Total pages in book: 158
Estimated words: 145341 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 727(@200wpm)___ 581(@250wpm)___ 484(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 145341 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 727(@200wpm)___ 581(@250wpm)___ 484(@300wpm)
She knew he was right. She had to come to terms with the idea that her beloved aunt was truly dead. If she thought of this woman as a puppet, her body an illusion rather than the same woman, that would be a huge help when she had to deal with her.
Thank you, Afanasiv. Seriously, I don’t know how I would get through this without you.
I have no doubt that you would find your way, but I am grateful we are facing this together. She has stopped and is looking around her for landmarks.
Vasilisa didn’t want her aunt to be lost. Lycans didn’t lose their way, but if her aunt couldn’t remember being Lycan, then she might not have a navigation system, either. That would mean they wouldn’t find the crack in the earth the demons had opened in order to slip through.
She will find it, Vasilisa. She is guided now by her connection to the underworld. She won’t be able to stop herself. She will keep going until she finds it.
She’s going to freeze to death if she’s out in this snow much longer, she countered.
Do you see the snow melt beneath her steps? That makes it harder for her to walk. She doesn’t realize it yet. She may never realize that the way she is using the heating system given to her by her demon friends, she is not making it easier for herself.
Vasilisa’s brows drew together as she watched much more closely the way Olga placed each foot in the snow. Earlier, she had been skimming lightly over the surface, but now she was sinking with each step. There was a curious glow coming from her body, down low around her ankles, almost as if she had a battery pack she was switching on and off.
Olga left the safety of the trees and stepped cautiously out into a small clearing. She kept looking around her as if she expected trouble.
Do you feel that? The warning in the air? Afanasiv asked. Olga does. She is being watched by half a dozen sets of eyes.
Are we safe? Should we be up in the trees and still? Vasilisa was anxious, but mostly because she was doing her best to connect with Olga. She wanted to know if she could and how far that connection would go. All the way into the underworld? Was that a possibility?
Those are real wolves, Vasilisa, Afanasiv reminded her. If she is to live, she had better use that portal immediately.
I can send the wolves away.
Once again, his hand came up to the back of her head, fingers starting a slow massage on her scalp designed to ease the tension out of her. As massages went, this one worked. She found herself relaxing into him.
There is no need. She is moving fast to the other side of the clearing and that deep but narrow gorge right there. That seems to be her destination.
Vasilisa clutched his arm, suddenly excited. Look down into the gorge, Siv. There’s a crack that runs along the far wall from the top to the bottom in a zigzag pattern. That’s it. That’s where they’re coming in.
The opening was difficult to see. Hidden in the dirt, brush and rocks that jutted out from the wall of the gorge, the fracture looked as if it were just a darker stripe among so many. The snow hadn’t yet covered it because of the overhang from above.
Olga slid down from the top of the gorge on the opposite side, traveling at breakneck speed along what had clearly been used as a chute by many before. The slide was slick and packed down, much like an alligator slide that had been in existence for a number of years. At the bottom, Olga shot off the slide and onto the floor of the gorge. Rocks buried in the dirt and snow were everywhere, making it a particularly hard landing. Olga didn’t seem to care. She picked herself up and began to make her way to that dark, narrow opening in the wall.
Is it possible for us to enter the underworld undetected? Would we be able to enter using Olga somehow? Or just go in ourselves?
Vasilisa wasn’t certain she wanted him to answer her in the affirmative. The idea was terrifying, but if they could get in, they might discover her brothers and the women used to lure them there.
For the first time, Afanasiv hesitated. She felt the hesitation keenly.
It is possible but extremely dangerous. I told you I was held for some time before I was able to escape. They can smell human flesh, and they go into a frenzy. One mistake and it would be over for you. Or me. Or both of us.
I’m not talking about taking our physical bodies, Siv. Deliberately she used a more intimate nickname for him. I’m suggesting we shed our bodies in the way Carpathians do and travel with Olga.