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“This is your final choice, then?” she asked, raising her eyebrows. She had become the elegant court woman in the red gown again.
“Yes.” I nodded. “Unbind me.”
“Very well. I wish you the joy of your decision.”
She waved a hand at me and spoke some words under her breath.
Suddenly, I felt as though someone had dipped me in a big vat of fizzing liquid—tiny bubbles were popping all over my skin. At the same time, the world was whirling around me and I didn’t know which direction was up and which was down.
Then—strangest of all—I felt like someone was cutting something off me. It was like I had been wearing an invisible corset all my life, wrapped around me from my throat all the way down to my mid-thighs and now an invisible hand with invisible scissors was cutting it away.
“Oh!” I gasped and my voice came out so loud—as though I had shouted instead of just gasping.
“You are free, little witch,” I heard Baba Yaga’s voice say, though I couldn’t see her anywhere. “Do not come crying to me if the curse finds you.”
Then she was gone—and so was the bedroom and the whole hut for that matter. I found myself standing upright, fully dressed, on the road that led to Hidden Hollow.
I had made my choice and now I was free…or so I thought.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
The wintery forest was gone and the autumn leaves had returned. Rath was fully dressed and standing right beside me on the dirt path that led to Hidden Hollow. He looked like he had just woken up from a deep sleep. Blinking and frowning, he turned to me.
“Hey, what’s going on? Why aren’t we in Baba Yaga’s hut?” he rumbled, looking confused.
“I, uh, think she evicted us,” I said. “She already talked to me, though—you slept through the whole thing.”
“What? You should have woken me up!” he protested.
I shook my head.
“I couldn’t. She kept you asleep while we talked.”
“She put a sleeping spell on me? That’s fucking unfair,” he growled, looking grumpy. “I should have been able to help you deal with her! What did she do to you?”
“She didn’t do anything…except unbind me.” I took a deep breath—the deepest breath I’d ever taken in my life. It was like the binding had been squeezing me tight for so long I didn’t even realize how constricting it was. Now that it was gone, I felt free in a way I never had before.
“Really? She removed the binding?” Rath looked cautiously pleased. “What did she demand in payment, though?” he asked.
I shook my head again.
“She didn’t ask for anything. But she did say that I couldn’t ever bother her again,” I added. “And she warned me about the family curse.”
“What is it? Did she say?” he asked.
“No—she said it wasn’t her secret to tell.” I sighed. “But I don’t want to think about it right now—I just want to enjoy being unbound.”
“Do you feel different?” Rath studied me. “You look different. You look…less wound up. Less tense.”
“That’s how I feel, too.” I had a sudden idea. “Let’s go to town! I want to talk to some strangers!”
Rath grinned.
“Sure, baby. I’d love to introduce you around, if you feel like you’re up to it.”
“I definitely am!” I said.
“Well,” he remarked, looking around. “It seems like we’re halfway there already. How about grabbing some croissants and hot chocolate at The Lost Lamb for breakfast? That way I can introduce you to Celia, the owner. Maybe even put in a good word with her about your baking skills.”
