Chapter 37

Vasilisa came into the clearing and all three looked him with interest. He was in his child’s form and was carrying a basket of herbs. Then, he looked to Malkav and placed the basket in his direction.

“For your ghouls, Antediluvian. May I ask why you are in my territory?” Vasilisa was unsure, and Nikola didn’t like that. He attempted to speak, but Malkav silenced him with a look.

“Not my ghouls. Dimitri is a fourth generation Methuselah like you and Nikola is an angel. They are both my lovers. Would you invite us to your house? We haven’t slept in a warm place for a week,” Vasilisa worried his bottom lip and then looked back.

Sure enough, there was the house on the chicken leg in the middle of a swamp. Nikola regretted burning it the first time.

“I suppose. My ghouls will see to your comfort,” they covered the fire in dirt to put it off and picked up the rabbit. Following Vasilisa to the house turned out to be a short trek. How had the house sneaked up on them? Nikola was ever so amazed at it.

“There are certain things we need to tell you, lovely,” spoke Dimitri, and Vasilisa tensed at being addressed as such. “We came looking for you. Nothing bad, I assure you.”

Vasilisa nodded, and he spoke the passwords, and the chicken leg lowered itself. The four went inside the house and saw the two monstrosities, Igor and Katya, sitting by the stove. Nikola couldn’t look at them without remembering how carelessly he had killed them the first time he had seen them. As if they hadn’t been victims.

“My ghouls,” Vasilisa pointed at the two, and the deformed humans waved at the newcomers. “Go and bring more firewood.”

Nikola blinked at the sudden switch to Russian. Most of his knowledge of the language came from Vasilisa. He was looking forward to telling the blonde the truth.

“So, what brings you here?” Vasilisa turned to all three of them in turn, and Malkav send Nikola a pointed look.

“We knew each other. I know things about you that…” Vasilisa looked to be panicking, and Dimitri stepped forward.

“What Niki here wanted to say is that he wants to reconnect with you. I do too. Tell me, do you believe in time loops, nymph?” Dimitri send Vasilisa a dazzling smile, but that made him even more unnerved.

“Those are nonsense,” he said, and he sat down by the table. Then, with a hand movement, he invited his guests to do the same. As Nikola sat down, he began to think of what he could say to Vasilisa to make him believe him. Surely, he wouldn’t’ need to resort to the man’s backstory?

“You were used as a prostitute when you were young. Still don’t believe in time loops?” Blurted out Dimitri. Nikola looked at him, outraged.

“Dimitri!” He exclaimed, but Dimitri just frowned at him.

“What? Were you going to dance around the one proof that can’t be argued against? Vasilisa is a big boy. He can handle some tough love!” Protested back Dimitri.

“You came all the way to blackmail me?” Nikola wanted to hug Vasilisa and calm him down. The sentence had dripped from his tongue like venom.

“Niki, do tell him why he is the only thing you have been speaking of ever since you got your memories back,” Nikola turned to Dimitri. He was begging him for help with his eyes, but the blonde remained unmoved.

“We, Dimitri and I, my name is Nikola, by the way,” he extended his hand towards Vasilisa, but the blonde just stared at it like it could bite him. Nikola retracted his hand. “Anyway, we were in a time loop recently. One spanning for billions of years.”

“Will it continue?” Asked Vasilisa. Nikola was not sure, but he hoped not.

“I don’t think so, no. Anyway, during my last life, you and I were lovers. But it is complicated since I was attempting to kill you, and you put me in a blood bond, and then I started to drink from faes and lupines and would have gotten demon blood too, if there was a demon nearby,” Nikola attempted to smile at his joke, but Vasilisa’s eyes were narrowed.

“You attempted to kill me?” He began to play with a butter knife. Nikola wondered why he even owned one.

“I managed to kill you after a seven-month worth of a hunt,” the butter knife was stabbed in the table and Vasilisa snarled.

“And what did I do to you? You don’t look Russian!” Nikola looked at the knife. He felt mounting shame.

“You didn’t do anything, but Flavius Aetius…” Vasilisa began to laugh, and he stood up and went to another room. Nikola looked at Malkav.

“I think we should leave, Malkav,” Malkav snorted and went to knock on Vasilisa’s door.

“We are not here to hurt you. What Nikola did didn’t even happen, as far as you and I are concerned,” Vasilisa went out of the room, in his grown up male form wearing simple pants and tunic and having a knife in his hand.

“I don’t care if you are an Antediluvian. That angel of yours is going to get it,” Nikola found that he wouldn’t mind being knifed, if only Vasilisa could forgive him for what he had done.

“You will do nothing to him!” Snarled Dimitri, and he placed a protective arm around Nikola’s shoulder. “Besides, you two, well, all four of us, used to be married.”

Vasilisa’s eyes widened. He dropped the knife and began to clutch his head. Nikola was by his side instantly and holding him gently. Vasilisa was in so much pain, he didn’t even shove him to the side.

“What are you doing to him?” Demanded Nikola. Dimitri pointed at Malkav, who was glaring at Vasilisa.

“He is transferring your memories to him,” Vasilisa snaked an arm around Nikola’s waist and looked at him with desperation.

“Make it stop, fly,” and Nikola, not knowing what else to do, offered his neck to the Nictuku.