Without a word, Niko guided them off the path and into the woods, where they picked their way carefully, intent on avoiding a similar fate. The sun moved higher in the sky, slanting through the trees with merciless intensity, but when they stopped for water, none of them wished to tarry. Instead, they filled the skins they’d discovered in two of the horses’ saddlebags and rode onward, wanting to put as much distance between themselves and their pursuers as possible.
Katerina’s stomach growled, desperate for sustenance after the poor meals she’d received in the dungeons, and she forced herself to ignore it. It would do her little good to have a full belly if the tradeoff was her capture by the Druzhina or the Dark Angel of War.
A full day’s ride took them to the rise of the foothills, which led up into the Brebeneskul Mountains sheltering Volshetska Fortress. They didn’t talk much, their attention fixed on the ground in front of them, lest it swallow them up, and the crack of branches behind them, lest it herald an attack. Finally, they could ride no more, and found a place to bide the night, sheltered from visibility by a boulder and bordered by rowan trees interspersed with firs and birches. The Shadows scouted the site, ensuring that no patches of Darkness threatened its perimeter; then Katerina and Sofi used their windwitch gifts to sever the branches of the rowans, Damien arranged them in the center of their campsite, and Ana set them aflame.
Food was the next order of business, although Katerina wished she could change her clothes first. Though swimming through the pool had cleansed them of some degree of nastiness, they were still dirty, not to mention torn. She said as much to Sofi, who offered her a smile.
“Now, there I can help you,” she signed. “I have needle and thread; we can sew up the worst of it after we eat.” Her gaze fell to Katerina’s wrists, ringed an angry red from the shackles. “And I have salve, as well as antivenin. I’m shocked we escaped Gadreel’s attack without needing the latter, but as for the former… If those get infected, there will be trouble.”
Katerina had forgotten about her wrists—and her Shadow’s, which looked equally affected. Now, though, the marks left by the cuffs throbbed. The sooner she could rid herself of this reminder of her captivity, the better.
“Agreed,” she said. “First, food, though. Ana, do you want to come with us to forage?”
Her fellow Dimi had been uncharacteristically silent throughout this exchange. Katerina glanced at her; Ana was sitting by the fire she’d lit, her arms wrapped around her knees and her face blank, as if she were dreaming. It wasn’t like her to be so still—Ana was easily bored, and always in motion.
“Ana!” Katerina said again, louder this time.
At last, she snapped to attention, eyes shifting to look at Katerina. “What?”
“I asked, do you want to come with us?”
Ana shook her head, turning back to the fire. “I think I’ll just stay here and keep watch,” she said. “It’s been a long day.”
Sofi and Katerina exchanged a perplexed look, but neither of them said anything. Maybe Ana was truly tired. It had been a long day, and it wasn’t over yet. Besides, someone did need to keep watch, and it might as well be Ana.
Alexei stayed with his Dimi by the fire as Niko and Damien went off to hunt, in the form of their black dogs. Paying close attention to every step, lest they stumble upon a patch of Darkness between the trees, Katerina followed Sofi into the woods. A moth lit on the yellow flowers of a rue plant, spreading its speckled wings wide, and something snagged in Katerina’s mind, dancing just out of reach. Whatever it was, it didn’t matter now. She turned her attention to the task at hand, scouring the forest for food that wouldn’t poison them.
In the end, they wound up with two rabbits, a few spring apples, a handful of blackcurrant berries, and some wild greens. The Shadows skinned the hares and roasted them over the fire, and Sofi made a fuss of dabbing some yarrow salve on Katerina’s wrists. Katerina tried to do the same for Niko, but he took the tin from her and tended to his own wounds. A pang shot through her—was even such a small touch that anathema to him? Trying hard not to let her hurt show on her face, she sat down next to Sofi and the six of them settled in to eat.
Then and only then did they talk—of the ten days that had ticked away while Katerina and Niko were imprisoned, ten days that brought Niko ever-closer to his eventual return to the Underworld; of what had transpired in the Underworld itself, and the deal she had struck with Sammael and Elena in exchange for six months of Niko’s freedom; of what they had learned about the prophecy’s true meaning; of what had become of Elena. In turn, Alexei and Ana told them of the madness that had broken loose when the village realized Katerina was missing. Of the Kniaz’s strange behavior and the rage that had consumed him as he demanded to know where Katerina had gone. Of the demons that had burst from the woods, sending the preparations for the Kniaz’s welcome feast scattered to the four winds, and the Darkness that had accompanied the Grigori’s invasion, draining children, villagers, and warriors alike.
“So many lost.” Niko’s voice was tight. “So much damage to the pack.”
At the mention of the pack, an awkward silence fell across their campsite. Alexei broke it.
“I never meant to usurp what was yours,” he said, his gaze fixed on Niko. “I would never disrespect you as my alpha. We believed you to be dead, and my ascension was Baba’s wish.”
“I know that.” Her Shadow’s voice was carefully neutral as he speared a chunk of meat, turning it this way and that over the fire. “I don’t blame you. You will serve the pack well.”
“If they take me back,” Alexei muttered, as if talking to himself.
Saints. Helping them might have cost Alexei the pack, too. “Are you sure you want to stay with us?” Katerina asked, even as the thought of their departure sent anxiety gnawing at her gut. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m grateful, but are you sure helping us escape was the right choice?”
“I told you.” Ana’s voice was sharper than usual. “You’re my closest friend. You saved Alexei’s life—twice now,” she said, turning to Niko. “Would you rather we hadn’t?”
Katerina flinched at the harshness in her tone. Even Alexei’s brows rose, though he didn’t question his Dimi.
“Of course not,” Katerina said, her gaze flicking to the small, even stitches she’d made in the fabric of her pants after she’d eaten her fill. “It’s just—you risked so much. All of you,” she added, nodding at Damien and Sofi in turn.
“Baba sent us to Rivki with the Kniaz’s body. We knew the Druzhina were seeking you. We feared you’d already be dead by the time we arrived. But when you weren’t—and when we found Sofi and Damien, willing to help us”—Alexei shrugged. “It seemed destined by the Saints.”
At this, Niko gave a rough laugh. “I can’t say the Saints have much to do with this.”
Katerina stiffened, ready to jump to her Shadow’s defense, but there was no need. “We saw you drive the Darkness back, Niko.” Alexei rested a hand on his former alpha’s shoulder; Niko tensed, and he let it fall. “Besides, I served at your side for years. I didn’t believe you were…what Baba and the Elders said.”
“A nezhit?” Her Shadow’s voice was expressionless.
“Yes.” Alexei winced. “I saw you. I know you. And if you can stop this, I want to help.”
