“I’m working as hard as I can, I promise you,” she said. “I’ve got to be close to an answer. I feel as though it is right in front of me, and I just can’t see it.” Frustration made her stomach hurt even more than usual, and she shifted the food around on her dish without eating it.
“I have every faith in you,” Kesh said. He bit off a piece of bright red salmon with sharp white teeth. “So, did my father say anything else of interest?”
Beka played with the sand, not wanting to meet his eyes. The coarse grains felt unusually harsh against the sensitive tips of her fingers. “Well, your brother did mention that you and your father had some kind of falling-out and you’d left home.”
“Indeed, that is true, Baba Yaga,” he said, his voice soft against the sound of the ocean. “However, I am sure it is but a temporary estrangement. Do not worry yourself on my account.”
Beka looked at him, impressed that even during a difficult time he still concerned himself for her feelings. A lock of dark hair had fallen over his forehead, giving him an endearingly childlike charm, and his admiring smile glinted at her across the salty air. She waited to feel something, anything, other than friendly affection, but her heart stubbornly refused to cooperate.
He still wasn’t Marcus, dammit.
“There’s a new problem too,” she said, giving up on her plate and laying it down on the striped blanket. She took a sip of champagne instead; the bubbles seemed to calm her uneasy insides, and the expensive wine soothed her frayed nerves. “Something you might be able to help me with, in fact.”
He bowed slightly regally as always. “Anything I can do, my dear Baba. What is this new problem, pray tell?”
Beka explained about the renegade the Queen had tasked her with finding, and then took a deep breath. “Kesh, I need you to tell me the truth. Are you involved with this man? You told me you and some friends had been acting against the Humans. If you are mixed up in this, I can help you, but I need to know.”
Kesh looked hurt. “I cannot believe you would think me capable of such a thing; to betray my own people. Yes, I have played a few harmless tricks on the local fishermen, but surely you would not condemn me for such a small mischief.” His dark eyes gazed at her earnestly.
Beka felt just awful. Kesh had been nothing but supportive, and here she was accusing him of being in league with criminals. She should have known better. “I’m sorry, Kesh. It’s just, well, in all the times we talked, you never even mentioned that you weren’t living under the sea with your family anymore. I thought . . . I don’t know what I thought. That maybe you were hiding something.”
The Selkie gave her a wan smile. “Perhaps I was only hiding my concern that you would not wish to be associated with me, if you knew I was no longer a prince of the realm.”
“Kesh, how could you think that?” Beka patted his hand where it lay next to hers on the blanket. “I don’t care if you are a prince or not! I like you for you.” She was so relieved to discover her friend wasn’t guilty, it made her dizzy. Or maybe that was the wine. “You’ll tell me if you hear anything, right? After all, you have all sorts of connections with the local paranormal folk.”
“No one has approached me as yet, alas,” he said. “But I will make some enquiries amongst my friends, if you think that would be useful.”
It was nice to feel like she wasn’t alone. Between Kesh and the Riders, surely she could satisfy the Queen’s demands and fulfill her obligations to the paranormal community.
“That would be great, Kesh,” she said enthusiastically. “The Queen has threatened to bring Brenna back to replace me if I can’t figure out who this mystery man is and stop him.”
Kesh’s long fingers tapped the side of his glass for a moment, then stilled. “Is that so? I thought that Brenna was out of favor with their majesties.”
“What? I don’t think so,” Beka said. “I thought the Queen just insisted she retire because she’d been a Baba Yaga for so long, and it was time for her to have a break. I was taught that eventually all Babas had to step down, because otherwise continuing to drink the Water of Life and Death would have unpleasant side effects. For those who started out Human, anyway. Mind you, after over two hundred years, you would think anyone would want to stop working.”
“Hmmm. Perhaps I heard wrong,” Kesh said. “Either way, it would be a great shame for you to be replaced by anyone. Unless, of course, that was what you wished. Are you, perhaps, considering giving up your role as Baba Yaga? You are still young enough to start another life. I might even have some suggestions, should you find yourself in such a position.”