Chapter 15
Chapter Fifteen
ODESSA
“I did wonder why you were so intent on keeping a consistent bedtime routine for your boar,” Jax noted as Odessa approached him, Katrin at her side.
As soon as they were close, Sonya abandoned him for Katrin, grabbing her wrist with both hands and bouncing excitedly on her toes.
“I assumed it was just a difference in the standard of care between four-legged creatures and birds.”
“No, just the difference between birds and children.” Odessa gave him a weary smile. As thankful as she was to finally see her friends in their natural form, she wasn’t unaware that her father was going to be very, very angry.
Katrin joined them as Sonya skipped away with a hand on Bean’s shoulder. Jax bowed gallantly. “Lady Katrin, a pleasure as always. I must say, you’re even more lovely in person. I don’t think a deer could have pulled off that dress quite so well.”
Her answering smile was hesitant. “Thank you?”
“Don’t mind him,” Odessa quickly jumped to her rescue as she elbowed Jax in the side. “He’s always this ridiculous.”
He held a hand up to his ear. “I’m sorry, could you repeat that? I believe you mispronounced the word ‘charming.’”
She lifted her brows in challenge. “Katrin isn’t a dragon.”
“I think it should be clear by now that dragons aren’t all that I can charm.” He winked at her.
She shrugged. “Mmmm, not very clear over here. It’s still kind of murky where your charm is concerned.”
He quirked an eyebrow at her, the expression on his face clearly communicating that he didn’t believe her, but let the matter drop.
“Back to more concerning matters, how many more poor, cursed souls is Boris keeping here?” He cracked his knuckles.
“If I’m going to go around breaking more curses before I break Boris’s nose, I would like an accurate head count. ”
Katrin breathed out a huff of laughter. “It’s just the three of us.” Her voice, though soft, was clearer now, a soothing, musical alto that fit her calm presence entirely.
“Why?” Jax propped a hand on his hip and shoved the other through his hair. “Did you somehow do something to make him angry? And how did he get away with it? Sonya’s a child; surely someone had to have noticed her sudden absence.”
Because no one was aware that she had a presence in the first place.
Odessa opened her mouth to answer but was thwarted once again by her father’s magic. She pressed her lips together. “Because Boris has a perverted sense of justice,” was all she could manage to say. She looked at Katrin. “I don’t think it’s fully broken.”
Katrin shook her head sadly.
Jax’s eyes bounced back and forth between them. “What do you mean? They’re people again.”
“Can you use your magic? Like you did with me?”
He frowned, and his eyes went slightly out of focus, as if he were lost somewhere in his own mind.
After a moment he blinked and shook his head.
“The magic sounds like yours now, with two different melodies competing.” He scratched his chin thoughtfully.
“But obviously something happened; before I couldn’t hear anything amiss. ”
Odessa nodded slowly as she tried to piece together what she knew. “Their curse is the same one that Boris tried to cast on me.”
“But you’re human again once the sun sets. Katrin and Sonya weren’t.”
“The curse didn’t fully take for me because I’m his daughter, which means we share blood. That protection is one of the few good things he left me with.” She laughed bitterly. “Katrin and Sonya didn’t have that advantage.”
“So what does that mean if it’s not fully broken?
They’ll go back to being animals once the sun comes up?
” Jax’s eyes drifted to Bean, who had curled up under a tree with a now-sleeping Sonya cuddled against his side.
“How do we get rid of it completely? Sonya is a little young to receive pledges of devotion.” He faced her again.
“That’s what triggered the change this time, right? When I said I was her loyal servant?”
“Yes,” Odessa said slowly, frustrated when she couldn’t give him the full answer. Her father’s magic, when not hampered by his own blood, was frustratingly potent.
“Why didn’t it work completely?”
“Perhaps because you’re not Kovskian?” Katrin suggested, quietly joining the conversation.
Odessa nodded.
Jax blew out a frustrated breath. “Well, that’s—”
“Dessa!” His complaint was interrupted by Dmitri’s call, followed shortly by the appearance of the prince himself. Katrin squeaked and grabbed Odessa’s arm as she ducked behind her.
“There you are.” Dmitri hooked a thumb over his shoulder. “You left the gate open.”
Odessa glared at Jax, who had the decency to look sheepish. “That would be the doing of my assistant.”
He brightened. “I don’t think you’ve actually called me that before.”
She rolled her eyes. “A slip of the tongue I’m already regretting. Anyway, Dimi.” She squared her shoulders. “I’m sorry for making you hunt me down. I lost track of time.”
“It’s not a problem,” he answered easily. “It’s a nice evening for a walk.” His eyes widened as they suddenly registered Katrin’s presence behind her. “Forgive me; I didn’t realize you had visitors.”
Odessa gently pulled Katrin forward. “This is Katrin. She’s…uh…visiting. For a while. To help me in the evenings.”
“That’s wonderful!” Dmitri smiled widely at Katrin, who turned a concerning shade of pink and looked as if she might fall over.
“I’m glad you’re going to have someone help keep things running smoothly while I’m commandeering your time.
” He paused, his eyes narrowing at the corners.
“Katrin…isn’t that name the same as your—”
“Yes!” Jax exclaimed. “Katrin is a deer friend of Odessa’s.” He grinned triumphantly at Odessa and waggled his eyebrows. He gestured to Bean and Sonya. “The little girl is Sonya. Don’t let her adorable curls fool you; some might say she’s quite boarish.”
How is he able to talk about it so openly? Is it just because the words are intended to have a different meaning? I suppose it would make sense that the loophole here would be puns. Boris was never a fan of that kind of humor, and he wouldn’t think to protect against it.
Dmitri’s mouth turned down in reproach. “That’s rather unkind, don’t you think?”
Odessa’s heart sank as the hidden meaning behind Jax’s words flew like a bird right over his head. She changed the subject. “What did you need my help with, Dimi?”
His expression brightened. “I was hoping you could give some input on locations in the Menagerie that would work for a scavenger hunt. Do you mind if I show you what I’m thinking?
” He glanced at Katrin. “Your friend is welcome to join us, of course. In fact, as someone rather new to the space, she might be the perfect one to gauge whether the clues will suffice.”
She bit back a sigh. She would much rather spend her time working out exactly what the change in Katrin and Sonya’s curse meant and how she was going to hide it from her father—providing, of course, he didn’t already know somehow.
She wasn’t sure how closely linked he was to magic after it was cast. But she also couldn’t deny Katrin the opportunity to spend an hour or two with the prince she had pined after for years, and so she nodded, smiled warmly, and said, “We’d be happy to. ”
“Wonderful!” Dmitri offered his arm to Katrin, who hesitantly placed her hand through it and looked up at him with wide, starstruck eyes as he led her back to the gate, speaking animatedly the whole time.
Jax whistled low beside her. “She’s got it bad.”
“I know,” Odessa groaned. A lump of regret soured her stomach. “And I’m supposed to help him choose a wife.”
He snapped his fingers. “He’s Kovskian!”
“Yes, and?”
He grabbed her shoulders, forcing her to look up at him. She could see the thoughts spinning a million miles an hour in his eyes, and a brilliant smile was slowly taking over his mouth.
“Swangela. Think about it. He can break the curse.”
“He doesn’t even know who she is. If he did, it would be rather odd for him to willingly choose to marry a deer, don’t you think?”
“Just invite her to come along with you to the party. He’s more than willing to listen to your suggestions.”
“I told him she was here to help me in the Menagerie. It rather defeats the purpose if she’s tagging along with me, don’t you think?”
He squinted at her. “Who cares? If there’s a chance it will break the curse, don’t you want to at least take it?”
“Yes, but—” But it won’t exactly work the way you’re thinking, and I don’t want to get Katrin’s hopes up just to have them dashed forever when it doesn’t happen.
“Then it’s settled. Dmitri and Katrin will find each other. You’ll find a husband.” He swallowed thickly and his smile faltered for a moment before he nodded sharply. “At this rate, I should add ‘Matchmaker’ to my list of qualifications.”