Free Chains of Ice by Christina Dodd Page B

Beautiful skin. Strong body. And a malevolence that went right to the bone.”
    Genny stopped walking. “I am not malevolent.” She pulled her hands from her pockets and showed Mariana her palms. “I am not marked. I’m certainly not gifted.”
    “Yes, I see.” Mariana stopped, too, and observed her. “Your parents are alive.”
    “Very much so.”
    “But I wonder . . . if your mother properly cherished you.”
    Genny’s throat didn’t close. Not quite. But she coughed slightly before she could speak, then waved her hand around at the cool, dimly lit trees. “She didn’t take me into the woods and throw me into a stream.”
    No. Instead, when Genny was in college, she worked up her nerve and went to visit her mother. Mother had remarried a wealthy man, of course, but she was still remote, still beautiful; and when her new husband came in, she told him, “Genny’s applying for a job as my social secretary.” Then to Genny, “I’ll let you know my decision in about a week.”
    No, her mother hadn’t tried to kill her. She didn’t care enough to bother.
    “Look.” Genny’s voice rose. “Is this some kind of initiation ritual? Because I’m not buying it. Somehow you found out who my father is, right? You made up all this stuff about the legend and now you’re . . . you’re trying to scare the newbie for some weird reason.”
    The bushes crackled as Lubochka came stomping back, scowling heavily.
    Genny turned on her. “Maybe you’re in on the joke. Maybe this is how you get rid of unwanted, untrained assistants. But it’s too late for that. The fee has been paid, and I promised my soul for a chance to observe the lynx in the wild. So I don’t want to hear anything else about this legend and the forest and the . . . the crossroads”—she turned back to Mariana—“whatever you mean by that.”
    Lubochka dismissed Genny’s tantrum with a characteristic snort. “Girl, if I wanted you gone, you would go with my teeth snapping at your heels.”
    Genny almost collapsed in relief. She should have known. Lubochka was too straightforward for such a ruse.
    Lubochka fixed her attention on Mariana. “Why are you doing this? Trying to frighten the girl? Was the winter too long? Have you lost your mind?”
    “I am fine, thank you.” Mariana looked earnest and normal. “I’m trying to warn her.”
    “Warn her of what ?”
    “We have a long memory here.” Mariana looked between Genny and Lubochka. “We know she’s . . . bait.”

Chapter 10

    “W hat?” Genny couldn’t believe what she was hearing.
    “She is bait?” Lubochka sounded just as incredulous.
    “My English fails me sometimes. Maybe bait is too strong a word. But women like you”—Mariana gestured at Genny—“you bring them.”
    Lubochka leaned forward, eye to eye with Mariana. “ Who does she bring?”
    “The ones who seek evil. The ones who seek innocence, who would corrupt you.” Mariana pushed her hair off her forehead. “Of course you had to come here. The crossroads draws you. But I wish you would go home.”
    “Well, I’m not going to!” The big cats were waiting.
    “Did you not hear me last night?” Lubochka demanded. “I said no trouble !”
    Back at the inn, Genny had liked Mariana. Now she just thought she was insane. “I mean, if we’re going to be superstitious . . . you did say I would bring luck!”
    “I said you would bring change,” Mariana corrected.
    “And luck!” Genny reminded her.
    “Rasputye could use some change,” Lubochka said.
    “The earth shakes when Rasputye changes!” Mariana spread her hands, palms up. “All the elements have lined up!”
    “What elements?” Lubochka asked.
    “The gifted one has returned. He is angry, like a wounded bear.”
    That face in the woods . . . it haunted Genny. The man, whoever he was, had looked at her as if she was a vision . . . or a curse.
    “He finds the lonely women, the ones dissatisfied with their lives, and he shows them a new world. And