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)
Her lifemate’s spirit traveled away from Grigor around a corner and stopped abruptly when he discovered Lada. Her fingers stopped moving as she observed Lada’s appalling condition. Where was Andros? Why wasn’t he in the cell across from Lada’s as Grigor had been across from Karine?
Movement beneath the trees caught her eye. It was stealthy, as if the creature, a lone wolf perhaps, didn’t want to be seen. Immediately, she turned her full attention to the spot where she was certain there had been a beast lurking and watching the cabin. She automatically blurred her image and added a thin layer of covering to the window, a dull gray to blend in with the snow and fog that was building along the ground. If the creature wanted to see her, it would have to come close in order to peer through one of the windows.
She waited quietly, turning inward, once again paying close attention to Afanasiv and what he was doing. She knew just the short conversation about his hidden memories had opened up a floodgate of recollections for him. He remembered how to maneuver through the labyrinth that was the underworld down below.
He was watching a Carpathian woman scold a couple of demons. The woman was clearly accepted in the underworld. This, then, was Gaia—the woman who had been traded as a child by Xavier for a bucketful of parasites. Lilith had wanted the girl to help her control the beast locked behind the gates. It looked as if she still retained her natural goodness. How that could be when she was raised in such a terrible place, Vasilisa couldn’t understand.
Vasilisa monitored Afanasiv, knowing that traveling in the underworld would affect him adversely. He wasn’t aware of it because he shed his emotions and went forth as a Carpathian hunter might—or he embraced the demon in him. His one fear was that the demon growing inside him would take him over the longer he was in the underworld. The terrible scars he bore called to the battle lust inside him, to a berserker’s rage. She had insisted on going with him, just a small part of her spirit, because she feared he would need her to guide him back.
Something brushed against the cabin wall. It sounded like the slide of fur, and then someone tried the door. The sound seemed overly loud in the silence of the night. Vasilisa backed up three steps, taking her almost dead center into the cabin, where she could more easily monitor all the windows and the door.
Silence followed the testing of the doorknob, and then there was a loud knock. “Open up. It’s freezing out here.”
Vasilisa recognized the voice of Odessa Balakin, one of the owners of the inn. Vasilisa kept her eyes closed so that she couldn’t see the older woman as the innkeeper moved around the cabin, peering in the windows and pounding on them, becoming more agitated as she did so.
“Vasi, is that you in there? Open up, dear. I have to restock the cabin on my way back to the inn. I’ve been making the rounds, and this is the last stop.”
It was true the innkeepers did stock the shepherds’ cabins. It made sense to do so in a familiar route, leaving this particular cabin for last. It was the closest to their home, and they would finish and go directly to their home after they were done.
Finally, Vasilisa approached the door, leaned against it and called out. “I’m sorry, Odessa, but I can’t allow you in tonight. I’ll see to stocking the cabin myself.”
There was a long silence. Vasilisa counted slowly in her mind, over and over, willing Odessa to be the real woman and not some crazy illusion that Lilith had conjured up in an attempt to acquire Vasilisa or Afanasiv. So far, in the underworld, it didn’t appear as if anyone suspected he was there.
“Is something wrong, Vasi? With those government men coming in, I told Kendal something was wrong, and we had to be close in case you and your brothers needed help.”
“Everything is fine, but I can’t let you in. I need for you to just go home as fast as possible tonight, Odessa. I swear, I’ll restock the cabin for you. Just get home where it’s safe.”
“I can leave the supplies right here by the door. You can bring them in anytime at your convenience,” Odessa suggested.
“Thank you, that’s kind of you,” Vasilisa said. She wasn’t about to open the door even after Odessa left, in case it was a trap. She had to wait it out inside the cabin for Afanasiv to return, just as she promised him she would.
There was movement at the front door on the tiny porch. “I’m putting the supplies just under the rocker,” Odessa said helpfully.
Vasilisa didn’t answer. She didn’t want to encourage Odessa to stay. She found herself holding her breath as the movement on the porch increased, and she heard the creak of the rocking chair.