Ignis (Book 2, Pure Series) (43 page)

           
Unfortunately, now that GM had a car to match her temperament, that also meant that she would be able to drive with her usual eerie speed and finesse.
 
She would be able to hasten us toward a place I was not eager to get to.

           
As we set off, it was hard for me not to dwell on the fact that 'Krov' was the Russian word for blood.

           
Neither one of us ate the breakfast that GM had brought with us, and when we stopped for lunch, I was still in no mood for food.
 
GM insisted, however, that I eat something, and I tried to, even though my stomach remained in knots.

           
All too soon we were back on the road, and I stared out the window, watching the countryside fly by.

           
The longer I watched, the heavier my eyelids grew.
 
Eventually, despite my worries, I fell asleep.

           
I awoke with a start some time later, and I was surprised to see how dark it was.

           
GM glanced over at me.
 
"You slept a long time, Solnyshko.
 
You must have needed the rest."

           
"Where are we?" I asked.

           
"We are almost in Krov.
 
It won't be long now."

           
I sat up in my seat and stared out the window.
 
It was so dark that I could see nothing of the scenery, and the only light seemed to be that which came from our own headlights.

           
As I continued to gaze out into the darkness, straining my eyes for a sign of something familiar I caught sight of a light flickering far out in the night.

           
I blinked, and the flickering disappeared.

           
A moment later, the light flickered again.
 
This time it blazed up brighter than before, and I saw an orange-gold ball of fire light up the dark, before going out as quickly as it had come.

           
There was another blaze after that, and then another and another.

           
Fires continued to spring up and then disappear, illuminating the area immediately surrounding them for a moment.
 
I could see that the fires were flaring up in the midst of a thick wall of trees.
 
The fires went out as I watched.
 
Then they sprang up again.

           
"GM, someone's trying to set that forest on fire," I said in alarm.

           
As I spoke, I could see several more blazes springing up beyond her window.

           
GM glanced to the side and shrugged.
 
"It's just local farmers burning brush.
 
It's nothing to worry about."

           
It was a plausible explanation, but I wasn't entirely convinced she was right.
 
I had to admit, however, that the fires did not appear to be harmful—they continued to flare up, and then go out, and the trees themselves did not appear to be catching on fire.

           
All the same, it was strange.

           
Eventually, we moved beyond the fires, and the lights of Krov came into view.
 
After another few minutes, GM stopped the car in front of our old house—a house with a now-barren apple tree and rosebush.

           
GM and I got out of the car, and I stood looking up at the house in the light from our street's two working streetlamps.
 
I had assumed all along that we would be staying at our old house, and GM had always indicated that that would be the case.
 
But I realized now that there was no reason I should have assumed that.
 
After GM and I had left Russia when I was five years old, ownership of the house had gone to Galina, and she, in turn, had made the house over to Odette when she was old enough.
 
The house actually belonged to my cousin Odette—who had not been seen since the night Timofei Mstislav had died back in October.

           
Now that Odette was gone, I had no idea who owned the house—most people assumed that Odette was dead.

           
Only I knew that Odette had actually disappeared of her own accord.

           
"Let's just take in what we need for tonight," GM said.
 
"We'll get the rest of the luggage in the morning."

           
We walked up to the house, and GM pulled out a set of keys.

           
"Where did you get the keys to the house?" I asked.
 
"Are they from our last trip?"

           
GM seemed to stiffen a bit, but she answered me.
 
"Galina sent them to me back when I first thought of coming here for Christmas.
 
She is looking after the house until Odette returns."

           
GM said the words with such conviction that I felt a rush of sympathy for her.
 
GM believed very firmly that Odette would come back.

           
I wasn't so sure about that—in fact, it would probably be safer for us if she didn't.

           
"Does Galina know we're here now?" I asked.

           
"No, I don't believe so," GM said shortly.

           
I said no more, but I decided to visit Galina in the morning—if I could get some time away from GM.

           
And if I survived the night.

           
I would see Galina first tomorrow, and then I would go looking for the Leshi.
 
Maybe they could tell me more about who was after me and why.
 
And maybe they could tell me about the Werdulac.

           
GM and I went into the house, and GM suggested trying to find some shelf-stable goods in the pantry.
 
But I really wasn't in any mood to eat.
 
Instead, I went up to my old room.

           
I was struck once again—just as I had been back in October—by how little my room had changed since I was five years old.
 
Neither Galina nor Odette had done any redecorating.
 
The rocking horse rug my mother had made still lay on the floor, its bright colors undimmed.
 
The painting of the yellow bird that I had been so fond of still hung on the wall.
 
And my full first name, EKATERINA, still defaced the wall by the door in my own childish scrawl.

           
As I sat on my bed, I expected to be overwhelmed by fear—I was now back in Krov, there was a price on my head, and I fully expected that the house would be attacked tonight.
 
But somehow I felt all my dread slipping away from me.

           
I felt safe in the house.
 
Back in October when I had first come back to the house after many years, I had felt safe then too.
 
And I had thought to myself in amusement that there were no monsters in the house.
 
But I had been wrong—there had been a monster in the house—my cousin Odette.

           
Whether my current sense of security was false or not, it was still a relief.
 
I was not tired at the moment—not after my long sleep in the car—and I resolved to stay up and watch over the house.
 
If someone or something did come for me, I would lead it away from the house and GM.

           
I looked out my window.
 
The yard was empty, and no obvious threat stirred in the dark.
 
I would have to stay alert for any tiny sign of movement out in the night.

           
Despite my best efforts to remain awake, I found myself lapsing into short spells of sleep.
 
I remembered fragments of dreams—happy ones in which I saw my family and myself the way we used to be when I was a child.
 
When I finally shrugged the last of the sleeping spells off, it was dawn.

           
I was very much alive, and the house had apparently gone completely undisturbed all night.
 
I was eager to see GM again, just to be sure.

           
I showered and dressed, and then quickly hurried downstairs.

           
As was her custom, GM was already up and drinking a cup of tea.

           
I shuddered inwardly, remembering how Odette had used tea to poison me, but I knew that all of Odette's tainted tea had been removed from the house.
 
I had disposed of it myself.

           
Even so, when GM offered a cup to me, I found that I had to refuse.

           
"I hope you do not mind, Solnyshko," GM said, as she drank the last of her tea, "but we will have to go out for breakfast.
 
There is, lamentably, very little food in the house.
 
I should have foreseen this, but I did not.
 
I am sorry."

           
"That's no problem, GM.
 
I don't mind going out for breakfast."

           
GM looked down and began to fuss with her empty teacup—an uncharacteristically nervous gesture.

           
"There is something else I need to ask you," she said.

           
"Sure."

           
"After breakfast, do you mind spending some time on your own today?
 
We could meet up again here at the house at say, four o'clock?
 
And then we could go shopping for a Christmas tree, if you would like."

           
I was excited about the prospect of having most of the day free—I could go looking for Galina and the Leshi, and I wouldn't have to come up with any excuses to get away.
 
I tried not to sound too eager.

           
"Sure.
 
That would be great."

           
I was curious about what GM was planning to do, but I didn't want to jeopardize my own freedom by asking her too many questions—that was the quickest way to put her in a bad mood.

           
GM gave me a searching look.
 
"You truly do not mind?"

           
"No, of course not.
 
Like I said before, this is your trip too."

           
GM smiled.
 
"Thank you, Solnyshko.
 
I will make up for my absence later on today.
 
We will have a very good Christmas, I promise you."

           
"It's okay, GM, really."

           
I remembered from our last trip to Krov that there was a small row of shops nearby, and GM drove us over there to a little combined bakery-and-restaurant for breakfast.

           
Our waitress was a girl not much older than myself who seemed to recognize GM.
 
The girl said everyone in Krov recognized the Rosts.

           
GM was greatly pleased at first, but our talkative waitress soon turned the conversation toward the fiery blazes that had begun to appear in the neighboring forests at night.
 
She said that the locals had termed the blazes 'witch-fire' and believed that they were supernatural in origin.

           
The girl herself agreed with local opinion and predicted with a great deal of cheerful gloom that the witch-fire would bring about disaster.

           
GM grew stiff and formal and tried to shut the girl down, but she chattered on undeterred.
 
GM and I had certainly seen some strange fires in the forest on our drive into Krov.
 
I wondered if we had witnessed the witch-fire ourselves.

           
At the end of breakfast, GM drove me back to the house, and then went in with me to give me a copy of the house key so that I could come and go, as I liked.

           
She turned to leave, and then stopped and turned back, giving me a long look.

           
Before we had left for Russia, GM had looked excited, eager—happy.
 
And after we had arrived in Moscow, her excitement had only seemed to grow—I knew that she was delighted to be back in Russia.

           
But as GM looked at me now, I could see signs of strain in her face and a flicker of doubt in her eyes.

           
"I will see you soon, Solnyshko.
 
Enjoy the day,"

           
I thought I heard a tremor in GM's voice, but it was so slight that I might have imagined it.