Ashes of the Firebird (The Firebird Fairytales Book 2) Read online

  “I understand,” Aramis said softly. There was a shift and his magic let hers go. He looked hurt by her sudden anger, which made Anya stop. She leaned down and kissed his smooth cheek.

  “I will talk to you later,” she said before she went to find Trajan.

  Chapter Four- The Search Begins

  An odd sense of relief flowed through Anya as she looked down on Trajan sleeping soundly. His dark hair was longer than she remembered. A battered paperback copy of The Kalevala lay on the covers beside him, his glasses sitting askew on his face. Anya smiled tenderly as she slid them off him and placed them on the bedside table.

  A well-defined lean body was hidden underneath the button up shirts and waistcoats. Anya had never seen him without a shirt on so she took a long moment to admire it. Unable to contain herself, she brushed her fingers through the tips of his hair and across his collarbone. She kissed his lips lightly as his red stained eyes fluttered open.

  “Sleeping beauty, I presume,” Anya whispered cheekily. It took him a few moments to fully wake and then his arms were around her, pulling her down next to him.

  “You’re back. Oh, God you are finally back. I can feel your spirit moving inside of you,” he said hurriedly as he kissed her face and buried his hands in her hair.

  “I’m happy to see you too,” she laughed at him. Trajan was usually so in control, so in check with his emotions that seeing him lose it animated him from the inside out.

  “How long have you been awake?” he asked.

  “A few hours. I didn’t want to wake you. Cerise said you hadn’t been sleeping so she was forced to drug you.”

  “She and I are going to have words,” he said ominously.

  “Cerise was only looking after you. Something you should have been doing,” Anya said as she pulled on a piece of his hair.

  “I wasn’t…equipped to deal with your condition,” he admitted as he propped his head up with his hand.

  “I didn’t enjoy it very much either,” Anya said as she lifted The Kalevala off the sheets. “Catching up on a little light reading?” Trajan looked surprisingly bashful.

  “I actually bought it for you when we were in Paris,” he mumbled, “then in the mayhem, it got lost in my bag and I only found it a few weeks ago.”

  “And you have read it enough to get it in this condition already?”

  “I have been reading it to you, actually.”

  “Oh.” Anya felt the blush burning through her before she could stop it. He placed a hand on her hot cheek and kissed her. It wasn’t a friendly peck but a kiss holding the promise of something more. Anya deepened the kiss, running her hands down the smooth grooves of his back. Trajan let it slide for a few moments before a shudder ran under his skin and he pulled back.

  “I should…I should go and get cleaned up. Make myself presentable,” he said as he eased off the bed. Anya appraised his body openly as she placed her hands behind her head.

  “Yes, you should because you look so terrible,” she said sarcastically.

  He smiled sheepishly before disappearing into the bathroom. Anya stayed amongst the sheets and pillows a few moments longer, wrapped in the scent of his skin and cologne. The water in the bathroom turned on and with a sigh, she got up and went in search of the other half of her merry band of wanderers.

  “Look out, the firecracker is back,” Hamish joked as Anya walked into the room where he, Isabelle, Katya and Izrayl were talking and drinking.

  “How many rooms does Silvian need? This is the seventh door I have tried,” Anya said in frustration. Hamish caught her up in a crushing hug and carried her over to where the others had risen to their feet. They all took their turns embracing her and welcoming her back.

  “Have you heard Aramis is going to rescue Yanka yet?” Katya said and handed her a glass of vodka.

  “I was expecting more of a plan than, ‘We were waiting for you to wake up first.’ God help us,” she said and took a long drink. The vodka burned in her stomach. She really should have eaten first. She sat down on a large couch beside Yvan so they were touching in a warm line of comfort. She smiled at him and he winked at her.

  “She isn’t awake for a day before you’re giving her alcohol,” Trajan said as he walked into the room a short time later. He looked more like himself; neat in a purple long sleeve button up shirt tucked in well-cut black jeans. He was barefoot which distracted Anya better than the vodka.

  “Anya, you are a miracle worker. Not twenty-four hours ago, I had to fight him to even leave your room,” Izrayl commented. Trajan sat next to her so she was in between him and Yvan. She gently placed a hand on his shoulder so she could touch his dark curls. She felt happy and content sitting beside her two favourite people. She had missed them more than she would willingly admit to herself.

  “Did you turn native while I was away?” she teased Trajan.

  “With you gone, I had no one to impress,” he smiled at her and didn’t explain further. The other four were all staring at them. Katya gave her a look. We will talk later, Anya, she touched her mind briefly and Anya gave her a slight nod.

  “Aramis told me your friend Harley can find Yanka’s prison,” Anya said. Isabelle flicked her hand impatiently at Trajan who handed her the copy of the file.

  “Harley is the best researcher I know. I don’t know how legal some of her sources are but I don’t question it,” Isabelle pulled out a grainy aerial picture of what was supposed to be the facility. “This picture was taken in the sixties so we have no idea on how the building and the land surrounding it has changed. I will send these to Harley in an encrypted file and see what she can come up with.”

  “Good. I promised Yanka I would rescue her even if it killed me.”

  “How weird was it hanging out with your not so dead ancestor?” Hamish asked.

  “Very weird. She is one scary strange person. I don’t understand how she can still be alive, induced coma or not.”

  “Yanka was one of the Powers,” Trajan explained, “When she wakes, she will still be. They are immortal.”

  “So if Aramis hadn’t started to question her death, then they could have kept using her as a guinea pig.” Anya’s temper was starting to rise again, “Fucking Illumination! They are supposed to be the ones to stop this sort of thing from happening, not be the ones instigating it.”

  “I tried to tell you they were untrustworthy assholes,” Katya pointed out.

  “It would appear Aramis was the only trustworthy one of the lot. He still has pissed me off by not telling me he was investigating Yanka’s death.”

  “Don’t judge the poor bloke too harshly,” Hamish said as he refilled his glass. “He has been stressed as all hell. He has some sort of history with Yanka that he won’t talk about. If it wasn’t for Silvian stopping him, I think he would taken off to try to rescue Yanka without us.”

  “He was right to wait. He will need all of our help,” Isabelle commented as she continued to sift through the file’s contents. “I’m going to go and email this to Harley and see what she can find.”

  ***

  Across the world, Harley put her screwdriver down on her workbench and tapped her computer mouse. There was a new email from Isabelle. With a sigh, she flicked open a can of Coke and sat down. Ten minutes later, she picked up the shop phone and hit one of the speed dial buttons.

  “I need you to get your tiny ass down here, cher. Yeah, I know it’s your day off. I need your skills. Come on, you know you’re the best,” Harley flattered and cajoled for another five minutes. The woman on the other end of the line shot off a few choice curse words before hanging up.

  Harley was busy printing out the email’s contents when a young woman walked into the garage. She was skinny (too skinny in Harley’s opinion) and had black hair tied back into a very short ponytail. Her side fringe shielded two deep brown eyes that could break people down with a glance. She carried a red motorbike helmet, the same shade as her lipstick and a black leather jacket. Her singlet read, “Fuck
off, I don’t need any more friends.”

  Her name was Fox and she had wandered into Harley’s shop four years ago and never left. She worked as a detailed air brusher and she had been the one who painted the Valkyrie on Isabelle’s fuel tank. She had a wealth of knowledge about the supernatural and helped Harley out with information and occasionally as back up on hunting jobs. When the underground community found out about the death of the Asanbosam and Isabelle Blackwood’s regular visits to Legba’s Ladies, Fox had searched Harley out.

  “This better be epically important,” Fox muttered as she sat down on a spare seat. “You woke me up and I haven’t even had coffee yet.”

  “Don’t worry, I sent one of the boys out to get you some fries and a can Red Bull,” Harley said as she grabbed the last copy off the printer.

  “Suck up,” grunted Fox. During a particularly vigorous margarita session, Fox had confessed her real name was Felicity Faith Annabelle Anderson. An apprentice had overheard and when he dared to mention it the next day, Fox had thrown a wrench at him and shattered his kneecap. She had deadly aim, and subsequently, no one had been game to call her by her real name since.

  “I want you to take a look at these and tell me what you think,” Harley said as she gave her the printouts. Fox started flicking over them, flashing the lion tattoo that took up her entire left shoulder blade.

  “Harley, you better tell them to make it two Red Bulls,” she said and after a moment’s hesitation added, “and some chocolate. Is this really about the Yanka? Yanka, the most powerful, scariest woman on Earth, Yanka?”

  “The one and only. Isabelle sent it though to me this morning. Now you can see why I rang you.”

  “Bloody Illumination,” Fox muttered as she continued to sort the papers. “It’s going to be a long day.”

  ***

  Katya gently took Anya aside after dinner, led her through the house and out into the garage.

  “We need to go for a drive,” she said by way of explanation as they climbed into Izrayl’s car.

  “Are you trying to kidnap me or something?” Anya asked as she pulled on her coat and buckled her seat belt. The engine roared to life and Katya guided it out into the streets.

  “There are too many supernatural ears in the house to have a private conversation. Izrayl can hear every conversation in every room just about. Lord knows what Trajan can do.”

  “I see, and this conversation is about him, I take it.”

  “Yes, it is. Things happened when you were out cold. It even had Izrayl worried about him.”

  “The Twins told me he took it badly.”

  “A serious understatement! I have never seen a desperate, love sick Thanatos before so I didn’t know what to expect. He wouldn’t leave you, Anya, not even to feed. He was wasting away to his true form. He could have ended up killing you by accident.”

  “He looks fine now,” Anya said defensively.

  “You know why he looks so good? We had to come up with some info on Ladislav to get him out hunting with us, a bodged up way to get him away from you and what we found…” Katya’s voice disappeared before she cleared her throat, “we killed all of them. Trajan sucked the life out of them so slowly they literally clawed their faces off. Scary as hell. I knew he was Thanatos but I didn’t really know what he could do. He was ruthless.”

  “Did he open the Hell realms again?” Anya’s voice was small.

  “No, he didn’t. I don’t know how the Thanatos thing works but those ördögs he killed were pure evil.”

  “Are you trying to say Trajan is going to turn evil just because they were? How ridiculous. It’s Trajan, for God’s sake!”

  “I wasn’t saying that exactly and I didn’t mean to piss you off. I don’t know if he needs to get rid of them or if he absorbs them. “

  “Have you asked Cerise about it?”

  “Not yet, I was hoping you would.”

  “Great. Did they deserve to die slowly?”

  “What they were doing was so horrible I can’t talk about it. They deserved more than what we gave them.”

  “Then if I had his power, I would have done the same. Could you, great hunter, say any different?”

  “No, I guess not.” Katya let out a sigh and for the first time all day, Anya noticed how tired she looked. “Watch him, Anya. Don’t overlook the slightest change.”

  “I will talk to Cerise or better yet talk to Trajan. He wouldn’t like me going behind his back with this.”

  The focus of their argument was waiting for her when they arrived back at Silvian’s mansion. Trajan was in her room reading Melmoth the Wanderer, twisting a piece of his hair over and over again. A smile appeared around his mouth but he didn’t look up.

  “I believe I’m going to have to have a serious discussion with Katya about when she can steal you away,” he said as he turned the page of his book.

  “We had to catch up, you know, girl time,” Anya said half-heartedly as she took off her coat.

  “I know she took the attack on the Darkness badly. Is she coping?” Anya froze. She didn’t want to say anything to would upset him. The fact that Katya didn’t trust him would definitely upset him.

  “She wouldn’t talk about it. All she said was you sucked the life out of a pack of ördögs.” She fiddled with the sleeve of her shirt, not knowing how he would react. He lowered his book and looked at her. His eyes softened when he saw her nervousness. He held out his hand and she took it. He kissed her knuckles and fingertips.

  “I over reacted. They were eating a poor girl alive. Katya knows this.”

  “She was concerned what the effects of having such evil souls in you would be.”

  “Don’t worry yourself over it, Anya. I’m going with Cerise later this evening to release the souls to the Underworld. I did not wish to do it in the city or anywhere near you. Your spirit was gone from your body. I would not risk losing it forever.”

  “Well, I am hale and whole again so get rid of them. I don’t want their poison in you.”

  “I would never do anything if I thought it would endanger you.”

  “Except not feed when I was in a coma.” There was a sting in her words and he flinched. She didn’t want to accuse him of anything but she didn’t want him hurting himself because of her either.

  “I can see Katya told you about that too.”

  “Trajan, everyone has told me. They are worried like good friends should be. I would have wanted to know. How could you starve yourself and start to lose your human form?” She held his face so he would be forced to look at her.

  “When your grandfather died, you barely ate. You drank. I was there; I saw what you went through. We all deal with grief in different ways. I couldn’t help you, Anyanka,” he said, “I didn’t know what to do. I felt like I failed in my efforts to protect you. I didn’t know if you were ever going to wake up.” Anya let his face go gently.

  “You couldn’t have stopped Ladislav. None of this is your fault. If anyone is to blame, it is me. I was the one who showed up on your doorstep in Skazki and pulled you into this mess. I feel like we have never had any time to do anything normal people do. I know nothing of your life and you know everything about mine. It’s a disadvantage and I still feel like the little child everyone seems to keep trying to protect.”

  “You have had more than enough to worry about in the last few months than what I have done in my long life. I know you’re not a little girl but I promised Ilya I would protect you at all times. Nothing will ever change that.” Anya sat down next to him and cuddled into him.

  “Fine, next time, make sure you take care of yourself better. Now tell me about what has been happening while I have been sleeping, real things,” she insisted.

  “Hamish and Isabelle have become friendly again. Hamish won’t divulge any details on how friendly which is extremely rare for him. All I know is they can sometimes sit next to each other without trying to kill each other. Silvian and Aramis however fight and argue almost constantly. It is
mostly about Yanka and about how to try to get her off the Illumination. Occasionally, it’s about past grudges.”

  “It sounds like you have been doing an awful lot of eavesdropping,” Anya snorted.

  “Not at all, they fight freely and in the open. I don’t know why but Aramis wasn’t even going to mention he and Yanka were closely involved until Silvian commented on it.”

  “Yanka was very quiet about it too.”

  “Do you think it is something to be concerned with?” There was a tone to Trajan’s voice when he talked of Aramis. Clearly, they had not become friendlier with each other.

  “Aramis won’t withhold anything to hurt me. I trust him.”

  “I hope for his sake he doesn’t betray that trust.”

  ***

  Back in New Orleans, Fox’s head was pounding. She had taken the file back to her house a couple of blocks from the workshop in the Mid-City district. Harley had often remarked Fox’s house was false advertising for the person who lived there. It was low set, painted white with red trim and had a black iron fence. The porch had cane furniture, grass that was always cut and well-tended flowerbeds. Outside her back kitchen door was a small vegetable garden that yielded more than she could eat on her own. Inside there were timber floors and neat, simple furniture. The only thing unique was the collection of canvas prints of anime characters and films hanging brightly on her walls.

  The computer room in her basement more resembled her personality. The walls were covered with rock band and classic horror movie posters. There was a beat up green velvet couch, which she liked to read, sleep and pass out on, and where Harley usually kicked back with a beer to wait for her to “work her magic.” There was a kitchenette in one corner with a fridge containing alcohol, chocolate and milk for her coffee. She was currently making a fresh cup and downing some strong aspirin to take the edge off. Her eyes burned when she rubbed them in frustration.