“I left my flashlight in the cruiser,” he said glumly. “I’d better go back and get it.”
A silvery laugh prompted rustling sounds from the direction of the ceiling as bats chased the arcing notes into unseen spaces. Light sprang into existence, emanating in an eerie glow from the center of Baba’s outstretched palm.
“Oh, right,” Liam said, mentally kicking himself. “I forgot about that.”
“Don’t worry,” Alexei said, patting him on the shoulder so hard it almost knocked him over. “You get used to the magic after a while. If it doesn’t kill you first, of course. I can’t wait to see what the queen has to say about Baba letting you in on all our secrets.” His deep chuckle made Liam’s bones vibrate.
As they entered the main passageway, the shimmer of light revealed low, uneven ceilings and cold, dank walls that dripped with slimy water, creating an obstacle course of murky puddles underfoot. Mold spotted the walls, and shards of jagged stones marked old rock falls, hinting at treacherous possibility.
Occasional squeaks and rustling noises made it clear that the place had its own inhabitants, although none of them came out to greet the intruders to their underground home.
“Um, Barbara?” he said after they’d been walking for a few minutes. “What did Alexei mean about the queen? I thought you worked in the human world; she’s not your boss or anything, is she?”
Baba ducked under a stalactite. “Not technically,” she said.
Mikhail rolled his eyes, the gesture barely visible in the darkness. “As if the queen cares about technicalities.” He eeled gracefully around an outcropping that nearly took off Liam’s arm. “The Babas’ power is primarily tied to the mundane world, and that is where most of their responsibilities lie. They aren’t even allowed to use magic in the Otherworld, since that would throw off the balance between the planes as much as Maya’s use of magic on your side has. But their power and longevity is aided by the use of the Water of Life and Death, which is a gift from the queen.”
“And the queen never gives gifts without expecting something in return,” Gregori added in his usual calm tone. “In this case, the expectation is that while on the other side, the Baba Yagas will follow the queen’s laws, and when the Otherworld needs to call on a Baba for help with a Human problem, that Baba will do whatever is necessary.”
“Or else,” Baba grumbled. “It’s always fucking ‘or else.’”
Liam shut up and kept walking.
Eventually, the main passage widened out into a small circular antechamber where Liam could straighten up. His neck and back ached from walking crouched over, and his knees protested the uneven ground. Baba, although almost his height, seemed completely unaffected, although a few cobwebs hung from the jeweled net that temporarily restrained her floating cloud of hair. The Riders all looked a little battered, especially the very large Alexei.
They stood there for a moment, catching their breath and staring at two identical tunnels that meandered off in opposite directions. There was nothing to indicate which one Maya had taken. Liam scanned the ground, hoping for a handy clue, like a tiny sneaker or maybe a pointing arrow marked “this way.” There was nothing.
“Well, crap,” he muttered. “Now what? Do we split up?”
Baba moved from one opening to the other, then pointed decisively down the tunnel that veered off to the left. “This one,” she said.
Liam made a face. “More magic?” he asked.
She shook her head, the corner of her mouth twitching up in her trademark almost smile. She rooted herself in front of the opening on the right. “Come here and tell me what you smell.”
Baffled, he followed her instructions, thinking she’d spent too much time living with a dog. Dragon. Whatever.
“It smells like cave,” he said, wrinkling up his nose in distaste. “Wet, dirt, bat guano.”
“Fine.” Baba moved to the other opening. “And this one?”
Liam sniffed. “Wet, dirt . . . spring.” His eyes widened as he caught a whiff of what smelled like flowers and sun and growing things.
“Exactly,” Baba nodded. “That’s the Otherworld. The door must be close. Come on.” She hurried down the passage, leaving Liam and the others racing to catch up before the light vanished.
A few minutes later, musty dirt walls gave way to an archway that shimmered and shivered, filled with a mist that looked like moonlight swirled with a foggy morning’s first rays of sunlight. It made his skin crawl and called to his psyche at the same time, in siren tones that would have made him long to walk into it even if Maya hadn’t waited on the other side.