Chapter 60
Willow walked the castle’s grounds, through the garden, and around the Dark Hall; she could feel her sister was the strongest in the hall. She could also feel her in other parts of the grounds; It may mean that her sister has spies in the form of animals and such.
That meant for her to carry out the plan, she would have to discuss it with only two people; she would have to teleport them off the grounds and away from the spies.
She let out a sigh; it is sometimes better to apologize later than ask permission. She can’t even give her sister one tiny sliver of a clue; it would perhaps give her an escape plan, and it would all be for nothing.
Now, which two?
The mother, of course, and the female that is closest to the mother. Let’s kidnap the princess and her mother figure friend. Michael is going to love this; she let out a laugh. Yup, about as much as if you were to put an angry lobster down the front of his pants.
Willow knocked on the princess’s chamber doors and got a quick come in. Walking into the room, she could see that the two people she needed would be right there in the room; that was a stroke of good luck there.
Now it is time to see how serious they are and how far they will go to save the child.
“Hello, ladies. I want a word or two with you in private if it is allowed?”
Both Daisy and Enid nodded their consent; she let out a smirk knowing that neither of the ladies knew what they had just consented to.
Willow walked up to them and held out a hand to each of them; at first, they were hesitant, but Enid went first, then Daisy; as soon as Daisy’s hand touched her, she transported them back to her hut in the dark forest.
Both ladies were stunned, and then they did something that Willow was not expecting; they both looked at each other and began to laugh.
When she gave them a stern look, thinking that perhaps they were insulting her, they both stopped, and Daisy held up a hand.
“We meant no insult, Baba Yaga Willow; we laughed because both of us were trying to find a way to get out of the castle for just a little bit; we just needed a break from all the chaos.”
Willow laughed after that at the irony of their situation. She admitted that she would have been laughing on the floor if she had been in the same position.
Now is the time to be serious, though, and time was running out for everyone.
“Ladies, I have brought you here to discuss my plans to save the child and lift the curse.”
She looked directly at Daisy now.
“Firstly, I need to know how far you would go to save your child.”
“Before you speak, princess, know that what happens from this moment on depends on your answer.”
“For instance, would you trade your life so the child could live?”
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Noah went up to check on the ladies to see how they were doing and bring them some snacks. He realized that he was being a little suffocating with his constant worry; he had hoped that giving her some alone time with Enid would help her mood.
If it doesn’t, he could take them all out for a drive or something, a change of scenery, perhaps some shopping. He was willing to do anything to see a smile on his mate’s face again.
He couldn’t blame her. He hadn’t been smiling lately either; he watched the Baba Yaga walking the grounds earlier today; he wanted to run up to her and demand her tell him what she was planning.
Noah stopped himself, though; you don’t make demands of a Baba Yaga and live to tell the tale. You are either something else or dead.
There were no good stories about someone who messed with a Baba Yaga and succeeded. He could see a middle-aged woman; she wasn’t ugly, but she wasn’t pretty either, and her eyes were scary and intense.
When Daisy told him though what she saw when she looked at the Baba Yaga was something different, the Baba Yaga had said that Daisy could see her in her proper form.
He knocked on the door before going inside; he was about to say hello ladies when he realized that the room was empty.
He rushed through the room, checking everywhere, even the places where he knew they couldn’t even fit, and then he checked the bathroom. Nothing, they were not here.
He ran down the stairs and out the doors to the garden, thinking that they went out there for some air. He looked everywhere twice and was becoming frantic; Garret had noticed his behavior and came over to him.
“What is wrong, Noah? Is there something I can help you with?”
“They’re gone! Daisy and Enid are nowhere to be found.”
Garret stretched out his senses, and indeed, neither Daisy nor Enid was in the castle or nearby.
Garret grabbed Noah’s arm and started to run; Noah almost got sick from the speed; they were in the gardens one moment. The next, they were outside Michaels’s chambers.
Noah made a mental note never to try to run from Garret.
Before either of them could knock, Michael opened the door and waved them inside.
“I already know why you are here; I just received an envelope from The Baba Yaga; your mates are safe here. She needed to talk to them without taking the chance of anyone overhearing.”
“They will be back within the hour.”
He held up a red envelope and the stationary inside; it was just a card. They both read it and then sat down, relieved.
“As you know, tonight we give The Baba Yaga her payment; the fact that she has taken the girls away to her hut means that there has been a wrinkle in her plans.”
Garret was still holding the card; Michael motioned for him to turn it to the other side on which it was written.
Your walls have ears.
I don’t know what you two know about Baba Yaga, but what I do know is that if the Baba Yaga is working outside the rules, then there is something strange indeed going on.
We will have to sit here and wait till they return and then hope that they will tell us what is going on.
“Prepare yourselves, though; your mates might not be able to share with you; you will have to be understanding. They don’t do it because they want to. They do it because they must.”
“You can ask them, but you will have to wait if they do not tell you. Hopefully, you won’t be waiting long for them to tell you because the only other option to finding out is to be there when it happens.”
Both Garret and Noah looked at each other; neither was very sure they could stand by and watch. They did not know what would happen, knowing that there was nothing you could do but give in and participate in playing your role.
Neither likes the feeling of helplessness, but Michael was right if they could not tell them anything because it could jeopardize the plan and cost them their child’s life. Then he was going to have to learn to wait.
“What did the Baba Yaga mean when she said the walls have ears?”
“I am pretty certain she was talking about the old magic that still lingers in the Dark Hall; I am assuming that it is her sister’s spirit waiting for her curse to take action.”
Michael got up and poured everyone a drink from his private bar.
“Here, boys, drink up. You are going to need it.”
They held up their glasses and then downed them in one swallow.
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It watched as Willow walked around the walls, trying its best to hide its actual energy. She gleefully watched as Willow made her way to the princess’s room; the windows were open. It was perfect, and now it could hear everything.
To its disappointment, Willow had figured out that it was watching everything because they were all there one minute, and the next, they were gone.
If it could have yelled out in rage and frustration, that damn bitch would mess up all her plans again. Not this time; it was foolproof that there would be no getting out of death; it was set death has to walk amongst them before the curse is lifted.
So you can stick it where the sun doesn’t shine, Willow; you can’t stop death. Nothing can. Not only that, but when the child dies, the mother, in her grief, will leave her soul open to her, and she will take it over and live again.
She will rule over them all and make them all pay.
Some of the servants walking by the Dark Hall noticed that the ground felt like it was vibrating, but it stopped as soon as they as quickly as it started.