Gods of Old, Part 3: Vesna

Chapter 4: Heartbroken

Ty stands there in the empty apartment and wonders what the hell just happened here? Where did she go? ‘Did you say she’s our mate?’ He asks his dragon. ‘Well, she is. Don’t you feel it?’ The dragon smirks. ‘Right now, I feel confused. What do we do?’ Ty asks. ‘Burn down the city and make her come back?’ The dragon answers with glee. ‘No! You are not helpful.’ Ty shuts down the dragon and looks around once more.

Her purse and phone are on the small table by the sofa and the phone is locked, of course. There is a landline phone by the door, artfully arranged with a vase of fake roses and a notebook. Oh, I hope that’s not just decoration, he thinks. He takes the notebook, carefully and opens it to see a few numbers written in. He picks up the old fashioned handset and smiles when he hears the dial tone. He spins the numbers and waits for Ilona to answer.

“Hello?” Ilona answers carefully. 

“Hey. This is Ty.” He says, relieved that she picked up. “I’m so grateful you have your own number in the notebook and that this phone is not just a decoration item.”

“What is wrong?” She asks him.

“I don’t know. Vesna disappeared on me.” He tells her and tries hard to sound normal even though sadness is threatening to overcome him.

“What did you do?” Ilona probes for more.

“I was just so happy when you said I can have the apartment that I kissed her.” Ty answers honestly. He has the feeling that he can trust Ilona. “I just don’t understand this.”

“Well, neither do I. I could tell that she likes you.” Ilona sounds just as confused as he feels right now. “Can you find your way back here?”

“I don’t know. I don’t even know what part of the city I’m in.” He confesses.

“OK. Wait for me. Veles is not back yet, but I think I can try the portal key on my own. I haven’t done this before, so it might take a while.” Ilona tells him.

“I can’t go anywhere. The door is locked and I don’t see a key laying around.” Ty smirks.

“Oh!” Ilona exclaims. “I’ll bring a key.”

“Thank you.” Ty whispers before she hangs up.

Ty wanders around the apartment a bit and researches the kitchen cabinets. He finds a decent coffee and decides to make some as the coffee maker is the easy to operate kind. He hopes Ilona can get to him without getting lost, he would hate to cause even more problems. He hears a bang and some muffled cursing from the living room and he peaks from around the door carefully. He can see Ilona inspecting the wall in the hallway, but everything seems fine to him.

“Hi. I made coffee. I hope you don’t mind?” Ty speaks up to stop feeling like a creep spying on her from around the corner..

“Oh, wonderful! I need some.” She looks in his direction. “Did I damage the wall?”

“It looks the same to me. What did you do?” He frowns.

“I banged the door into the wall. I have to be more careful next time.” She looks sheepish. “It was my first time using the portal key.”

“As long as you’re OK.” He comments nonchalantly. He really doesn’t care about the wall, but she doesn’t need to know that. “How do you like your coffee?”

“Just a bit of sugar, no milk.” She says as she drops on the sofa.

Ty brings Ilona her coffee and joins her by sitting on the recliner. He looks at the beautiful redhead and wishes she would be his friend even if Vesna rejected him.

“Now, tell me what happened? Did she use her portal key?” Ilona asks him.

“I kissed her and she demanded I let her go. Then she just faded out. Like that visual effect you can do in Power Point?” Ty tells her.

“Oh my! And she left her phone and purse here.” Ilona points to the items on the table. “This is serious. Are you sure nothing else happened?”

Ty looks at Ilona and contemplates how much he can say without frightening the human. But he distinctly remembers Vesna mentioning wolf shifters in front of her, so she must know a lot about their world. Would she hold it against him if he tells her? ‘I think you can trust her. She’s pure.’ His dragon speaks up. ‘How sure are you about that? You remember father said not to trust people?’ Ty asks his dragon. ‘I’m sure. Besides, you felt like you could trust her before.’

“My dragon says I can trust you.” Ty starts and stops right there.

“You can. I can promise not to tell anyone anything if you want.” Ilona smiles softly.

“We’re mates.” He whispers.

“Oh my god! And she left you here? Does she know?” Ilona is appalled and he can hear the sympathy in her voice. 

“Yes. She heard the word when my dragon said it. I think my hands were on her shoulders at the time.” He admits to Ilona.

“Oh, dear. What happens if she rejects you? Will your dragon be OK?” Ilona asks, concerned for him. “I know that Marco had to go with Morrana or his wolf would go insane without her.”

“I think I’ll be fine. Miserable, but fine.” He smirks. “I guess Marco and Morrana were bonded already. Who are they, anyway?”

“Oh, I’m sorry! Talking about people you don’t know.” Ilona apologises. “Morrana is Vesna’s sister and Marco was Vesna’s assistant before Allegra. Marco is a wolf shifter and Morrana is a goddess. They met at our wedding.”

“They were definitely bonded from what you told me.” He smirks.

“Were you raised in a castle? The aristocracy way?” Ilona suddenly changes the topic.

“I beg your pardon?” Ty is taken aback by her sudden change of topic and the question she presented. His dragon c***s his head to listen more carefully at the conversation, it doesn’t happen often that Ty is shocked by something.

“Yes, that answers it.” Ilona laughs. “That question and the way you sit there, the way you hold your coffee cup and the perfect English with no accent.”

“It was a mansion, not a castle. We lived in Fairfax for the first thirty years of my life and I had the best English tutors.” Ty tells her.

“What did you study?” Ilona inquires and he suddenly remembers that she’s a journalist.

“Medicine.” He smiles a bit and promptly lets the smile disappear as he looks at her glazed eyes. “I’m so sorry. Are you OK?”

“Oh, yes.” Ilona shakes her head a bit. “Go on. You wanted to tell me something.”

“I studied Medicine, because I was fascinated by the doctor that came to see one of our staff that had an accident. I actually got the chance to intern at his practice.”

“So, you are a real doctor?” Ilona asks for clarification.

“Not anymore. That was ages ago.” Ty waves his hand. “And the diploma is probably only valid in England.”

Ilona’s phone rings in the middle of their conversation and she frowns while looking at it. 

“Oh, I need to take this. It’s Veles, I don’t want him to worry.” She excuses herself. “Hey, love, I missed you.”

“Well, hello. I came home to an empty apartment.” He says. “Where are you two?”

“I’m at my old apartment and I have no idea where Vesna is right now. Give me a minute or two and I’ll be back.” She tells him.

“I’ll wait.” Veles answers. “I love you.”

“Love you, too.” Ilona sings on the phone before hanging up. She turns to Ty and asks him: “Do you want to come with me? Veles might have an idea about what to do.”

Ty is a bit sceptical about going to see Veles, he is Vesna’s brother after all,and a god, angering gods does not end well. He might take this wrong and Ty feels out of his depth here. Everything is new and so different from home. Can he trust them? Is there something he can do on his own? He has no clue what that might be or where to start. Maybe Veles is the best person to ask for help. ‘Ilona is waiting for you. Go with her. I have a good feeling about her.’ His dragon gives him a mental shove.

“I’ll come with you. Just don’t tell him I’m all lost here.” Ty pleads. “I have to figure out this life away from my parents.”

“Don’t worry. We can help you if you ask, but you have to ask.” Ilona smiles at him. “I wish I had someone to help me with that transition. New country, new language and I still can’t speak Italian well. But I met Vesna after just four months of living here. She became my best friend, instantly.”

“I can do that, I think.” Ty answers, carefully. “How are we getting back there? And my car is still in the garage there.”

“The portal. I just have to be more careful with the door.” Ilona shows him the key. “Here we go.”

Ty thinks to himself that the redhead lady is an adventurer, she takes everything in stride, nothing fazes her for long and he just might learn something from her. He watches her open the portal and how she carefully handles the door. There is a shimmer, almost invisible and he nearly missed it, but the room revealed on the other side is not a bedroom, but the living room in Vesna’s apartment. He can see a large man sitting on the sofa, a drink in his hand. He is giving away the impression of waiting there patiently, but Ty can feel the power just radiating off of the man in waves.

“Hi, love.” Ilona greets the man. “Veles, this is Ty. He is a friend of Vesna’s and he’ll be renting my apartment for a while.”

“Hello, dragon.” Veles laughs, but makes no move to stand up or greet him properly. “You will abandon that etiquet your father insists on quite fast. There are no lords around here and the common folk will look at you oddly anyway. No need to stand out even more.”

“Hello.” Ty greets with a nod. “You can tell what I am?”

“Sure. You look just like your father.” Veles answers. “So, tell me, what is Ty short for? I can’t imagine Lothor giving you such a modern name.”

“Do I have to tell you? That’s so embarrassing.” Ty drops his head down and bites his lip.

“Oh, come on. It can’t be that bad.” Ilona joins in on the conversation with a fresh cup of coffee in hand.

“It is.” He whispers. “How much coffee do you drink?”

Ilona laughs at the comment and Veles only looks amused at the question. “I’m a journalist, coffee is my fuel. Do not ever withhold coffee from me, that’s just a friendly warning for you. Now, be nice and tell us your name.”

“Tyberius.” Ty whispers and waits for the mocking to begin.

“An old, noble name. After the second Roman Emperor Tiberius Caesar Augustus more commonly known as Nero.” Veles gives a small lecture for Ilona. “Appropriate for a dragon, I would say. Nero did burn Rome to the ground. I hope you don’t have the same urges?”

“I can control my fire very well.” Ty smirks.

“Good.” Is all Veles has to say to that matter. 

Ty meets Ilona’s eyes and she nods at him. He’s still not totally convinced that he can trust Veles, but the man didn’t mock him for his unfortunate name. A sigh escapes his lips and he catches himself falling back in his childhood habit of biting his lower lip.

“I hate to do this, but I have to ask you a favour.” Ty swallows his trepidation. “It seems that Vesna is my mate and she disappeared on me when my dragon just blurted the word out.”

“And we have to cancel the party she had planned for this weekend. We can’t have a party here, if we don’t even know where she is.” Ilona says suddenly.

“Hm.” Veles responds and falls quiet.

“What?” Ty and Ilona ask at the same time.

“This will be tough. Vesna is a master when it comes to disappearing. We might need help.” Veles tells them after some deliberation.