Siberia, Russia
The helicopter ride from Moscow to the middle of nowhere fifty miles southeast of Tiksi was about as unpleasant a journey as Mordred had ever taken. Not just because of the wind, and the snow, not just because of the freezing cold that seeped into the helicopter despite the heater being on, but because of the low mood that everyone felt. They’d discovered where Elaine was being held, or at least where she’d been taken to, but their time in Moscow had taken a heavy toll.
Morgan hadn’t spoken to Mordred since they’d left the city, and he knew the signs that said she wanted to be left alone. If they’d been anywhere else, she’d probably have vanished for a few days, but instead she’d retreated inside her own mind. Mordred knew the effect using her mind magic to make people more compliant—or break their minds in more extreme cases—had on her. The fact that she couldn’t use that magic without exceptional concentration didn’t make it any easier. She had to purposely stop what she was doing and force herself into the psyche of another living being. Cruelty was not something she found easy. It was the thing that over the centuries he’d found most endearing about her. No matter what barbaric acts Mordred carried out, she never lowered herself to his level. She was better than him. And he admired and loved her for it.
“Landing in sixty seconds,” the disembodied voice of their pilot said into their headsets.
Mordred gave a thumbs-up and tried to smile, but he didn’t much feel like being all that celebratory, and it came out as more of a grimace, which made Diana laugh.
“Glad someone still has a sense of humor,” Mordred said. “I think I left mine in Moscow.”
“You haven’t even made a Mario joke, or hummed that cursed tune,” Remy said. “I’m beginning to wonder if you’re feeling okay. I forgot to ask: How was your nightclub fight?”
“You know, you build these things up in your head and they’re never quite as good in practice as they are in theory.”
“Like threesomes,” Diana said, making several of the group look at her. “I lived through ancient Rome. Yeah, there was the occasional orgy. It’s not a big deal.”
“The more I learn about you, the prouder I am of you,” Remy said.
“Are you okay?” Fiona asked Mordred.
Mordred figured she was still worried that he was going to snap at any moment and try to butcher everyone. He doubted there was a lot he could do to change her mind about that. Didn’t mean he wouldn’t continue to try. For some reason changing people’s perceptions of him from what he used to be to what he was now sat as an important thing to do in his mind. He wanted . . . no, needed people to understand that he had changed.
“I am fine, Fiona,” Mordred told her. “I do not plan on any homicidal rages at the moment.”
“You should make sure we know in advance,” Nabu said. “I like to plan ahead.”
“Was that a joke?” Mordred asked.
“Holy shit, Nabu made a joke,” Remy said.
“Actually I really do like to plan ahead,” Nabu said. “It’s sort of my thing.”
“Are you still joking?” Remy asked, clearly confused about the conversation. “I really don’t know with you.”
“I am one of life’s little mysteries,” Nabu said with a warm smile.
The helicopter touched down a few seconds later, and everyone waited for the engine to be turned off before getting out. Everyone in the group had several weapons and a backpack with supplies, all given to them by Polina, along with a gentle suggestion not to return to Moscow anytime in the near future.
Mordred opened his dark backpack and removed an energy bar, taking a bite as he pulled his fur-lined hat further over his ears.
“Well, this is desolate,” he said, looking across the frozen landscape. The large open plain where they’d landed was covered in several inches of snow and was close to a forest. Mountains could be seen in the distance.
“How far to the abandoned village?” Nabu asked.
“A mile or so,” Diana said. “I contacted my friend. She’ll be there.”
“Feel like telling us a little bit more about her?” Fiona asked.
“Her name is Chao Wei.”
“She’s Chinese?” Remy asked.
Diana nodded. “Yes, she settled here about a century ago. She isn’t exactly full of social graces. She kind of likes her own company, and that’s why she lives in the middle of nowhere.”
“So, what is she?” Morgan asked.
“She’s a huli jing.”
Mordred was glad that based on the expressions on everyone’s face, no one else seemed to know what that meant, either. “What’s a huli jing?” he asked when it became evident that no one else was going to.
“Nine-tailed fox,” Nabu said. “A being that can turn themselves from human to fox. They can sense anything around them for dozens of miles. Any change, anything out of the ordinary. They can make people forget things, or poison them, and generally they’re just about screwing around with someone as much as possible. They’re a rare, and dangerous, species.”
“That sums Wei up pretty well,” Diana said.
“How is it everyone you know is dangerous?” Remy asked.
“I’m just lucky,” Diana said with a smile. “We’d better get moving.”
The group made their way toward the nearby forest, where the snow was less abundant.
“Anyone worried about tigers?” Remy asked.
“I am now,” Morgan said, looking around.
Diana sniffed the air. “There are no tigers within the vicinity. Trust me, you can smell them coming.”
“Well, you can,” Mordred said.
Remy sniffed the ground. “Bears, though.”
“Let’s get to the village,” Diana said. “Bears consider werebears a threat. If we’re in bear territory, it could see my presence out here as a challenge. We could do without the waste of time.”
The rest of the trek was done in silence, and an hour later they walked over the crest of a hill and looked down on a village built close to a series of cliffs that led further up into the mountains behind it.
“That would be some good climbing,” Nabu said. “That cliff face there must be a hundred feet high.”
“There’s a path that leads around it,” Diana said, pointing to a barely perceivable pathway that led from the village up around the cliff.
“So, where’s your friend going to meet us?”
“She’s already here,” Diana said. “About thirty feet to the left, closing in.”
Remy sniffed the air. “I smell fox.”
“I’ll go meet her,” Diana said, and walked off, leaving the rest of the group alone at the edge of the forest.
“You see that?” Nabu asked. He removed some binoculars from his backpack and looked through them before pointing to a large building at the side of the village. “What does that look like to you?”
“A prison,” Morgan said almost immediately after being given the binoculars. “A small prison, but a prison nonetheless. The windows are barred. The door has some big locks on the exterior.”