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to keep him in sight. Her heart leaped when a uniformed employee stopped Atar as he tried to board. The train picked up speed while he argued with the man and she let her stiff posture relax slightly.
    When he shook his head and turned away, she dared to breathe again. For now, she had a reprieve. The train gained momentum and she laid her head against the thickly padded seat, allowing the tension in her nerves to dissipate. She had evaded him again.
    But for how long? He would keep coming. Crazy as it sounded, he must have some sort of mental fix on her as he had claimed to be able to keep finding her. Wherever she went, she wouldn’t be able to escape him.
    She didn’t think geographic distance posed a problem for his ability, so even fleeing to America or Australia wouldn’t stop him from coming for her. She would spend the rest of her life on the run. If he stopped pursuing her, Anca would send someone else. She was convinced Nikia was a threat.
    The pounding in her head made her acknowledge she was. Her control was tenuous and she feared Illiana would eventually overpower her again. When her mother’s mind obliterated her own, she would be dangerous once more.
    She bit back a hysterical laugh. She was the only thing standing between Illiana and her quest for power. With her fledgling strength and inability to withstand the migraines for more than a few hours at a time, what chance did she have? She should return to Corsova and let Anca deal with the situation, even if it meant her death.
    Tears burned her eyes when she contemplated that course of action. It would be for the best, perhaps, but she couldn’t do it. Not yet. She had barely had any time to experience life. It wasn’t fair to expect her to voluntarily surrender her body just yet, even to stop her mother. She would later, if she couldn’t control Illiana any longer.
    She swallowed the lump in her throat. She had no way of knowing when Illiana would overwhelm her. Unless she could eradicate all traces of her mother, she had to return to Corsova while still lucid.
    Nikia’s eyes snapped open when she experienced a glimmer of hope. Perhaps the answer rested with her grandmother’s people, in Minsk. If anyone would know how to banish Illiana, surely someone there would. They would help her. They had to.
    Just having a plan filled Nikia with a sense of peace and she was able to relax completely. She closed her eyes and dozed during the train ride from Zurich to Milan, vaguely planning how she would evade Atar long enough to catch a flight to Minsk. She must have a few hours on him, so she would be able to go to the airport, buy a ticket and be in Belarus before he could orient himself to her position. Once the threat of Illiana was removed, she would have no reason to fear returning to Corsova. Surely, Anca would give her the benefit of doubt if she returned voluntarily with an account of her mother’s possession and subsequent vanquishing.

Chapter 4
     
    The train station in Milan was busy. It was early evening, and many commuters were milling about. She kept her possessions close to her body and decided to stop long enough to buy a bag for her clothes and cash. It would be safer and more convenient to travel that way.
    Despite her circumspection, she couldn’t help looking up at the skylights in the ceiling, where glass covered the steel beams, allowing glimpses of the first stars in the darkening twilight. It was a beautiful sight, and the architecture temporarily enraptured her.
    She tore her gaze from the ceiling when she felt someone pulling on her garment bag. A young woman stood in front of her, trying to wrestle away the carrier. Nikia held on, knowing she could afford to lose the clothes but not the envelope of money and miscellaneous identification she had put in the zipped bag right before getting off the train.
    She pulled hard, knocking the woman to the ground. When Nikia saw her in the light from an overhead lamp, she realized it was just