I stop time and move toward Jaga, taking her hand. With one last look behind us, I fix the roof over the cottage—and the fence, too. We walk away quickly, and I only release my time spell when we move to Warkogrod.
“Won’t you check on her?” Jaga asks, giving me a look that’s a bit awed, a bit resentful.
“After this is over. Maybe, if I don’t forget. Look.”
The sight revealed to us is unsettling. I brought us to a stony outcropping not far from the main road, and we watch from our vantage point as a long line of people, donkeys, and horses trudge up the slope to the walled town on top of the mountain.
“So many pilgrims,” Jaga says grimly, watching the heaving, impatient crowd as they make their way up. “News travels fast. Is he really up there?”
I nod, tightening my barriers on instinct. I feel Perun’s magic, a hundred times more odious than the oaks, and it makes me want to run or cower. If he catches me again… If he chains me… If he takes Jaga…
A warm palm wraps around mine, and Jaga cups my cheek. “Are we in danger?” she asks seriously, looking into my eyes.
I shake my head fitfully. “No, he doesn’t know we’re here. But I… I hate him. So much. His magic permeates the ground. It’s suffocating.”
“I understand. Let me… Oh.”
The road up is narrow and partly walled in by natural stone formations, but a group of people are going down and squeezing past the crowd. A large, richly dressed man waves his arm, laughing boisterously.
“Got mine! Perun blessed me! Oh, you poor folks, you have to wait, but it’s worth it, I tell you! He’s magnificent!”
“Let’s ask him about it once he gets down the slope,” she murmurs, taking my hand. “We should wait for him down there. Can you stop time and take us? I can’t do magic.”
I shake off my loathing and fear and pull her close, ignoring her angry inhale when I squeeze her too hard, crushing her to my chest.
“Settle,” I tell her, my voice sounding cold and gritty. “Quiet. Please.”
I stop time and just hold her, and she lets me now, her breathing fast and shallow like a rabbit’s, her body warm and alive. I don’t care what she looks like, because I know her soul and spirit, and it’s all in here, tightly wrapped and secure, yet not secret to me.
“I can’t breathe,” Jaga chokes out.
I tighten my grip. “You don’t need to breathe. Please. A bit longer.”
She surrenders, going soft and pliant, and I growl with longing, gripping the back of her shirt so hard, it almost tears in half. My fear is tight and cold around me, a cage that goes everywhere I go, and she is the only thing in the world that lets me breathe.
“Woland,” she whispers, hoarse and breathless. “We can leave this place. We should.”
“Yes. We should leave and fuck. I never want to be outside you again. Let’s just go, stay in Nawie forever, you and me. Let himrule all mortals and do whatever he fucking wants. I’m done. I won’t ever win this, Jaga. I just want you.”
She pushes me away, and it’s for nothing, because I’m stronger like this, gripped by fear and despair. I pull her closer, jerking my hips, the fear making me so maddeningly thirsty. I could be chained up tomorrow, and I need to have her one more time before it happens.
Jaga grows spikes, the familiar trick that still hurts so bad, and I stumble away with a mad laugh. She shakes her head, watching me coldly.
“If you want to fuck me ever again, you will pull yourself together and take us to the foot of the mountain so we can ask that man about Perun’s temple and blessings. You will do it now.”
I drop into an elegant, mocking bow, still laughing.
“Yes, Your Bitchiness. As you command.”
Chapter thirty-five
Blessed
I pull her close, and she growls in warning, but we’re already moving through frozen time until I drop us both at the foot of the mountain, hidden from view behind a rock outcropping. As we emerge with the time released from my spell, I see the people coming up the winding road—hundreds of them.
“This is why he didn’t bother attacking us again,” I say, mad laughter bubbling in my throat. “We’re done for, Jaga. Whatever this is, it’s the end. He’s won. Please, let’s go somewhere else. I’ll make another world for you. We’ll hide together, you and I. I beg you. Let’s go right now.”
She gives me a look of pure, undiluted scorn. “You’re raving. Gather your wits.”
