Chewie lifted his black muzzle into the air, pulling it in through his nostril in great snorting gulps. “Someone has been here,” he announced ominously.
“What? That’s impossible.” One of the reasons that Beka hadn’t been too worried about dragging Chewie away and leaving the bus unguarded was because the former hut was perfectly capable of guarding itself. There were magical protections built into the very walls, handed down from Baba to Baba. Maybe she’d slacked off a little on refreshing them, what with everything that was going on, but they should still be more than capable of thwarting any would-be trespassers.
“Impossible or not,” Chewie growled, “someone has been here. I smell the sea, and fish, and . . .” he sniffed again. “I think that’s Old Spice.”
“Kesh!” he and Beka said at the same time, and exchanged equally alarmed glances.
Beka bolted for the secret cabinet where the Water of Life and Death was hidden. She didn’t know how the hell Kesh had gotten past the defenses, but he couldn’t have found the Water.
But he had.
The cabinet gaped, its own magical locks clearly breached, although there was no sign of either physical or supernatural tampering. When she opened the door all the way, the space inside seemed to mock her with its emptiness. Impossible maybe, but the Water of Life and Death was gone.
Marcus had gone ghostly pale as he realized that Beka’s only cure was missing. “Shit,” he said with feeling. “Can you ask this Queen of yours to give you some more?”
Beka shook her head mutely. “Not a chance. If I admit I was careless enough to let the precious gift she gave me slip through my fingers, not only will she undoubtedly strip me of my title of Baba Yaga on the spot, she’ll probably turn me into something prickly and ugly to serve as an example to future Babas.” She fought not to cry. It wouldn’t help anything anyway.
“What’s that?” Chewie asked, poking his snout a little deeper into the vacant cupboard.
Beka shoved his nose out of the way and discovered a piece of antique parchment paper that had blended in with the brown bottom of the cabinet. Her hand shook as she read it aloud, but she wasn’t sure if the tremor came from fatigue or rage.
My darling Baba,
I am sorry that it had to come to this. But Brenna will make a much more powerful ally, and I have great plans I could not allow you to thwart.
When I am a king on land, ruling as I was meant to, I shall write lyrical songs to your beauty and grace, and remember you fondly. It is unfortunate that you will not be around to hear them, but in any war, there are always sacrifices to be made.
You should have joined me when you had the chance. You shall not get another.
Kesh
“Why that, that—” Marcus was so furious he was speechless. Beka thought he looked even more magnificent than usual, not that it mattered anymore. She was a dead witch walking. If the radiation didn’t get her, the Queen would.
“Brenna,” Chewie said with a snarl that bared lots of sharp white teeth. “That explains a lot.”
Beka, startled out of her reverie, just stared at him. “What are you talking about, Chewie?”
He tilted his massive head toward the note. “Didn’t you read what he said about Brenna making a better ally than you? That’s how he got in here; she gave him some kind of magical key to give him safe passage through the defenses. After all, she was one of the ones who created them in the first place, and I’ll bet you never thought to change them once she left. And she must have told him where the Water of Life and Death was hidden too. I wonder how long they have been working together. No wonder she came by and tried to convince you to quit.”
“Who is Brenna?” Marcus asked.
“Brenna was my foster mother,” she said, stone-faced. “The one who raised me from the time I was four to be a Baba Yaga and follow in her footsteps.”
Marcus glanced around the bus, clearly remembering the funky painting on the outside. “The woman with the tie-dyed pillows? She’s working with Kesh? Why?” That last bit came out a touch plaintively, as if they’d finally reached a part of the story that was beyond his comprehension.
Beka knew exactly how he felt.
“Brenna acted like she was a hippie earth-mother stuck in the sixties,” Chewie said flatly. “But she never cared about anything other than herself, and I always suspected that toward the end, she was beginning to lose her grip. I’m not convinced she is completely sane anymore.”
Beka didn’t know if that made her feel better or worse. If Brenna had succumbed to the Water Sickness that sometimes beset a Baba Yaga who had overstayed her tenure, then maybe that could somehow excuse her betraying Beka to Kesh. On the other hand, if there was anything scarier than an insane woman with the power of a Baba Yaga, Beka couldn’t think of it off the top of her head.
“Damn,” she said. That seemed to sum things up nicely.