1.

Aramis sat on a small balcony overlooking the city of Budapest, the winter air soothing the deep rage in his veins. He never thought he would have to be hiding like a fugitive in one of his favorite cities, but his life had become stranger than usual in the past few months.

Even though a part of Aramis resented it, he couldn"t find it in himself to resent the cause. Anya Ven?l?inen was an awakening shaman that would change the balance of the worlds forever. At least she would if anyone knew how to bring her out of her magical sleep.

It had been a month since Anya had closed the gates that separated Russia from Skazki and fallen to Vasilli and Ladislav"s attack. A month of worrying and watching over her to see if she had awoken or died. A month of hiding from both the Illumination and the Darkness wanting to capture Anya and kill everyone else who protected her.

The Illumination had officially branded Aramis as a Rogue. With such a status came the death sentence that said anyone could kill him without repercussions. If it wasn"t for Silvian, a Rogue himself, taking them into his heavily warded sanctuary, Aramis would"ve been dead already. Silvian, who had said the three words that had shattered Aramis to the very core of his being—Yanka is alive.

Anya"s ancestor, Aramis"s biggest failure and a witch strong enough to burn the worlds to the ground, Yanka was supposed to have been dead for decades. Aramis had seen all that remained of her blackened bones and had wept on her grave.

Lies, like everything else the Illumination told me,Aramis thought, the taste of ashes on his tongue.

Aramis ran his hands over the thick black file on his lap. It was everything that Silvian had found on Yanka, hidden so deep within the Illumination servers that it had taken him weeks to extract it.

It was going to break whatever was left of Aramis"s heart and unleash a dark past he had fought so hard to lock away and forget.

"Don"t be such a damn coward," he snarled softly under his breath and opened the file. He needed to know everything, so when Anya woke up—and he wouldn"t accept the alternative—he would have some answers.

Hours later, hollowed out by grief and horror, Aramis moved slowly through the opulent mansion to Anya"s room. He expected to find Yvan there at this time of the day, the firebird prince preferring the day shift when most of the house was asleep. All the better to avoid talking to anyone, Aramis thought.

Instead of Yvan, Aramis found Izrayl and Trajan arguing in inaudible whispers. Aramis glanced over at Anya on the bed in the center of the room. A drip was in her arm, wires disappearing under her shirt that monitored her heartbeat and other vitals. It was feeling more like a hospital room every day.

"You"ve barely left this room in weeks, Trajan," Izrayl complained, his eyes shining with the wolf inside of him.

"I don"t care," Trajan replied.

"Aramis, tell this stubborn asshole that he needs to feed!" Izrayl said, turning to him.

Over the last weeks, Trajan had slowly started to revert to his true thanatos form. He hadn"t been feeding or sleeping, and it was taking its toll on his immortal body. The human guise he wore was vanishing, piece by piece. His skin had turned a pale gray and was stretched tightly over his bones. All the color in his eyes had bled out into a solid red. If Aramis concentrated, he could see the faint outline of shadowy wings coming from his back.

Aramis knew demanding Trajan to do anything wasn"t the best way to deal with it, so he went for his pressure point.

"You"re putting Anya at risk by starving yourself. You"ll go back to your most basic instinct and end up feeding on whatever is closest. At the moment, it"s Anya," Aramis said, folding his arms.

Trajan glared at him. "I"d never hurt her, elf."

"Not intentionally, but you"re going to lose control if you don"t feed soon. Go, Trajan. I can watch over her until Yvan wakes. He won"t be away for long, I"m sure."

"You can all leave," Cerise said, coming in the room with her fierce nurse expression on her face. "Go on. I need to do a check-up and give Anya her daily bath, and I don"t need the audience."

As a keres, Cerise was the last creature Aramis would expect to be a qualified nurse, but he was glad she was with them. She also knew how to handle Trajan better than anyone.

"Will you tell me if there are any changes?" Trajan asked softly.

"All depends if you go and feed," Cerise replied, hands on her curved hips.

"I"ll think about it." Trajan left the room, the three of them watching him go with worried expressions.

"He"s going to become a problem if he lets this go on much longer," Izrayl said. He raised a brow at Aramis. "I know you want us to stay put, but we need a hunt to get Trajan out. I have Katya and Isabelle reaching out to some of their contacts to see what kind of Darkness activity is happening in the city. Isabelle"s been getting reports that their activity has increased in the last month."

"Now that their treaty with the Illumination is breaking, why would they bother hiding any of their nefarious shit?" Cerise said. She chewed her bottom lip thoughtfully. "At least if you point Trajan at the Darkness, he will get out some of the anger and helplessness he"s feeling."

"He"s not the only one. I"m going to check what Katya is doing," Izrayl grunted and headed for the door, almost colliding with Yvan.

"What is this? Happy hour? I"m trying to get you all to go away!" Cerise complained.

Yvan looked a little better than Trajan, his black hair unruly and clothes rumpled. His blue eyes flashed with the firebird"s flames when he spotted Aramis.

"Why is he still in here then?" Yvan said and brushed his fingers lightly over Anya"s cheek. The smell of ozone and smoke filled the room as magic flared at the touch, the firebird sending healing power and warmth into her.

"Does the firebird know of anything that could help her?" Aramis asked.

"He would"ve said something by now if he did. It"s magic that"s holding her in this state. Isn"t that meant to be your area of expertise?" Yvan hadn"t raised his voice, but Aramis could still hear the anger in it.

"I know you care about her—" Aramis began gently. He never got to finish his sentence. Golden feathers burst through Yvan"s skin, his glaring blue eyes fading into flames. The bird hopped up onto the windowsill, its magic unlocking it, and flew out into the winter sky. Its red and gold body disappeared as a glamor settled over it, making it invisible.

"Oh, Anya, you better wake up soon so these men can stop fussing over you," Cerise said as she changed over the drip bag. "I hope wherever you are, you"re having a good time."

"I doubt that," Aramis murmured, voicing his own worry. "Wherever she is, she"ll be fighting to get back to her body."

"I can agree with that. She must be in deep trouble to keep her from getting back to Trajan."

"Or Yvan. Honestly, he"s the one we are going to have to worry about if she doesn"t wake up soon," Aramis added, rubbing his temples.

Anya might be romantically involved with Trajan, but Yvan and she had a deep bond that would never be broken.

Cerise gave him a wry smile. "You"re right about that, elf. Do me a favor and go and find something for the kids to kill, will you?"

"I"ll see if Silvian knows anything," Aramis promised. He gave Anya"s sleeping face one last look and hoped that wherever Vasilli was, he was suffering for what he had helped do to her.