The door clicks as Calli is sealed inside the room, and her grandmothers looks at me. Her eyes are sharp and analyzing.

"Are you ready for this, boy?"

I shrug, a smirk lifting the corners of my lips. "I'm not going to let anything happen to her."

She hisses. "You don't touch her without her permission.

I raise my hands and step back placatingly. "I wouldn't do anything without Calli's permission, Anastasia."

"Annika. I go by Annika now."

"Alright."

Despite her feigned anger and her defensiveness over Calli, there is a light in her eyes. It tells me thst while she may not trust me yet, she wants to like me. A smile rugs at my lips and I motion for her to lead the way. Anastasia - Annika - inclines her head to me as she passes, leaning down to scoop up her gun. She hits the wall with her hand as she passes it and a compartment hidden inside opens up. There is a pocket of ammunition inside and she gathers some of it up, slipping it into tiny pockets in her clothing. I guess she's been prepared for this for a while. She moves to another pocket and palms several throwing knives before she looks at me.

"Do you need anything?"

I shake my head at her, summoning a long, wicked blade out of the air. It gleams in the light, the dark metal seeming to whisper. That's why it's named Shadow-speaker. It isn't just a sword, it has a sentience of its own. It chooses who wields it, and it gives advice. I run a finger down the nondescript pommel, and the blade seems to hum in response. I look up from it to see Annika staring at the blade with appraising eyes.

At last, she looks up at me and admits, "It's a good blade. I trust you know how to use it?"

My nod is sharp. "I wouldn't touch it if I couldn't. I've had extensive training."

Her eyes spark with approval. "Good."

I tilt my head and look down at the body still lying in the entryway. "Should we let them think he came here by accident? Try to avoid a fight?"

Annika shakes her head. "It won't work. If they're tracking him as you say, they'll know to go to his location. Him just being here is ringing the bell."

"Worth a shot."

Her lips tilt up. "It was a good thought, it just won't work on the Bolsheviks."

There is the sound of cars from outside the house, which wouldn't be unusual most of the time. But when we look out the window, all the cars are a nondescript black. When the people thst step out of them are all wearing identical dark red clothing, it just confirms our suspicions. There are four cars altogether, with four people emerging from each. I glance over at Annika to see her weighing the odds. There are only two of us - and Calli. But we can't let them find her, so to them it's still just the two of us. So two of us and sixteen of them. Not good odds - for humans. I smirk. I'm not a human, and they don't know that. They don't know what they're getting in to. They just want to hurt the last of the royal line. My chin raises into the air as the first of them starts up the sidewalk towards the house.
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Sorry again, it's short. But writing two books at once, and editing another is tough. I promise that I'll try to make tomorrow's chapter longer, alright?

Now, what do you think will happen during this upcoming battle? Will anything new come to light? Tell me your thoughts!

Happy reading, and I'll see you next chapter!

~Goddess of Fate, signing out.