Page 48 of Rise of the Witch
I wish I knew how to speak ‘human’…
We stood in silence for a few minutes before I hesitantly asked, “Is everything all right with...Asa?” I didn’t dare address what had happened between the two of them, despite how desperate I was to know.
Tan flinched but met my gaze, answering my unspoken question anyway. “I think Ace finally found what he needed,” his tone was emotionless, although the level of anguish rippling off of him was almost unbearable. “Unfortunately, I don’t think that someone is me.” Kissing me sweetly, he turned and headed back into the hut, leaving me to my fear that Nox’s accusation of me coming between the men was accurate after all.
Chapter 39
Vasilisa
We departed hours before dawn, hoofbeats echoing through the dark forest like an approaching storm. I rode with Tan, as my gut told me choosing Asa would only exacerbate the rift between them. Tan’s insinuation that his love was choosing me over him simply didn’t make any sense, but I’d been unable to dig deeper amidst the rush of preparing for our early journey.
Why are humans so complicated?
As an experiment, I conjured a few emotions I remembered from my brief period of happiness with the Tsar, feelings I’d started to experience again with my men. Affection, compassion, desire, hope, connection, joy, empathy, forgiveness—emotions I’d once dismissed as frivolously “human,” I now attempted to transmit to both men using the invisible tethers that linked their hearts with mine.
Tan’s arm tightened around my stomach, and I looked down to find his warm, white glow had brightened. A quick peek at Asa confirmed his red light was pulsing in recognition as he shot a sidelong glance our way, a shy smile playing on his lips.
It’s a start...
The horses slowed to a trot, indicating we were nearing our destination. “I wonder whichsvolochswe’re gonna have to deal with in these fucking trucks,” Nox chuckled.
Tan snorted, and I tilted my head back at him in confusion. “It means ‘bastards’ in Russian,” he clarified. “I assume my sweet witch isn’t entirely up-to-date on slang?”
I huffed good-naturedly. “That assumption would be correct. Anthia has put in a lot of effort over the years for me to no longer sound like an ‘old-world villain’—her words, not mine—but I imagine she chose not to torture herself by teaching me slang.” I ran my fingers down Tan’s arm, enjoying the sensation of basking in his warm glow once again as I added quietly, “It’s hard enough trying to communicate with this group on ahumanlevel.”
“Oh, doll, this crew is nothing compared to what you’d find at the Facility,” Tan smirked, misunderstanding what I was hinting at. “They recruit us from so many different countries it’s easier for everyone to just speak mangled English peppered with random slang from everyone’s homeland!”
“Cultural mutts of circumstance, hmm,” I teased, allowing Asa to help me off Tan’s horse and lower me to the ground.
Tan laughed, “Absolutely! And we mix and match constantly. For example, you’ll notice we call each otherlan. That means ‘man’ in Turkish—sort of a pet name between the three of us.Svoloch,you just learned. Nox also usesmudak,a colorful expression used to call someone an asshole, but the kind of asshole incapable of realizing he is one. We’ll get you on our level eventually,” he smiled down at me, causing a warm sensation to flicker over me at his casual implication of permanence. “I thought for sure I’d have to learn fluent Russian when I arrived ten years ago, but I’ve barely needed to bother with the lousy language.” Tan waved a dismissive hand in Nox’s direction as he dismounted and walked out onto the narrow dirt road.
“Hey, my Russian came in handy in London that one time, remember?” Nox graced us with a rare smile as we followed Tan to the road, gazing downhill toward what I assumed was the direction of the Facility. “When we were picking up those tickets for…” he abruptly stopped talking, expression freezing in a tell-tale sign that what he’d been about to say was related to Asa’s mother.
An uncomfortable silence followed as we all avoided looking in Asa’s direction, but my Beautiful Sun surprised me by softly chuckling. “Oh, you mean the time my mother somehow managed to buy tickets for us all to see Cream reunited in concert directly from the Russian mafia?”
He’s talking about her!
Apparently thrilled enough with this exciting development to forget his grievances, Tan beamed as he picked up the story. “Ya, and then proceeded to march us down that dark alleyway and straight into the mafia warehouse as if she owned the place? Oha! That woman wasn’t afraid of anything.”
Asa smiled warmly at Tan, and for a moment, I hoped all had been forgiven, but then Tan cleared his throat, glow faltering as he frowned and turned to Nox. “Okay, so to recap, for Vasi’s benefit, Ace will take up his position on the ridge to execute while the rest of us act as security and support on the ground?”
Nox nodded, suddenly all business himself. “Correct. That sheer drop on the opposite side of the road should discourage anyone from making a break for it after Ace takes out the tires and security cameras. This should be a simple search and seizure operation to determine what’s happening with the captured shifters.”
Asa looked up from where he was examining his rifle, deep concern apparent on his face, even in the dim twilight. “I sure hope you realize there’s no coming back from this, Nox. Even though we won’t be killing anyone, this will put us at the top of Matthew’s shit list. You know that, right?”
I barely breathed as Nox solemnly nodded, “Yes. But it has to be done. No matter what my father’s endgame here is, it’s unethical. And we need to help Vasi gather all the information she can to report back to the clan leaders.”
He’s...doing this for me?
“Target approaching,” Tan called from where he lay on his stomach on the crest of the hill. “One truck. All clear for miles.”
I now saw why the men had chosen this spot. Thanks to the road’s steep incline, anyone approaching from below was utterly blind to what lay ahead until they’d reached the summit—and the awaiting ambush.
Tan scooted backward before rising to stand, shoving his binoculars into his pack and gesturing for me to follow Nox back into the forest. As he herded me behind a large boulder, I realized Asa was nowhere to be found. I assumed he’d already disappeared to lay in wait on the ridge but still found it eerie how quickly he’d faded into the landscape.
“We’re completely capable of handling ourselves.”
Gently laying my fingers on Tan’s arm, I gasped as a jolt of energy passed between us the exact moment the dawn broke over the horizon. He smiled down at me distractedly before his face hardened into an impassive mask, nodding once in response to whatever hand signal Nox gave before the other man moved farther down the tree line.
