Nadya/nadia

Nadia was uncertain what Elijah wanted from her as he sat watching her closely, clearly waiting for her to do or say something after his revelations. He'd answered her questions, and she'd already suspected his mother was dead, but she'd wanted a simple answer from the flippant Elijah she'd come to expect, not a soul-baring explanation that made her feel...what? She didn't know. Pity, perhaps. Empathy. And maybe on some level even an understanding of why he had done what he had to her. She didn't know what to do with these feelings and emotions.

She had to actively concentrate on keeping her aura away from him. Ever since she and Nadya had discovered how to see their auras she constantly saw tendrils trying to get to Elijah and had to reel them back in. Her magic might adore Elijah, but he'd given her no reason to.

She had to admit she didn't hate him now, though — and that made her angry. She wasn't ready to not hate him. Hate she understood, and anger could be stoked into rage. There, that was what she needed. She focused on her anger. She would need it to get out of this place. How dare he speak to her like she was some sort of confidant or friend? Regardless of his motivations, they were not friends and she was still a prisoner here because of the choices he had made and taken from her. She would not let herself forget that.

She decided not to give him any reaction and dismissed him by looking away from his questioning and hopeful green gaze to run her eyes over everything on the floor to ceiling, wall to wall bookcase shelves. She wanted to read everything, touch everything, understand what everything did. Part of her knew she should already know how everything worked and what everything did, but that knowledge was locked away from her.

In her peripheral vision she saw Elijah rise and approach, extending a hand to her. Her body stiffened and she stepped back from him until her back hit the bookcase. He froze then slowly dropped his hand and took a breath as if he was getting ready to say something. Before he could speak she very deliberately turned her back to him. His intake of breath was expelled in a sigh as he turned and left the room without saying anything.

She felt a twinge of something — was it guilt? She couldn't remember ever feeling this before, and she did not like it. He'd taken away all her choices, and in return she'd taken his dream. Did that make them even? She didn't know. It was clear he was trying to change things between them, but he wanted things from her she wasn't prepared to give him. Sex was one thing, she'd fuck him all day if she could be sure he wouldn't leave her weak and drained when it was over, but there was no point in feeling anything more for him. She would forget him when she left, so he kept saying, and he had repeatedly said he wouldn't stop her leaving when she could, but was it a trick? Did he want something more from her because he really wasn't going to let her go after all? He'd also said he'd never lied to her, but how could she know if that was true? Maybe he was lying. An incubus was a kind of demon after all, and didn't demons lie? Was it all an elaborate hoax to trick her into feeling comfortable around him?

It didn't matter, she decided. If he was telling the truth or lying to her, if he was actually going to let her leave when she could or try to stop her, whether he wanted something from her or really wanted to help her, none of it mattered. She needed to leave, and if he tried to stop her when she was able to go she would destroy a lot more than a bedroom.

Nadia ran her eyes over the books, scrolls, several mirrors, ornate boxes of varying sizes, some creepy dolls, candles, chalk, salt and other substances she couldn't identify, a stack of paper held down by small pots of different colored inks and an actual feather quill to write with, and there was even an actual cauldron. She picked up and examined a few of the boxes. Some of them were sealed or locked, but others opened readily at her touch. She found flower petals, leaves, ribbons, vials of powders and liquids, and jewelry. A ring with a silver band and a dark green stone fell to the floor when she opened one box.

She set the empty box on the desk and stooped to pick up the ring. As she moved to put the ring back into its box it heated up, causing her to yelp and jerk her hand back. The ring went back to room temperature. Wondering if she had imagined it, she slowly extended her hand towards the box again, and sure enough, the closer her hand got to the box the hotter the ring got.

She peered closely at the ring. The silver band looked to be comprised of delicately carved branches that twined around themselves and wrapped around the green stone, holding it in place. She blinked, and for a second the branches looked more like long twisted fingers that ended in sharp claws, but when she blinked again she saw only branches.

There were no markings on the band or the stone, not that she would know what they meant if there were, but it didn't appear to be overtly magical. She laughed. She couldn't get access to her own magic, why did she think she would be able to tell if something else was magical? It would be wise to be more cautious, though. There was no telling how powerful any of these things were, or what they did regardless of how innocuous they might look.

Not wanting to be burned again, but thinking it better to put the ring down, at least until she understood more about it, she gently lobbed it at the box it had come out of. The ring swerved at the last moment, missing the box completely and bouncing off the desk straight back at her face. Without thinking she held up a hand to catch the ring and avoid being hit. The ring was warm against her palm this time, and gradually getting warmer. She understood it for the warning it was.

"Okay, you win. You didn't accidentally fall out of that box, did you? You jumped," she said, feeling like an idiot at first as she spoke to the ring, but less so as the ring cooled rapidly at her words. "You don't want to be caged anymore, either. I can understand that. You want to get out of this place, too?" Her gaze went to the door of the room. She didn't know why she expected a ring to answer her, but what she did know when she looked at the door, was that when Elijah had left the room this time he hadn't shut it behind him.

Forgetting everything on the shelves Nadia vaulted over the desk in her rush to get to the door. She stopped just short of touching the knob, half expecting it to be some sort of trick. Steeling herself for disappointment she reached for the knob and yanked the door towards her. There was only an empty hallway; no amorous incubus lay in wait to pounce on her. As she crossed the threshold she realized she was still naked. Is that what the trick really was? Keep her naked so she couldn't go anywhere? Well, that might stop the shy Weak One, but it would not stop her.

She had no idea where she was going or what the layout of the house was since Elijah had always moved them before, so she picked left at random and went down the hall to a door at the end. It was not closed, either, and she pushed the door open to find herself in the bedroom she had destroyed the night before. The books had been collected and stacked in neat piles, and the broken glass had been swept up. The curtains leading to the little alcove she'd found were pulled back, and she went to look out the window, hoping daylight would give her a better idea of where she was and what was around her.

The lake took up most of the view, but a mountain she hadn't seen in the near dark loomed large behind it. The wind was blowing hard, stirring up loose snow on the ground and swaying tree branches. A shiver ran through her and she realized the nearer she got to the windows the colder it was, like they were open. The glass hadn't been replaced yet, but something was there keeping the wind out, if not the cold. She put out a hand and touched some sort of invisible barrier.

"NADYA!"

a woman's voice yelled in her head.

Nadia hissed in pain and clapped her hands over her ears as if somehow that would help mute the volume of the woman shouting in her head. The stone of the ring pulsed hotly against her ear, protesting its treatment. "Sorry," she apologized to the ring as she pulled her hand away from her head.

She looked around to make sure she was still alone. When she saw she was, she called out a tentative, "Hello?"

No one answered.

"How do you know my name? Please, whoever you are, come back and talk to me."

She reached out for the invisible barrier again, placing her palm flat against it. "Hello?"

"Nadya!"

the woman said at a much quieter volume. She said more, but the words were broken up, like they were coming from far away and with a weak signal.

"Glad...finally found...trying...days...where...all right? "

Deciding this was not the time to try and explain she was Nadia, not Nadya, she demanded,"Who are you?" It was confusing enough having two witches in one body, the last thing they needed was someone else yelling at them in their head. She let out a slightly hysterical giggle at the thought that maybe this voice could be another one of them, and maybe they could spell her name Nadea.

"Ember,"

the woman replied.

"Met...taxi...home...remember?"

Nadia scanned Nadya's memories until she found the right one. A vampire dragging Nadya into a dark room and dismissing her when she wasn't Nadia. Nadya running out of the club and falling into a taxi, practically into a red headed woman's lap. The taxi driver snapping at her, the red headed woman's eyes changing to silver and her hair changing to black when she snapped at the taxi driver. "You're like me," she whispered. "We're the same."

"Yes...same"

Ember agreed.

"Where..."

"You're breaking up," Nadia said, wanting to scream in frustration. "I can't hear what you're saying. Can you hear me?"

"Hear...difficult...warded...boundaries?"

"Boundaries?"

"Have...go..."

"No, please don't go," Nadia pleaded.

"Have...yell...sorry..."

"What?"

"GO...OUTSIDE...WARDED...BOUNDARIES..."

Ember's voice boomed in her head.

Nadia resisted the urge to clap her hands over her ears again, pressing her palm harder against the barrier to make sure she didn't lose contact. Warded. She knew what that meant. Elijah's house was warded, that meant it was hidden and protected. But in this place where her rage had destroyed part of the house it seemed the warding had been damaged, too, just enough for Ember to get spotty messages through to her.

"Loud...all right...hurt?"

"I'm not hurt. I'm okay."

"Outside...we...find..."

"If I get outside you can find me?"

"Yes...outside...boundaries..."

"I'll do it. I'll find a way," Nadia swore. She pushed as hard as she could against the barrier, but there was no give. "How can I contact you when I'm outside?"

"We...waiting...you..."

"I have to go and look for the way out," Nadia said. "I'll try to come back here and tell you when I'm going to escape. I have to go before he knows I'm talking to you."

"He...mage...danger?"

If Ember knew about mages too, she could tell her how to avoid them. Maybe Elijah had been telling her the truth, but that was not enough of a reason to stay. Ember had answers, Elijah did not. "No, he's not a mage. I'm trapped right now, but he's not dangerous. He says he's keeping me safe, but I don't want to stay here. I want to leave."

"Okay...wait...you..."

Nadia pulled her hand from the barrier and rushed back across the room. She considered grabbing some clothes from the closet, but she didn't want Elijah to know she'd been in here, so she remained naked. She left the bedroom and went back into the room Elijah kept his mother's things in. When she'd first seen the books and scrolls she had wanted to read them with the slim hopes that she could find out what she was, but now she had a different purpose. Ember was the same as her, she could explain what kind of witch she was. All she needed to concentrate on was finding out everything she could about warding and boundaries.

She pulled every book and scroll from the shelves, piled them all on the desk, sat down in the chair and began to read as fast as she could.

*****

Elijah was at a loss as to what to do for Nadia. He was no good at reading people and their emotions unless he was touching the other person. A touch let him know not only what the other person was feeling. A taste told him what they needed, if they knew. When he had tried to get close to her and she had stepped away from him, physically backed away until she couldn't back away anymore, it had stung, especially since he'd just been more open and honest with her than he'd ever been with anyone else in his life. He hadn't known he'd expected, no, needed, her to respond to him somehow, and he'd been gutted when she'd turned away.

He was trying to show her he could be better than he had been, but clearly he was failing. She'd already seen too much of the demon in him, what if she could never see the human side of him? He'd left her alone to give her the space she seemed to want, but it was driving him crazy. Something in him wanted to be near her, and he was miserable with her out of his sight. If he was this gloomy with her just in another room how was he going to feel when she left and forgot about him? He was forced to acknowledge, once again, that he never should have brought her here, but he also knew he would do the same thing.

He had never felt possessive over a woman before, but he'd wanted to make her, both of her, his the moment he'd laid his hands on them. He knew he could never have any kind of typical relationship with a woman. How could he? All he could ever have were stolen moments with a woman while he drained her magic away, and the knowledge that he was saving her from a far worse fate. It had always been enough, until now.

He'd left her alone for almost an hour. That was long enough, right? Long enough for what he didn't know, but he decided it was, and just the decision to go and see her again eased something in him.

"I brought you some clothes," he said as he entered the room.

He'd startled her and she fumbled with something in her hand. A ring. Instead of falling to the floor it slid to the base of her right middle finger and tightened around it.

She looked at the clothes Elijah held up. Now that she knew she wasn't alone, that there was another witch like her out there, her determination to leave had multiplied exponentially. She did not want this new Elijah with his grand gestures of honesty and kindness making things difficult or confusing her feelings. "Those are the clothes that Mordecai made Nadya wear," she snapped. "I'd rather be naked."

Her words slammed into Elijah harder than any fist could have, but even in the face of her scorn he felt better than he had when he'd been leaving her alone. He stared at the ring on her finger and tried again. "Where did you find that? I thought it was lost."

"It was in that box." Nadia gestured at the box with the hand the ring wasn't on. "It fell out when I opened it. I tried to put it back but it burned me." She tugged harder at the ring, but it constricted tighter around her finger and refused to budge. "And now it's stuck."

Elijah crossed the room and picked up the box, inordinately pleased when she didn't recoil or flinch away from him. "I've never been able to open this one." He'd placed the ring in it after his mother died, and it had locked itself away until now. He hadn't even seen the box in ages. "I guess it likes you. You should keep the ring."

"It was your mother's," Nadia protested. "I can't keep it." She tugged harder and yelped as the ring burned her again.

Elijah chuckled. "I don't think it's up to you at the moment."

"Aside from burning me if it's not happy, what does it do?"

"My mother bartered for it from a Djinn. She said it could be used to transport something from one place to another."

"A Djinn? You didn't say anything about Djinns when you were talking about the monsters."

"Djinn aren't monsters. They're also known as genies. They are very rare, so you're not likely to meet one. They won't come looking for you."

"How does the ring work?"

"I don't know. My mother told me what it could do, but she also said I'd never be able to use it."

"Why not?"

Elijah shrugged. "Not all magic works for everyone."

"So you don't know how I can take it off?" She gasped as the ring burned her again.

"Maybe you need to use a magic word."

Nadia glared at Elijah's smirk. "Please get off my finger."

The ring sparkled, but didn't budge. Nadia had the feeling the ring was mocking her.

"For all that please is

the

magic word, it's not actually

a

magic word," Elijah chuckled. "Try 'Xar'ov.'"

"That's a real magic word? You're not making it up?"

Elijah shook his head and met her gaze. "It's the most powerful magic word I know."

"What does it mean?"

"It's used as a command to force obedience."

Sighing, and feeling slightly ridiculous, Nadia turned her attention back to the ring and said, "Xar'ov." She said it so hesitantly it sounded like a question.

The green stone flared briefly and went out.

"Try saying it like you mean it."

Thinking he was just making fun of her now, Nadia glared at him.

Elijah held his hands up. "Magic isn't the same for everyone and everything. It's not just a matter of knowing the right word to say; how you say it can be just as, if not more important, to what you want to do. It might respond better to a firm directive, or it may prefer a whispered word from you. You just have to try and see what works."

Based on the ring's reactions to her attempts to put it back in its box she decided to take the softer approach first. She held the ring to her lips and whispered, "Xar'ov."

The green stone glowed dimly, but the ring didn't come off.

"Xar'ov!" Nadia commanded.

The green stone flashed brightly and Nadia had to close her eyes. When she opened them the ring was sitting on the desk next to her hand. She eyed it warily, half expecting it to jump at her again, but the ring lay placidly on the desk.

"Have you found anything?" Elijah asked, absently rubbing his chest over his heart.

Nadia shook her head. "Nothing about silver-eyed witches."

"I'll help you look," Elijah said, reaching for some of the books.

"No!" Nadia yelled.

Elijah jerked his hands back, confused. She acted as though she hated him, yet her aura was always reaching for him. He desperately wanted to touch her to see what she was feeling."I know you don't believe me but I have never lied to you. I really do want to help you figure things out."

"It's a little hard to believe the man that took away all of my choices, and tried to compel me into being his pet, would want to help me," Nadia said.

"I know I did things the wrong way with you, but —"

She held up a hand to interrupt him. "The fact that you say you had my safety in mind and best interests at heart doesn't matter. Maybe you did. It doesn't even matter that I might have made the same choices for myself, if I knew then what I know now. It only matters that you, someone I don't know, took it on himself to not only limit my options, but tried to take them away completely without bothering to tell me anything. How would you feel if someone did that to you?"

"Someone did do that to me," he responded quietly. "Before I was even born."

Nadia blinked. The mages had done that to him.

"I only know how to do what I do one way," Elijah went on. "I've only ever needed to do what I do one way before. But I'm willing to try to do things differently with you if you let me. You have a block on your magic. I still think I can dissolve it. We don't know what kind of witch you are. I want to help you find out. I want to help you with whatever you need."