BOOK 2 - Viktoria Ch. 04

Jael licked his lips, thirst overwhelming all else. As he lowered his head to drink her blood he had a fleeting thought about what story the Old Man on the Mountain would tell about becoming a monster to fight monsters.

"Go to your Draga." Selene's voice broke into Jael's memories. "We are not known for our patience."

Jael blinked, bringing Selene's tower room into focus. The fight with Viktoria. He'd told her she was his Draga and sworn to protect her. She'd left him. It was probably for the best. He'd failed to protect his wife, his daughter, Resquiescere, Tazraus, and Riordan. Selene, and the Vitiate were only alive because she had managed to save them at great cost to herself. He'd thought watching Viktoria leave was the hardest thing he'd ever done. He hadn't thought ripping out a part of him so newly formed would leave him feeling so... empty.

"She knows she is my Draga, and she left. Viktoria doesn't want me." Jael stalked towards the door. "She made that clear."

Selene's sigh halted him. "I have lived for close to ten thousand years, survived wars between gods and the massacres perpetuated by mages, but you boys may be the death of me yet."

The door disappeared from in front of him and he turned back to Selene. She was even more relentless than the Old Man on the Mountain when she chose to be and had a point to make. The Old Man only ever used apple tea and stories. Selene could rearrange his reality, especially here.

She arched an eyebrow at him. "Shall we have apple tea while I think of the longest story I know?"

Jael's lips twitched into a smile. "You know I can't taste apple tea anymore. And you just said Dragas are not patient. What is it you want me to hear?"

"She doesn't want your protection. That doesn't mean she doesn't want you."

The door appeared and Stryx entered the room. He inclined his head towards Selene, but headed past Jael to Ember. He scooped her into his arms and settled into a chair with her in his lap.

"Good. We'll be leaving soon." Jael said. "I'll go pack—"

Stryx held up a hand. "You can't help us this time. Ember is coming back to me, and we're leaving for Ashana. It's still light outside. She can allow two of us to walk in sunlight, but I don't know if she can protect three of us from being burned."

"I'm—"

"No, Jael. Norrix has made a study of relics for eight thousand years, and can fly the plane. Plus, you're the Scourge. It's not like you can go into a room full of mages and not stand out.You've been killing them for over three thousand years, one of them is bound to know who you are. You'll give us away, along with the fact that we can go in the sun and Ember is strygoi. If we need to defend ourselves, all three of us can fight. We'll be fine, and return right after the auction day after tomorrow."

Jael slumped into a chair. "How can you just say Ember will fight? She's your Draga."

"Because he can learn." Selene sounded amused.

Stryx frowned at his mother's teasing then returned his attention to Jael. "Not so easy when it's you and your Draga, is it?" He grinned and leaned back in his chair, holding Ember closer to him. "Ember is descended from War herself. For all I know, she is War now. I fought with her on the Eel-Mage's island, and she let me see the fight with the spiders through the bond we share. I couldn't get to her and was terrified." He blew out a breath. "But she... she was brave, furious and confident. She felt triumph, vengeance, and pleasure. You know what she didn't feel? Fear or helplessness. She was exuberant. I'm going to have to learn to live with the fact that I can't stop her from fighting. It's part of who she is."

"She fought well, but she's War. Viktoria's magic is different."

Stryx smirked. "For that, you should count yourself lucky. From what I saw, Viktoria also fought well. I'm pretty sure if I had done to Ember what you did to Viktoria during the fight she'd have tossed me through another wall rather than taking it out on spiders and leaving."

"Ember is a new type of Draga and strygoi. It could be the same for all your Dragas," Selene said. "The magic is changing."

"You think it's adapted to protect itself?" Jael asked.

Stryx shrugged. "It's possible, isn't it? The strygoi have never been particularly stab..." He glanced at his mother.

The smile she sent her son made chills run up Jael's spine.

"Predictable?"

"I suppose so. But what if it's not enough?" Jael sighed and shook his head. "Viktoria is already a witch with her full powers. She won't become a witch and wake her magic if we bond. She can't be strygoi."

Idris stirred and blinked. "Jael, I never took you for a coward. Did your heart beat when you saw her? Are you not feeling things you haven't felt since you were turned? I would do anything to wake my Draga, and you are giving yours away! Don't make the mistake of thinking she can't take care of herself because she uses shadows instead of a blade. She saved all of us in there. I don't understand how you can stand being apart from her. You only get one chance for a Draga, and you're worried you might lose her, but from here, it looks like you already have."

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Jael parked in front of the empty space Viktoria's house occupied. Her wards made him feel unwelcome even from inside the car, and he fought the urge to drive away. They felt stronger now. Had she added more to keep him out? Or maybe it was vampires in general she was trying to keep away, now that she knew there was a houseful of them in the city.

He got out of the car and unsheathed his swords to ease the affect. A few wisps of magic he'd taken from the mage that morning swirled around the medallions, following him as he walked along the boundary. "You can stay if you want to, but you're free now. You can go anywhere you like."

He walked until he sensed a thinning. The wards weren't weaker, but this felt like they were around a gate instead of a wall. He extended a blade to touch the barrier but it swerved to one side.

"Of course you're taking her side," Jael muttered to the recalcitrant sword. "I'm not trying to break the ward, just see if I can push through it without dying." He lifted his other sword and flinched when the hilt burned his hand. "You two are supposed to be oy my side."

He lowered his swords but kept them in hand as he pushed against the wards with his body. He didn't feel pain, just a more intense feeling he didn't want to be here. "Viktoria!"

"Go away, Lurky." Viktoria's voice was cold and came from the wards. "I told you I don't want your protection, and what I was do if I caught you near me again."

His heart beat once, but instead of an excited thump, it felt like a dispirited flutter. How could he stand to leave things like this between them and not see her again? He needed to do something. "I know you're up to something. If you don't want my protection, will you accept my help?"

Encouraged when he didn't receive an immediate 'no', he pushed against the wards again.

The same big, black spider Jael had seen on Viktoria's wall before, or one just like it, crawled over the top and stared at him.

The spider might have been part of Viktoria's security measures, but given their fight with spiders draining Musette, Jael brought up his swords.

A trumpeting sound came from behind the wall, and a swan pushed his enormous head over the wall.

"Don't you dare!" Viktoria stood atop the wall, glaring at him, hands on her hips.

"The swords aren't for then swan, they're for—"

The swan trumpeted again, reared back and spread his wings. His head speared through the air, and he snatched up the spider, crunching it in his beak.

"—the spider."

Lowering his head, the swan hissed, and used the top of its beak to push Jael out of the wards onto the street.

Jael didn't fight the swan, keeping his swords as far away from the animal as he could. "Viktoria! Will you let me help you?"

When the swan was satisfied Jael was out of his territory, he lifted his head and nuzzled Viktoria. She lifted a hand to stroke the swan's feathers and buried her face in its neck.

Jael wanted to be the one she turned to, wanted to offer her strong arms rather than soft down as comfort. "Please, Viktoria. Let me help you."

When she lifted her head, her anger was gone, replaced by a look of such sadness Jael was sure his heart would never beat again. "I can't. I'm sorry. Just go, Lurky."

The swan nudged Viktoria, who wrapped her arms around his neck. The graceful bird withdrew from the wall, taking Jael's Draga with him.

Jael called for her to come back. He tried to push through the wards, but his swords refused to help him. Frustrated, he got back in the car. Viktoria might not want his protection, but she would have it anyway. It was time to see what the Eel-Mage knew about spiders.