Page 1 of Call of the Ride
Chapter 1
Vasilisa
No, no, no, no...
Sooty tears were streaming down my face, and it wasn’t only because of the smoke filling the room so thickly I could barely breathe. My claws were fully extended as I blindly pawed around the ruined floor on either side of me, desperate to find Nox, terrified I’d lost him forever.
Strong arms encircled me, and I automatically relaxed into the familiarity before realizing the scent was dark and sweet, not the pine and sea I craved. Crying out in agony, I tried to throw Asa off of me, but he only tightened his hold.
“Sweetness, we need to get you out of here. Please…” he choked out, and I acutely felt his anguish—the devastating acknowledgment of a truth I refused to accept.
Nox is gone.
The fight instantly went out of me. When Tan had been taken to the Nav and Asa kidnapped by Koschei, I’d never feared they were truly dead. But whatever Nox had accomplished—using his darkness to rip his father away and absorb the blast—had ended with an excruciating stab of pain down our bond. While I could usually pick up on emotions and sensations from all of my Riders, even when separated, this had afinalityto it, like fate severing our connection.
He can’t be gone.
“Now,Vasi,” Tan’s lilting voice had taken on an unusually commanding tone as he crouched in front of me. My two remaining Riders pulled me to my feet together, although either could have easily lifted me alone. It was as if we all needed to touch each other—to reassure ourselves we were still here.
The suffocating cloud was dissipating, and I found myself staring up into Tan’s hazel eyes. They were red-rimmed and dull against his olive skin, his usual cheerful glow little more than a flicker, but he still attempted to smile at me. “We need to leave so we can blast this Facility to bits, doll…”
“NO!”I boomed, tensing as my magically amplified voice echoed off the tattered bookshelves surrounding us. The supernatural bombs created by Veles, the god of the Nav, were powerful enough to take down the massive concrete building marring my sacred forest. But if there was a chance my Darkest Midnight was still here, in any form, I couldn’t bear to put him at risk.
Tan flinched at my tone before glancing to where Asa stood behind me. Something unspoken passed between them as soothing heat enveloped me, making my muscles relax and my head loll back against my Beautiful Dawn’s broad chest. My decidedlylessBright Dawn grimaced, as if steeling himself, before bringing his palm to my forehead. My protests died on my lips as my vision went white, and I fell into a deep sleep—one filled with dark dreams of four sets of tangled limbs and an overwhelming sense of home.
* * *
I awoke in my bed above the stove, sandwiched between two incredibly hard male bodies. For a moment, I wondered if the events at the Facility had all been a dream—that I might roll over to find Nox behind me. But then the weight of what had happened crushed my heart all over again.
Both Tan and Asa were still fast asleep, so I carefully extracted myself from our nest and slipped down the ladder to the main living area. While relieved to be back in my sanctuary, I was also annoyed that my Riders had used their powers to tranquilize me like a rabid animal.
Although, perhaps it was fitting, given the circumstances.
Uncharacteristically shivering in the cool night air, I grabbed my woven shawl from its hook and approached the open window. Even at night, I easily recognized the familiar clearing under the light of the waning moon. Relief coursed through me to find that we were still in the same place as when we’d left for our mission. I hated the idea of changing locations and being harder for Nox to find.
Assuming he’s in any state to find us...
Digging my claws into the worn wood of the window frame, I closed my eyes as traitorous tears fell yet again. For centuries, I’d cloistered my emotions away, hidden deep within, like a never ending set ofmatryoshkadolls. Thanks to discovering my fated Riders, my long-forgotten humanity had reemerged, but at the moment, I despised how vulnerable I felt. It had been so much easier when it was just me in my hut, alone in the woods and protected from the fallibility of my own heart.
How will I ever recover from this?
The distinct brush of fingertips along my jaw had me opening my eyes with a gasp. Straining against the low light, I wildly searched the empty air for any sign of who had touched me. The faintest hint of salty sea teased my senses, but I couldn’t be sure it wasn’t simply wishful thinking—a muscle memory toying with reality. Besides hearing our house spirit, the Domovoy, chasing mice in the grain cellar, nothing moved in the eerily still night.
“We’ll find him, doll,” Tan was suddenly behind me, wrapping me in his muscular arms, his exotic, spicy scent immediately overpowering any phantom aroma. “No matter what it takes, we’ll find him.” As if knowing what I needed to hear, he added, “We didnotblow up the Facility, by the way.”
I almost collapsed in relief at that news, immediately forgiving my men for whisking me back to the hut the way they did. “I can’t feel him, Tan,” I murmured, pathetically sniffling in a way that would have horrified me previously. “For a moment, IthoughtI did, but…it was only my imagination.”
Tan hummed in my ear. “That’s how it felt for me when I was in the Nav. I would get these faint tugs from you and Ace, but they were so fleeting that I feared I’d go mad with longing. And after Nox and I had the pleasure of sharing you, I could feel a similar connection with him.” He trailed off, and I didn’t need him to finish his thought to know he no longer sensed my missing Rider on the other end.
“I’m afraid he’s dead,” I barely whispered, not wanting to admit it, even to myself. “When he shielded me from the blast—just before he disappeared completely—I felt his pain through our bond. It was so agonizing...I don’t know how he would have survived something like that…”
My Rider stiffened, and I turned so I could better see his expression. Instead of appearing concerned, however, he looked confused. “I didn’t feel that at all,” he muttered. “And Ace told me how he distinctly shared my pain when Veles gutted me at the crater. Are you sure what you were feeling was coming from Nox?”
Who else would it have come from?
Needing to focus on something other than my crippling loss, I took a breath and concentrated on the bigger picture—on my legacy and the responsibilities that came with that.
My sacred forest was still being consumed by The Devouring, which we’d learned was thanks to the former Yaga burying a piece of Koschei’s death in a secret location. Marena, the goddess of winter’s death, rebirth, and dreams, had arranged a meeting for us with Koschei, as he was the only other creature capable of locating his death. Unfortunately, he hadn’t been interested in helping us, and already had the upper hand because Mokosh, the Mother Goddess, was his prisoner. While I apparently held the power to reverse The Devouring’s damage, we would need Mokosh to heal the earth fully.
