The Son of Ice and Dusk

Where I am helped by a villain

"You know, in a way," Vitaly started the lesson by saying. "This building belongs to me, too. A few years after my father left to return to Russia, my mother met a man and decided she wanted to escape too. And the Winters took me in and raised me as a son."

I turned around, to look at Jeff. "This building... is this where you and your grandfather live when there aren't any lessons?"

"Yes, it's always been our house," Jeff replied. He didn't look bothered. Well, that I could understand. I would have liked to have a house of my own. I wouldn't have looked at the details either.

"Why," Jeff added softly, talking to our new teacher. "Why didn't you defend my father's name?"

"I've always found it very unfair, what happened to him, but there was nothing I could do.

Being three years younger than Sam, I observed him and looked up to him. And I noticed that, while we were getting older, he was becoming weird and obsessed. I still viewed him as a hero, but there was no denying he was acting strangely.

He thought our fame could make us vulnerable to the attacks of Typhons, which weren't as common back then. He was obsessed with finding the Enemy Mirror. He thought only by getting it he would stand a chance against his imaginary enemies.

Maybe he knew something that I didn't know, because it turned out the threat was real enough. They came looking for him. And I didn't know what to do anymore, I loved him so much. I loved him too much."

"My mother loved him too much too," Jeff replied, angrily. "That is why she died when he died, instead of running away and making people believe she was dead."

Vitaly looked very embarrassed, as if he didn't feel like explaining his point of view in all of this.

"They caught me after that," he explained finally.

"Well," I offered. "That's good enough for me."

I was still hoping Vitaly could be my father. And besides, I wasn't angry at him either way. I will admit it — if I found myself in that situation, I probably wouldn't have run. Still, I couldn't blame Vitaly for a choice he made when he was very young. If he said he'd been kidnapped, I believed him.

"So," I said. "When can I start training with Brady Doyle so that I can learn how to control my magic?"

Vitaly looked at me from head to toe, pondering, as if he was looking in my appearance for something that could justify my stupid questions.

"Not so fast," Vitaly finally said. "You might want to learn a little patience, too."

"Perhaps we should call my grandfather and tell him about the lessons..." Jeff started saying.

"No!" Raegan interjected. "Please, Jeff, we can learn something, this way. He'll put an end to this."

"Go ahead, call your grandfather, send him a speed letter," Vitaly shrugged. "If he finds out, it's worse for you than it is for me. That man is very fond of giving out punishments."

Vitaly was, in his own way, being funny, so I couldn't help but let out a little laugh.

"No, seriously," he added. "If you went to Cornwall lying to him, just to ask the Circle important information about illegal matters, I wouldn't send him a letter anytime soon if I were you."

"How do you know that?" Jeff asked, suspicious.

"Brady told me everything he's seen, and also the things he was able to understand. Handsome and perceptive, that man."

"What does Malinov mean?" Edgar asked. "Didn't you go to Cornwall to tell the Circle about Sean? What is it that you're investigating?"

"Hey," I bit back. "You can't expect us to tell you the truth as if it didn't mean anything. Not after we had to find out from your father that you faked your way into the Academy."