“I agree, my child. Your sacrifice would be in vain.” Baba Yaga stands, and she’s breathing more easily. “We’re near that massive botanical garden, as well as a labor and delivery unit.” She beams. “You chose well, sister.”
“I come here to recharge when I require it.” Lechuza bows her head. “You take what you need.”
Baba Yaga takes her sister’s hand, and I can’t help comparing their calm and supportive interactions—light magic—to the brothers’ brawling and attacking each other in front of that small hotel. Their purposes are so different, and so are their mannerisms.
For some reason, I felt more at home with the brawling boys.
I discard that thought, and I turn inward, like Baba Yaga told me I should. “I can sense the bond,” I say. “It’s tied to something inside of me.”
“Good, girl. Now, focus on the magic it’s tied to, and I want you to try, as we flood you with light, to break away from the darkness.”
I can’t help thinking of Thanatos, saying I would cease to be who I am if this works. I’ll essentially be burning away half of myself if they manage to flood me with life. But being half of myself is better than not existing at all anymore, plus I can keep the best parts, right? The bright and happy parts? “I’m ready.”
But before they can do anything, there’s another big pop down the hill.
“It’s too late,” Baba Yaga says. “He’s here.”
“I have an idea,” Leonid says. “Maybe we can convince him to break the bond so it won’t hurt him if she dies.”
“What?” Izzy asks. “This wasn’t the plan. It won’t work. We should run again.”
“He’d follow immediately,” Baba Yaga says. “I fear we’ve already lost.”
“Lost, nothing.” Leonid wraps me up with the strings from the curtain blinds, tying me to a chair. He gags me with a kitchen towel. Then he waves Izzy and the witches into the side office. “Hide. Now.”
And then Xolotl’s here. I can’t help it. When I see him, my heart leaps. I want to call out to him. It’s the bond, I’m sure. The stupid bond is why I feel better now that he’s here.
Even though we were running from him. Yep, I have Stockholm Syndrome bad.
“Whitney.” He steps closer. “You’re alright?”
I nod tightly, feeling guilt over the deception.
Xolotl’s cobalt blue eyes are burning. He looks absolutely livid. I’m petrified when Leonid steps into view. “You have a choice to make, Xolotl. You’ll have to decide how much Whitney matters to you. You can either free her from your bond, or I’ll kill her right here, right now.”
Leonid grunts beside me, and he sways a bit, but he straightens.
Baba Yaga steps out from behind him. “Ah, ah,” she says. “He’s mine. You can’t take him so easily.”
“Maybe not easily,” Xolotl says. “But I can take him.”
“Wrong answer,” Leonid says. “I suppose you don’t care whether she lives or dies after all.”
I half expect the knife to disappear inside of me, but maybe Baba Yaga is keeping Xolotl’s magic from working properly. Because when Leonid plunges the knife into my throat, it shears through muscle, tendon, and lodges into bone.
I can’t help looking up at my brother-in-law, as blood sprays out all over my body. “Thank you,” I mouth.
Xolotl roars, and before I know it, I’m floating through the air toward him. But the world around me darkens by the second. At least, until I feel the energy flood into my body.
My limbs flail around stiffly.
Baba Yaga cackles. “You can’t save her. You can only kill.”
“No! I won’t take her. Her soul can’t pass.” Xolotl spins, still holding me.
“You’d turn her into a ghost?” Baba Yaga laughs, but it’s ugly. “So be it.”
“No!” Xolotl bellows. “You will save her. Do it now, or I’ll destroy you and everything you’ve ever touched.”
