Chapter Twenty Eight
Vladimir stared down at me, eyes wide with surprise as snow stuck to his ebony lashes. Then, he flicked a glance behind me, taking in Dimitrius and what little he could see of Sera with a short, but thorough appraisal.
The hot pink hair tended to stand out more than anything with the latter, though Elle probably got some looks too.
Curiosity lit his eyes as they came back to me, the gold shade pairing nicely with his bronze skin as he rumbled, arms crossing over his smoky grey jacket and shirt. “Well, I must admit the last thing I expected today was a visit from my Kotenok. Though I suppose it has been quite a bit since our last meeting.”
The Russian accent added gravel to his tone as he swept another look over the two behind me. “If you wanted to bring others into our arrangement you should have told me first, I don’t like being caught off guard like this.”
Dimitrius’s bristle was nearly a physical thing against my conscious and I instinctively took a step closer to him, a hand reaching down to clasp his. Raising our now joined fingers, I shook my head with a smile.
“It has been awhile, but that isn’t what I’m here for. If you’ll let us in, I’ll explain everything but the bottom line is that I need your help and it’s a lot direr than a last-minute booty call.”
At that, a sculpted brow rose, reminding me eerily of Sera, before he eyed the other warily. “You trust them?”
No hesitation, I nodded. “With my life, and yours or I never would have brought them here.”
He wasted no time after that, turning to face the stone door and opening it for us, his magic spiraling out to form the proverbial key. Stepping back, he gestured for us to go in.
“If you’re friends of my Kotenok, then you are friends of mine as well.” His lips curled into a smile, before focusing on me again, the edges dimming with concern. “You say there is urgent business to discuss? Let’s talk more after we’re in the parlor. You’ll catch a chill out here.”
Stepping through the portal was always odd, the familiar tingle making my skin crawl as the illusion dropped seamlessly. In perfect sync, I heard two gasps from behind me.
From the corner of my eye, I caught Vlad’s lips twitching upward, the tusks in the corners of his mouth becoming more prominent as he smiled. He may not admit it, but he liked showing off just as much as the next person, he just had to be a lot more careful since his ‘showing off’ could wind up rousing the council’s attention.
Never a good thing for social pariahs like us.
On top of being a tri-mage who mastered in all three of the most dangerous magics, Vlad was also part orc, though the orc-ish heritage didn’t come through physically aside from his tusks and golden eyes.
Two small things that one wouldn’t bat an eye at if they didn’t know his lineage, but it was enough for people to distrust him. Half breeds were a no-no in the magical society, especially if one parent wasn’t necessarily human.
Personally, I thought it was stupid, but then again I’d never gotten along with society and its views anyway…
Vlad was a good guy; if nothing else he’d always made sure I was taken care of in our romps, and not once had he made me feel lesser for my magic type. From the beginning, we’d been equals, a rarity in our community.
But generally speaking, bigoted fear and hate didn’t care if the person they targeted was nice or not.
Forcing the thought to the side before I pissed myself off–a common thing when thinking about racist assholes–I blew a plume of mist out and spoke over my shoulder. “Yeah, it’s definitely something, isn’t it?”
The first I’d been here I’d frozen the second I walked through the portal.
Massive stone walls stretched out, Vlad’s castle towering over us making me feel as tiny as an ant, just like it had all those years ago. After the first few times I’d gotten better about not openly staring, though Vlad enjoyed my inability to look away.
Being born as what he was made boasting about things difficult, so I’d done my best not to burst his bubble when he was genuinely happy about showing me things.
Whipping winds flung snow around the stone fortress, adding to its mystical vibes as we slowly worked our way toward the entrance. The giant doors opened when we approached, the staff rushing to get our coats even as I waved them off.
“This hopefully won’t take long, we don’t have a bunch of time and I probably should have called to talk to you about this, but when asking for a favor it should be done in person.”
Again, one of Vlad’s brows rose. “A favor? Now I’m truly intrigued, but come. Let us settle and get warm. Russia is known for its biting winters and this year is no exception.”
He led us down a maze like hallway that branched off to a few other areas, before stopping once we entered his personal study. Bookshelves lined the walls, bracketing the roaring fireplace that threw light over the room, illuminating his desk that sat in the middle.
The shelves made me itch to hover closer, but before I could give in, Vlad cleared his throat pointedly, lips twitching upward in amusement. Heat crawled up my cheeks at being caught ogling his bookshelves, but when Vlad snuck a glance to Dimitrius behind me, I bit back a chuckle.
Apparently I hadn’t been the only one drooling.
Forcing myself to focus, I took a seat across from him on the couch, his frame draping into the lone arm chair as if it were a throne. Dimitrius took the spot next to me, hand curling around mine and squeezing while eyeing Vladimir warily.
Ah, he had nothing to worry about with Vlad, the second I told him we were dating he’d drop any and all advances, but now wasn’t the time to bring that up. We came here for a reason and I would focus on it. Giving Dimitrius’s hand a small squeeze in return, I jumped right in.
“I guess the best place to start is the beginning. I got a call from Seraphina, she had a vision and-.”
Vlad stiffened to stone, eyes widening to near comical proportions as he snapped forward out of his relaxed posture. “You know of Seraphina!?”
Okay, so apparently we’d be getting off track after all. Stealing a glance to said seer, I nodded slowly. Seers weren’t exactly common, so it didn’t surprise me that he knew of her, but something about his reaction screamed of something more than a fan wanting to meet her…
Sera flinched at his volume, Elle pawing at her ears irritably as Sera mimicked the motion and growled. “Yeah we’ve known one another for years, now who are you and why are you so surprised? Preferably at a quieter volume this time. I’m one sense down but that others work just fine, thank you very much.”
Vlad swung to stare her way, finally taking her in past the highlighter shade of pink hair. The longer he looked, the wider his eyes got until he was all but on the edge of his seat with dinner plates strapped to his face.
Seeing that he wasn’t going to answer, I reached out to carefully prod him back to the present.
One must gently poke the Exitium mage capable of leveling this entire room…I don’t feel like being covered in fire, ice or acid today.
“Hey, you can have a heart attack later in private, don’t leave us in suspense while you do.” I said, watching him visibly come back to himself as he locked eyes with Seraphina again.
Disbelief glowed in golden orbs as he finally spoke. “My name is Vladimir, the reason I’m surprised is that I never expected to see you again. I searched for years.”
Okay, definitely not sounding like a fan. Furrowing my brow at the turn of events, I shot a confused look to Sera who looked every bit as lost as I was. Leaning forward, I tried to untangle the mess.
“Vlad, I don’t think she knows you, so maybe you have the wrong person?”
At first his face fell, pain crushing the hope that’d been there not a minute before. Then he looked at Sera again, scrutinizing her carefully. After an intense stare off, he shook his head, determination clear.
“No, this is her. I’d recognize that magical signature anywhere. The reason she doesn’t remember me is that she was only a child the last time we met.”
Irritation twisted Sera’s face as she snarled. “Quit talking about me like I’m not here! I don’t remember you and you haven’t shown me anything to prove that you–somehow–know me from when I was a kid. If you keep spouting off bullshit, I’m leaving.”
To punctuate that, she moved to stand, obviously rattled by his odd behavior, but he followed her, a determined frown curling his lips.
“Your parents are Mr. and Mrs. Boltzman, from the time you were young you were raised in Manchester, England and your father had you from an affair with an unknown woman.”
By the sudden paling of Sera’s skin, I guess he got all that right, though how he got that information was beyond me. Ready to jump up and intervene at a moment’s notice, I warned.
“Vlad…I think we need an explanation and you need to sit down.”
Only then did he seem to realize he’d jumped up, one of his arms gripping Seraphina’s. He dropped it as if burned, looking to the side sheepishly before collecting himself again.
“My apologies, but as I stated before I’ve been trying to find you for years. I couldn’t let you leave without at least talking to you first.”
Seraphina was far from calm–understandably–but to her credit she sat back down, eyes narrowing on him as her lips pursed. “Alright, so you know things about me that no one else does. Care to share with the class how you found out? And who were you looking for me to begin with?”
He settled back into the couch and nodded. “The reason I know those things and the reason I was looking for you are one and the same. You’re my sister and I was tasked with protecting you.”
I was sure my jaw was hanging open, but I couldn’t find the will to close it.
Though, now that the two were sitting near one another, I could see the similarities. Their jaws were identical and so were their noses, but what were the odds of this happening? Not high, I knew that much.
Sera shook off her surprise first, immediately settling into inquisitive mode. “Okay, say I buy this and you’re my brother. For one, who put you in charge of watching me and for two, why?”
He rubbed a hand through short black hair, sliding it down to the stubble coating his jaw with a sigh. Staring at the ceiling for a moment, he gathered his words. “Our mother told me to watch over you and ensure you were safe. For reasons she refuses to tell me to this day she birthed you and then left you on their doorstep. I made sure to be around over the first few years, checking every now and then, but when you crested twelve years of age, you disappeared.”
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His mouth twisted as pain painted his face. “ I couldn’t find you anywhere.”
Genuine distress dripped from his tone and Sera patted his arm before I could, hesitating slightly before she explained. “Yeah, trust me that wasn’t by my will. I was twelve when my magic made its appearance and my parents were less than thrilled about my Divinus and Auxilio magic. They threw me out after blinding me for having two ‘useless’ magic types. The next day I started seeing visions and that was when Elle found me.”
She reached up, stroking a hand through the fox’s fur. “I ran away after that, lived on the streets since no one would take in a seer child. Which is why you couldn’t find me.”
I’m sorry, let’s back up to the whole ‘my parents blinded me’ thing. Rage burst through me veins, heating to near painful levels as red coated my vision. Those mother fuckers had better pray I couldn’t hunt them down!
I’d known some of Sera’s past, but not that, not how she lost her sight. Now that I knew though, every ounce of will I had went toward not hunting down those worthless sacks of festering canker sores.
Vlad’s face twisted into one of matching murderous intent and we exchanged a long look, a silent agreement passing. Once the current crisis was over, we were hunting those assholes down.
Shaking the rage to the side with obvious effort, Vlad continued. “Had I known what they’d planned I would have taken you from them long ago…” The anger melted into remorse, but before I could soothe him, Sera beat me to the punch again.
“Don’t. By the sound of things you’ve been looking for me for years. I will want a heritage potion done to back up this whole thing, by the way. Nothing personal, but this is a lot to take in and having proof would make me feel better.”
Vlad nodded easily, rising without pause as he gestured for us to follow. “That is fine, double checking information is smart and I have no problem proving my claims. I have an extensive harden for magical ingredients so this will take just a moment to have the portion ready.”
The second we walked into the greenhouse off the side of his castle, I bit back a moan usually reserved for the bedroom. “Okay that’s it, I officially have envy of your house. It has my dream library and garden.” I’d been here before of course, but I’d never had reason to see anything but his bedroom.
He shot me an amused glance as he strolled to the plant he needed, waltzing through the rows of herbs that made me all but drool at the sight of. Dear Lord, was that Fenewere? Jesus I could have asked him for some this whole time.
“You’re more than welcome to visit, as you know. Stop by anytime.” Vlad said, dragging me back to the present.
Dimitrius stiffened, reminding me that he was probably very uncomfortable with everything going on right now. Squeezing his hand, I responded with an easy smile.
“I’d love to, as long as you don’t mind me bringing my lover.”
I put emphasis on Dimitrius’s title, raising our joined hands pointedly as well. Vlad’s eyes trailed to that, understanding flashing across his face as he nodded. “Ah, so that is why you didn’t greet me as you usually would. I’m happy for, though I must ask…will our previous arrangement be continuing with him as well? He is quite strapping and I have no problem with multiple participants, as you well know.”
His eyes raked down Dimitrius’s form with open appreciation, the look visibly taking Dimitrius off guard and amusing me at the same time. All of his previous wariness about Vlad disappeared as he swung a wide eyed, startled look my way that all but screamed ‘help’.
Biting back a laugh, I shook my head and stepped in. “Nope, I’m way too possessive over him to share. I’d kill whoever tried to set foot in the bed.”
Though the idea was…something. Warmth coiled around my collar at the thought of both of them, before I binned it. Dimitrius was traumatized, he would never go for having someone else in our bed.
Better to get that particular fantasy out now.
Vlad heaved a disappointed sigh as he pulled out a cauldron and mixed the potion, visibly losing the intent stare as he did. “While I’m glad you found your partner, this means I’ll have to find someone to replace you now. How galling.”
I snorted at his grimace, leaning into Dimitrius as I soothed. “You’ll find someone, I know you will. You’re too nice not to. If society was less stupid about you being half-orc you’d already have your life mate.”
Gold eyes softened as a small smile curled his lips, the tusks poking out again as he hummed. “We shall see, though I don’t hold out hope for such a thing. But onto other topics, I take it he is your life mate?” Vlad nodded slightly to Dimitrius who still looked mildly shell shocked.
At my nod, Vlad’s smile stretched into a wide, warm grin, fully baring his tusks. “I’m happy for you, make no mistake. Seething with envy as well, but that goes without saying. Had anyone told me a year ago that the world known ‘Useless Mage’ would find her mate, I would have deemed them unhinged, but this is a good thing.”
He looked back to the potion, muttering in a low voice probably not meaning for me to hear. “If you found one, then maybe it isn’t hopeless for me either.”
Longing dripped from those words, pinching my heart as I offered the only comfort I could. “You will, you treated me well when we were together and I’m sure that’ll extend to whoever you find to share your life with. You just have to find them.”
I put a hand on his shoulder as I said it, his fingers coming up to rest over mine before giving a light squeeze of gratitude. Then he glanced over my shoulder to Dimitrius who’d been stiff and quiet since I’d announced our relationship.
After a beat, Vlad sent a reassuring smile his way. “You have nothing to fear, your lover is loyal to fault. Even if I was the sort to chase a taken woman–which I’m not, to be clear–she would remove my cock for even hinting at it. You have no reason to trust my word that I wouldn’t do such a thing, but you should trust her.”
Dimitrius paused, taking that in before relaxing with a small smile. “I do and you are right. I have nothing to fear of you or any other.” To punctuate that, he moved forward to wrap an arm around my waist, tugging me against his side in the same motion.
Sending him an amused glance, I leaned in and didn’t comment further. After all, I was generally more possessive than he was, so it’d be a bit hypocritical of me to get snitty with him over this. Instead, I turned the conversation back to the potion.
“Alright, let’s see is so we can hear the rest of your story.”
Vladimir nodded, gesturing for Sera to come forward. “I assume you know how these work?” He asked, and at her nod he held out a knife he pulled from inside his coat. “Then let’s begin.” Each of them pricked their finger, letting the blood fall into the potion.
The room held its breath as a blinding glow flashed, shifting between colors, before finally the light faded, the potion settling on a dull red.
Sera nodded, Elle on her shoulder staring down into the cauldron as she tried to come to terms with it. “You were telling the truth, though that doesn’t explain why our mother left me and raised you.”
Hurt tinged her tone, but before I could offer comfort–or attempt to at least–Vlad cut back in. “I apologize, but that was misleading. Our mother didn’t raise me either. She left me, just as she did you. I tracked her down years later, but she had no interest in the spawn she’d made. So we had the same experience in that regard. I don’t have any other information to give on the topic, unfortunately.”
His mouth twisted into a sad smile. “Our mother has refused to speak with me since the day she told me to guard you.”
Sera grimaced. “Great, another parent who doesn’t give a shit about me. Because I needed another one of those.”
I winced at the thinly veiled exhaustion in her tone, but before I could even begin to think on what to say in response to it, Vlad stepped forward, an almost palpable hesitance around him.
“I know that this doesn’t fix or change anything, but you have gained a brother. A half-orc brother who is despised by most of the magical society, but a brother all the same.”
Sera lost some of her pained expression, Elle sweeping a look down Vladimir’s form before she shook her head. “I don’t care if you’re orc or human, you’ve already treated me better than my parents and apparently have been looking for me for years.”
She paused, adding on. “Why exactly were you looking for me?”
He stared incredulously, mouth open the slightest bit. “Why? You’re my sister, of course I searched! Though we aren’t full blooded siblings, that matters none. It is the duty of the elders to watch over and care for those younger than them. I have continued my search since the day you disappeared, though the last place I expected to find you was trailing behind Julian. I’d almost given up hope of you being alive.”
Sera winced to that, shifting awkwardly as she responded. “Well, thanks for trying. Though I don’t need protecting, just to get that out of there. I’m not defenseless, despite what this may lead you to believe.”
She gestured to her eyes and he shrugged. “It has nothing to do with how strong you are or your sight. Even if you beat me combat, I will still protect you to the best of my ability. It’s who I am.”
A tense beat of silence, then Sera sighed. “This is a lot to take in. I’m not saying we’re not siblings, because obviously we are, but can we come back to this after I’ve had time to process?”
Vlad nodded, a sad smile curling his lips as he straightened. “That’s fine, you’re handling the information that you have a half breed brother quite a bit better than I expected, to be honest. I can work with overwhelmed. If nothing else, it’s better than disgust or hate.”
At that, Sera scowled. “You’ve dealt with way too many bigoted assholes, haven’t you?” Before he could answer she continued. “Never mind, don’t answer that. Just give me a bit of time and we can talk more. Besides we came here for a reason and it wasn’t to discover long lost family.”
Vlad visibly pulled his formal mask back in place, turning after a nod of acknowledgement. “Right you are, now then, back to why you came here Kotenok. What favor do you need of me?”
Shaking off the oddity of the past hour, I gave him the brief rundown on the entire situation. By the time I finished, a hard scowl carved into his jaw, something dangerous and lethal sparking behind his eyes as he snarled.
“How dare these people do this, violating those women in such a way, then coming to take the child as if it were their due.”
The room tensed, his magic coming out in a wave of crackling power as he stormed internally. I couldn’t blame him, I was the same way when I thought about it.
“Yeah and we’re working on figuring out what all is going on, but we need information from a woman who was killed less than a day ago. You can pull her spirit up, right?”
Instead of agreeing and making my life ease, Vlad grimaced.
“I know a common misconception with Mortuus magic is that we can talk to spirits whenever we so choose, but it’s incorrect. We can only call a spirit forward if they have unfinished business in this world. The mother’s child died with her so I doubt she had enough willpower to remain here after death. What you need is a ‘Verum Vivifica’, a true resurrection.”
Even hearing that name swept a chill down my spine. “Is there nothing else we can do?” I asked. That spell was a pain to cat and its success rate was abysmal, even for a master of his art like Vlad. Unfortunately, he shook his head.
“No, is the information you need from this woman impossible to get elsewhere?”
I shared a loaded glance with Dimitrius, running a hand through my hair with a nod. “Technically we could but we’d have to wait until another mother actually remembers the person who came to them, and now that whoever is behind this knows we’re on their trail, they might start killing the mothers before we can reach them.”
And for some reason, our enemy had been fixated on Isabelle in particular. I wanted to know why. I doubted there wasn’t a reason and something old me whatever it was, it’d be important to our cause.
Vlad’s scowl deepened, his fingers bridging in front of his mouth. After a long minute of consideration, he nodded, determination oozing off him as he stood. “If innocent children and women’s lives are in danger, then there’s no choice. I will do as I must to prevent further harm from coming to them. Though we’ll need to keep it secret from the council and you know the odds of it succeeding are low.”
Honestly, I was just amazed he was on board for it. Sure I’d come here for his help, but I hadn’t known I needed a true resurrection. That wasn’t something most would even do for a close friend. And yet, here he was, stepping up to the plate despite not knowing any of the people we were trying to save.
Shaking off my surprise, I nodded. “I know, but we have to try. Thank you, this spell can get dicey and I appreciate you helping, despite us not being that close.”
His return smile was gentle, warmth lingering under the surface as he waved my thanks to the side. “We may not have known one another for decades, but I’d like to think that after everything between us, we’re friends and I help my friends. Even were that not the case, I would still lend you aid. Those women don’t deserve this and neither do the children. If I can help, I will.”
He stood then, his hand gesturing for the staff. “I will be leaving with them for an unknown amount of time. Be sure to take care of everything while I’m gone.” After the staff nodded, he turned back to me.
“If you’ll give me fifteen minutes to pack, we can be on our way.”
While I didn’t mind waiting, I wasn’t sure why he needed to pack. “We shouldn’t be gone that long?”
He shook his head, a grim frown tugging his lips. “While the resurrection shouldn’t take long whether it succeeds or fails, I’m going with you. Whoever is behind this has made many suffer for their own selfish reasons and I refuse to stand for it. Children should be free to be children and women shouldn’t fear being taken advantage of in the sanctity of their own mind.”
His lips twisted into a hard line. “This person will pay if I have to drag their soul to hell myself.”
And that was why I liked him so much, his sense of justice was every ounce as steadfast as my own. Returning to his previous comment, I agreed.
“Then it’s set. After you have everything together, we can head out.” To hopefully revive the wronged mother and finally get some damn information. Though how she would react to being alive again, should we succeed, I wasn’t sure.
The spell failed over ninety percent of the time and even those that came back generally couldn’t handle the transition, taking their own lives within a year of coming back.
To my knowledge, there had only been one person successfully raised into a ghoul who still lived, but I’d never met them. It could be a legend, for all I knew, and we were about to put the woman who’d already been through far too much through yet another crucible.
Guilt gnawed hard on my gut at the thought of causing the woman even more pain, but I pushed it down. There was a possible incubus uprising taking place and we needed that information. The woman could hate my guts for the rest of her life if that’s what she so chose, but I had to do this.
For kids like Avery who’d done nothing wrong but exist, each of them reminding me of Dimitrius in small ways, we had to do this.