The Magic Queen Page 6

  And once more, he laughed.

  He might have said more if a strange and beastly little imp hadn’t materialized before them. The creature was unsightly, deformed, long-limbed. It stood inside the fire but seemed unaffected by it even though nothing in the cosmos burned hotter than dragon fire.

  “Ah, Peabrain, to what do I owe the honor?” Baba said, and for a moment, Freyr suffered a strange moment of...well, something. Some emotion made him curl his fist and bite down on his back teeth sharply because the obvious note of relief in her voice when she’d greeted the demon imp made him think that maybe she hadn’t enjoyed their banter as much as he.

  Peabrain glowered angrily at her. The effect of the imp’s obvious scorn was so shocking to Freyr that he wondered if Baba was aware that there was now an enemy with them. “Hello, witch,” he spat. He turned his fiery eyes on Freyr. “And witch’s future sex toy.”

  Freyr snorted. Okay, so maybe the demon wasn’t all that bad after all.

  “I come with news from Calypso and Aphrodite.”

  “Oh, goodie,” Baba groaned. “Can’t wait.”

  Peabrain hissed like a feral cat in heat. Straightening his knobby shoulders, he looked straight ahead and intoned, “Tonight and tomorrow shall be a day of rest for all players. Take this time to not only get to know one another but to build your shelter and secure vittles.”

  Baba nodded as though his words were sensible. But all Freyr could do was frown and look around. What rocks there were, were hardly big enough to build a home with. Forget a hut built of wood or moss. There wasn’t even any water around to turn the sea of dirt into mud for bricks. What exactly were they going to be building a shelter out of?

  To Baba, Peabrain said, “In two days time, you’ll face your first trial against the Dark Queen.”

  Baba inhaled deeply, and Freyr noted a calculating look cross her face.

  “Sounds like fun.” The pretty witch curled her fingers around her pendant, and there was a definite note of bloodlust in her tone that caused Freyr’s own blood to simmer and boil.

  He’d always been more of the make-love-not-war type of god, but the thought of this woman covered in crimson definitely caused his cock to twitch. He couldn’t wait to see her in action.

  “You can use whatever magick you have at your disposal. Be aware she will have hers too, and she’s not without considerable talent.” The way Peabrain had said it sounded lascivious.

  Freyr didn’t trust this little imp. Not a bit.

  “Bah.” Baba scoffed, swatting at his words as though swatting off an offending mosquito.

  Baba Yaga’s arrogance normally would have turned him off. She was no goddess, and though she was a powerful witch, he’d seen his fair share. But something about her, an indefinable quality made him believe she might just be the best there ever was or ever would be. Freyr salivated at the thought of all that power.

  The demon hopped forward, holding a small copper bowl in his hand. “This is for you.”

  “Ah!” She cooed, yanking the small object into her hands almost lovingly.

  Completely lost, Freyr couldn’t possibly understand the significance or importance of such an object. Maybe it was for her to cook with? He was hungry, come to think of it. He rubbed his stomach, wondering what the woman would make for him. Her fingers played lovingly along the inside of the hammered metal bowl. She must really love her food.

  Without even so much as a fare-thee-well, Peabrain vanished from within the flame.

  Freyr turned to ask Baba what she planned to cook for him, but she brusquely waved him off. Lifting her leather thong off from around her neck, she took her pendant in hand and tipped it over. A glass vial filled her palm. There was nothing all that unique or interesting about it. A fluid rolled inside it. It was clear and didn’t at all seem magical. Water, maybe? He was thirsty. He reached out for it, but she smacked his hand hard.

  “No touching.”

  Looking down at his still stinging hand, he murmured. “Didn’t your mother ever teach you to share, shrew?”

  She snorted then slowly and very carefully unstoppered the vial. “I have no mother. And you cannot drink this, you idiot, unless you wish to drown.” Her pretty eyes sparkled with teasing laughter.

  “You forget who I am, love.” No god could drown, especially not in simple water. And here he thought her smarter than that. How very disappointing.

  Looking supremely confident, she said. “Oh, no, I haven’t forgotten. And I’m sure you’ll remind me every second of every day I’m stuck in this cesspit with you. But just for your information, you infuriatingly sexy imbecile—”

  She thought he was sexy. He grinned.

  “—this vial contains water from the agua infinitum tributary.”

  “What the hell is that?”

  Rolling her eyes, she very carefully tipped the vial over. He thought she meant to pour out the entire contents, but she only allowed one drop to fall into the bowl before quickly stoppering it. He noted the water doubling in mass and then again and again and again until she finally spoke. “Fin!”

  It stopped once it reached the very tip of the bowl itself.

  He nodded. “Point taken.”

  She smirked.

  “Well then, if it’s not to drink, what is it for?”

  “To do magick, of course, you bloody fool.”

  “Ah, witch, your endearments warm the cockles of my heart.” He grabbed at his chest, gratified to see her chuckling again.

  Freyr didn’t think for a second that laughter was her natural state, which meant he was causing it because, of course, that was his charm. Being hated by none very often came in handy.

  “And I never said it wasn’t for drinking,” she pressed on, “only that in its natural state, it would drown you, me, anything really.” Standing, she carefully stepped over the bowl and walked about twenty paces off to the side before once more uncorking the vial and tipping it over. And just as before, she only allowed one drop to fall. Then she raced back to him. Blood had risen high on her cheeks from the exercise. Her creamy skin practically glowed as she stared ahead. He did too, more in shock than anything because the water was triple what it’d been in the bowl and only growing longer, broader, and deeper. It cut through the earth like a hot knife through butter. Soon, it would become a raging rapid. He frowned, glancing at Baba who sat entranced beside him, watching the water grow like a mighty serpent uncoiling from deep within the earth’s bosom.

  Freyr scratched the side of his jaw. She’d said that unchecked the water would go out on control. So why didn’t she stop it already? It was now reaching well past their campfire, winding a serpentine path in two directions, growing broader and broader as it went.

  The waters roared and churned, capping with white foam.

  “Fin,” he muttered beneath his breath.

  She obviously heard because she cackled. “You can’t stop it. Only I can.”

  “Then maybe you should consider stopping it now, love,” he said in exasperation, scooting back on his heels. The water was now mere feet away from him.

  “What a baby you are. Fin!”

  And just like that, it ceased, now nothing more than a gently gurgling brook. He lifted a brow and glanced back at her, reluctantly impressed this time.

  “Where exactly did you say you found that demonic water?”

  She snickered and picked up the bowl, cradling it gently between her hands.

  “Many moons ago, the Goddess Calypso owed me a favor. I called it due by requesting a vial full of waters from her eternal gardens.”

  A witch owed favors by the gods. Baba Yaga was definitely more than she seemed.

  Looking down at the bowl, she muttered distractedly, “You can safely drink it now if you want. Go.” She shooed him off.

  He scoffed at the notion that she’d dismissed him. But as she continued to scrutinize the contents of the bowl, he realized she’d done just that.

  “Bloody hell.” He got up to go get a dr
ink and not because she’d commanded him to either. He really was thirsty.

  Muttering beneath his breath about sexy, no good, arrogant witches, he knelt down by the brook, marveling all over again at the power she wielded and took a sip. It was clean, fresh, and tasted wonderful, to be honest. The cool water rolled down his tongue like the sweetest of meads, slaking his thirst almost instantly.

  Looking back up, he took the time to study her. She was such a small, delectable thing, barely coming up to his chin. But there her presence was larger than life.

  She stared at the bowl with the concentration of a woman trying to divine the mysteries of the universe. Perhaps she already had. Baba Yaga was no middling witch. She was powerful and legendary for a reason. Her delicate brows were furrowed, and she’d bitten down on her bottom lip, showing off her straight white teeth.

  He’d heard all the legends about Baba Yaga, the baby eater who worked as one with the darkness, tampering in the media of death, necromancy, and divination. Even the giants of his realm, mostly immune to the effects of magick, would have trembled in her presence.

  But she was nothing at all like her stories. She was sexy and had the wit of a fork-tongued adder—logic all rolled up with deadly, beguiling intent. He smirked, taking one last sip of the water before looking around the vast wasteland of their home for the next few weeks.

  She’d solved the problem of water. But shelter and food still seemed impossible. As far as his eye could see, there was nothing. He’d not even heard the squeak of a rodent nor seen the tracks of insects in the dirt.

  The witch muttered something beneath her breath, and he wondered idly if she were crafting a curse for him. Seemed in keeping with her character. He chuckled and shook his head softly. But then he noted glowing yellow lights off in the distance that distracted him from his thoughts. Frowning, he watched as the lights drew closer to within range of their flame.

  He realized the glow was actually eyes attached to a shadowy form.

  “Love,” he whispered, trying to snag her attention.

  She continued her incantations. And judging by the set of her shoulders and her refusal to even shift an inch, it was obvious she was ignoring him.

  “Pst. Witch.” He said it a little louder. This was no time for her silly games.

  Finally, she looked up at him, curling her lip. “What?”

  He sighed then pointed. The shape had begun to take on form. It belonged to a deer. If he could just find a rock large enough to bash its head in with, he could kill it, and they’d have dinner. But his dreams of roasted venison were dashed when she hopped to her knees and smiled enchantingly at the shadowy deer.

  “Come here, you little darling,” she crooned to it. “Come to Baba.” She crooked her finger, and against his will, Freyr was mesmerized. He’d had no idea she was such an animal lover. Her entire face had transformed. She sparkled with verve and joy, and he wanted to grump at her that the very last thing she needed was a pet when the very real need for food should have been priority number one.

  But how could he deny her? She seemed so happy.

  The deer, which had been headed in the direction of the brook, changed course and came toward her instead. It had big, wide eyes and a regal face. It was what most women might term adorable with its fluffier-than-normal brown fur and velveteen nose and... He frowned.

  The deer walked straight into Baba’s arms. Skittish animals like deer never did such a thing. One of her arms banded tight around the buck’s neck, and the other... A bit of winking silver caught his eye. A second later, the deer gave a strangled bleating sound and dropped to its knees like a sack of stone.

  Turning back to look at him, Baba snorted. “What?” she asked innocently. “Did you really think I’d let a source of food pass us by?”

  And once again, he laughed. “You’re insane.”

  She nodded as though his words were a compliment. And maybe, just maybe, they were.

  Chapter 4

  Calypso

  She didn’t want to be, but Calypso was impressed. Glancing away from the water orb they’d been watching each couple through, she smirked at a beaming Aphrodite. “I’ll be damned. I don’t know how you did it, Dite, but I think Freyr might actually be a far stronger contender than Bird Beak would have been.”

  Aphrodite shook a skull-shaped rattle in Phlegm’s chubby little face. The goblin baby cooed as he reached up for it. “It’s a curse. What can I say?” She snickered, clearly enjoying her moment in the limelight.

  Calypso wasn’t exactly a friend of Baba, but she’d used the witch’s services now and again through the ages and including her in the games, mostly for her skills as a sorceress, had been an obvious choice. But just because she’d been a last minute addition to the line up didn’t mean that she’d not wanted to provide the witch a true shot at happiness.

  Thanks to her own fairytale ending with Hades, Caly had wanted nothing more than to see all the bad women of Kingdom find their own happily ever afters. Only problem was, each and every last one of the women in the games was as stubborn as a dried, old mule. Getting them to let go of the tough outer shell they wrapped themselves up in wasn’t going to be an easy task.

  But she liked what she was seeing so far. Caly only hoped that they figured out their riddles in time. Everything she and Dite did now was intentional. Telling the women they’d kill them, threatening them with bodily harm, giving them only a month to commit... All of it was like a game of chess, thinking three, ten, even twenty moves ahead.

  Because Caly was them. She’d been just as dark, wild, and unpredictable as the lot of them. She knew how the dark queens thought because she was one. She might have softened a tad bit under Hades’ tutelage, but beneath it all, Calypso was still that fierce, fiery elemental who took great delight in being occasionally bad. Deep down, Calypso knew that this was what she needed to be to strip these proud, powerful women down to their basic cores and get them to be vulnerable enough to admit that love wasn’t a weakness.

  Her stomach clenched. But deep, deep down in the darkest, furthest recess of her mind, a tiny fissure of fear bloomed because what if she was wrong? What if the steps she was sure they’d take they did not? What if all of this blew back in her face? She clenched her jaw, staring uneasily at the sea orb. If the women didn’t react and act the way she’d planned, the outcome could be disastrous to each of them.

  Aphrodite laughed, tickling Phlegm as he cooed back at her. And Caly swallowed her fears, pushing them down into the abyss. If she faltered and let Dite see her fear, Dite would suffer too. No sense in that. Things would turn out right. They had to. They’d planned for everything.

  Hadn’t they?

  Needing to change the subject quickly, she applied an airy lightness to her voice. “I was so sure when you took me to Freyr, this would turn out to be a disaster to beat all.”

  Aphrodite’s smug smile slipped just an inch, and a serious look passed over her face. “Promise not to tell?”

  Caly crossed her heart.

  Dite shrugged the little green bean up on her shoulder, patting his back gently as she looked deeply into the orb. “So did I. But you know what’s weird, Cal?”

  Without even asking, Calypso knew exactly what she was going to say. “Yeah. I know. Me too. I kind of want the big, bad witch to find her mate too, Dites.”

  Themis, who’d been making them a bowl of popcorn, padded into Caly’s bedroom a second later. She’d not been within hearing distance of their conversation, but Justice was attuned to the games for any signs of foul play and jumped right in.

  “It’s called having a heart, ladies. Now, let’s see who yields first, shall we?”

  Caly patted the spot on the mattress beside her. Themis sat t a second later, passing the bowl of popcorn as a deep and intense silence filled the room, all eyes back on the orbs as the anticipation grew.

  ~*~

  Baba Yaga

  The next night, Baba and Freyr sat around their campfire again, eating mor
e of last night’s kill. Baba had used the bones to build a lean to. It wasn’t huge, but it at least kept the sun off them during the day. She’d stretched out the skins, adding a quick-drying agent to it so that rather than days, it’d only taken hours for them to have a serviceable covering for their shelter. Now they had water, food, and a roof over their heads.

  All things considered, things were going rather swimmingly, apart from the fact that Fellatio insisted on prattling on and asking her a million questions, none of which were important as she had no intention of actually claiming any mate by the end of this ridiculous competition. Nor did she plan to take part in whatever circus the goddesses had planned for the last one standing.

  Though, she had to admit, if only to herself, that he wasn’t the worst thing she could have been stuck with. He made her laugh.

  “Favorite food?” Freyr asked.

  She never glanced up from her scrying bowl. Peabrain had given her the tool to bring her enemy to her knees. For the past two nights, she’d had unfettered access to the Dark Queen’s demesne.

  The only thing she’d learned so far was that Fable’s eyes dilated every time she looked at the mate chosen for her. He looked familiar to Baba with his razor sharp cheekbones, long face, soulful brown eyes, and caramel colored skin. She knew she’d seen that male before. There was something sad, something haunted about his past, something Baba could possibly use against her royal darkness if she could only remember... The name was just there, flitting on the tip of her tongue when Freyr butted in again.

  “You know, love, it’s easier to simply answer my questions. Ignoring me will get you nowhere. I have the patience of a saint.”

  Growling, she flicked her gaze toward his laughing eyes. Always laughing. Everything about him was so bloody jolly. What was so funny anyway?

  Unrepentant as ever, he flicked the bone he’d been gnawing on over his shoulder then quick as lightning, snatched the bowl of water from her hands and sat it down. “There now. Where were we?” He plopped his chin on his fist. This wouldn’t have been quite so silly looking if he’d been leaning on anything other than air.