Chapter 66

As soon as Anya"s feet touched Russian soil, a tremble of power rolled up through her feet and made her bones shake. They were a long drive from the farm, but even then, it was like her magic could feel how close they were. She had never felt a sensation like it before. It was like the ground was trying to pull her magic down through her feet. Aramis appeared beside her in the dark as the others helped unload the vehicles.

"Anya, what is it?" Aramis asked and took her hand.

Instantly her magic stopped trying to escape and latched onto his.

Anya clutched her head. "I don"t know. It was like a shudder through my bones and my magic."

"Come with me," he instructed, and Anya followed him as they went towards a group of trees.

"Anya?" Trajan called, but she waved him off. Both Trajan and Yvan were looking at them suspiciously.

When they reached the trees, Aramis crouched down beside her and pushed his hand into the dirt. He shut his eyes and concentrated. Anya watched in fascination as his silvery magic shimmered out of him and into the earth. Aramis gasped and pulled his hand out so quickly that dirt sprayed everywhere.

Anya touched his shoulder. "Aramis? Are you okay?"

"The earth is screaming. Take off your shoes. I need to show you something," Aramis said urgently. He started taking off his shoes, and Anya slipped off her boots and pulled off her socks.

Aramis ran a finger up her pale foot, and the cold evaporated from them. He stood up and took her hand. Ribbons of magic fastened to her where she touched him, and the heady taste of his power flowed through the rest of her body. It was like drinking silver light and springtime, and Anya sighed as it coiled around her own magic and calmed it down. How did he do that?

"I want you to close your eyes and bury your feet in the earth. Then I want you to reach out like you do when searching for a magical aura like the Twins taught you. Reach into it. Feel the energy all around you," he said softly. "Concentrate. Feel it roll up through your feet and into your body. Feel it in every part of you."

Anya closed her eyes and reached out to try and find what Aramis was describing. Her heartbeat slowed, and then she felt magic pouring up into her.

A high-pitched signal of pain and panic tore its way through her brain, making her crumple to her knees. Images flashed through her mind—the burned farm, a scarlet aurora, blood rising from the soil, and a chanting chorus of voices.

"I hear it," she gasped.

Tears fell from her eyes as Aramis knelt beside her. He let her hand go so she could run it through the loose earth. The sound moved through her again, calling out to her for help. "Oh God, what is it, Aramis?"

"It"s the gates weakening. You can hear it and feel it because you are tied to them through blood and magic. They are sending it out as a warning."

"How come you can hear it too?"

"The álfr have a connection to all living things. Earth magic is a part of it, and it"s in distress. The closer you get to the gate, the more you will feel it."

Anya"s legs wobbled as he helped her stand. "I can"t say I"m looking forward to it."

"I"ve been thinking a lot about your dream about Ilya performing the ritual too. You said he had a knife with a snarling bear handle?" Aramis said as he held her steady while she put her boots back on.

"Yes, why is that important?" Anya asked.

"It could be a ritual knife, specifically used to close the gates. If we can find it, we"ll know for sure. Without it, you might not be able to perform the magic properly," Aramis replied. "We should check the house ruins when we get to the farm to see if we can find it."

"Vasilli burned it to the ground, Aramis, I doubt anything would have survived, and I never saw a knife like it lying around."

Aramis smiled. "If it"s important, there would be magic protecting it, and the fire wouldn"t have damaged it. If we find no knife, it means any will do for the ritual."

"Are you okay, Anya?" Trajan asked as he joined them. He took her in his arms and held her tight. She nodded, determined not to worry him.

"Fine but a little woozy and nauseous. The gate is talking to me," she said, swaying on her feet.

"I know we were planning on staying in Anya"s village, but I"m afraid that will be too dangerous if the gates keep screaming at her. It will drive her mad. We"ll try the next one over where hopefully the gate won"t call to Anya so strongly," Aramis said, brushing the dirt from his clothes.

"Will you let the others know?" Anya asked as she straightened, her nausea passing.

Trajan looked like he would argue but instead gave a nod and walked back to where the cars were parked.

"He doesn"t like me being anywhere near you," Aramis commented.

"I think he might be worried you are going to magic me away to join the Illumination," Anya joked lamely. Her hands were burning and filthy from their contact with the earth.

Aramis looked at her, brows drawn together. "Trust me, Anya. If I really wanted to magic you away, there wouldn't be a thing he, or the Illumination, could do to stop me."

Somehow, that didn"t reassure Anya in the slightest.

After a further twelvehours of traveling, they drove into the small town Anya called Otverstie, or Hole, situated on the other side of the forest bordering Anya"s farm. They paid for rooms at the town"s only tavern, and Roya, one of the barmaids, didn"t recognize Anya even though they had gone to school together.

I hate this fucking place, Anya grumbled, staring around her. She missed the farm, but the people and the places around it? Not even a little bit. The farmhouse was no more, and Anya knew she couldn"t go back to her old life even if she wanted to. But you are a gatekeeper. You are always going to be tied to this place, whether you hate it or not. It wasn"t a cheerful thought.

Aramis had been right about the gate"s distress affecting her the closer she got to them. It was taking all of her effort to drown out the sound of drums, the chanting of voices, the taste of blood and magic on her tongue. She was being torn apart by a longing to go to them and wanting to run as fast as she could in the other direction.

Under Aramis"s instruction, everyone had gone out to scout the surrounding forest between them and the farm, but Anya had been forced to stay behind because he was worried that the gates would try and connect to her and start feeding off her magic.

"We need to do this properly, Anya, and be prepared for anything. If you connect to the gates without people ready to protect your back, you"re going to make yourself vulnerable for the Darkness to attack," Aramis had argued.

It wasn"t until Yvan had come to calm her down that she had backed off. He had managed to soothe her temper but not enough for her to stick to her current no alcohol rule.

Anya had tried to keep calm, use her power a little to try and keep the noise of the gates dulled. As soon as Aramis, with the calming influence his magic had on hers, was out of sight, the drums and the chanting had started up to a deafening roar. Anya had all but ran to the bar to drink.

Some shamanitsa you are turning out to be.

Anya sat at a table hidden from view of the other patrons. She didn"t want any inconvenient questions from people if they happened to recognize her. A pleasant numbness was starting to creep along her arms when Katya found her.

"Not a big surprise to find you hiding in a bar," she commented, sitting down opposite her.

"Nowhere else to hide. Drink?" Anya offered the half-empty bottle of vodka.

"Don"t mind if I do." Katya took a hearty swig and passed it back to her.

"Why aren"t you out with the others?"

"I finished scouting the section Aramis gave me, and I came back to make sure you had someone close to protect you. We can"t have you disappearing. Yvan and Trajan are already having a competition to see which one can stress the most about you."

"You weren"t worried I was going to run off, were you?" Anya asked. Despite not knowing if she could shut the gates at all, she was going to try her best.

Katya shook her head. "No. I was worried someone was going to run off with you. I know you wouldn"t run from your duty to the gates."

"You mean like Vasilli sneaking up and jumping me?" Anya scoffed and drank some more.

"You wouldn"t be able to put up much of a fight in your current state. But I was not thinking of Vasilli. I had someone else a little closer in mind."

"Who then?" Anya questioned. "Aramis? You think he"s going to hurt me?"

"I"ve seen the way he looks at you. Trajan has noticed too. He might be in the first relationship of his life, but that doesn"t mean he"s completely clueless."

Anya reached forward and took the bottle from her. "You"re imagining things. Aramis isn"t interested in me that way." At least, she didn"t think he was. He had never overstepped with her, never hit on her, or gave any indication that he might want to. Magic was the thing that drew them to each other, but as far as Anya could tell, that was it.

Katya tapped her fingers on the table. "Maybe not, but I still want you to be cautious around him. We don"t really know him, and I think he"s interested in more than just protecting you."

"He"s been a perfect gentleman, and he understands what I"m going through and wants to help. He"s going to help with the gates and go back to the Illumination. If anything, he is interested in the way my magic reacts to him."

Katya chewed on her lip. "I hope so, Anya. Just know that I"ll be there if he tries anything. I don"t care who he is. I"ll gladly kick that perfect ass of his."

The tavern door opened, and the rest of Anya"s companions filed in. The people in the bar all gave them suspicious glares. It was probably the most strangers they had seen all year. Trajan looked cold and tired, but he still managed one of his gut-wrenching smiles when he saw Anya.

Trajan sat down next to her and kissed her cheek. "Hitting the hard stuff again?"

"Does it help muffle the noise of the gates?" Aramis asked as he joined them.

Katya"s eyes narrowed.

Anya nodded. "Yeah, it does but not much. The drums and the voices are growing louder. I don"t know how else to stop it because none of my other exercises are working. Did you find anything?"

Aramis shook his head. "No one is in the immediate area, but I believe they are camping close to the outskirts of the farm. I suggest that you and I go for a closer look tomorrow and see if we can find Ilya"s knife."

Trajan"s hand found hers under the table. "No. Anya isn"t going anywhere near the farm. The Darkness will try and grab her or worse."

"Won"t that make the gates connect with me?" Anya asked, patting Trajan"s hand to calm him.

"I have something that will dull your magic down so it can"t. It"s only got a short time of efficacy. A small amount of exposure to it may help you prepare yourself for the potency of the gate magic," Aramis replied. "Either way, we need that knife and you"re the only one who will be able to find it."

Anya put down her glass. "Okay, I"ll go with you. I know these forests better than any of the Darkness, and we can get around them."

"I can use my magic to cloak us, Anya. I won"t risk us being detected. Not yet," Aramis replied.

"Can I talk to you upstairs, please," Trajan whispered to her.

Anya was about to argue with him, but the concern in his eyes made her pause. "Sure. I"ll see you tomorrow, Aramis," Anya said as Trajan helped her out of her chair. She wasn"t drunk enough to need help walking, but he still held onto her until they were back in her rooms with the door closed.

"What"s wrong?" she asked, sitting down on the bed and kicking off her boots.

"I don"t want you alone with Aramis." Trajan took off his coat and sat down beside her. "I know you trust him because of how your magic interacts with his, but I don"t. Not with you."

"Is this jealousy or your thanatos side talking because it doesn"t like álfr light?"

"It"s neither, Anya! It"s the fact he"s just turned up when you were vulnerable and is trying to swoop in like some glowing fairytale knight to try and rescue you," Trajan snapped. He made a sound of frustration at the back of his throat. "I don"t know. Maybe I am jealous of that too because I don"t want to share you with another person. Yvan"s bad enough."

"You are jealous." Anya took his face in her hands. "Don"t be, Trajan. I don"t see Aramis as a knight to save me. I see him as a means to an end. Yes, my magic reacts to his, and I want to know why. That doesn"t mean he has any reaction to any other part of me."

"I"m sorry. I"m not used to feeling this way, and I don"t…" he began, but Anya kissed him. She had never had someone jealous over her before, and it made her feel strangely cherished. Trajan"s warm arms came around her, pulling her back onto the bed and pinning her beneath him. He stroked the lines of her face as he stared down at her, eyes still full of conflict.

"I don"t want to come across as an overprotective asshole, so be patient with me," he said softly. "I love you too much to lose you now."

Anya"s hand stilled in his hair as her heart tripped. "You love me?"

"If love is this sick, scared sensation under your ribs, and when your heart feels like it"s going to give out, then yes, I love you," Trajan replied.

Joy bubbled up through her. Trajan, the one who made her skin ache and heart pound, loved her.

"Yeah, that"s the feeling," she said, twisting her fingers into the hair at the nape of his neck. His breath was warm against her smiling lips as she whispered, "I love you too."

Trajan"s face broke into the most heartbreakingly beautiful grin she had ever seen, and then he kissed her until she was breathless.

"I still have to go with Aramis to the farm, if for no other reason than I have to search the wreckage for Ilya"s knife," Anya said, curling up in Trajan"s warm arms.

Trajan"s fingers ran slowly through her hair. "I don"t like the way he looks at you."

"You and Katya should start a club," she said, rolling her eyes.

"Perhaps you should start listening to what we are saying then."

"I need to get the knife. Then I"ll never have to be alone with him again, and you won"t have to worry about it."

Trajan shook his head. "I have reason to be concerned. I fear him trying to take you away from us. The Illumination always hunted the most gifted to place among them. In many ways, they do exactly what Ladislav and his people do. I understand they are needed to control the Darkness if you can"t close the gates, but I worry that now they know you, they"ll hunt you as viciously as Ladislav and Vasilli."

"I won"t go with them, and Aramis knows it. I have no interest in being a prize of the Illumination. As soon as these gates are closed, I want to get as far away from here as possible."

Trajan leaned down and kissed her cheeks gently. "If you don"t return within two hours, I"ll come after you. I don"t care if Yvan burns the forest down, and the Darkness swarms us. I won"t let him take you."

Aramis"s phonewas ringing angrily in his pocket. He knew it was an Elder, one of the three that ruled the Illumination from on high. He was trying to put off answering the Illumination's calls, and especially any from Lord Ainsley.

Aramis had walked into the woods to get away from the tension in the tavern. Too many supernaturals under one roof caused so much friction that he was surprised they had all lived together in Paris without any of them killing each other. The phone was ringing again, so he picked it up with a small sigh and answered it.

"Aramis, what the devil is going on over there? You haven"t reported in two days," a voice with an English accent demanded.

"I apologize, sir. The reception here isn"t the best."

"There are other ways for us to communicate," Ainsley said.

"The situation here is precarious. I don"t wish to use any kind of power that could be detected by the enemy."

There was a long pause on the other end of the phone. "Tell me about the girl, Aramis."

"She"s amazing, sir. A wealth of untapped power. More than I have ever encountered since Yanka. After this situation with the gates is sorted, I"d like some time off from my regular responsibilities to stay and help her."

"That won"t be necessary. We have another assignment for you."

Aramis"s blood went cold. "Oh?"

"Bring her to us, Aramis. We can teach her and make her one of our own."

"With all due respect, she would never come with me. She"s closely tied to her companions and won"t leave them."

"I didn"t say ask her to come to us. I said, bring her to us," he demanded.

Aramis tried and failed to keep the anger and dread from his voice. "Anya wouldn"t react kindly to force, and I find the thought of hurting her unsavory. Her magic tends to rise up and protect her and would be a force to reckon with."

"You do it, Aramis, or I"ll send another team to extract her, and they won"t be so delicate. The choice, I leave to you. You told me her lineage wouldn"t be an issue for you, so stop making this personal."

The line went dead, and Aramis fought the urge to throw the phone into the forest and be done with it.

The Illumination had given him purpose during the hardest period of his life, but some of his debts ran deeper than his loyalty to them. Debts that Aramis might finally have a chance to repay so that his battered soul could finally mend.

Get the gates closed first,he prompted himself as he turned back toward the tavern, and then worry about how to get out of their orders.