Adversity (Cursed #2.5)

  ***

  Kali

  In the days counting down to her wedding, Kali realised she was carrying Andriy’s child. She had known when they’d made love that the time was right for her to conceive, but she was so interested in comfort and any act that would take her pain away—even momentarily—that she’d purposefully disregarded the possible consequences. She hadn’t cared what would happen next. She had lived for the moment, and now the future was planning on making her pay for it.

  The baby could be her way out, but the truth was dangerous. No man would marry her if he knew she was already pregnant at the time of the wedding, by another man. Her father would lose out on the riches he hoped to gain from her. Her people would punish, shun, and reject her everywhere she turned. She could be called before the Kris, suffer her gypsy blood to be taken from her, and lose her magic, perhaps even her child. But she could avoid all of that. All she had to do was run.

  She hadn’t seen Andriy since the day he loved her. She hadn’t gone back to the village. Her father had beaten her, but some of the camp women intervened, saying it wasn’t right to make her return so soon to fortune-telling. The women wanted her to reconcile Drina’s death with her physical body, lest Drina’s spirit returned, unable to rest in peace. Kali would have preferred the beating, for that kind of pain was preferable. At least her father’s beatings had kept her thoughts away from her broken heart.

  She made her decision that night and crept away in the dead of night. She had found Andriy before, so she would go to him again to say goodbye, at the very least.

  If her father or Besnik found her out, they would harm Andriy for taking something of theirs, and she hesitated.

  Andriy made her decision for her. He came for her on the eve of her wedding. She saw him in the distance, beyond her people’s campgrounds, and she knew it was him, for she recognised in him everything that marked him as hers.

  She didn’t hesitate to run to him, pulling him behind a copse of trees so they wouldn’t be seen.

  “What are you doing here?”

  His chin shook. “I heard your wedding was tomorrow. My wife found out and rubbed it in my face. She boasted she had sent men to rape you and make you unclean, in the hopes your people would kill you before the wedding. She has a black heart. The way she spoke… I can’t live with her hate.”

  “I’m running away,” she told him, anguished by the pain in his eyes.

  “Why?”

  She took his hand and pressed it against her stomach, gazing at him meaningfully. He stared at her, awe in his expression.

  “Truly?”

  She nodded, a giggle of excitement escaping her lips. She never thought the idea of a child would please her, but Andriy’s child was something else. The thought of them, combining to make one perfect being, made her heart soar with happiness.

  “We could run together,” he said. “We could change our names. Marry. Live free lives. I can’t get your touch out of my mind, Kali. Everything else has tasted like ash since I tasted you. I could never be happy without you.”

  She kissed his lips. “We’re meant to be. We’re soul mates, Andriy. I’ll run anywhere with you.”

  They left in the dark, taking nothing except the wolfhound called Dog. They made sure to avoid any villages close to gypsy camps. Andriy helped them survive by working odd jobs in the villages in which they stopped, and she did the usual palm reading and fortune-telling while her belly swelled.

  Each kick from the baby inside her filled her with awe. She thought she might love the baby even more than she idolised his father. She knew it was a boy; she could sense him clearly. Part of her wished it was Drina’s son reincarnated.

  The shadows grew ever closer and never let her forget her heritage. The shadows were brought upon her by her father’s black magic. She wouldn’t allow them to have her child. Never would she allow that.

  A thunderstorm tore the sky apart on the night she went into labour. She and Andriy, accompanied only by Dog, huddled together in the small room they rented. She still didn’t know what possessed her to take the animal, but he had served them well so far.

  She dreamt through the pain. Nightmarish visions of her sister covered in blood, her hands reaching for Kali, begging with her dead eyes. The dreams didn’t bode well for her, and for the first time, she wondered if her baby would die, too. Perhaps that would be her punishment for her sins.

  But the birth went easily, and Kali’s first glimpse of her baby changed everything for her. Her heart belonged to him. She knew it as soon as she felt that first whoosh of true love when his eyes had opened, dark eyes that didn’t waver from hers. Promise and possibility lay in his eyes. To Kali, he was pure beauty, and her heart swelled at the strength in his little fingers and the force behind his kicks.

  For six months, the three of them had the perfect life filled with love, happiness, and contentment. She had everything she ever wanted. She stopped looking over her shoulder, and started believing that maybe she deserved every second of the happiness she had stolen. She relaxed and learned to love her life.

  Until her father found them.

  He came while Andriy was gone with Dog, and he barged through her door as though it were made of cotton.

  “I heard you were here. Knew it had to be you. The clan wants me to take you back with me. Besnik wanted to call you before the Kris until the bandolier persuaded him otherwise.” He hacked up a laugh. “He wants me to pay him for what you did. And the wise old bandolier has decided he will not be harsh so long as I do. I’m being punished for your betrayal. I’m suffering for your devil antics.”

  The baby in the corner whimpered as the chovihano’s voice rose into a shout. Knowing the power of her father’s words, Kali positioned herself between her father and her son, and spoke evenly.

  “Calm down. You’re upsetting him. We’ll pay you back. Leave us now, and we’ll pay you whatever you feel you’re owed.”

  “Owed? I’m owed a life debt, daughter. I’m not here to take you back. I’m here to choke the life out of you.”

  “Leave me, coward. I’ll not listen to your ugly words. Sneaking around when Andriy isn’t here. You made your own promises; I didn’t help you with that. Suffer with them on your shoulders.” She could see the murder in his eyes, knew her time would run out soon, but if she could hold him off for a while, then Andriy would return to protect their son. All she cared about was her son.

  He watched her move protectively, and she saw her mistake. “Oh, I’m not here to end his life,” he said with a hateful sneer. “I’m here to curse every second of his existence. I want you to die knowing he carries the burden of your sins on his shoulders. I promise you he will live a long, agonizing life alone.”

  A shudder ran through her as the room darkened. The baby’s whimpers became sobs, and Kali could barely keep her eyes on her father.

  “Let him be. He’s no harm to you,” she said. “I’ll give you anything if you forget he exists.” Her voice shook because she knew what he would do. He wanted them to suffer, and he had the black magic to do it.

  “I cast you out.” He spat out the words, and their severity stilled the blood in her veins. “Your blood will never find peace. Your descendents will be hounded with the search for happiness and love. Like you, they’ll forget everything but their obsession, and it will slip from their grasp every time. They will mourn. They will suffer. They will never be guardians. They will never protect a soul.”

  His words hypnotised her, and she felt the power in the tremors of his voice. The shadows grew closer, clinging to her father, filling him with power.

  “No!” she screamed. “Leave us be!” She could take the pain, but she would never allow her child to suffer from it. The shadows touched her, exploring, cautious in their attempt to see if she would accept them. She had her son to consider. She would inhale everything they gave her if it meant she could save him from a life of pain.

  “My son will find his soul mate,” she said. “They
won’t have eyes for anyone but each other, and they will do anything to protect each other. And his son will find a soul mate, and his grandson. Every single one through the generations will find true love, and when a daughter is born to take over my power, your words will be meaningless. Lost forever.”

  He laughed, a laugh full of madness, and he ran for her. His fingers found her throat and squeezed hard. Choking, she stuck her fingers in his eyes and pushed. He fell away, burned by the black magic in her blood, the very magic he had ensured she was gifted with, and the look of fear on his face only compelled her to go further.

  “You cast me out? You cannot take what’s mine, but your people will regret this day for eternity. They will see the dead at every turn, and there will never again be guardians for your clan to use,” Kali intoned. “My children will grow stronger while your people wither and die. You will be persecuted and turned away at every village. The blame for everything will rest on your shoulders. You will all suffer for this. Mark my words.”

  “You play with the darkness, but you know nothing of the consequences. You know not what the payment will be. But know this, as much as mine are persecuted, so will yours be. Hunted always because you didn’t know your place. Haunted by madness from loss. You foolish girl.”

  She didn’t see the flick of his wrist until it was too late. She felt the burn of the stab wound only when the blood ran down her skirts. His gaze flickered toward her son, and she forgot about the pain. She would never let that man hurt her child.

  She slapped her father’s face, but the force of the shadows was behind her. She felt the malevolence in her veins, and then she felt its glee as she decided she would outlive her father. They struggled for the knife, but her strength soon overpowered him. He managed to pin down her arms as he aimed for her throat again, but she could have sworn she saw Drina behind him, pulling him away.

  His hands released her, and a harsh breath filled her lungs, but blood spurted from her lips as she exhaled. Shadows edged her sight, but she heard struggling, grunting, and a whimper across the room.

  A death rattle.

  Andriy knelt by her side, his eyes wet with tears.

  “Is he dead?” she managed to whisper.

  He nodded. “Kali… what can I do?”

  “Take our baby. Take Dog. Run from here, and keep him safe. Promise me, Andriy. He’ll need guidance. When he’s sixteen, he will change for the first time. He’ll need help to tame the wolf. And my father managed to curse him.”

  “I don’t believe in curses. I believe in us, and I won’t leave you.”

  “You have to,” she hissed at him, mildly horrified by the way her blood sprayed across his face. He didn’t even blink. “My father cursed our son, Andriy. Said he wouldn’t find love. That he would suffer with loss and madness. I made it so he’ll find his soul mate, but others might come for him. You have to protect him.”

  Her heart slowed. Hazy darkness surrounded her, and when she delved into her own future, it didn’t exist.

  “I can’t do this without you.” Andriy’s tears fell on her, mixing with her blood.

  “They might come for you, as well. When he’s old enough, you must warn him of the curse. You have to help him understand. I tried to change it, but…”

  The last sounds she heard were the screams of a baby and the sobs of a broken-hearted man.