Compelled (7 page)

I checked again. A cyclops in his underwear and nothing else.

Since I was checking him out, of course, the guy had to scratch his junk and then snort in his sleep.

I about tossed my cookies in my bunk.

I reached into my pocket and found an old receipt from the coffee I’d bought before I got to Raj’s house. I slowly balled it up and threw it at Raj. The piece of paper bounced off his head. He looked over at me, irritated, until he noticed I was pointing downward.

The look on his face switched from perturbed to horrified. Raj took the balled up receipt and threw it at Tyler.

The dwarf didn’t move at all. Raj reached into his pocket and pulled out something I couldn’t make out. But when he dropped it on Tyler’s stomach, that got him moving. He rose to shout at Raj, but stopped cold when he spotted our new roommate.

He mouthed to me, “You know him?”

I shook my head. Raj shrugged his shoulders.

Tyler looked as though he was about to tap the cyclops’s shoulder, but thought better of it and sat down on his bed. We were like that for a while until I dozed off. I wasn’t sure if Raj or Tyler stayed awake the whole time. What I did notice when I woke up was that our poor dwarf friend fell asleep with his axe in his lap.

What was even more peculiar was that by the time we woke up, the cyclops was gone. The only evidence of his presence had been a musky scent and a folded up blanket. We shoved it under the couch.

After such a long trip, we finally reached Moskva Kazanskaia station. I was in Moscow. Just thinking that made me catch my breath. For years, I thought I would’ve made a trip like this with my parents and younger brother. You know, the family vacation where you seek out your roots and learn more about yourself? That kind of thing. What I didn’t expect was for a train ride to remind me of how much I loved to be Russian. Each time the train stopped for about twenty minutes or so, we ended up in someplace new. There were old ladies waiting for passengers with hot, homemade food. The scent from piping hot
pirozkis
and fruit fresh from trees snatched me from the train every single time. This was the trip of a lifetime, but it also reminded me of one thing I still hated about myself: how much I hated to be filthy, to taste filth, to smell filth, and, if it were possible, to hear it, too.

I went nearly forty-eight hours
without
a shower.

The restless wolf in me could shake it off, but the human side picked at me at every opportunity.

In Moscow, no one voted down taking a shower before we got on the final leg of our trip, a ride on the famous Red Arrow Train to St. Petersburg. And after our surprise guest during the ride from Mahachkala, we bought four tickets instead of three to make sure we didn’t have any uninvited guests.

The ride was uneventful, maybe due to the fact that Tyler slept against the door, axe in hand. He had three cups of tea and snored like the best of them.

We had come so far, yet my journey wasn’t even close to completion.

Chapter 7

We made it.

St. Petersburg, a Tsar’s modern city, lay before us. A massive city that beckoned me to spend a real vacation here. We took the
Frunzensko-Primorskaya
subway line from the train station into the northern part of the city. In the distance, I spotted the
Bolshaya
Neva
River. There was a great deal of new growth and construction in the
Primorskiy rayon
, one of the districts in the city, but the touches of old St. Petersburg were still here in the grand, gray stone architecture. In many ways, this place felt like New York City, where you could stand at one corner and see a Japanese sushi bar on one side of the street and a modern Russian grocery store on the other side.

The whole city waited for us, yet my friends were already planning their escape.

“I’m definitely flying back home,” Raj declared. “And I hate to breathe the air in airplanes.”

“I’m flying back, too.” Tyler sighed. “We need to get you some altars in England, Spain, and Greece. That should cast a nice and wide net.”

“If you accomplish that, I’ll take you anywhere you want, friend,” Raj said.

“Where do we go now?” Tyler asked me.

That was the million dollar question. Was I ready to meet my family?

At least, I’d made it to St. Petersburg. Thorn was gonna kill me for this one. Tracking me, though, would be next to impossible. The man was legendary for tracking me down. In the past, I’d gone out on my own to set things right, and he’d spot me in the brush like a leopard wearing a bright orange cap with flashing lights. There was no way he’d find me by scent after going through Raj’s altar.

So I hoped.

“I have family in town who can take care of me until I reach Tamara’s. They live in the apartment block across the way.” I tried to smile at them. “I don’t know why you guys are still following me. Don’t worry. Go to the airport and book a flight home.”

Raj flashed a look to Tyler, one I recognized, since Aggie gave it to me all the damn time.
Yeah, right.

“Okay, how about this compromise?” I offered as we began to walk toward the buildings where my cousin Yuri lived. “We go to my cousin’s apartment, and from there, you can return home.”

Raj frowned. “And how do you plan to reach Tamara’s home from there?”

I grinned. “I’ll figure it out. It shouldn’t be that far if I find a ride or something through family. With some research, I learned Tamara is staying on a farm not far from a town north of here called Vyborg.”

“How far?”
 

Boy, these two were nosy, but they meant well. And I couldn’t deny their friendship.

“A good distance,” I admitted, “but the Lasovskayas take care of their own. Once I make contact with them, I’ll figure out a way to barter with them so they can give me a ride.”

From the corner, we walked a few blocks down a wide three-lane road until we came to a concrete village of stone and brick. Tall apartment buildings extended into the sky, but it was home for many. Little kids circled us, pointing to Tyler and calling him Brad Pitt.

“What are they saying?” Tyler asked.

“They’re asking if you’re Brad Pitt.” I laughed. “Can I say yes?”

“Let’s not.” He shook his head, but I could tell he appreciated the attention.

We had yet to see a dwarf around here and I doubt we would. This area wasn’t popular with the dwarves with such a high werewolf population. We tended to be territorial, and fighting between werewolves and dwarves were rare but happened once in a while. My uncle Boris always used to say, “Them dwarves couldn’t dig their way out of a losing card game. If you can’t scratch my hide while you’re busy digging for gold, you’re not worth much to me while hunting for women.”

Go get ‘em, Uncle Boris. Their women aren’t exactly hunting for you either, pal.

The signs for the building weren’t familiar. They used strange signs and you had to walk around the buildings until you found the right one. No rhyme or reason existed. Or even a complex map. Good ‘ole apartment living.

The apartment where my cousin Yuri used to live wasn’t too bad on the inside. Yuri didn’t live here anymore, by the way. It was a long story but, basically, my cousin managed to weasel his way into hooking up with a succubus from my therapy group. Weird as hell, but you find love in the most unexpected places.

The rickety elevator took us up twelve floors before we reached a hallway leading to my cousin’s apartment at the far end. The whole place stunk of werewolves. Not that my people smelled or anything, but when we lived in clusters close together like this, something happened that’s rather hard to describe to humans. Have you ever smelled a house with a large dog population? Yeah, that smell where underneath all the cleaning chemicals and fine perfumes, lingered the scent of animal. In this case, enough werewolves had marked their territory here to create a billboard a mile high. Not that anyone took a real piss, but it was close enough.

It was overwhelming enough to kick me in the knees and tug me down a peg or two. This territory wasn’t my own. A door opened as we walked down and an older woman peered out. Once she spotted me, she averted her eyes and closed the door again. As we passed more doors, more curious eyes took me in. I was an alpha female with an unfamiliar scent. Before we reached my family’s door, another door opened, and the man who opened it stepped into the hallway, blocking our path.

“Who the hell are you?” he snapped in Russian. “Did Albert send you?”

“Who is Albert?” My words didn’t have the kind of bite I’d like, but it was good enough to keep my back straight.

“You don’t smell local.” His gaze rolled from my forehead, lingered on my breasts and then stopped at my knees. “You’re mated.”

He crossed his arms and continued to block our path.

“What’s going on, Nat?” Raj asked. He understood everything the guy said, like I had, but both of us were confused.

“He thinks we’re here from a rival pack.” I glanced at the man. “I’m here to see the Lasovskayas down the hall.”

The man snorted. “Oh, those deadbeats.”

“Eh-excuse me?” I might’ve been a hoarding loser back home, but one thing you didn’t do was say bad things about my family.

“They never pay their rent on time and their rank has fallen for the past couple of years. I suggest you visit, but don’t stay long if you know what I mean.”

Channeling Aggie at that very moment came unexpectedly. “Look, I don’t know when you caught that asshole disease that’s been going around, but no matter how much your shit stinks less than everybody else’s, you don’t bad mouth my family. Got it?” The growl in the back of my throat came out of nowhere, too.

The man’s jaw twitched. He shuffled a bit forward and my heartbeat quickened. There were certain things you just didn’t do to werewolves. Had my bold attitude gotten me into trouble?

“Natalya? Is that you?” The door at the end of the hall opened and a full-figured, dark-headed woman peered out. The voice was familiar from long-distance phone conversations. “What are you doing here?” she asked in Russian.

“Cousin Inna. It’s me.” All the while, I kept my gaze locked on the werewolf with a bad attitude. Our staring match continued until my cousin stormed down the hall and smacked the guy on the back of the head.

“You buffoon,” she snapped in Russian. She added a bunch of other words, far too crass for even my vocabulary. “This is my kin from overseas and you greet her like a nipping puppy that can’t piss on a tree right.”

Tyler cringed as my cousin slapped the man in the head again.

“Move!” She used her wide hips to shove him out of the way.

He complied and sulked away as if this had happened before. If there was a pack hierarchy on this floor, it was a weird one.

She herded us to the apartment and we ambled inside. I smiled as I took in her neat, narrow hallway leading to her living room. My second cousin had an eye for cleanliness that I appreciated. That smile died when I saw who sat in the living room.

“Hey, Lilith,” Raj said. “What are you doing here?”

A familiar couple sat on the couch. There was Yuri and the woman sitting on his left smiled brightly, her garish red lipstick-covered lips parting to reveal teeth smeared with makeup. She crossed her bony legs, causing her kneecaps to poke out of her floral shift. You couldn’t miss the unfortunate succubus from my therapy group.

Lilith’s stomach extended as far as Yuri’s beer belly. Why yes, she was knocked up. Yuri rubbed a balding spot on his head. The four brown hairs stubbornly pointed right.

“This my daughter-in-law,” Inna exclaimed with pride in broken English.

“I see…,” Raj murmured.

Lilith had a history of being the worst soul-sucking succubus I’d ever seen. And I’d seen some pretty broken-down supernaturals in the Northeast. I was surprised Lilith wasn’t starving to death. Let me put it that way.

“Have seat, please. This visit unexpected, but wonderful nonetheless. I love to practice English with my daughter-in-law.” Inna was all grins. The only free spot was a loveseat and the floor. The living room was cozy, but not that spacious.

Raj eyed the room and briefly adjusted the gloves on his hands. He glanced at the tattered rug on the floor, probably seeing and thinking what I thought when I first came in:
When was the last time they washed that thing? Had they ever?
Tyler tapped Raj’s shoulder. “I’ll grab a spot on the floor. You and Nat sit on the other couch.”

Once we sat, I spoke first since everyone looked at me. “Thanks for inviting us inside,” I said in Russian. “My friends were kind enough to help me travel here to visit family.”

“Is something wrong with my aunt?” Inna interjected.

“Oh, no.” I searched for the words to keep my business my own. The last thing I needed was a phone call to America.

“I’m here for personal reasons. A surprise for Grandma and the others,” I quickly added.

“Oh, how fun!” she leaned forward and laughed.

I hid my relief and tried to keep my heart and breathing in check. My little speech worked all the time for my family back home. Surprises got most people to keep quiet. There were a few holdouts―Aunt Vera being one of them—but since she was in New Jersey, my journey here should work out.

A strange silence settled over everyone. The only noise came from a variety show on TV.

Raj’s gaze slowly darted to Yuri, who was in the midst of picking his nose.

“Stop that!” Lilith slapped his hand.
Oh, God! She touched the hand he picked with.
“Go wash your nasty paws.”

Inna glanced to each of us as if to change the mood, while Yuri went to the adjoining kitchen to clean up. “Can I get you drink, food?” she asked in English.

“No, thank you,” Raj said with a smile. I translated that to
hell, no
.

“I’m good. Thanks.” Tyler offered his brightest grin.

“I’ve been full for hours,” I added in Russian.

An audible stomach growl came from the spot where Tyler sat.

Inna blinked and a wave of embarrassment came over me. I should’ve made sure Tyler got something to eat before we came. He didn’t complain much about basic needs. Maybe it was a modeling thing.