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“My Grandmother was against the binding,” I said, remembering what Goody Albright and Madam Healer had both said.
“Yes, she was,” Baba Yaga agreed, nodding. “The question is—which of them did you trust the most?”
“I…I don’t know,” I confessed, frowning. “I know that both of them loved me…”
“They did indeed. And they loved each other, but this issue drove a wedge between them that nothing could overcome,” she pointed out. “Your Grandmother felt you would become a powerful enough witch to deal with and perhaps even end the curse that is on your family. Your mother, however, had only recently lost your father—who was her Heartmate—and she did not believe you would be able to. She never wanted you to go through the pain she went through herself, and so she begged me to bind you—bind you and put a memory spell on you to make you forget all about both your Grandmother and Hidden Hollow, where she lived. She knew if you ever returned, the binding would begin to unravel—as it has.”
“But my Grandmother’s will brought me back here,” I said.
Baba Yaga nodded.
“And she paid the price for you as well—in her own way.”
“What do you mean?” I asked, frowning.
“I mean that your Grandmother knew the only magic strong enough to bring you here and begin unraveling the spells I had placed on you was that of a last will and testament. She allowed herself to fade so that her will would have the power to bring you here. Because she believed you would grow strong enough to break the family curse.”
I felt a stab of sorrow. So both my Mom and my Grandma had allowed themselves to die for my sake—and it all went back to the damn curse!
“What is the family curse?” I demanded. “What’s so bad that it would make my mother give away all her magic and have me bound in a way that made me miserable all my life…and cause my Grandmother to let herself fade so her will could bring me back to break it?”
“That, I cannot tell you for the secret is not mine to share,” Baba Yaga said sternly. “But I will tell you that you can find the answer somewhere in your Grandmother’s house.”
“But where in her house?” I asked, thinking of the black door with the red X which was sometimes there and sometimes not.
“In a place where you can find both good and evil—both harm and healing,” Baba Yaga said mysteriously. “That is all that I may say.”
“Can I go back and try to find it so I can make an informed decision before I choose if I want to be fully unbound?” I asked hopefully.
She shimmered and became the Wicked Witch of the West again who glared at me.
“Certainly not! You and your Orc have bothered me enough—I refuse to have more dealings with you. Decide right now—do you wish to be unbound or not?”
“What will it cost me?” I asked. “Are you going to take my magic too?”
“There is no cost—not in the way you’re thinking, anyway,” she told me, becoming the old peasant woman again. “Though if the curse finds you, you will pay in ways you never intended.”
I wished she would stop talking in riddles.
“How can I make a decision when you won’t tell me what’s at stake?” I demanded. “When I don’t even know what the family curse is in the first place?”
She shrugged again.
“That’s not my problem, little witch. I’m willing to do this one favor—to unbind you once and for all and let your magic free. If you refuse me now, you will never find me again and you will remain at least partially bound forever. So make your choice—I grow weary of this game.”
I wanted to say it wasn’t a game, but I could tell she was getting irritated and impatient. I looked at Rafe, wishing I could ask his advice, but the big Orc slept on.
“Rafe?” I nudged him with my elbow but he only snorted and turned on his side.
“Don’t bother—his sleep is enchanted. He will not wake until I leave,” Baba Yaga informed me. “Is he your Heartmate?”
“I don’t know what that means, exactly,” I said uncertainly. “I mean, I like him a lot but we just met a few days ago.”
“If you have no Heartmate and take care not to get one, you should be safe from the curse,” Baba Yaga said. “So answer me now—do you wish to be unbound or not?”
A thousand thoughts raced through my head. I thought of my mother’s desperate actions—actions she apparently took to shield me from harm. And I thought of the miserable life I’d had, filled with social anxiety caused by my Selective Mutism. The image of the black door with the red X flashed through my mind as well. But then I remembered that my Grandmother hadn’t wanted me bound. She’d had faith in me—she’d thought I could break the curse, whatever it was.
“I choose to believe that my Grandmother was right,” I told Baba Yaga, lifting my chin. “She thought I could deal with this, and I will. So yes—unbind me.”
