Olesya fought the urge to cover the scar, watching Vasilisa with wary eyes. The witch swayed forward, blonde hair sliding over one delicate shoulder. Her green eyes turned to pitch as she mumbled under her breath in a language Olesya had never understood, leaning so far forward she looked seconds away from toppling off the counter.

The idea amused Olesya enough that a smile twitched her mouth.

Her view of Vasilisa was cut off by a chest covered in dark silk. She let her eyes drift up until she met the gaze of the stranger. Blood still stained his cheek and his fingers as he lifted his hand, hovering it just in front of her throat.

He swallowed, lips parting as his gaze flicked up from her neck. "May I?" he asked, deep voice gentle. Soothing.

Olesya tucked her chin down, shaking her head.

Fingers brushed along her jaw anyway, tipping her head back. Those same fingers traced the ugly line, making something dark boil in the pit of her stomach. She caught his wrist—just as he'd done with Vasilisa—and tightened her hand, squeezing the fine bones together painfully. 

He blinked down at her, eyes wide and startled. Innocent. 

Worried.

Who was this man?

"I said no." Olesya dropped his hand and tried to step back, but found her way blocked by Vasilisa.

The witch's nails scratched her scalp as she tangled her fingers in Olesya's hair, yanking her head back and exposing her throat even more. Fear bolted through Olesya, hot and sticky. The smooth pain of a sharp blade parting her flesh reared in her mind, making Olesya flail. She drove her elbow back over her shoulder, intent on cracking it against the voldicz's temple or breaking her nose.

A foot swept her legs out, and Olesya screamed as she hit the floor. She kicked and pummeled with closed fists, hitting every inch of Vasilisa she could reach. The witch didn't seem to mind, grabbing Olesya's jaw in an iron grip. The bones in her neck creaked in protest as Vasilisa forced her head back even further. 

"Snow and blood and moonlight, too," she crooned, touching the scar. "Violence traded for power. Power gone when you woke up." She clicked her tongue. "They won't be happy. The moon gives and takes, like a tide rolling back and forth. They broke and broke and broke. Your blood might have fixed it." She shook her blonde head hard. "Didn't. You lived and they died and now they're desperate. But who are they?"

Olesya shuddered in a gasp, wanting to ask what the voldicz meant. Her tongue wasn't working.

A shimmering, silver sound filled her ears, and Vasilisa went curiously still.

The foreign witch looked down at them, impassive face like marble. "Release her, please."

Vasilisa snarled, white teeth lengthening to dripping fangs.

He moved his sword from its place at her throat, positioning it just over the shapeshifter's heart. "Please. I'd rather we end this civilly. I have enough problems without murdering Straga's coven-mother."

Olesya muscles were shaking, sweat coating her forehead and sticky between her shoulder blades. She stared at the stranger. His gaze shifted to her, and he held out his free hand.

"I know what happened to you, Lesa. I need your help to stop who did it from killing any more of us." His voice was pleading. His eyes were wide and dark as a young doe's, filled with desperation.

Olesya's arm twitched up without her permission, her fingers stretching toward his.

Vasilisa's teeth snapped as she rolled off Olesya. She paced away from the man, a scowl twisting her face into her true, lupine form. She stormed across the shop, knocking a crystallized heart to the ground as she passed. It shattered, red blood oozing across the dusty floorboards.

She threw open the door, letting in a blast of cold air before turning back to them, once more imperious and blonde and perfect. "You have a choice, Olesenka. Go with him or stay here. Stay with your kind as your mother always should have. Be protected from the Church, the monsters, everything." She sneered, eyes going murky again as fur began to creep up her throat. "Or go with him and watch as your blood is spilled across the snow. Or watch the flames burn your flesh. Or watch the wicked things in this city devour your bones."

Olesya closed her eyes, trying to still her shaking body. Her breath fluttered at the top of her chest, her heartbeat pounding against the scar.

"He wants your blood, they want your bones." Vasilisa smiled. "We only want your heart, Olesenka. Just your heart. Nothing vital."

In your heart lies your power. Her mother's voice floated across her memory, gentle as a hand stroking over her hair. Remember that, my daughter. Remember that your heart belongs to you and you alone.

Olga Volinski had not given up her heart, and she had been burned at the stake.

Movement beside her made her start. The foreign witch crouched, sword in one hand, the other still offered to her. "I want to help you, Lesa. Please. Come with me."

He said please far too often. It made her distrust him.

Her eyes darted back and forth between the two. The monster she knew, or the one she didn't? The one who offered safety, or the one who offered answers? Fangs she could see, or ones yet to be discovered?

A memory of frozen, bloodied feet shuffling through drifted snow made up her mind. Olesya placed her hand in the foreigner's. He smiled, the expression quick and bright before he stood, pulling her to her feet.

He resheathed his sword before gently wrapping her scarf back around her throat.

Vasilisa stepped aside, allowing them to pass, her green eyes malevolent as she once more lost a Volinski heart.

Just as they crossed the threshold, the voldicz hissed, "He's a blood-witch, Olesenka. You chose poorly. Like mother, like daughter, I suppose. I'll enjoy the smell of your death."

Olesya whirled just as the door slammed, the entire building disappearing in a flurry of snow. 

Slowly, she turned back to the man. He frowned, brow creasing lightly. "I would have preferred to tell you that myself."

Olesya ran.

Word Count: 1013

Total Count: 5178