Dangerously Charming (23 page)

Great gods on high.
What was it about women that always made them want to talk about things? His brothers had never wanted to talk about things. Even the Baba Yagas weren't prone to insist on picking everything apart, being much more likely to charge into action and blow things up. No wonder he'd always avoided spending more than a few days with the same woman. It always ended up with TALKING.

“Jenna, we're in the middle of a quest,” he said in what he hoped was a patient voice. He dismounted, too, and Krasivaya swung her great equine head from one to the other, rolled her brown eyes, and started cropping at the grass near her metal-shod feet.

“Yes, we are,” Jenna said, chin raised. “
My
quest, if I'm not mistaken.”

“Of course it is your quest,” Day said. “But can't this conversation wait until we've actually completed it? That might make a little more sense, don't you think?”

The chin went up a little higher. “What I think, Mick, is that you are so afraid that someone else will get hurt on your watch that you aren't going to allow anyone close to you to take a risk again. Or worse yet, that you won't let anyone ever get close to you at all. Which is why every time we start getting intimate, you push me away.”

Day shook his head. “I'm not pushing you away, Jenna. You're afraid of me—of this thing I'm becoming, and whether or not I can control it—and I can't stand to see that fear in your eyes.”

She took a step closer, standing right next to him until she was so near he could feel the heat coming off of her body and smell the scent that was so distinctly Jenna. As always, his body responded with longing, despite the circumstances. Her
icy blue eyes stared directly into his. “Do you see fear now, Mick? I don't think so. I told you before, I stopped being afraid of you long ago. You're the one who is afraid, not me.”

He fought not to look away, not to step back—hell, not to turn and run as far and as fast as he could from this woman, whose gaze held only affection, frustration, and defiance. She was right, of course, although he didn't want to admit it. The great Mikhail Day, once hailed as one of the heroes of the Otherworld, was afraid.

Not of action or fighting. Not of getting hurt or even dying, although these days such a fate was much more likely than it used to be. He would face such things as gleefully as ever, running toward the danger and not away.

But to watch those he loved and valued put themselves in harm's way, knowing that he might not be able to save them? Jenna was right; the terror that induced was almost enough to freeze him in his tracks and make him wish never to take another step again, lest it be the wrong one and invite disaster.

“You can't live your life like this,” Jenna said more softly. “Being connected to others always carries the risk of grief and loss. Believe me, no one knows that more than I do. But what kind of existence will you have if you shut everyone else out?”

One without the kind of horror that comes from watching those you loved beyond measure being tortured beyond endurance—all because of you?

“I can't live through that again,” Day said. “Not for you. Not for anyone.”

Jenna lifted one hand and touched his cheek gently. The gesture almost broke him on the spot.

“I doubt that anyone could,” she said. “What happened to you was terrible. But Brenna is gone. You and your brothers survived. Bella survived. You won. But if you allow what you experienced to deprive you of a full and rewarding life, then Brenna wins after all. That's not what you want, is it?”

He shook his head, long blond hair falling into his eyes
and mercifully blocking the compassion in Jenna's gaze. “It's not. Of course it's not. But I don't know what I do want. That's part of the problem.”

“I don't agree. I think you know exactly what you want, but you're afraid to allow yourself to try for it.” The hand dropped and Jenna took one step backward, taking all her heat and warmth with her.

Day lifted his head, pushing his hair back out of the way. “What are you saying?”

“I'm saying that you already found what you want,” Jenna said. Her expression was firm, but her voice trembled slightly, revealing how much this conversation was costing her. “And so have I. But while I'm no longer afraid of the beast, I'm not sure I can trust the man. What are you going to do when this is all over, Mick? When we've finished this quest and come through to the other side, whichever way it turns out. Are you going to run away again and hide in a cabin in the woods? Or are you going to stay?”

Stay? With Jenna?
For a moment, he allowed himself a glimpse of the future she offered him: a greater gift than any he could ever have imagined. A life with a woman who was smart and funny and gentle and fierce. And perhaps a child to raise as they grew older together, laughing and crying and doing all those Human things he'd never had a chance to experience. Building a true family, maybe even reaching out to his brothers and inviting them in.

For that one moment, he could see the vision as clearly as if a crystal ball hung in the air before him. Then reality hit with the power of a giant's fist, rocking him back on his heels. What if they couldn't break the curse and Jenna lost the baby after all? Would she still want him around then? Even if she did, how could he possibly ever face her again, knowing how he had let her down?

And what if they
did
succeed? What if they saved her baby and being with Jenna meant raising a child too? What did he know of being a father, when he'd barely had one himself? If
he couldn't keep his strong, capable brothers safe, how could he be trusted with a tiny baby?

Day clenched his hands. He couldn't have this conversation now. Couldn't deal with these thoughts crowding his brain, distracting him from the task ahead. It would have to wait until later, if there was a later. If after they reached the end of their travels, whatever and wherever that was, she still wanted him. Then he'd see if he had an answer for her question. Right now, all he had was the ability to keep moving forward, so that was what he was going to do.

“We have more important things to deal with right at the moment, don't you think?” he said firmly. “You're right though. It's your quest and your choice, and probably too dangerous to leave you behind anyway. So if we're going to find that third Key and solve
your
riddle, we'd best get on with it.” He picked her up as if she weighed less than a feather and moved her out of his way, clicking his fingers for Krasivaya to follow. “Come if you're coming,” he said, and stalked off into the maze without a backward look.

JENNA
stared after him for a moment, torn between grief and anger. She couldn't believe it. She'd offered him her heart on a plate and he'd simply turned and walked away.

Maybe she'd been wrong, and he didn't really want her after all. Who could blame him? She certainly came with enough baggage, although she doubted that was the issue. Maybe when he said he liked children, he'd meant other people's children, and simply wasn't interested in a woman with a baby. Or maybe it was because the baby was another man's?

She hadn't thought Mick was that shallow, but then, she hadn't known him for that long, and no matter how much they'd shared in the course of their journey together, perhaps she didn't really know him at all.

Or maybe she'd been right the first time, and he was too scared to take the risk on love.

She didn't suppose she'd blame him for that either, although she didn't know where that left her, since somewhere along the line, she'd fallen madly, deeply, truly in love with this blond
son of a god with his strong muscles, huge heart, and broken spirit. Perhaps he was just too broken for anyone to fix, no less a woman with her own scars and hidden damage.

Well, Jenna, none of this brooding is going to get the job done, is it, now?
She could hear her grandmother's voice ringing in her ears as if the old woman stood right in front of her.
Worry about Mick later. Find the third Key and save your baby now.
She straightened her back and marched off after him, more determined than ever to save herself, since it looked as though she'd be doing it on her own for the rest of her life.

*   *   *

AT
first, there was nothing to see but the tall sides of the maze, a monotonous vista of grayish white, slightly glittery shrubbery that grew taller than Day's fingertips stretched up over his head and thickly enough that neither one of them could reach a hand through it. The shrubs had long drooping needles, much like a pine on the other side of the doorway, but thicker and with a vaguely citrus scent that grew stronger when they brushed against it.

The plants grew toward each other in the middle, so all Day and Jenna could make out was a sliver of sky up above them, and soft, mossy ground under their feet. Even Krasivaya's hooves made no sound as they walked, and Day began to wonder if they had all turned into ghosts, doomed to wander forever. It would have made a very suitable Russian tale, but not one he particularly wanted to star in.

Time seemed to blur as they walked, but eventually they came to a place where the path forked: one part veering off to their right and looking much like the way they'd come, and the other turning to the left and becoming paved with flat cerulean stones of varying sizes. Some were as large as the saddlebags slung over Krasivaya's withers, and others were as small as the palm of Jenna's hand. Day had a bad feeling about that path. Of course, he didn't have a better one about the other choice. That was the problem with mazes.

Jenna looked from one option to the other, gnawing her lower lip. “What do you think?” she asked, suddenly sounding less sure of herself. “Do we stick to the path that looks just like the one we've been slogging down forever, or take the one that looks like it should lead to civilization? Maybe that one is too obvious, and it is a trick.”

Maybe they are both a trick. This is the Otherworld, after all.
“Or maybe it is so obvious, you're meant to think it is a trick and take the other path,” he said.

“Oh. Crap.” Jenna rubbed her belly, then stretched her back out. Clearly, the long walk was starting to bother her, but she'd refused to get back on the horse, who seemed to be feeling even more claustrophobic than her companions. “How are we supposed to choose?”

“We could try one direction for a while and then turn back if we don't get anywhere, but I don't like the idea of spending any more time in here than we have to,” Day said.

“Flip a coin?” Jenna said, trying to sound lighthearted.

Krasivaya tossed her head, snorting loudly, and trotted off to the left, her hooves making clicking noises as they struck the stones. She was soon out of sight around a curve in the shrubbery.

“Or we could let the horse decide,” Day said, his lips compressed.
This is what comes of allowing your transportation to be both magical and sentient.
They set off after her at a brisk walk.

Only to discover after a few steps that the stones were neither as random nor as steady as they had appeared to be. Day took the first wrong step and jumped quickly to the next rock as the one under his feet tilted as soon as his boot was upon it. Behind him, Jenna gave a surprised squeal, then had to hop quickly over to his side as the rock under her right foot simply disappeared into thin air.

“Crap squared!” she said. Day muttered something a lot worse than that, and hoped she didn't understand Russian.

They went forward another few yards without incident,
but then the stones started to sink when trod upon. Not every one, or even every other, but just enough so they were constantly off balance—especially Jenna, who was already struggling to keep herself upright with the unaccustomed weight from her belly throwing her off. For a bit, Day tried carrying her, but that was even worse. The rocks sank faster under their combined weight, and he couldn't carry her and jump safely, too, and eventually he had to put her down again.

Finally, they both found solid footing at the same time and stood still for a moment to catch their breath.

“Well,” he said, trying to cheer her up. “Look on the bright side. If this was the wrong path, it probably wouldn't be so difficult.”

Jenna scowled at him. “That's very encouraging. Not.” She glanced down the way ahead, where they could hear Krasivaya whinnying. She didn't sound like she was in distress, which Day found reassuring.

“How the hell is the
horse
doing it?” Jenna asked, sounding put out. “She's much heavier than we are, and yet she didn't seem to have any problem at all. I don't get it.”

Day thought about it for a minute and then grinned at her. “We're doing it wrong,” he said. She rolled her eyes at him. “No, really, the horse got it right. She started moving and kept moving. Can you run?” He stared at her belly dubiously.

“Will it get us out of here?” she said. “You better believe it.”

Day grabbed her by the hand and said a silent prayer that he'd guessed correctly, and they took off running, jumping from rock to rock so quickly that their weight was never on any individual stone for more than a few seconds.

Not long after, they came to the end of the paved stretch, racing between the narrow opening between the shrubs, and out into the light. Krasivaya stood nearby, chewing placidly on some bright yellow flowers and looking distinctly smug.

“Whew,” Jenna said, leaning over with her hands on her knees. “Thank God that's over.”

Day turned his head back and forth in either direction and groaned. “It's not,” he said.

“What?” What are you talking about?” Jenna straightened up so fast she wobbled. “We made it through that part of the maze.”

“Yes, we did,” Day agreed. “And look where we are.” He watched Jenna glance around her wildly and then back toward the center of the maze, where the white tower could still be seen, standing upright like a raised middle finger.

“You have
got
to be kidding me,” she said. “We're back on the outside? Right where we started?” She let out a small laugh, tinged with a touch of hysteria. “We have to do it all over again?”

Day nodded, feeling grim. “I suspect that there are different paths depending on where you enter the maze. Each one will probably have its own tricks to master. Depending on how many entrances there are, it could take us days to master them all until we finally stumble on the one that actually gets us to the heart of the maze.”

Jenna peered up at the sky, then down at her stomach again, her face drawn and white. “It's worse than that, Mick. Look at the color of the sky. When we went in, it was afternoon. I'm pretty sure that's the dawn, or at least as close as you get to it in a place with no real sun. I think that something weird happened to time inside that place.” She pointed at her belly, which Day could see was noticeably larger than when they'd gone in. “I don't know how many times we can attempt it before we run out of time altogether.”

*   *   *

THEY
tried three more times before they had to give in and rest for a while. Each time it seemed as though only an hour or two had passed, and each time the moons had shifted position in the sky by the time the maze spat them back out again. Jenna was so tired she could have wept, but they'd used up most of their water by then, and she didn't want to waste
a precious drop of moisture. She leaned against Mick's strong shoulder, nibbling halfheartedly on a piece of fruit for the sake of the baby, who she wished would repay her by taking that tiny foot off of Jenna's rib cage. Or at the very least, stop kicking with it. Nice to know that one of them was feeling just fine.

“Why don't you try and sleep for an hour or two, and then we'll walk in the other direction and try to find another way in,” Mick suggested, his voice unusually gentle. She wasn't sure, but she thought she felt his hand brush over her hair, so light she could barely sense it.

She didn't know how she could possibly sleep. But she couldn't go on much longer without it either. “Maybe we should just give up on this Key,” she said. “Take a chance that we can somehow make the riddle work with only two.”

Mick didn't even bother to answer that. She didn't blame him. For now she'd rest. In a little while, they'd try again.

*   *   *

THEY'D
gotten closer than last time, Day thought. He had seen the sides of the tower rising up over the nearest bank of shrubs, so close he could almost touch it. But then they'd had to duck away from some kind of bird that spat acid from a funnel-shaped beak, and they'd found themselves back on the outside again, facing, as far as he could tell, in a completely different direction. He sincerely hoped that someday the people who lived in that tower got turned around in their own maze and had to go through this ordeal themselves. It would serve them right.

Jenna jarred him out of his unproductive train of thought by lifting one hand and pointing off toward one distant corner of the maze's exterior. “Mick? Look. Isn't that Gregori?”

Sure enough, his brother was riding toward them on the back of his glorious red steed, a horse the color of the sunset over the ocean, whose beauty came close to rivaling that of Day's own magical companion. Not just riding, but racing
fast, the horse's strong muscles bunching as he strode across the land, his golden hooves striking sparks of rocks as they flew over the landscape at speeds faster than any normal horse could ever have hoped to achieve.

In no time at all, the former Red Rider pulled up in front of them, neither he nor his horse so much as breathing rapidly, although he kept looking over his shoulder is if expecting something unpleasant to be looming there.

“Greetings, brother,” Gregori said. “It is good to see you again, Jenna.” He gazed at her stomach and his eyes widened the tiniest bit. “You are looking . . . well.”

“Did you speak to the Queen?” Day asked. “What did she say?”

“There will be time to discuss such things later,” Gregori said, his tone calm but urgent as he turned to look back again. “Might I suggest that you follow me and ride as quickly as possible? It would be in our best interests to find ourselves far away from here.”

“But what about the third Key?” Jenna cried. “We've been trying to get it for hours. Days. Maybe even weeks.”

Gregori slid a hand inside the red leather pouch hanging at his waist. The hand came out holding a tiny shard of clear crystal on a golden chain. “This is the Key,” Gregori said with a slightly smug smile. “I just stole it, and the previous owners are a little unhappy about that. Thus the suggestion to ride away with some haste.”

“How the hell did you get to the center of the maze?” Day asked.

“Bribed a maid to tell me the way in,” Gregori said with a grin, a rare twinkle glittering in his dark eyes. “And then climbed up the outside of the tower and through a window.” He tucked the Key back inside the pouch and dug his heels into his horse's side. It took off at a gallop, followed seconds later by Krasivaya, which caused Jenna to yelp and grab on to the horse's flowing white mane with both hands.

“Oh my God,” she shouted at Day over the wind of their passage. “Did he just say he stole that jewel? I can't believe it. He seemed so . . . so . . . mellow and law-abiding.”

Day laughed out loud, half from her comment and half from the sheer joy of racing at top speeds again after so long. “The law is a somewhat fluid concept for us Riders,” he said. “We are more interested in expediency most of the time. The Baba Yagas are the same, which is perhaps where we get it from. Or possibly the other way around. Besides, Gregori dedicated much of his earlier years to learning many varied forms of martial arts. It wouldn't surprise me if some of that time was spent in the company of ninjas, assassins, and thieves.”