Page 77 of Dark Destiny: A New Thread in the Tapestry

Sullha was quiet for a long moment. "I never thought of your collective mind that way, and now I'm a little envious. I wish I could distribute my pains so they wouldn't affect me as much."

He chuckled. "The trade-off is sharing the joys."

"Worth it."

"I guess it is. Goodbye, Sullha." He handed the phone back to Yaaf.

One by one, the others came, not through the link but in person, surrounding him and forming a barrier of muscle between him and the rest of the world.

Your mother didn't celebrate giving you away, Bardov, the collective said in one voice. Someone built a religion from the grief, and it helped with the pain.

I know the reasoning, Bardov said. They took her son, and then they took her grief. He wrapped the tape once more around the bag's seam. And now she is the first lieutenant to a woman who wants to feed a child to a dead god. It doesn't matter how she became a monster, only that she is one now.

No one argued. When there was comfort to give, they gave it, and when there was none, they didn't pretend there was.

30

PETROV

"It smells so good out here." Petrov tucked Anita's hand into the crook of his arm. "Cut grass and grilled meat. It makes me hungry."

Dimitri and Mattie walked ahead of Anita and him, arguing about whether to turn left or right at the fork, as if the whole village were not twenty-five minutes away in any direction and consulting the interactive map on their phones was too complicated.

Thankfully, Mattie ignored Dimitri's inflated confidence in his navigation ability and pulled out her phone.

"It's that way." She steered them to the right turn.

"You've just eaten," Anita said. "You can't be hungry again already."

"I can always eat a good steak, followed by a glass of good vodka."

"Just a glass?" Dimitri said without turning back to look at them. "It used to be at least half a bottle."

Petrov groaned. "After my enforced sobriety, I'm afraid my capacity is diminished." He shot Anita a mock glare. "I was told I was a free man in this beautiful village, but since I brought my jailer along, I can't be free."

She rolled her eyes. "So dramatic, Konstantin. I agreed to the bar tonight, so stop complaining."

"But I like complaining. It's my favorite pastime."

"I thought it was drinking," Dimitri said from the front.

When they reached the Hobbit, it lived up to its name. The bar was built into the hill, with a round wooden door and two round windows, both shuttered, possibly for the night or permanently.

The bar looked like a barrel sticking out of the hillside, and Petrov liked it immediately.

"This is my kind of place."

Dimitri pulled the door open for Mattie. "After you, my lady." He held it until they were all inside, then closed it behind him.

It didn't smell of booze inside like Petrov had expected, and there were no rowdy drunk patrons either. Sparse lanterns hung from the wooden beams. The tables were made from barrels topped with rounds of polished wood, and the stools were made from smaller barrels or handmade from rough wood. Behind the enormous bar stood a pretty young woman with a welcoming smile and mischief in her eyes.

He liked her immediately as well.

"Welcome," she said with a heavy Scottish accent. "You must be the new scientists. I was told to expect you yesterday."

"We were too tired after moving and settling in." Anita walked to the bar and offered the woman her hand. "I'm Anita. Doctor Petrov's partner."

"I'm Fenella." She shook Anita's hand. "I'm glad you're here, even if you're a bit early. We don't open until eight."