Baba rolled her eyes, moving away to a marginally safer distance. Not that any distance was safe when Koshei was around. She thought it was unlikely that he’d actually missed her—or noticed how long it had been since they’d seen each other, for that matter. But it was nice of him to say so.
Koshei had been the companion of the Baba before her; for all she knew, he’d been the companion of all the Babas in their line back down through history. After all, dragons could live for a very long time, even without magical assistance. Humans might think the arrangement was strange, but the Babas existed in a different world that went by very different rules. And in that world, which was often a harsh and unforgiving place, you took your pleasure where you could find it.
Koshei glanced around the Airstream, taking in the empty beer bottles and grease-stained pizza boxes the Riders had left behind. “I’m hurt,” he said, without any evidence to demonstrate his claim. “You had a party and didn’t invite me.” Chudo-Yudo snorted with amusement and strolled over to open the fridge with his large teeth, miraculously fetching their visitor a beer without breaking it into sharp-edged shards.
“Good dog,” Koshei said with a straight face, giving Chudo-Yudo the treat he’d had tucked in the pocket of his tailored charcoal-hued pants. “Nice to see you, old friend.”
“Oh, don’t encourage him,” Baba scolded. “You know perfectly well he can only pull that off about a third of the time. The rest of the time I’m left cleaning up a big mess.”
Koshei wrapped one muscular arm around her and smiled cheerfully. “What are you complaining about? You can use magic to clear the place up in a split second. Besides, it’s not like I’m trusting him to carry the Water of Life and Death.” He looked at her meaningfully.
“Fine,” she said, sliding out of his embrace long enough to find two miniscule glasses and get the Water of Life and Death out of the fridge. At Chudo-Yudo’s indignant whoof, she added a small bowl to her treasure trove and returned to sit on the couch next to Koshei. “Just a tiny bit for each of us—the queen doesn’t hand this stuff out like a party favor, you know.”
Golden fire shimmered in effervescent droplets as she poured a precious measure of the liquid from its enchanted flask into each of their cups. The aroma of a perfect spring day filled the trailer, smelling like meadows and seashores and youthful ardor. Baba let one heavenly sip lie on her tongue; it tasted of sunshine and flowers, with a slight aftertaste of dust and decay. Her eyes closed as the power of it overwhelmed her senses for one long, timeless moment, suspending her between the worlds of forever and perhaps.
Koshei made a sound like a boulder crashing down a hillside. “Gods, that’s good.” He leaned his head back, pale cheeks flushed with the aftermath of drinking an elixir that both extended life and aroused it. When he looked at Baba again, myriad gold flecks were mirrored in his eyes. A playful smile tugged at sensual lips in a way that made Baba remember all over again why she had been so glad to see him walking through the wardrobe door.
“So, do you want to tell me what is going on that required you to call in the Riders?” he asked, flicking an empty cardboard box with one long finger. “Is there anything I can help with?” He moved his hand to slide up over her thigh, playing with the edge of the silk that lay there. “Things have been way too quiet lately. I’m bored.”
Baba touched her tongue to her lower lip, trying to catch one last hint of sublime sweetness before returning to harsh reality. The eternal energy of the Water pulsed hotly in her veins, distracting her from the current crisis and making her think of dark caves and passionate lovemaking in the long nights of the Otherworld.
She took a deep breath to try to focus and explained the situation with the missing children to Koshei as succinctly as she could while still listening to infinity echoing at the back of her mind.
“If you want to help,” she said finally, gazing up at him and finding the expression she expected—patient, listening, and a little bit amused at her concern for the mayfly lives of humans, “you could have a look around the Otherworld when you go back. See if you can find out who my mysterious woman might be. I’m guessing she’s a local witch with unusual power, but she had a touch of the Otherworld about her, so maybe someone from the other side has had some dealings with her.”
One broad shoulder lifted in a shrug as calloused fingers moved to cup her bottom and lift her onto his lap. “I’m happy to do it,” he said, scorching her with his glance. “But it is going to be a little difficult to track her down if you’ve never seen her without her glamour. For all you know, she isn’t even a she.” He muffled a short laugh into the skin over her collarbone, licking a line of fire across her body.