Chapter 26
26
KATERINA
T he Shadows and Dimi scattered throughout the village had slain half the pack of Grigori. Together, Katerina and Niko had killed the rest. Caught between forms, their misshapen, pitch-blackened bodies lay strewn on the ground, run through with her tree-spear or Niko’s blade. Gadreel and the one that had injured Alexei were nowhere to be seen.
“Fled, most likely,” Niko said with disgust as he stood over Alexei’s unconscious body. Katerina had injected her second vial of antivenin as they raced back to Kalach, uttering every healing charm she knew. Niko had carried Alexei back to the surgery, then stood, hands white-knuckled on the counter, as a healer administered a third dose, overseen by Baba herself. Thank the Saints, his heart beat strongly now, though he hadn’t woken up yet. Katerina didn’t think she would have been able to face Ana, otherwise.
Once Baba had assured herself that Alexei would live, she’d left to attend to the other injured. Katerina and Niko had stayed to watch over him as his breath came easier and the color returned to his face. Ana sat on his other side, gripping her Shadow’s hand. Baba hadn’t allowed her to fight, afraid that without Alexei to protect her, she’d be too vulnerable. Since Niko had carried Alexei back, though, she’d refused to leave him.
“You saved his life,” Ana said to them both. “I won’t forget.”
“He’s my brother,” Niko said simply, and laid his hand on Alexei’s shoulder before he and Katerina turned to go.
Outside, the sky had just begun to lighten. She wanted to touch Niko, to bare the skin beneath the gashes in his shirt and make sure he was unharmed. But though the stone courtyard in front of the surgery was empty, she didn’t dare.
She should feel relieved. No one else had been badly wounded, and only one woman had been taken captive: Trinika, the baker who made the pies Niko loved.
It was a miracle they hadn’t lost Alexei. A miracle the Grigori hadn’t stolen the children or slaughtered the adult Vila.
All because Gadreel had wanted Katerina for his own. His hammer, his pet.
Katerina shuddered. She would die before she let a demon use her that way.
“Are you all right?” Niko said quietly. His eyes found hers.
She lifted one shoulder and let it fall.
“He wanted you.” His voice was tight. “He said he knew you.”
Katerina gave him a small, one-sided smile. “He’s delusional. I’m hardly in the habit of fraternizing with demons.” She let her smile grow into a knife-edged grin. “Perhaps he’s confused me with another Dimi bent on eradicating him from the earth. It must be a familiar experience.”
“You can joke all you want, but I was in your head when he said those things. I know it frightened you.” His teeth sank deep into his lower lip, as if he imagined rending the demon limb from limb. “No matter how great our victory, I wish their leader had been one of the creatures we killed. For the Dark Angel of War will be back, and you know that as well as I.”
“He will,” Katerina agreed, “but not tonight. We destroyed his soldiers. Banished him to the Dark.”
Niko bowed his head. “You were magnificent tonight. I’m honored to be your Shadow. To know that you hold such strength—that you can look evil in the face and burn it to ashes.”
Katerina inhaled, taking in his familiar scent—overlaid now with the reek of rowan-smoke and the residue of demon blood. She opened her mouth to tell him that she was humbled by his courage and his faith in her. That with him by her side, she had the confidence to take risks she wouldn’t otherwise, because she knew he would never fail her. That she’d almost failed him , and she was sorry for it.
But before she could speak, Elena appeared at the edge of the courtyard, a shawl wrapped around her shoulders. Her face lit at the sight of Niko, whole and unharmed, before her gaze flicked sideways, taking in Katerina next to him. Her smile widened—then dimmed.
Niko swore under his breath, stepping back even as he lifted a hand in greeting. “We were just discussing the battle,” he called to Elena. “You’re unhurt?”
Any of the other Shadows, Katerina thought, would have gone to their betrothed, murmuring words of reassurance, embracing them. But Niko didn’t move.
The Vila shifted her weight in clear invitation, one hand on her hip. “I’m fine. Only frightened, for you as much as for myself. They told me you lived, that you had not suffered so much as a nick. But I wanted to see with my own eyes.”
You saw, Katerina wanted to say. So now you can go. Instead she pasted a smile onto her own face in her best attempt at welcome. It must have looked as strained as it felt, because Elena’s look of puzzlement deepened.
“Are you two all right?” she asked.
“We’re fine. Just a little shaken,” Niko said, moving so that he blocked Katerina from view—protecting her, she realized with dull amusement, even from herself. “I’ll be right there.”
“Take all the time you need. I’m going home, to help see to the children.” Elena’s voice shook, betraying how frightened she’d been. She forced one last brilliant smile for their benefit—that was Elena, always trying to put the best face on a situation—then went off down the path as silently as she’d come.
“Saints and demons,” Niko muttered, watching her go.
Katerina was silent. She’d rather deal with a horde of Grigori than this.
“I don’t want to leave you. But I need a moment,” he said, the words coming hard. “I need to go check on her.”
“Of course,” she said, turning away.
“Katya, don’t.” She felt the movement of the air as he reached for her, then thought better of it and let his hand fall.
“I understand,” she said, her back still turned. “You wouldn’t be who you are—loyal and honorable—if you acted otherwise. Go.”
But still he didn’t move. “Look at me,” he said, as he had that first night in the forest.
Katerina spun on her heel, prepared to tell him again to leave—but at the desolate expression on his face, she bit back the words. A muscle twitched in his jaw, and his eyes shone. She had never seen him cry, not even when he was twelve and broke his leg jumping from a haybarn, on a dare.
He shoved his hair back with a rough, impatient gesture. “This is tearing me apart. Understand that, if nothing else.”
Even before they were bonded, she’d felt his pain as if it were her own. Now, it was a thousand times worse. “You should go to her,” she said, struggling to keep the emotion from her voice. “She needs you.”
His eyes searched her face. “That she does, Katerina. But I need you .”
As I need you, she thought but did not say.
“I know what you think of her,” Niko said. “Of all the Vila. But if no Vila lived, then I wouldn’t be standing in front of you today. And you would have likely died when the Grigori attacked.”
“I’m the hero of my own story.” Her lip curled. “I save myself.”
Conviction drove his voice deep. “We save each other, Katya. We’re stronger—together. You’re the one who told me so. Remember?”
His fingers closed, warm, on hers a moment before he strode away, toward the cluster of cottages where the Vila lived, the weight of his destiny heavy on his shoulders.