Her legs went out from underneath her as the magnitude of his betrayal hit her, and she would have fallen if Marcus hadn’t scooped her up and returned her to the pile of rope they’d been sitting together on so blissfully only a few moments before.
“Great Aphrodite, risen from the sea,” she muttered. “That sonofabitch fed me seafood from the trench and sweet-talked me while he watched me eat poison, all the while trying to convince me to stop looking into the problem. Goddess, I was such a fool!”
“You were trusting and kind,” Marcus said, wrapping his arms around her. “That’s not a bad thing. Hell—it’s one of the things I love about you the most. Kesh is just a slimeball who took advantage of that. That’s his bad, not yours.”
Did Marcus just say he loved me? Sadly, Beka couldn’t bring herself to focus on that right now. Suddenly, she had a thought that perked her up so much she jumped to her feet, leaving Marcus to follow, looking alarmed.
“I’m such an idiot,” she said with a slightly shaky laugh. “We’re freaking out for nothing.”
“We are?” Chewie asked, sounding dubious. “Are you sure? Because I kind of feel like we’re freaking out for something.”
She shook her head. “No, Chewie—you’re forgetting one important thing.”
“I am?”
“The Water of Life and Death,” she said. “The Water of Life and Death will cure anything, even radiation poisoning.” In fact, she could kick herself. If she’d just remembered to take a drink at some point in the last week, she’d be feeling fine right now.
Chewie let out a gusty sigh of relief. “Of course! Belobog’s balls—don’t ever scare me like that again.”
Marcus’s rugged countenance bore a look of almost comic befuddlement. “What are you two talking about? You have a cure for radiation poisoning? How is that possible? Are you sure?”
Beka’s weakness and queasy stomach almost vanished as relief washed over her like a wave. Here was the answer to another part of the problem too.
“The Water of Life and Death is an enchanted elixir that the Baba Yagas drink to increase their strength and magical ability. It also extends their lives so that they live longer than your average Human, and has miraculous healing properties in larger amounts,” she explained to him. She’d tell him how much longer sometime when there wasn’t quite so much going on. “If I’d been drinking it all along, the way I should have, I might not have gotten sick at all. Or at least, not as much as I have. But I’ve been having doubts about remaining a Baba, and Kesh must have figured out that I was slacking off on my dose while I was trying to make up my mind.”
Marcus looked almost as relieved as she felt. “So all you have to do is go back to the bus and have a swig of this stuff, and you’ll be as good as new?”
“Pretty much,” said Beka. “What’s more, it should work on the sick Selkies and Merpeople too. I’ll have to get permission from the Queen of the Otherworld before I can share it with them, but under the circumstances, I think she’ll probably allow it.”
“The Queen of the what world?” Marcus asked.
“It’s kind of a long story,” Beka said.
Chewie rolled his eyes. “Here’s the short version, dude. There is another plane of existence, kind of like the fairylands you read about in stories. It’s called the Otherworld, and it’s where most of the magical creatures went hundreds of years ago when it became too dangerous for them to stay here in the Human realm. The Otherworld is ruled by a King and Queen, and the Queen is kind of like Beka’s boss. If your boss is drop-dead gorgeous, all-powerful, and turns people into swans at the drop of a hat. There—now you’re all caught up. Can we get going, please? I for one will feel a lot better once Beka has taken her medicine and no longer glows in the dark.” He turned and marched in the direction of the front cabin, just in case the other two had somehow missed his point.
Marcus hugged Beka before grabbing her hand and starting after Chewie. “You’re sure this stuff will cure you?” he asked.
“Absolutely sure,” Beka responded, feeling hopeful for the first time in days. “And if I can use it to cure the sick water dwellers, then I have fulfilled half of my assignment to the Queen, and my promise to the King of the Selkies and the Queen of the Merpeople. You know, I actually think everything is going to be okay.”
TWENTY-FOUR
BACK AT THE bus, Chewie ground to a halt right inside the front door like a giant roadblock, causing Marcus and Beka to barrel into him. Beka, not as steady as she usually was, almost fell over his huge rear end and planted her face on the floor.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” she asked, grabbing onto Marcus for support.