One more chapter of Viktoria and Jael's story after this!
I am debating putting up a sort of bonus chapter for Ember. A few people mentioned they didn't think Stryx had grown or repented enough, so the bonus chapter would be him doing that. For those of you paying close attention to detail and my crazy world-building there are also a few hints in that chapter for things ahead in the series. I won't have what's already posted taken down, so it wouldn't fit exactly since I've revised the story. It would be a Chapter 5.5 - after Stryx shows up to the gallery show and before the Gifted chapter. If you are interested let me know.
Caedmon and Sophie hasn't proved to be very popular/liked so the next story I'll work on posting here will be Book 3 - the strygoi and her vampire in that story will be revealed in the final chapter of Viktoria.
Thank you to everyone who has read my work so far!
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Viktoria's sense of utter contentment slipped away when Lurky did. Even confused and in desperate need of feeding, Lurky and his erotic venom had awakened places and nerves she didn't know she had, every one of them a new pleasure center.
Parts of her were still tingling.
And her magic—Viktoria had always known about her magic. She and her sisters were each born with one particular type of power, and to make things easy, their Mother had named them for it. She didn't like the name Shadow much, but she was glad her she hadn't been named Gout, Scab, or Rickets like some of her brothers born as plagues.
Shadows were a large part of her and she worried when the silver strygoi magic came, afraid hers would be diluted or made lesser. But that hadn't happened. As she opened part of her shadow magic to the strygoi magic to test the connection it wanted, the two twined around one another until they were blended—not diluted, but made into something stronger. Opening herself fully and bonding with Jael had not only given her him, it gave her a stronger her.
She'd seen her new black hair and silver glow right before Jael... left. There was no other way to explain it. Distracted by the changes to her magic, and to her person, she hadn't been able to stop him. He'd felt as happy and sated as she was one moment, and called her Draga. Not quite in the tone Stryx had used with Ember—but Viktoria didn't need the lust Stryx and Ember shared. She'd been subjected to that many times.
When Jael called her Draga, it sounded like love.
Then she'd felt regret from him, and he'd just... left. She didn't know much about being a Draga or this bond yet, but trying to follow it to him hadn't worked. He slipped deeper when she neared him. She called to him, but he didn't come. Maybe he didn't love her after all. But they were bonded now. Had she made a mistake? Had he? Did he not want her because she was strygoi and not just a Draga? She needed to talk to Selene and Ember.
Sighing, Viktoria unwrapped Lurky's arms from around herself, and rose from the bed. He didn't stir. She picked up what was left of her clothes from the floor. Nobody would be wearing those anymore. Letting them fall, she dressed in a new set of leggings and tank top, a garish green this time. Her sisters had terrible taste in clothing and colors. Calling her strygoi side, she examined herself in the mirror. Glowing silver was much better. Would she keep her new magic if there was such a thing as Draga-divorce and Lurky wanted one?
Memory tapped on the door and came in. "Shadow! You're all marvelously whatever, like Ember!" She picked up some of Viktoria's hair to examine its new black color. 'Can you change back or are you always going to be like this now? Oh! Has Mother seen you like this?"
"I can go back and forth." Viktoria spun around and held out her arm. Shadowy tendrils coiled around her body, up to her shoulder and down to her hand. "Look!"
"You don't need light to make shadows anymore?"
"Nope, they come from my strygoi magic now, at least the ones on my body do. I can still pull bigger ones from around me if I need to."
"Has your vampire been awake yet?"
"For a few moments. He called me Draga, but I'm not sure he'll remember what happened. He seemed lucid, but after we bonded he was confused about what was real and passed out again." Viktoria pressed her hand to Lurky's forehead and cheek. "He's burning up. He never felt hot before."
"I think the worst is over. I took you out of all his bad memories, and now that he's fed Mother says his vampire blood will chase out the last of the toxins."
"That might be part of it, but now that we're bonded I feel what he does. He was happy at first, but he was in so much pain before he passed out. I don't think he wants to come back, and I can't reach him. What if what the mage did is permanent?"
"You should take him to see Auntie Kipu-Tyttö," Memory poked Jael. "I didn't take his memories because you said he would want them. But he could lose the pain that goes with them and still be who he is, right? You don't even have to call Surma. He's already here."
"He is?"
"Yes, I was coming to tell you—you're going to have to take the spiders back to your house. Grandmother took some venom from them, I think she's making a new kind of beer, but one of them bit grandfather and he sicced Surma on them. Dream brought them back from Tuonela to save them, but Surma came anyway. And it's too cold. The poor things are shivering and our sisters keep trying to put clothes on them.
"The spiders don't seem to mind the hats and scarves, but they can't walk in socks and keep slipping and sliding all over the place. Because you know, Pohjola is all ice. When I left, Dream, Weaver, and Rainbow were talking about trying to make them some boots or putting tape on their feet." She lowered her voice. "The whole thing seems to be making Mother crazy, so that's a bonus, but I'm afraid she's going to grind them up and use them in a spell if we push her too far. I didn't think I would like them, but they're kind of fuzzy and cute. It's not safe here for them."
In spite of her worry for Lurky, Viktoria couldn't help the snort that escaped her as she imagined spiders dressed in winter wear. In her thousand year self-imposed exile to the human world she'd forgotten how easy it was to let silly things seem all-important. There was nothing that could harm them in Pohjola, Louhi eliminated all threats. Even when they were kidnapped, it was only a matter of time before their Mother fixed everything and they were home again. Living sheltered in Pohjola brought out the joy of being innocent and naive in all Louhi's daughters, where the most dire decisions they faced were what color to make the socks to put on some shivering spiders and whether they should have boots. She clapped a hand to her mouth, but the snort was followed by a titter, then a giggle, and before long she couldn't stop the laughter from taking over. Tears slid down her face and she wrapped her arms around her middle as she doubled over and laughed.
Memory leaned out of the room and whistled for Surma. He, having apparently decided to get along with rather than kill the spiders, bounded into the room festooned in socks on three of his four paws, plus a hat, and a scarf of his own. He carried the four spiders with him—one on his massive head, one hanging from his snake tail, one on his back, and one perched on his chest.
Viktoria laughed until she wheezed and Memory smacked her on the back. "He's not going to be very effective at scaring people away from Tuonela dressed like that. Grandfather is going to have a fit!"
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Convincing the spiders to climb into her bed where it was warm had not been difficult. Convincing a dog the size of a horse, who was supposed to guard the gates of the underworld, to give up his new accessories had been more complicated. In the end, they'd let him keep them, and he hadn't fussed too much about carrying Jael on his back to Tuonela.
Viktoria heaved a sigh of relief as she coaxed Surma onto the ferry. Crossing a desert for a week, even with built-in shadows took a toll. She was in desperate need of a shower and a change of clothes. Bringing Jael with her meant she couldn't use a portal for the trip. He didn't have permission to come and go as family.
Fortunately, the hard part was over. It wouldn't be hard to get her Aunt to take away Lurky's pain. The more pain the Pain-Girl had, the less pain she felt.
"Who is this?" Kipu-Tyttö asked as they disembarked the ferry and approached her home. She touched Jael's forehead. "This one is full of pain. He can supply us for years."
"This is my Lurky. I love him, Aunt Kipu-Tyttö. Will you ease his suffering?"
"Of course my dear." Her aunt winked at her. "I haven't seen so much ruckus as those drunken spiders of yours have caused in decades. Take him up Kipumäki, and face him towards the three rivers." Kipu-Tyttö waved at the hill. "Lay him on the cup-shaped rocks. The stones don't cry for pain."
Surma padded alongside Viktoria as they climbed the high hill, and lay down so she could wrestle Lurky's body into place on the rocks. She put down a basket containing some bread, cheese, and water, and sat next to him, his hand in hers. She regretted not being able to make him more comfortable, but he had to be touching the rocks for them to take his pain, so she couldn't cushion him.
"What name do you call me?" Lurky's voice was hoarse when he roused a few hours later. His eyes were wary, but clear of the confusion she'd seen in them when he'd awakened before.
