Wickedly Wonderful(79)
The gray-haired woman chuckled. “Oh, Chewie, you always did love to tease me. I’ve missed you.” A flitting glance bounced over to where Beka stood, juggling mugs and a bottle of honey. “You, too, of course, sweetie.”
“Of course,” Beka murmured. She handed Brenna a steaming cup of tea and sat down nearby with her own.
“What are you doing here, Brenna?” Chewie asked with his usual bluntness. With an equal lack of subtlety, he settled onto the floor at Beka’s feet, making it clear that his loyalties lay with the current Baba, not the old one.
Brenna merely raised an eyebrow, clearly unaffected. “I’m checking in on Beka; I would have thought that was obvious. I heard that she was having some difficulty dealing with her first big task, and I thought I’d just pop in to see if there was anything I could do to help. Offer support and encouragement, you know, that kind of thing.”
Chewie snorted and Brenna pressed her lips together until they made a thin red line. “If you’re going to be unpleasant, dear, why don’t you go take a walk? Beka and I have Baba Yaga business to discuss. Your presence is not required.” She made a shooing motion.
Beka opened her mouth to protest, but the dog just shrugged his massive shoulders and muttered, “I need some fresh air anyway. I forgot how much I hated the smell of patchouli oil.” He gave Brenna a measured look. “I won’t be gone long. I’m assuming this won’t be a lengthy visit.”
Beka’s head swung back and forth between her mentor and her dragon-dog. How had she never noticed before how much they disliked each other? She sighed, wishing Chewie was staying, but knowing that she had to be able to face her predecessor on her own.
“So,” Beka said when the door had swung shut with a particularly sarcastic clang, “who told you I was having problems?”
Brenna waved one hand languidly through the air, her many rings flashing. “Oh, sweetie, everybody knows. The paranormal community here, people back at the Queen’s court; it’s not exactly a secret now, is it?” She reached out and patted Beka’s arm. “You mustn’t feel bad. Everyone knows you’re trying your best. Nobody blames you for failing. You’re just in over your head.”
Beka’s stomach knotted even tighter, and she hoped she wasn’t going to add to the ignominy of the situation by throwing up on the floor at her mentor’s feet. She pulled her arms in and wrapped them protectively around her middle. “I haven’t failed yet, Brenna,” she said, trying to sound more confident than she felt. “There’s still time for me to find the answers that will allow me to fix the situation.”
“Of course there is, sweetie. After all, the water people don’t reach their weakest point until the night of the full moon, when the tides pull hardest against their magic. That’s probably when most of the really sick ones will start to die, and you’ve still got days until then.”
Brenna peered over at the stack of books Beka had been desperately searching through before Brenna arrived. “Oh dear. You’re still doing research? I thought for certain you would have found the cause of the problem by now and been working on a cure.” She made a tutting noise with her tongue, shaking her frizzy head before slurping more tea.
Beka bit her lip. She hated more than anything to ask, but clearly, she didn’t have any choice. “Brenna, do you think you could help me? You have so much more experience than I do. I’m certain if we worked together—”
Brenna’s sad laugh echoed through the bus, making a set of wind chimes peal a discordant tune. “Oh dear, you know the High Queen has forbidden me to take on any Baba Yaga duties. I’m sure she wouldn’t approve at all of me helping you out.”
Beka’s shoulders drooped even further. She hadn’t really expected a different answer, but it had been worth a try, with so many people depending on her to get this right.
“Oh,” she said. “Probably not. I understand.”
Brenna tapped one finger against her lips thoughtfully. “You know, there might be one solution . . . but no, it wouldn’t be fair to even ask you to consider it.”
“What?” Beka sat up a little straighter at the thought that there might be something she could do. “Tell me what it is? I’d do anything to help the Selkies and the Merpeople.” Not to mention the Human fishermen, but she didn’t think Brenna would be impressed by that. She’d never been all that fond of Humans, for all that she’d been born one of them.
“Well . . . you could give up being the Baba Yaga. I know you’ve been having second thoughts lately about whether or not to continue on, and if you left the position open, then the Queen would have no choice but to let me come back and take up my mantle again.” She smiled brightly at Beka. “I’m sure I could find a solution in no time if I was allowed to do so.”