the time she had reached where they were attacking Eikki, they had vanished into the forest. He had been left to bleed out from where they had ripped his stomach and chest open.

Anya couldn"t hide the tremor in her voice. "If Eikki was guarding this gate, how did they get in to kill him?"

"I can"t be certain, but my guess is that one of his enemies from Skazki helped the skin-changers. I know he had premonitions of his death coming, and maybe they did too. The last time I saw Eikki, he was determined to cast a ward that would shield you for the rest of your life. He was still trying to ensure you were protected after his cancer killed him," Tuoni said, his tone gentling ever so slightly. "He couldn"t hide you forever. He couldn"t stop the supernatural war that is coming, and neither can you. Now that he isn"t here to renew the gate"s strength, they will weaken and fray. You have little time before they are ripped apart and probably you are with them."

"Why me?" Anya was struggling to believe any of what he was saying, and if it wasn"t for the fact she still couldn"t move by whatever power was binding her, she wouldn"t believe him at all.

"Because you have untrained magic, and there are powers in this world who will want it once it manifests again. You probably have six months at the most. Gate protection spells are usually renewed twice a year at the summer and winter solstice to strengthen them."

"Why do you even care enough to tell me any of this?" Anya asked.

"I have my reasons. The main one being if this world is flooded with the monsters from all your stories, it will be a massacre," Tuoni replied, his voice ice cold. "There are other powerful magic users in this world and Skazki who will seek to take control of the gates from you so they can have unlimited access between here and there. Stealing your magic and killing the last of your bloodline will just be a bonus."

Anya blew out a frustrated breath. "Say I believe you… How am I meant to learn how to close—or even find—this magical gate before I get murdered?"

"Don"t be sarcastic to me, girl. You know I speak the truth, even if you were made to forget it," Tuoni replied. "I suggest you start by looking through some of Eikki"s books. Most shamans don"t believe in writing things down, but I know he did. You could learn a lot if you read them and kept your mind open." He gave her a chilling smile. "Now, I really must be going. I hope to see you again soon."

"Sounds ominous."

"At least try to stay alive and make it a challenge for me," he said with a sigh and got to his feet.

"I would like to be let go now," she added, and the weight holding her limbs down lifted.

"One last thing. Eikki asked me to give you this before he died." Tuoni reached into his pocket and pulled out a smooth black and red stone.

Anya didn"t want a damn thing from him. "What is it?"

"It has been in your family for a long, long time. All you need to know is that it"s dangerous, and it"s your destiny." Tuoni took her hand and slapped the stone into her palm, holding on tightly. "I have a parting gift for you. You have been made to forget a lot in your life, Anya. It"s time you woke up."

Anya stopped breathing as his handsome face shivered and slipped away. Black eyes burned in a face with a horrifying beauty swathed in shadows. A bolt of static snapped between their palms, and she cried out as pain tore through her insides. Salt and ash and blood in her mouth, the sound of wings beat about her ears. Tuoni held on until the pain eased and she was gagging and gasping for breath. His face had changed back to normal, and he smiled down at her.

"Take my advice and stay sober for the next few days. Things are going to get strange. Hyv?? p?iv??, shamanitsa," he growled and then vanished.

"Where did he go?" Anya shouted, scrambling out of the booth.

Liisi rolled her eyes. "Are you drunk again? You"re the only one in here, idiot girl."

Horror clawed at her. Anya threw money down on the table, clutched the black and red stone to her chest, and ran.

Anya"s lungs burned as the village rushed past her in a haze of timber and brick houses, stores, and the tsasouna. The priest called out to her to watch where she was running. The kids on the corner playing games on their phones pointed and laughed, but she didn"t stop until she was over the boundary fence and on her own land again.

Anya bent over her knees and spat out the ash and blood taste lingering in her mouth. What did Tuoni mean, she had been made to forget things? How was that possible? She shut her eyes and breathed in the earthy scent of pine, birch, and cold rot that rose from the forest looming beside her.

The back of Anya"s neck burned, and she spun. There was nothing there, as always. Certainly no terrifying death god trying to tell her about magic gates and monsters. She rubbed the warm stone in her hand, using the repetitive action to ground herself.

Tuoni had wanted her to know without a doubt that magic was real, and what he said was the truth. He said he hadn"t wanted to frighten her, but the terror of his actual face wasn"t something that would leave her soon.

Icy rain crept under the collar of Anya"s black jacket, and she shook herself. She needed to get warm and think this through properly.

Seethe man in the forest. He is wearing a black trench coat to keep the rain and mist at bay. Some days he curses Eikki and the promise he made to watch over his family. Other days, he wonders what it would be like to step into the light and let Anya see him again. It"s not his duty to talk to Anya, only to protect her.

Sharp pain scratches at the pit of his stomach and back of his throat. He needs to feed, but is reluctant to leave her. Not when she is so alone.

His head snaps to attention as he spots her running as fast as she can, clearing the village buildings, stumbling over the boundary fence, and cutting across a field. He stays hidden in the tree line, seeing nothing chasing her to cause such fear. She passes through the farm"s wards.

He stares at the sky. It will be a few hours before nightfall. Then, he would hunt down whatever made her so afraid and tear it to pieces.