LIAM’S HEART SHATTERED into a million pieces at the sight of Melissa, writhing between two burly guards, each of whom had a firm grip on one skinny arm. Her face was a mess of torn skin, pink and blotchy from crying, and her red hair was ragged and dirty, hanging in long stringy clumps. She was barely recognizable as the sweet, attractive woman he’d once called his wife. In front of the trio, another guard walked next to a small girl with asymmetrical pixie-cut dark hair, a snub nose, and a solemn demeanor. She looked to be about six years old, too young to be so self-possessed. Melissa’s wails cut across the room like a scythe, making all heads turn in her direction and scattering the birds overhead to safer perches far up in the rafters.
He took an involuntary step in her direction, stomach churning and hands clenched, but Baba stopped him.
“Wait,” she said quietly. “I know this is hard to witness, but wait.” She patted his back lightly, three quick taps that were like a bear hug coming from anyone else. So he waited, although he felt as though his soul was being flayed and shredded.
“What is this?” the queen asked, disgust flitting across her normally impassive countenance. She narrowed her eyes at the lead guard. “Who are these people?”
“You ordered us to search Maya’s residence, Majesty, once Zorica told us how to find it,” the warrior said, nodding in the giantess’s direction. She huddled in one corner of the throne room, trying to make herself seem smaller and failing miserably. “We found these two Humans there and assumed that the child was one of those who had been taken. So we brought them both to you.”
Next to Liam, Baba wrinkled her long nose. “I thought you said there were only three children missing,” she whispered. “Do you know who that child is?”
He peered more closely at the dark-eyed sprite, who gazed coolly back in his direction, but he didn’t recognize her. “There were only three. Maya must have stolen this one from somewhere else.”
“Is this one of yours?” the queen asked Liam.
He shook his head. “No, Your Majesty.”
“Explain this,” the queen demanded of Maya. “Who are these Humans and what are they doing in my realm?”
The Rusalka let out a dramatic puffed-air sigh that reminded Liam of the teenagers he occasionally arrested for shoplifting or spray-painting graffiti on historical landmarks. But she’d apparently decided that she had nothing to lose by complying with the queen’s demands, now that she had lost her last playing piece in the game.
Or perhaps she simply wanted an opportunity to brag about her own cleverness, despite the end results.
“I found this woman a couple of years ago,” Maya said, pointy chin held proudly in the air. “She had accidentally wandered through a newly opened portal—caused by the disruption of the earth the Humans call hydrofracking—dazed from abusing her body with alcohol and who knows what else. Her mind was so far gone, she barely even noticed she was in a different world.” She rolled her murky sea glass eyes at the frailty of mortals.
“I took her home with me and cleaned her up, fed her, and, once I had convinced her to show me the location of the door, procured an infant to replace the one whose death had caused her to fall so far into despair and madness.”
Liam’s rage warred with his sorrow like rival boxers in a grudge match at hearing this depressing tale. Poor Melissa—not run away with the circus after all, but lost down a rabbit hole to a fantastical world, then falling into the clutches of a selfish, ambitious creature who used a shattered and despairing woman to further her own demented plans. He suddenly felt as bloodthirsty as Baba, wishing he had torn Maya apart with his bare hands when he’d had the chance.
Baba heard the little growl at the back of his throat and gave him a tiny crooked smile in sympathy. “Wait,” she said again. “We need to hear this.” Pat. Pat. Pat.
“And where, pray tell, did you get the infant?” the king interjected, nodding at the small child. “I assume this is she?”
Maya shrugged, seaweed hair flopping around her shoulders. “Once I had access to the door, I began to explore the world beyond. Not far from where the portal opened, there was an isolated farmstead. I killed the parents, took the child, and burned the place to the ground. It was quite simple.” A regretful look flitted over her pallid face.