“How do you not know what it is? You are the next Witch in line to be the Baba Yaga. You always know.”
“Not always.”
“Yes, always.”
“I’m not arguing with you right now,” she huffed. “How about I tell you what I do know?” Not waiting for an answer, she powered on, “It isn't Witch Magic.”
“Okay.”
“It isn't Fairy Magic.”
“So, no Kai?” I was getting impatient.
“I didn’t say that,” she growled. “I said this was…” She pointed at the hole. “…was not created by Fairy Magic, and it sure as hell isn't Dragon Magic.”
She paused. I bit my tongue. I knew she was thinking, and it was killing me not to ask what she was thinking about.
But I knew better. Been there. Done that.
So I waited. And thank the Goddess in white patent leather, thigh-high boots; it didn’t take her long to start talking.
“It's older than all of that.”
“Older?”
The dogs and I stared. “Older than Carol?” I asked, completely shocked that anything could be older than the reigning Baba Yaga.
“Nobody is older than Carol,” Zelda replied.
“Okay.” I nodded. “That’s what I thought.”
“Cockroaches?” Chewy offered.
“Chewy,” Zelda groaned, adding an irritated sigh at the end.
“Just saying,” my sassy little man mused.
“Kai?” I mentally called again, immediately followed by Aideen adding, “Roy?”
Greeted with more silence, I almost screamed. It was the most frustrating thing I’d ever experienced.
“Come on,” I mentally begged. “Please, just answer me.” My voice cracked. I was just barely holding back the tears. “Tell me you’re okay, please?”
“Martha.” Aideen’s voice was calm, but incredibly serious. “Kai is alive.”
Looking up, I focused on my mind’s eye and looked at the Dragon Queen with whom I shared my soul. “How do you know?”
“Because if he wasn't...”
She paused for what seemed like forever, but was quite literally a fraction of a second. Then, with an eerily serene conviction stated, “…we'd already be burning down the world.”
“Oh…” That was all I got to say before Mona howled and Arthur pointed with his right front paw.
“Look there,” he directed.
Eyes following his stare, I saw something bright orange, covered in soot, hanging from the jagged edge of one of the floorboards. Walking around the hole, trying to be careful, I almost fell into the hole when Maeve and Theresa came running into the building.
Glaring at my sister, I shook my head and growled, “Are you tryin’ to kill me?”
