Mother of Chaos Read online

  “So.” the Alchemist’s voice sounded faint. “Now what?”

  “I don’t know.” Ruxandra looked up at the sky. Midnight had not yet come. She closed her eyes and listened, catching the sound of chanting peasants, shouting soldiers, and horses snorting and whinnying. Ruxandra closed her eyes and waited.

  The shooting started.

  The peasants’ shouts turned to screams as volley after volley of gunfire echoed through the city. Shovels and pitchforks and axes clashed with swords and pikes. Horses screamed as they were stabbed and lashed out with their hooves at their attackers.

  People died, everywhere.

  The Beast rumbled inside Ruxandra, sensing the blood she smelled, reminding her that it had been four days since she’d fed.

  Shut up. We’ll feed soon enough. Right now we have to get the Alchemist someplace safe and figure out how to stop this mess.

  “Do you think the others are safe?” The Alchemist asked.

  “I don’t know.” Ruxandra closed her eyes and reached out with her mind. She tried to find Kurkov and the others, but there were too many people screaming and fighting, too much terror and violence and hatred and pain to sort it all easily. She opened her eyes and slumped.

  “At least they didn’t catch us,” the Alchemist said. “Thank you for that.”

  “They nearly did,” Ruxandra said. “They knew we were going to be there and they laid a trap for us.”

  “Were they secret police?”

  “I don’t know. They didn’t smell familiar, but that doesn’t mean anything. They could have been police I haven’t found yet; they could have been anyone.”

  “No,” the Alchemist said. “They couldn’t. They had to be magicians to trap you, and the secret police do not have that many.”

  Ruxandra frowned. “Then why can I never see them?”

  “Talismans, probably. They don’t need magicians to follow you, just to trap you.”

  So if they weren’t the magicians I scented when Alexi trapped me, who were they?

  The Alchemist leaned back, looking up at the sky. “Did you know the spell that summons Ishtar doesn’t require any magicians? The words themselves are magic and draw on the power of hell to open the gates.”

  “I didn’t know,” Ruxandra said. “But I’m not surprised. I don’t think my father’s men were magicians, and they summoned her.”

  “That’s why we could do it using Eduard and Kurkov. We just needed five warm bodies to chant.”

  So easy to bring evil into the world.

  More shots rang out, and the Alchemist cocked her head to listen. “What’s happening?”

  “People are dying.”

  “How much can you hear?”

  “All of it.”

  The Alchemist’s hand, light and warm and strong, landed on Ruxandra’s shoulder. “I am sorry. You were right. We should have listened, no matter the risk to ourselves.”

  “We all want to stay alive,” said Ruxandra. “You know I have forgiven you.” She put her hand over the Alchemist’s, feeling the woman’s warmth against her skin. She felt cold inside, and scared. She did not know what had happened to the others; she did not know where Kade was, and she did not know how to stop any of it.

  She reached out with her mind, searching for Kade, and discovered something else entirely. A moment later she heard them outside the wall. She stood up, cocked her head to hear better.

  “What is it?” the Alchemist asked. “What do you hear?”

  “Soldiers,” Ruxandra whispered. “Horses. Coming from outside the wall. Hundreds of them.”

  The Alchemist stood, too. “Tatars? Do we need to run?”

  “I don’t know who it is. But yes, we should run.” She reached out with her mind and felt a grim sense of purpose from the men beyond the walls. She turned her senses back to the city, feeling the conflicts there so she could plan a clear route through.

  One presence blazed brighter than all the rest, and it was moving toward them.

  “Wait,” Ruxandra said. “Wait just a little longer.”

  “Why?” the Alchemist asked, fear in her voice. “What are we waiting for?”

  “Kade.”

  And minutes later, wearing all black and smelling of blood and battle, Kade stepped out of the darkness to join them.

  “You are both unhurt?” he asked.

  “Yes,” Ruxandra said. “Though not for lack of trying on their part.”

  “Magicians tried to catch her,” the Alchemist said. “They tried to catch me.”

  “Not magicians,” Kade said. “Priests. The magicians of the secret police are in the Kremlin, awaiting Anna’s commands.”

  “You’re sure?”

  Kade smiled, but his face looked grim and angry. “I am still in Anna’s good graces, and still in her service, for now. Though after today’s events I am not sure how long that will last.”

  “You can’t leave her service.” Desperation tinged the Alchemist’s words. “Not until we free our friends. She will kill them.”

  “She will not,” Kade said. “Not while they still hold some use for her. And as long as there is chaos, they will still hold some use for her. But I was not referring to my leaving. Belosselsky escaped.”

  “What?” Ruxandra said. “How?”

  “He was warned.” Kade practically spat out the words. “He and Princess Khilkoff. Those are her troops out there. Belosselsky’s men are already inside the city.”

  “Are they joining forces against the empress?” Ruxandra asked.

  “More fighting,” the Alchemist said. “More death.”

  Within, the Beast rumbled its rather gleeful opinion on that. Ruxandra ignored it.

  “Much more,” Kade said. “Now we must go. Ishtar needs us.”

  “Ishtar?”

  “She sent me to fetch you, Ruxandra. She says now is the time for you to join her.”

  The sounds of fighting from inside the city had begun dying down. Ruxandra listened, heard the cries of the injured and the wailing of women over their dead. All this for what?

  “Ruxandra.” Impatience filled Kade’s voice. “Now.”

  Ruxandra shook herself free of her thoughts. “We have to get the Alchemist to safety. Then we can talk to Ishtar.”

  “There is precious little safety in this city right now,” Kade said. “It might be best if she just waits here.”

  “She is standing in front of you,” the Alchemist said. “And she knows a safe place, if you two will take me.”

  “Of course,” Ruxandra said.

  Kade frowned. “Only if we carry her. We need to hurry.”

  “That’s fine,” the Alchemist said. “Just no jumping over buildings this time. I don’t think I could survive it.”

  ***

  The place she had in mind turned out to be a small house near the north of the city proper. It was hemmed in by houses on both sides, and looked neither comfortable nor lived in. But it was also far away from the Kremlin, the library, and the rioting. The Alchemist pulled a key out and opened the door. The interior smelled musty, and there was no furniture.

  “What is this place?” Ruxandra asked.

  “A bolt-hole.” She smiled. “They come for magicians sometimes, so it pays to have a place to run. Now go quick, then come back.”

  “We’ll try,” Kade said.

  Ruxandra glared at him. “We will. Or at least I will.”

  “I’m glad.” The Alchemist brushed a hand against Ruxandra’s face. “Be careful.”

  She locked the door behind them.

  Ruxandra and Kade ran through the streets, both listening to the sounds of the crowd. Kade led them toward the Kremlin, trying to see as much of the situation as possible before they went to Ishtar.

  “Stay noticeable,” he said as they moved closer to the crowds. “I don’t think they can tell what we are just by looking. So if we act human, we may be able to slip by the church’s guards.”

  “And if not?”

  “Then
run.”

  Soldiers now patrolled the streets around the Kremlin and the enclave. They had taken over the army camp near the walls and flew a flag Ruxandra didn’t recognize.

  “Belosselsky’s family crest,” Kade said. “I’m sure he has told Anna that they are there to help quell the peasant unrest. Not that either of them will believe it.”

  Farther on, a large crowd of peasants gathered in a square near one of the churches. Kade and Ruxandra slipped into the crowd, craning their necks to see like the others around them. In the middle of the square, a large post had been erected, bundles of sticks and firewood stacked around it.

  Kurkov was chained to the post.

  The man had been beaten bloody, his eyes mostly closed. Blood dripped from his lips and his nose, and his face was a swollen mass. His knuckles were bloody, too, suggesting that, whatever else had happened, he had not gone quietly.

  Kade’s lips pressed hard together in a white line. He started moving forward, pushing his way through the crowd. Ruxandra stayed on his heels. People complained, and some pushed back, but no one stopped them. They reached the front of the crowd and Kade turned to one of the peasants.

  “Who is he?” Kade asked. “What has he done?”

  “Where have you been?” the man demanded. “Hiding your head up your arse? That’s one of the witches.”

  But he isn’t. He’s a librarian. Ruxandra looked over Kurkov with horror, knowing she would never convince his captors.

  “They caught him at a kabak with his sodomite lover,” the man said. “Apparently he fought like a demon. Anyway, they beat him, trussed him up, and set up the stake. Say they’ll burn him tomorrow night.”

  Kade vanished from human notice and charged into the square, moving faster than Ruxandra had ever seen him. She went unnoticed herself and started forward, fangs and talons coming out. They would have to fight free of the crowd, but if they could get to him . . .

  Ten feet from the post, Kade hit something he could not see and was slammed back to the ground. He hit hard, got up, and charged again. Ruxandra caught him as he bounced back the second time. He pushed her off and circled the post, trying again and again to break through.

  “It’s like the barrier around the Kremlin,” Ruxandra said. “We can’t get through it.”

  Kade swore in six languages, turned on his heel, and strode back through the crowd. “We need help. Come.”

  He led Ruxandra back through the city to the church above the library. Soldiers still stood in a double line before its door. Some had torn uniforms and bruises; others wore bandages. Alexi stood behind them, a saber in his hand. His blade had been cleaned, but not his uniform, which was spattered with blood. The street in front of the church was empty, save for puddled blood and scuffed, stained earth.

  Kade strode forward. “Is Ishtar inside?”

  “Yes. She’s waiting for the two of you.”

  “Good,” Kade said, walking past him into the church. “Kurkov has been arrested.”

  “What?” Alexi’s surprise sounded genuine. “When?”

  Kade had already gone in and didn’t answer him.

  “Earlier this evening,” Ruxandra said. “They’re going to burn him.”

  Alexi leaned over to one of his soldiers, spoke briefly in his ear, and headed inside. “I must speak to the empress.”

  Ruxandra followed him down into the library and found Kade leaning on the table in front of Ishtar. Ruxandra breathed deep, trying to see who else was in the library.

  “It is Kurkov,” Kade was saying, fury filling his voice. “He has been taken by the church. He will burn at the stake tomorrow.”

  “I know,” Ishtar said.

  “They have warded the place of execution so I cannot enter it.”

  “I know.”

  “I would not lose this man!” Kade’s fist thumped the table hard enough that the sound echoed through the library. “I need soldiers to rescue him.”

  “There are no soldiers available, Kade,” Ishtar said. “All the empress’s troops are either inside the Kremlin or beyond the walls. She will not spare any to rescue a librarian.”

  “What about his men?” Kade’s finger jabbed at Alexi. “Send them in.”

  “I do not have the authority to send them in.”

  “Then I will speak to the empress!” Kade took two steps and jumped up to the balcony above and the hallway to the Kremlin.

  “As will I,” Alexi said. “If you will excuse me.”

  “Foolish,” Ishtar said. “To care about a human so much as that.”

  “Kurkov is a good man,” Ruxandra protested.

  “He’s already dead,” Ishtar said. “Even if Anna sends troops, the first order the defenders will have is to execute their prisoner. No, the man has no hope, and Kade should accept that.“

  He will not. He’ll be hugely angry with the empress.

  Angry enough to change sides, maybe?

  And Ishtar would know it.

  “Ishtar.” Ruxandra spoke slowly, weighing the words as if they were gold. “How did the church find Kurkov?”

  Ishtar frowned at her. “Do you not understand what is happening here?”

  “I understand that more people are going to die. How did they find Kurkov?”

  “Of course people are going to die, Ruxandra. That is the point!” Ishtar pushed up out of her chair and walked around the table. “This is about power, Ruxandra, nothing else. And only the one powerful enough to lead this country can help us.”

  “Us?”

  “Us. I said that it would be time to choose sides, Ruxandra.” She began pacing, and the excitement in her voice grew. “This is the time to seize the reins of power. The church needs to be crushed so the peasants will no longer trust its protection. Belosselsky’s men need to be killed. And Anna needs to publicly execute him and put his head on a pike at the gates of the Kremlin.”

  She stopped pacing and closed in on Ruxandra. “And you, my child, you must help us. There is still time before sunrise. Go to the outer city, and open the gates for Princess Khilkoff’s men. Then kill their leaders.”

  “Why?”

  “Because an army without its leader is an armed, furious rabble. They will loot and rape and the people will be clamor to be saved.” Ishtar’s eyes flashed with joy and anticipation. “Then, and only then, can Anna seize true, unfettered power from the chaos.”

  Ruxandra nodded. “How did the church know where to find Kurkov?”

  “What?” Ishtar stared at her as if she couldn’t comprehend the words. “Ruxandra, pay attention.”

  “I have paid attention.” The words came out as a growl. “You’ve set up everything so that the city will fall into chaos. People have died already, and thousands more will be killed if the armies clash. If the church executes Kurkov, Kade will be more than willing to kill whoever he thinks did it, and I’m sure you will give him a list.”

  “Fear is necessary—”

  “No, it isn’t!” The words echoed off the shelves around them. “None of this is necessary! Did you help Belosselsky and Khilkoff to escape? Did you tell the church where Kurkov was hiding? Did you set all of this up just so you could watch this city tear itself apart?”

  Ishtar’s face went cold. “I told you. Power comes from fear. Fear comes from chaos. From the chaos and fear we create now, we will lead them to something better.”

  “It isn’t worth it.”

  Ishtar stepped back from her, eyes narrowing. Her lips pressed hard together, and her face went red with anger. “Are you standing against me?”

  Ruxandra felt the power in the woman’s eyes, and with it came the need to love and protect Ishtar that had plagued her from the very beginning. This is the one who made me. An angel. A monster.

  She is just like Elizabeth—not as crazy and sadistic perhaps, but as heartless. I stayed with Elizabeth because of magic that I thought was love; this is no different.

  There is nothing she can offer that is worth being around her. She
remembered the screams of the dying and the blood on Alexi’s clothes. She remembered Kurkov’s swollen, bruised face and the fear in the Alchemist’s voice as the priest had caught them. She felt her own grief and horror and rage.

  “Yes,” Ruxandra said. “I am.”

  Ishtar stared at her one moment longer, and then turned on her heel and left. Ruxandra stood where she was, listening to Ishtar’s footsteps go up the stairs and into the tunnel to the Kremlin.

  “I am glad,” Michael said.

  Ruxandra turned. He was standing nearby, watching them from the stacks of the library.

  “I wish I could say I realized the truth from the moment she arrived.” The old man stepped forward, a scroll in his hand. “I wish I could say I recognized the danger, but I did not. We were fools. And we are fools still.”

  He held out the scroll to her. “This is a copy of the ritual to banish the devil back to hell. It needs five magicians.”

  Ruxandra looked at it. “Could Kade be one of them, if I can convince him?”

  “No. It is human magic, not vampire magic.”

  “Then have only three, if Derek is here.”

  “We have two with Derek,” Michael said. “The Alchemist is missing. The others are still locked up in the Kremlin.”

  “I know where the Alchemist is,” Ruxandra said. “I’ll get her. As for the others . . .”

  “We will need to rescue them,” Michael said. “Derek and I will try to think of something. But it will take time. So come back tonight, after the sun has set. Hopefully, we will have a plan by then.” The magician looked haunted, his eyes weary, his gray beard unkempt as cobwebs in an abandoned building. My friend.

  What she felt for Michael and the other male magicians was not powerful, not passionate or exciting, but it was true. It lit up a corner of her heart that had been empty a long time.

  Ruxandra nodded. “Thank you.” She touched his cheek—he looked surprised—then turned and ran, up the stairs, out of the church, and through the city.

  I feel better now. I know who I am and whom I value. And if Kade opposes me, too bad.

  She made a pair of stops at two large, wealthy-looking houses before she went to the Alchemist’s bolt-hole. She tapped the door with her knuckles, hoping against all odds that the Alchemist would be awake.