Wickedly Powerful

by Deborah Blake

  “What happened to the boy?” Day asked. He was clearly intrigued by the story, and a hint of color had returned to his face.

  Bella sighed. “Without any additional Water, his madness seemed to abate, and the Queen considered him to be a harmless victim of the Baba Yaga’s poor judgment.

  “He was left to wander in the forest, rejected by both Humans for his strange ways and babbling about magic and witches and other things best left alone, and by the Paranormal people (who you will remember had not, as yet, retreated to the Otherworld), for fear of inviting the Queen’s wrath.”

  “In short,” Alexei said with a sigh, “they forgot all about him as soon as the Queen was over her fit of pique.”

  “Probably so,” Bella said. “The story says that he spent the rest of his life plotting revenge for the death of the woman he knew as his mother and trying to get his magic back. The book Brenna has was a record of his experiments, as well as a journal that documents the true extent of his madness in his later years.

  “From what I was told, Pyotr believed that he could duplicate the beneficial effects of the Water of Life and Death, which were drawn from and acted on the five elements of Earth, Air, Fire, Water, and Spirit, by somehow absorbing the essence of others. But since he did not have the magical ability of the Queen, he thought he could get the same effect by using pain and terror. Not only was this completely wrong, of course, but in his attempts to do so, he left a trail of death and destruction in his wake. The Queen and King finally decided to put a stop to him after his final experiment left an entire small village tortured and dead, from the tiniest baby to the frailest elder. It is said that they had him torn limb from limb between two centaurs.”

  Bella shuddered and gazed across the room at Brenna. “And after all that, he still failed. He was insane, and what he was attempting to do was simply impossible. All Baba Yagas know that, and so do you, Brenna. You must give up this madness.”

  “That’s where you’re wrong, sweetie,” Brenna said cheerfully, waving a wooden spoon that looked like it had been gnawed on by rodents. “You see, I have something that Mad Pyotr didn’t have—I have the Riders.”

  TWENTY-FIVE

  BELLA’S HEAD WAS still spinning. Or else she’d completely lost track of the conversation. Of course Brenna was insane. There was always that.

  “I don’t understand,” Bella said, although it took every ounce of self-control to keep her tone even and calm. “What do the Riders have to do with Mad Pyotr’s experiments?”

  Brenna patted the huge bound manuscript as if it were a beloved pet. “I know you were taught to believe otherwise, dear Bella, but in truth, Pyotr came quite close to solving the riddle of his elixir. I only filled in the missing pieces.”

  “What missing pieces?” Bella asked, pretty sure she didn’t want to know the answer.

  Brenna dropped some nasty-looking mushrooms into the cauldron and stirred it three times counterclockwise before she seemed to remember she was in the middle of a conversation.

  “Oh, well, poor Pyotr was on the right track, trying to drain the life energy out of the people he killed. He even got it right when he theorized that energy taken at the height of stress and anguish would have more power. But he erred in attempting to take that force from Humans; they simply lacked the vigor the potion required.”

  “That was a mistake, all right,” Alexei muttered.

  Brenna tutted, but otherwise ignored him. “After I began reading his journal, I realized that the reason the potion hadn’t worked was because Pyotr’s main ingredient wasn’t strong enough. It needed the life essence of immortals, not Humans. And fortunately, I knew three remarkable specimens.” She beamed proudly at the Riders. “How lucky for me.”

  “Not so lucky for us,” Day said, sounding unspeakably tired.

  “Ah well.” Brenna shrugged. “The whole world is made of winners and losers. Nature is designed that way. The strong survive, and the weak, they feed the strong. Try and think of this as your contribution to the circle of life.”

  “Your theories are all very well and good, Brenna,” Gregori said, “but they haven’t worked, have they? Even with all that you have inflicted upon us, at best you have gotten only a temporary boost to your abilities. Perhaps you should consider the Baba Yaga’s offer to intercede with the Queen.”

  Brenna waggled one bony finger in his direction. “Not at all, my dear Red Rider. You see, the timely arrival of the lovely Bella has given me the key I needed to finish my elixir. You might say that she is the final piece of the puzzle.”

  “What the hell are you talking about?” Bella asked, finally losing her already tenuous grip on her temper.

  “Now, now,” Brenna said. “There’s no need for rudeness. I was about to explain, before you interrupted me. It’s really quite simple. I was so close already. I was draining the Riders little by little, using their pain and immortality as the basis of the potion. Then I added a second layer, by absorbing the agony of the trees and plants and forest creatures as I burned the forest. That bit was genius, really. Pyotr never thought of doing that.”

  Bella ground her teeth, but didn’t say anything. If she could find out what Brenna had planned, maybe they could come up with some way to stop her.

  “You kept getting in the way though,” Brenna said crossly. “I used everything I had to create that last big storm, and you snuffed it out before I could get the boost I needed. Very annoying, you and that dratted fire watcher. Well, I’ll take care of you now, and deal with him later.”

  “Leave Sam alone,” Bella said through clenched teeth.

  “Don’t you worry,” Brenna said. “You won’t be around to watch him suffer. I have bigger plans for you.” She gazed at Bella fondly. “I’m going to construct a magical circle, just as I did when I was starting the fires in the forest. But this time I am going to put you and your three Rider friends inside before I ignite the blaze.”

  “What?” Day said, and Alexei growled. Gregori simply lifted one feathery black eyebrow.

  “Oh yes,” Brenna said with the satisfied tone of a mathematician who has finally solved a difficult equation. “I’m going to burn you all to death, starting with Bella. The agony of your deaths, plus the anguish you Riders will experience at watching a Baba Yaga die in front of your eyes and not being able to stop it, will create a massive amount of energy that I will channel out of the circle and into my potion. I will have what I want at last, Queen or no Queen.”

  “She will track you down and punish you, just as she did Pyotr,” Bella said, trying to quiet the pounding of her heart. She had no trouble whatsoever believing that Brenna would do just as she’d said she would.

  “Ha! That is the sweetest part of this plan,” Brenna said. “Everyone who knows the Baba Yagas, including the Queen, will assume that you finally lost control of your fire ability and killed the Riders and yourself accidentally. No one will even be looking for me.” She looked positively smug.

  “How do you propose to get us all out of the cave and into the forest?” Gregori asked. “Day cannot even walk under his own power, thanks to your attentions. And you can hardly carry us all yourself.”

  “I won’t need to,” the old witch said. “Alexei is still strong enough to carry each of you out, one at a time.”

  “And why would I do that, knowing that you intend to kill us all on the other side?’ Alexei asked, crossing his muscular arms in front of his chest.

  Brenna smiled a crooked smile. “Because otherwise I will kill Bella right now. Slowly and painfully. At least if you do as I say, you can tell yourself that there is still some chance for escape. Although, of course, there won’t be.” She laughed, amused at her own whimsy.

  Bella thought Brenna was probably right. They would do whatever she asked, in the hope that at some point she would drop her guard and one or the other of them could somehow overpower her and take control
of the situation.

  “Now hush up and stop bothering me,” Brenna said, turning back to her cauldron. “I have lots of preparations to make. After all, I only have one shot at this. You wouldn’t want your deaths to be in vain, now, would you?”

  Bella would rather not die at all, thank you very much. She just wasn’t sure right at this moment how she was going to avoid it.

  * * *

  AFTER A WHILE, Brenna left the cave to prepare what she called the site of her greatest triumph. Day rather doubted the rest of them would view it the same way.

  Ignoring the grating of his broken ribs, Mikhail dragged himself across the small, dusty space that separated him from Bella and propped himself up on the wall next to where she sat. He was probably closest to Barbara out of all the Baba Yagas in the United States, but he’d always had a soft spot for Bella, with her fiery hair and cheerful disposition.

  “I am so sorry I got you into this,” he said to her, leaning his head back against the rocky support behind him.

  Bella snorted. “Last time I checked, I got myself into this. Well, with a little help from the Queen. I fail to see how Brenna’s madness is your fault.”

  “Dat’s vat ve’ve been telling him,” Alexei said, his thickening accent betraying the depth of his emotions. People looked at the huge man and only saw the size of his body; after centuries together, Day knew that the enormity of his muscles was only exceeded by that of his heart.

  “I’m the one who fell for Brenna’s ‘damsel in distress’ disguise,” Day argued, not for the first time. “I saw a pretty woman alone by the side of the road in the middle of nowhere and just had to ride to the rescue on my trusty steed. Er, bike.” Sometimes he forgot that his enchanted white horse now bore another outward appearance. It was still a horse to him, even if it looked like a fancy white Yamaha with fringed white leather saddlebags and the world’s most gleaming chrome.

  Bella reached over and patted his arm gently. “I know we always tease you about your Knight in Shining Armor complex, Mikhail, but truly, that’s one of the things I love about you. Gregori and Alexei might not have stopped, but you could never leave a woman in trouble. I think that’s a good thing, not a bad one, no matter how it ended up this time.”

  “Besides,” Gregori added ruefully, “you at least have the excuse of being fooled by her disguise. When Alexei and I came looking for you and Brenna appeared, telling us that she’d found you hurt in the woods, we followed her into the trap like lambs to the slaughter.”

  “Even after she plotted against Beka, it never occurred to us that she might attack a Rider,” Alexei said, shoulders slumped. “We were all idiots.”

  “Maybe so,” Gregori said. “But here we all are, and it would seem that time is running out. Perhaps our remaining hours would be better spent coming up with a plan to get ourselves out of this mess, instead of trying to decide which one of us was the greater fool.”

  “Good idea,” said Alexei. “Except everyone knows I am not the brains of this bunch. Maybe one of you has something to suggest?”

  The ensuing silence made it clear that no one did.

  Finally, Day heard Bella let out a small sigh. “What is it?” he asked. “Aside from the obvious, that is.”

  “I know it is kind of petty, compared to the rest of our situation, but it really galls me that if Brenna succeeds, not only will she have gained the power she wants, but the Queen and everyone else will think that I am responsible for your deaths. Gah.” She hid her face in her bound hands.

  “Don’t be ridiculous,” Alexei said, sputtering. “No one will believe that, no matter what Brenna says.”

  “Of course they will,” Bella said morosely. “Maybe you don’t know the story, but enough people do. And once one person in court brings it up, they’ll all be talking about it and saying, ‘Remember that time when Bella lost control of her power and burned that Human girl nearly to death? And now she’s killed herself and the Riders. It’s history repeating itself.’”

  “You mean that incident when you were a teenager?” Day asked. “That was some kind of an argument over a boy, wasn’t it?” The side of his mouth edged up, as he remembered all the young, beautiful women who had fought over him through the years. But Bella’s sad expression brought him back to reality. “Sweetheart, you were young and inexperienced. That kind of accident could happen to anyone.”

  “Well, anyone with the power to set people on fire,” Alexei added.

  “Not helping, big guy,” Day said.

  “My mentor Baba didn’t think so,” Bella said. “She warned me that my lack of control could endanger Humans and advised me to avoid them as much as possible.”

  “That’s why you spend most of your time in the mountains and deserts?” Day said, startled. “We always thought you just preferred to be away from civilization, like some of the older, more traditional Baba Yagas.”

  “I do like the quiet, solitary places,” Bella said. “But to be honest, I’ve always lived in fear of accidentally hurting someone again if I associated with Humans too much.”

  Gregori gazed at her thoughtfully. “When was the last time your fire ability got out of control when you were angry or upset?” he asked.

  She hung her head. “Just recently,” she said. “There is a man . . . a Human who watches over the forest during the fire season. We were getting close, I thought. I really liked him.” Pink suffused her cheeks, but Day restrained himself from mentioning it.

  “And what happened?” he asked. He’d like to meet the man who could make their Bella blush. Hopefully he’d have the chance.

  “We had an argument and I got angry, and flames just appeared in my palm. I know I really scared him; it was terrible.”

  “What happened next?” Gregori asked.

  “Next?” Bella seemed confused by the question, as if she’d already proved her point. “I ran out, ran away. I didn’t even stay to see if he was all right or say I was sorry.”

  “But you didn’t actually hurt him?” Alexei said.

  “No . . .”

  Day reached over and took her hand in his much larger one. “Don’t you see? Of course you lost control when you were young. You were still inexperienced and learning how to manage your powers, and besides, you were a teenager. That’s what teenagers do. They make mistakes. But you are older now and you have much better control. You would never hurt anyone accidentally.”

  Bella blinked away tears. “Do you really believe that?”

  “Of course I do,” he said. “Although I will happily give you permission to hurt Brenna on purpose, should you get the opportunity to do so.”

  She gave him a crooked grin, but sat up straighter. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

  * * *

  THE FIRE WAS still hovering around ninety percent contained by late afternoon, but Sam couldn’t stand hanging around the fire tower, not knowing if Bella had returned safely or not. He finally gave in and called Tiny, who occasionally subbed for him if he had to run errands or wasn’t feeling well, and asked him to come man the tower until he got back.

  Tiny, bless him, didn’t ask any questions, just put the binoculars and a novel called The Hum and the Shiver down on the table, started up the coffeemaker, and told Sam to take as long as he needed. It was just as well, really, since Sam had no idea what he would have told the older man if he’d asked. Somehow, I’m off to check on a woman I hardly know but can’t stop thinking about didn’t seem like the right thing to say, and Well, you know that witch you people called in? She’s gone missing and I think it might be partially my fault didn’t sound any better.

  Sam pushed the four-wheeler to its limit and got to the caravan around five. He’d hoped to find Bella, Jazz, and Bella’s giant cat sitting outside eating barbeque, but the clearing was silent and still, with only the occasional call of a stellar jay to break the shadowy calm underneath the trees. H
e felt a shudder run down his back and hoped it was only due to his fear that Bella would answer the door and then slam it in his face. Truthfully, he’d be okay with that as long as he knew she was safe.

  But when he knocked, it was Jazz’s pale face he saw, under its mop of jagged-cut brown hair. She looked drawn and worried, with circles under her eyes that hadn’t been there earlier, so he knew the answer to his question before the words even left his mouth.

  “Has she come back?”

  Jazz shook her head and opened the door further, silently inviting him in. “No,” she said. “No sign of her. I didn’t think you could leave the tower while you were on duty. Does this mean the fire is out?”

  Sam came in and sat on the couch, his long legs barely fitting in the space in front of it. “No. Almost, but not quite. I was worried about Bella, so I got a friend to cover for me.”

  “Oh,” Jazz said. Then blurted out, “I’m worried too. Really worried. I know she’s tough and magic and a Baba Yaga and all, but she wouldn’t stay away this long if she had any choice. Something’s happened to her; I just know it.” She blinked rapidly, fighting back tears. “I know you probably think I’m just being a stupid kid, that she’s not really my aunt or any of my business or anything, but she’s been so nice to me, and I hate thinking that she’s, like, just lying out there hurt or something.”

  “I don’t think you’re being stupid, Jazz,” Sam said quietly. “I agree; she wouldn’t have left her cat, or you, for more than a day. Not willingly. If it helps at all, there have been people moving through the area on their way to and from the fire, and they’re all keeping their eyes out for her.”

  Jazz plopped down on a small green and pink tufted chair, looking incongruous in her worn concert tee and blue jeans on the slightly battered antique. “They haven’t seen any sign of her though, have they?” she said, sounding discouraged. Bella’s humongous brown and gray cat came over and leaned against her leg, and she reached down one thin hand to pet him. From where Sam sat, it was hard to say who was comforting whom.