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"She's a swan wife like all the women of our kind," Irina said and took a shuddering breath. "And she's my granddaughter."
"Fuck." She was as close to aprincessas their people got, and Vladik had put his mouth on her nipple. "Apologies. I didn't mean to swear."
"I've been swearing a lot tonight too. Now, listen closely. I'm going to tell you a story, Vladislav, and when I am finished, I'm going to need you to make a plan to bring my baby home."
Vladik's gargoyle side straightened at the command in Irina's voice. "I'm yours to command, High Priestess."
Forty minutes later, Vladik hung up the phone. He was so fucked. He knew it, and it still wouldn't stop him. It didn't matter that Zori was a lost princess. His beast had tasted her, and now nothing would satisfy him but her.
He needed a plan. He took out the phone he had stolen from her, an idea sparking, and he began to smile.
4
Zori knew the nightmare was coming down on her, and she couldn't escape out of it. The drugs she had to sleep never let her have enough control to fight it; she just had to ride out the horror.
Her mother, Alisa, stood on a balcony, the cold air whipping around her. There were noises from a party inside. Mama had used it as an opportunity to leave her rooms undetected, and Zori had followed. Her mother took off her necklace and put it around Zori's neck.
"Don't worry, baby. This necklace will protect you. Mama's going to be okay because she's got magic wings of white and gold. She can fly but don't tell anyone. I'm going home and will come back for you as soon as I can," Alisa said, her hands gripping Zori's small shoulders. Her eyes were wide with madness, her silver hair lying in a greasy mess. She kissed Zori's head. "Trust in the magic within you, Zoria. We will be together again."
Alisa climbed up on the balcony railing, her thin, dirty nightgown blowing around her. "I'm going to fly far away from here." She turned to look back at Zori. "Mama loves you." Alisa stretched her arms wide and was gone.
Zori screamed herself awake, her blankets tight around her feet. Her cheeks and pillow were soaked with tears. She reached blindly for her phone to check what time it was but found her nightstand empty. That's right, she'd lost it at the club.
"Fuck," she whimpered and sat up. Her bed was soaked from sweat. The nightmare had only felt like a few minutes but must have had her in its grip for longer.
Zori drained the glass of water beside her bed and stumbled to the bathroom. Her nighttime medicine always left her feeling groggy and off beat in the mornings. She stripped off her soaked slip and underwear before climbing into the hot shower. She hugged herself tighter, unable to stop the shaking that was rattling her teeth.
It had been six months since Zori had dreamed of her mother's suicide. She knew it would happen as soon as she stepped back in this cursed building.
She hoped she would dream of Vladik and his strong arms around her. No, her brain didn't want to be that kind to her.
The thickness in her throat told her that tears were about to start again, so she swallowed them down. Usually, she tried not to let her loneliness in. She would throw herself into whatever subject or language she was learning and block it out. She didn't know if it was the dream or having her moment with Vladik interrupted, but now the chasm inside of her opened up, and her chest ached with a sadness that was threatening to choke her.
"Pull yourself together. You're not dead," she told herself.Not yet anyway.
Zori didn't know if leaving Maxim's care would mean her life was shorter but fuller. She could stay in one place, have some friends for once. Maybe have a job.
Who would hire someone with no job experience at your age? You don't even have a driver's license.Maxim's secretary had her passport, but if she was going to leave, she had no idea where any of her IDs was. She only got into clubs because of her tits and winning smile.
Zori took some deep, shaky breaths and focused on trying to get her heart rate down.You're only acting this way because of the nightmare, and you're frustrated. Once you calm down, you'll remember this is the best place for you.
She knew it would happen because it always did. No matter how many times she crept out to party for a night, she always came back willingly. She was so damn tired of the cycle, of being sick and unable to have a normal life.
Zori turned the shower on cold to shock herself out of the pity spiral she was falling into. It got her out of the shower fast. She needed to eat something, and then she would feel better.
Out of the darkness of her bedroom, a gloomy winter sun tried its best to shine. She pressed a button by her door to let the servants know she was up and ready for breakfast.
In the apartment’s small kitchen, she made a coffee and went back to the windows. The statue of the gargoyle on the building across from her looked bigger and more menacing in the daylight.
Zori lifted her coffee to him. "Morning, bud. Looks like we are both going to be watching the world go by without us today." She stifled her laugh. Great. Now she was talking to statuary.
The door to her apartment opened, and a woman in a gray uniform came in with a cart. There was a yellow envelope sitting next to her covered plate.
"What's this?" Zori asked.
"Not sure, miss. It was brought by a courier this morning for you."
Zori waited until the woman had left again before opening the package. It was her phone with a scrap of notepaper inside.
