Page 46 of A Witch Out of Time
Ace abruptly turned back to face the fire. I could practically hear the steel door of his mind slamming shut as his beautiful face hardened into the impassive mask we’d been conditioned to wear. I expected him to shut down completely, but he surprised me by answering Rena’s question. “My mother died because of me.”
I froze, every particle in my body now attuned to his as previously hidden anguish rolled off of him in suffocating waves. While I knew the death of his mum had destroyed him, I had no idea he felt he was to blame.
I moved to go to him, but Rena grabbed my arm and curtly shook her head before addressing Asa. “Tell us,” she fiercely whispered.
Breathing evenly, Ace began. “During one of our weekly phone calls, I confided in my mother about what had been happening at the Facility. I told her how we’d discovered we were actually tagging shifters instead of animals—that shifters were even real. While I knew she’d support me in questioning the morality of what we were doing, I didn’t expect her to react the way she did. She was so angry, ranting about things I’d never heard her mention before, like natural law. Then she said she was going to call Matthew directly, which I ignored. Why would my mother in Savannah have Matthew’s direct line, right? But I underestimated her.”
He paused, and the bone-deep regret pouring off of him caused my heart to splinter. “I should have known she’d get through to him,” he continued. “I can only assume she threatened him with her political connections in the States. The next thing I knew, my father was calling to let me know she’d been killed in a car bombing. He was genuinely distraught, but I didn’t have any sympathy for the man who’d walked out on her. I didn’t even have any sympathy for myself. All I could think about was how it was my fault. If I hadn’t told her, she wouldn’t have put herself in danger like that…”
My heart officially snapped in two as I helplessly watched the firelight reflect off the tears streaming down Asa’s face. Not only had he been grieving his mother’s death these past several months, he’d believed his actions resulted in the most important person in his life being murdered.
And he chose to carry that alone.
Then my whirling brain finally caught up with the full implications of what Ace was saying. Aboutwhoexactly was responsible.
“You know who killed her,” Nox flatly stated in a way that implied he also knew, although I would bet he’d only recently learned it himself. Ace slowly nodded in reply, his gaze stubbornly fixed on the fire. “Why wouldn’t youtellme,lan?”Nox added, anger now apparent in his tone.
Ace rose and turned to Nox with an expression of acute sadness. “Why would I put that sort of burden on you? To ask you to choose between the man you idolized and...me.”
Something shifted where my empathy was suddenly replaced with a surprising amount of indignation. “Why the fuck wouldn’t you tellme,Ace?” I demanded, even as I realized this wasn’t about me. But at the moment, I felt gutted and bloody pissed and I wanted answers more than I wanted to keep the peace.
“I didn’t want to make you choose either,” Ace sighed, and I was stunned into silence once again. “You and Nox were a solid team before I ever showed up. I didn’t want to be the reason this unit fell apart.”
Nox leaped to his feet and stomped over to where Asa was standing, and for a second, I feared he was about to punch him. Instead, he tightly gripped the other man’s shoulders, forcing him to look at him. “You think I would have chosen myfatherover you?!” Nox sounded furious, but I could feel a devastation flowing through our bond that matched Ace’s pain.
“He’s family,” Ace shrugged as best he could, trapped under those huge mitts.
“No!” Nox barked so loudly I flinched. “That man was never a father to me, even after he brought me to live with him. Family isn’t by blood.Youare family, Ace, and I would choose you over him any day. Don’t ever fucking keep something like this to yourself again, just because you’re anidiotwho can’t tell when people care about you!”
Truth bomb, grumpy Russian style!
“Group hug!” I shouted, throwing myself at the two of them before they could stop me. “Yes, Acey, Nox and I were already close when you showed up with your pretty face, but youcompleteus, like a missing piece to a puzzle. And I’m not just saying that because my dick fits so nicely inside you…”
Ace laughed from somewhere in our huddle and I punctuated my words by sending all the love I felt for these twomudaksthrough our witchy bond. Peeking at Vasi, I fired a dose of adoration her way as well—along with some pornographic images of the four of us, just so I could see that beautiful color stain her cheeks.
Shifting my gaze to Rena, I noticed her watching our display with that secretive smile on her face again, as if she were in on a joke no one else was. However, at this point, I knew the goddess had our best interests in mind, so I didn’t worry too much about whatever she knew.
Returning my attention to loving up on Asa, I decided once again to trust inAlin yazisi. That inescapable fate was supposedly written on my forehead, and I was confident it included the people I cared about most in this world.
Chapter 38
Vasilisa
The next morning, we awoke to find our camp had been mysteriously uprooted while we slept. We were now next to a cave entrance at the base of Koschei’s mountain, which Rena said meant our request for a meeting via our messengers had been accepted. She also assured us we were still under Veles’ protection. Trusting the goddess to understand the rules of engagement, we left the horses outside and entered the mouth of the cave.
And, possibly, the belly of the beast.
Expecting to feel my way in the dark, like the last time I was imprisoned here, I was surprised to instead find luminescent moss lining the walls. Its odd greenish glow illuminated our path as we walked deeper into the tunnel system. Whether a short time or a long time passed was unclear, but suddenly, the twisting passageway we’d been traveling opened up to the sky again, revealing a wondrous sight.
Three palaces gleamed under the sun’s harsh light, each constructed entirely of copper, silver, and gold, respectively. From our high vantage point on the cliff face, I could see what appeared to be dragons chained up at each palace gate like monstrous guard dogs, although they all seemed to be peacefully sleeping. My intuition was tugging me to descend the steep steps to the palaces below, but I hesitated.
It could be a trap…
“It’s all right, Vashka.” Nox was back to his characteristic, unshakeable self-control, which steadied me immensely. “Don’t you recognize the Three Kingdoms from Prince Ivan’s tale?”
I laughed, allowing him to lead me down the stone steps. “Which Prince Ivan? It seemed like everyskazkiwas about a boy named Ivan.”
He chuckled in return. “Or, a girl named Vasilisa. But you already know the tale of the bravest, most beautiful one was my favorite.”
