Compelled (23 page)

“I didn’t know you existed before then. I didn’t even know how to get you out without the help...”

Luda stepped forward. “Leave her alone. She’s trying to do the right thing to save these people. She has repeatedly sacrificed her life to protect your people and get you here. The least you can do is listen to her and not turn on her for the mistakes someone else made. If you want to get mad, then go north, find Elric, and kick his ass.”

Wow. Luda had a mouth on her when she wanted to speak up.

Even Royse smiled a bit.

“Why should we help them?” one man asked quietly.

“Let me think, you fool.” Vasili stood there for a moment and I wondered if he was about to tell us all to go to hell and tell his friends to go their own way. “We can’t go after him, yet, Gostislav. We need to be smart about this, since we’re in foreign territory. We don’t know the terrain or what we’re dealing with, but I want revenge.”

“I agree,” Gostislav said.

He turned to me. “What’s your name, girl?”

Now we were getting somewhere. “I’m Natalya Stravinsky, daughter of Fyodor Stravinsky.”

Before we went anywhere, Zoya produced her map so the group could get their bearings. They weren’t too keen on just following us anywhere.

Tyler suggested that Luda go into town to find a house off the lake for everyone to stay for a short period while they planned. In the meantime, Gostislav gathered wood and created a fire as the chill from the early morning hours set in. Royse, Vasili, and I looked over the map.

“So much has changed,” their leader said stiffly.

“Yes, cousin,” Royse said. “All these new settlements that never existed before.”

“The scale here is different.” He stared at the map as if memorizing it. “You said 5,280 of my feet equal a mile?”

I nodded. The dude had pretty big feet, so the scale worked.

He sighed. “We still have conflicts to face. I thought the day we’d be freed, I’d be able to keep the promise I made to myself to find you a good husband so I could travel the world.”

Royse chuckled. “How do you know I didn’t plan to find you a good wife and then see for myself what lies beyond the rising sun?”

His shoulders shook with laughter. “And that is why we follow the same path.”

The two continued to discuss the map while I rested. The others sat around the fire, adjusting to their new circumstances. Seeing these amazing people filled me with hope. Just thinking of what their deceased leader Ulricslav did to save them meant they had potential.

Luda returned soon with a place for us to stay not far from the camping site. We trekked on through the night to a small cottage not far from the shoreline. The spellcasters approached the house with curiosity.

“Now this is a curious structure,” Royse observed. “Look at those lanterns. And not a single candle. Far brighter than many fires.”

“Those are lights,” Luda said softly.

Royse approached the taller twin. “You’re a curious sight. How long have you been like that?”

Like what?

Luda’s smile faded and she took a step away from Royse. “A while—please come inside.”

I was on my way into the cottage, but grabbed Luda instead. “Is everything all right?”

“Just fine.” She shrugged off my worry and tugged me inside.

The look of concern on Royse’s face was obvious, but, based on how Luda turned her back on me, she had no plans to reveal what Royse saw.

I even tried a few times, but she clammed up.

Once inside, it was strange to see the spellcasters poking around everything. One man broke a picture frame and I moved to intervene. They were gonna trash the place.

“Just leave them alone,” Tyler remarked as he added some food into the fridge. “They’re going to need to explore. They’ve been through a great deal. I’d want to keep moving and learning the ropes.”

So I turned on the radio. There weren’t many stations and I avoided the ones with pop music or anything modern. A Russian folk station seemed appropriate.

“Are there spirits trapped in there?” Vasili asked about the radio.

“No, it’s a device that captures signals in the air created by machines.” I went on to explain how over the centuries, people had gone from wagons to machines that use chemicals and complex gear structures to take them from place to place. It was technology and not magic that made all this happen.

“Fascinating.” Out of the group, Vasili assimilated everything the fastest. He made a natural leader.

A wonderful smell filled the air as Tyler grilled burgers and sausages. A few men hovered around him, eager to offer a hand like any hungry werewolf would.

But it was a knock on the door that startled everyone in the sitting room.

“Did you hear or smell anyone?” Vasili asked Royse.

“No, I didn’t, cousin,” Royse said. She pulled a knife from a sheath along her leg.

“Let me answer the door,” I offered. If it were a poor human asking for sugar or milk, it would be really awkward to have them gutted by twelfth-century werewolves on the attack.

I didn’t expect to find Dr. Frank. The bearded, white-haired wizard grinned down at me. “You made it, Natalya.”

“Dr. Frank,” I whispered.

Vasili and Gostislav peered behind me. Their eyes full of suspicion.
 

“We’re good,” I told them. “This is a wizard friend of mine named Dr. Frank.”

Dr. Frank gave a curt bow of his head and then he spoke in flawless Russian. Hints of old Slavic touched his words. “I am Gustav Frankenstein. I am pleased to make your acquaintance.”

Vasili visibly swallowed. “Greetings to you, wizard.”

“May I come in?” Dr. Frank was always polite. “I’d prefer not to have our conversation out in the open.”

“Please. Please.” I got out of the way and the men behind me followed suit.

“Oh, wait.” He turned behind him. “I found some friends along the way and they’re catching up, since I walk a bit fast.” He gave me a wink.

My eyes widened to see three men walk up to the house: the acolytes.

“Oh, God!” I left the house and limped to meet them. Leg be damned. “You made it.”

The boys appeared worse for wear, but just seeing them, filled me with hope.

“I didn’t know if Cato Fillian…killed you,” I said.

Chestibor made a rude noise. “He barely escaped
us
.”

Dragomir cocked a grin at Chestibor. “So you’re going to leave out the fact that you told us to retreat?”

“She doesn’t need to know that,” Chestibor said, brushing past us toward the house. “Do I smell a feast cooking?”

The three acolytes ran into Vasili first. With eyes averted, they approached him and introduced themselves. The old magic leader nodded with approval and everyone went inside.

Our little gathering had grown in size. Who stood out the most was Dr. Frank dressed in a dark gray suit. It was almost as if the folks in regular clothing were the strange ones.
 

A werewolf offered Dr. Frank a spot in one of the chairs. Others took a seat on the floor.

Vasili remained standing. His cousin hovered near him, looking Dr. Frank over.

“I’m so proud of what Natalya has accomplished. Setting you free was one of the hardest things she has ever done.” Dr. Frank glanced at me, and I blushed.

“How does she know you?” Vasili asked.

Now that question took me aback.

“I’m her mentor...of sorts,” Dr. Frank replied. “Over the years, I’ve come to offer guidance during her times of trouble.”

Dr. Frank would never outright say I had OCD, but every time I gave in to my compulsions, I hoped I didn’t stand out. None of the werewolves had complained when I kept cleaning after them, and they probably assumed I was subservient to Luda, Tyler, and Zoya.
 

Vasili nodded, accepting the explanation. “And what brings you here—other than to bring these acolytes?”

“I’m sure you’re aware of what has happened on Stolobny Island.” Dr. Frank went into detail on the last couple of months of the war between the warlock and the wizards. How the warlocks had finally found a way to poison wizard weapons and render them ineffective. “We’ve tried again and again to clean up their messes, but their thirst for domination has no end.”

“Those swag-bellied little prick bastards haven’t changed one bit.” Vasili spat on the carpet. Instead of losing my damn mind, I chose not to so much as twitch. Dr. Frank appeared proud.

“First, they helped that swine Batu-Khan and now you’re telling me they want the world.” Vasili appeared thoughtful.

Zoya kept Tyler in the loop by translating everyone’s words. He finally spoke up. “Once the wizards are taken down, it will be dwarves and elves next. The fairy folk will hide like they always do, but some of my brothers might make a stand.”

Gostislav made a snorting noise. “The wizards have always been the ones to make a stand. There’s no way the wizards would stand a chance without a united front. The supernaturals bicker among themselves as it is.”

“Maybe times have changed,” Royse said.

“Not really,” Zoya and I said at the same time.

I’d met too many goblins, brownies, and fairies to know they didn’t give a rat’s ass about each other. It was an each-supernatural-for-themselves kinda deal.

“So why are you here?” Vasili always got to the point.

“You and your men—and woman—are needed north of here to get onto the island to help our brothers who have uncovered how to help the wizards turn the tide. Any wizard who gets too close will have his weapons rendered useless. We will need your help to get on the island first.”

“You need us to clear the path,” Vasili said. “To take the first arrows up the ass.”

“In a way, you could say that,” Dr. Frank said.

“What do you think, cousin?” Royse asked Vasili.

Before he could answer, someone knocked on the door again.

Chapter 23

“Who the hell is at the door now?” Vasili shouted.

“There went the element of surprise,” I said with a sigh.

I went to the door again, but Tyler slowed me down. “Be careful.”

“Don’t worry,” Dr. Frank said. “They’re not here to harm you.”

He must’ve known who was coming. I opened the door, and a familiar scent came to me.

It was Tamara.

“Hello, Natalya,” she said with a smirk.

For once, I was happy to see her.

“You made it,” I said.

“So did you.”

From behind me, the twins shoved me out of the way to reach their grandmother. She hugged them as they surrounded her with affection.

“Why didn’t you answer us when we tried to call you, Grandma?” Luda chided.

“I had to add some distance to protect everyone. And I can see you did just fine without me.” When she said, “did just fine without me,” she was looking at me, though.

 
She gave me a short assessment, and, in return, I gave her a short nod. I got out of the way to extend my hand to let her in.

“How did you know we were here?” I asked her.

“Let’s just say I have my ways to keep track of my young ones. Keeping track of you isn’t possible, but when I noticed they were so close to where the wizards were trapped, I wondered what was happening, so I came to investigate.”

“And here we are,” Zoya said.

“Yes, here you are,” their grandmother said softly.

Once we joined the others in the living room, Dr. Frank gave her a respectful nod.

He even got up to offer her a seat.

“Thank you.” She sat.

“Do you know each other?” I finally asked him.

“It was a long time ago, but yes, we have met,” he replied.

Tamara chuckled. “You’re not going to tell them how we know each other, Gustav?”

So Tamara even knew his first name
.
How many folks knew him on a first name basis?

“That’s was another time, another place, Anastasia,” he replied.

Another set of looks passed between them.

“Either way, I’m here now for the twins,” Tamara said. “I might as well stay and offer my help in your cause.”

“Speaking of the wizards, have you decided?” Royse asked Vasili again. “I wanted to know before we were interrupted.”

Vasili ran his fingers through his wavy hair and his face formed a hard edge. “Ulrichslav, our alpha, was betrayed. We must avenge him for our honor. Elric must be found and killed for his actions.”

Royse nodded as well as the other old magic spellcasters and the acolytes, who appeared eager to please.

“If he hid among the scum to the north, we need to find his hiding spot among the ticks and pluck him out,” Vasili said with a sneer.

The others agreed with shouts and encouragement.

“Kill the bastard!” one shouted.

“So when do we make our move?” Royse asked.

“We’ll approach from the water instead of going by land. From there, we clear the path and destroy anything in our way.”

He looked to each of the old magic spellcasters.

“For the honor!” he shouted.

From her spot, Tamara whispered, “To the end.”

Before we embarked on our trip north, we ate.

And ate. And ate.

The hamburgers and brats Tyler made was the
first
course.

“You couldn’t feed a pup with those things,” Gostislav barked.

So thanks to Dr. Frank’s help, more food was brought in. “It’s the least the wizards can do for your assistance,” he said as local men delivered a supply of food.

And when I say food, I mean Renaissance-Festival-holy-shit-that’s-a-lot portions. Five roasted pigs, the meat from three whole cows, countless turkey legs, ten buckets of vegetable stew, and four barrels of ale to wash it all down.

By the second barrel, I wondered how all of them were still sober.

“How can you eat this much?” I asked Royse, my stomach full to the point of being painful. Not far from me, Vasili was tossing hamburger buns off his burgers so he could mash the meat into his stew.

“We must prepare for what is to come,” Royse said as she ate next to me at the small kitchen table. “Like shifting, spellcasting is costly in terms of energy. We need to focus, and that focus requires food.” She gave me a curious stare. “Did you eat before you released us from our prison?”