Page 18 of A Witch Out of Time
The god of wet blankets grumbled something unintelligible, and I took advantage of the silence to continue resting my aching body. Similar to when I’d blasted the Facility’s men with witchy light, my insides felt like they’d been soaked in Tabasco sauce. And as before, I had no idea how I unleashed my powers—in this case, to somehow teleport myself to wherever Ace was.
That was real.
My guts twisted as I recalled the look on Asa’s face right before I was yanked back to the Nav. While I doubted I would’ve added anything nicer had I been given more time, it wasn’t the best way to say goodbye. Not knowing if itwasthe last time we would ever speak only made me feel like more of a tosser.
I could pretend to hate that man, but I was madly in love with him and always would be, no matter how he felt about me in return. I had no regrets about taking his place under Veles’ claws—and I would do it a hundred times over if it meant he was safe. But realizing he was now a prisoner of Koschei made me see red, especially combined with how helpless I felt to rescue him.
Although a god could step in…
“Koschei has Ace! We need to save him!” I abruptly shouted, sitting up and greatly enjoying the view of Veles nearly jumping out of his skin.
“By the thrice-tenth...what?!”the god of the underworld barked in response, smoothing his hands down his man-robes and clearly trying to hide the fact that I’d startled him.
“How do you know this?” The redhead—Rena—demanded, the expression on her freckled face oddly nervous compared to how confident she’d seemed up until now.
I swung my legs over the stone slab I’d been laid upon and hopped down to the ground. “Because I just astral projected myself to whatever dank cave Ace is being held captive in, and he bloodytoldme Koschei had taken him.’”
Composed yet again, Veles ran his thumb over his bottom lip as if considering. “Well, that explains why I couldn’t get a read on him,” he muttered before turning his eerily blazing eyes on me. “Unfortunately, I cannot free him from Koschei’s clutches. There are certain...rulesthat us gods need to follow when dealing with powerful beings like the Deathless One.”
Rena awkwardly cleared her throat. “I could sneak in there again, Vel. He didn’t even know I was there last time…”
“Until youstolefrom him!” Veles roared, flames exploding from his body in a threatening whoosh, causing me to dive behind the stone slab to avoid being barbecued. “You had. One. Job. Marena. And yet, you came back with a semi-conscioushumaninstead ofHER!”
I peered around the slab, unable to resist this terrifying yet tasty drama. To her credit, Rena bravely stood her ground, glaring up at the seething god with a fire in her eyes that matched his.
“And yet, thathumanturned out to be the very one destined to save us, hmm?” She jabbed a finger into Veles’ broad chest, earning bonus points from me for the size of her cajones. “A woman of legendary beauty who would later wrest control of an ancient legacy from an evil witch currently attempting to escape the bonds of this very realm. How utterly useless of me!”
This is better than mum’s gossip rags.
While most of my brain cells struggled to follow the plot, a small part of me suddenly recognized why this sounded familiar. “Are you...are you talking aboutVasi?”I interrupted, losing all sense of self-preservation as I rounded the slab to address Marena. “Was ityouwho snatched her from Koschei’s lair after he kidnapped her from the Tsar?”
She shyly nodded, cheeks pinking. “Yes, I did, although it was an unplanned rescue. I actually thought I was going to find…”
I didn’t let her finish, wrapping my arms tightly around her as she gasped in surprise. “Thank you,” I croaked, overcome with the realization of what might have become of mytutly juddahhad this woman not saved her from that monster.
Rena awkwardly stood there at first, but soon wrapped her arms around me in return, which felt incredibly lovely. There was something so familiar about this woman, like we were old friends who could pick up right where we’d left off as if no time had passed.
I still wasn’t clear if she was also a god or what her relationship with Veles was, but both acted morehumanthan I think either realized. Vasi was the same way—slightly standoffish, as if she didn’t believe she could relate to us on a human level. It made me chuckle to realize these ancient creatures all had the same sort of emotions as the rest of us, yet seemedlessequipped to handle them.
Not that I’m one to talk. The way I behaved with Ace...
“We’ll get your Asa home to you,” Rena covertly whispered in my ear, drawing back to pat my cheek affectionately.
“As adorably touching as this moment is,” Veles drawled. “I need to establish a better connection with Vasilisa and Nox. Especially now that we know the other Rider is a lost cause for now.” He waved his hand dismissively and turned to face the oversized crystal ball he’d been poking at for days, apparently deciding the conversation was over.
Seeing Rena join him, I approached as well, peering over her shoulder at the swirling blue crystal. Both frowned and stared intently, although as far as I could tell, there was nothing to see in its murky depths.
“It’s too cloudy,” I muttered, and before anyone could stop me, I reached out and laid my palm on the surface. A pure white light shimmered around the edges of my tattoo, streaming down my arm and fingertips, encasing the sphere in a blinding glow. As it faded, I saw that the crystal had become more opaque, as if scrubbed clean from the inside. Rena hummed in approval before elbowing Veles and overtly gesturing toward me.
“Thank you, Tan,”Veles begrudgingly mumbled before suddenly gripping the sphere and leaning in so abruptly I was surprised he didn’t bust his nose. “They’ve made it to the forest! But who is that in pursuit..? No, nothim!”I took a step back in case his volcanic temper tantrums were about to flare up again. Luckily, the god simply turned to address Marena, “Forget propriety. I’m going to intervene and get them out of there. It’s time those two returned to the Navwhere they belong.”
With that ominous statement, he swept out of the room, leaving me to wonder if I’d just aided another monster with plans to kidnap those I cared about.
Chapter 15
Vasilisa
It took theizbahalf a day to reach the swan settlement by the lake. Gerard ran to meet us, forgoing his usual formalities, extreme distress causing his swan form to flicker over the surface as Nox carefully carried Anthia out to the other shifters.
