Fire and Sweets (Book 3 of Wolves of Milano)

13. Explanations, part 1

Mattias sits in his small office at the Gallery and counts his blessings. Maybe he should think of it as money, but it just sounds better. Blessings. The space and the catering costs have been covered and there is a hefty tally left over. The artists will be paid fairly and he gets a nice little bonus from the whole thing. Not only Kara’s works, but some others have been sold on the first day. Zsuzsanna has all her paintings sold to collectors that are just itching for a piece by her. He was monitoring the chatter in the online chat rooms. The regulars were all here last night.

He overheard Lea and her brilliant idea. He supports a few of his home town artists by helping them sell their art, but he’s not an agent. On the other hand, Kara might not be interested. He has the feeling that this exhibition was an exception, not a beginner's lucky card into the gallery world. She is a true artist. She strives to be better and paints when inspiration strikes her. She paints with chocolate every day and those creations are sold and consumed. It might take a few years for her to open up to the idea of selling her art pieces. He might never get a chance to sell another one.

“Hello, darling.” Zsuzsanna drawls from the door. “How did we do?”

“Great. Come sit with me.” Mattias smiles at her. “I paid the bills and there is a hefty amount left. We had a bidding war, you know.”

“Ooh. For what?” She asks. The grin on her face is an indicator that she’s in a great mood.

“For a few pieces, actually.” He tells her. “Two of yours, one of Lea’s and four of Kara’s paintings. She is a star in the making. I only hope she will not leave this at one exhibition. Her talent needs to be shown off.”

“I wonder. Maybe you can sway her into more shows?” She smiles.

“How? I can’t even sway her into acknowledging that we’re mates.” Mattias scoffs.

“Oh, darling. You are deep in trouble there.” She sighs. “This is not the place to talk about it. We might get overheard.”

“What do you suggest? Are you willing to tell me something?” He wonders.

“Yes, I’ll tell you more.” She smiles gently. “Can you come with me? Leave this for later, the paperwork won’t run away.”

“Where are we going?” Mattias inquires. He has the feeling he might not like it.

“Some place safe to talk. That’s all you need to know.” She winks at him.

Mattias follows her out the door of his office to stop dead in his stride and gape. He is not in the Gallery any more. The vast room is cold and the vaulted ceiling is made of wood. There are stuffed animals all around and the antlers on the walls would give the jones to the most designated hunter. It just scares him out of his mind. He only hunts for food, trophies are not his thing. The elaborate black marble throne is so out of place it’s not even funny. He just finds it misplaced here. Even when there is a matching table standing off to the side. What bothers him the most is the absolute quiet of this place. There is no life here. It’s so quiet he can hear his own blood flowing through his veins.

“What is this place?” Mattias whispers and his voice echoes around him.

“My temple. My home, so to say.” Devana smiles. “We’re all alone here. We can talk about everything without anyone overhearing us.”

“Olympus?” He gapes in wonder.

“No.” She laughs and her voice dances around the empty space. “I’m not Greek, don’t insult me. This is the Sky, the realm of Slavic gods.”

“I’m sorry. I didn't mean to insult you.” He tells her. He hangs his head and waits for the blows to come, but nothing happens.

He looks up after a few seconds and she is only looking at him, but she says nothing. He must remember he’s not talking with his mother. Devana is different. She is gentle, whereas his mother is harsh. She is love, and smiles, and sunshine, his mother could best be described as cold. He is not supposed to be thinking about his mother, that is not why they are here. They came here to talk. But he might wait for the goddess to say something first.

“Oh, come on!” Devana laughs. “You know I'm not like that.”

“I know. I’m sorry.” He nods.

“Let’s get this more homey.” She declares and snaps her fingers. The stuffed animals vanish and the antlers, too. A nice sofa appears in the middle of the room. A coffee table and recliners are next. And she even tops the assembly with a Persian rug. It just looks cozy and inviting now. The looming throne can be overlooked, if he selects the sofa that has it’s back to it. 

“We really are in another realm? You never used magic around me before.” Mattias scoffs. He is not in Italy, that’s for sure.

“Well…” She chuckles. “That has two explanations. One: I didn’t have access to my magic for a long time. Two: humans are not supposed to see magic.”

“I’m the lucky one then? Thank you.” He winks. He hopes to get her to open up and tell him things. The questions are building and she has the answers.

“I’m sorry I can't offer you food or drinks. Magic takes a toll on me, we’re not worshipped like we used to be. I have to save my strength.” Devana smiles at him.

“To get back?” Mattias inquires. He thinks it might not be good to be stuck here.

“I have a portal key for that. No worries there. Veles made sure we can travel in style and not run out of magic. It would be bad to get stuck somewhere. We used to just teleport around before. That would deplete my magic completely for days. So, I’m really grateful for the key.” Devana explains to him.

“That’s all very interesting. Why is Veles different?” Mattias asks.

“He is the god of magic. He is also the god of the Underworld. He is the keeper of the damned souls. Imagine what horrors could escape, if he lost his magic?” Devana shakes her head. “But that’s not why we’re here.”

“No. Will you tell me about Kara?” Mattias asks.

“I will. I think you need to understand what’s going on before you get in too deep. Right now you can still back out with minimum pain.” She nods.

“I can’t back out! She’s my mate! That’s final. There is no backing out with fated mates.” Mattias looks over at the goddess. Did she lose her marbles on the way to this realm? What is she talking about? 

“Relax. Mate bonds can be broken, even with fated mates. Since your bond is not firm yet, there would not be much pain. You can get out, if you really want to.” Devana explains. “It’s not done lightly, not very often either. It’s always the last resort. The longer the bond is in place, the more pain there is. Some never survived the bond being broken.”

“How do you know so much about it?” Mattias inquires.

“I’ve been around for a long time. There have always been werewolves. Some other creatures have mates too. But if you want a bond broken, Veles is the safest bet.” Devana continues.

“I don’t want it broken. I want her. She’s perfect.” Mattias shakes his head no.

“I see. Maybe you will change your mind. I just want you to know there are other options.” She smiles gently. “In the end, the decision is yours to make. Don’t let anyone force you or take that away from you.”

“Is it that bad?” He wonders out loud.

“Worse.” Devana says. The look in her eyes scares him and he swallows hard. He is half on edge to just cancel everything and go back to Milano. Half decided to rather not know anything and let life surprise him. Let Kara tell him, convince him to let her go, if she so wishes.

“It all started with Marco. Not when he fell in love with my cousin Morrana, it was well before that. The first signs were there when Vito sold his own son off to Vesna. Granted, she didn’t know what she signed. Vesna is terrible in Italian and the contract was full of selected, hard to understand words. It was a blood contract that bound Marco to Vesna. They found out later that Vito was so convinced of his own words that he would kill Marco to assure the contract. Morrana got him out, but with consequences. Vito was too blinded in his own ways, that he couldn’t be reasoned with. He tried to kill Marco, but he shot Morrana instead. Her punishment was a week in the Underworld. It breaks the most stubborn of people, but he relished in his craziness and got even more paranoid and deranged. He started to micro manage everything in his pack. He got it in his head that the old ways were better. The arranged marriages, the control of the Alpha over the everyday life of his pack. What and where the pack members work. Who they hang out with, who they love. He brought in some new enforcers and has them spy on his own children and nephews.”

“That’s terrible.” Mattias whispers.

“I’m not done yet.” Devana shakes her head. “He had his own son, Vittorio, kidnapped, imprissoned and tortured. Luckily for him, Vittorio’s mate is a very special kind of shifter. She got him out. Then he had the girlfriend of one of his nephews kidnapped. The girl is human, he nearly outed the whole shifter community. Alessio fought for her and won. They are with Vesna right now, because Vito couldn’t take it that his nephew won. He exiled him from the pack, from Milano, too. I got it from Kara that he plans to marry off all of the unmarried, full grown wolves. For alliances with packs that nobody cares about. He is up to something. I just know it! Those packs that live on the fringes of society, that look to the old ways, that are too insignificant to count, he’s building alliances with them. Why?”

“I hope that was rhetorical? I have no idea.” Mattias tells her. “That all sounds awful. I have to get Kara out of there. I have no idea how. I don’t know if she would want to leave, but I have to get her out. She is too good for a messed up pack like this.” 

“She is special. Getting her out won’t be easy. And you can’t just kidnap her. That would be stooping down to Vito’s level of bad.” Devana scoffs.

“Yeah. Since she won’t tell me all this herself, I have to think of a strategy that will work. I have to convince her to go with me.” Mattias says. He stands up to pace. He thinks better, if he’s moving. “My father will never allow me to break the silence. I can’t count on my heritage for help, and she won’t go with me as long as she thinks I’m a lone wolf. He really set me up to fail from the start and he doesn’t even know it.”

“Talk to him. Maybe he will let you tell her, if he knows that she’s your mate? But you can’t know, if you don’t ask him. Don’t let the fear of your father ruin the best thing you found out there. Fight for your mate! Or you can just give up now and go back home.” Devana shrugs.

“Go home to die a slow death? Or do you suggest getting the bond broken first?” Mattias whirls on the goddess, but she is not where he expected her to be.

“Your choice, remember?” Devana smiles at him. She is sitting on her throne, wearing an elaborate leather dress. There is a bow and quiver at her hand and she looks regal, like a queen…like the goddess that she is.

“I choose to fight.” Mattias tells her. He is determined to win Kara for himself.