Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 83281 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 416(@200wpm)___ 333(@250wpm)___ 278(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83281 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 416(@200wpm)___ 333(@250wpm)___ 278(@300wpm)
“You must go to the witch who placed the binding in the first place,” Madam Healer told us. “You must go to Baba Yaga.”
Rath sucked in a breath and his skin went a paler shade of green. I looked at him, alarmed and mouthed,
“Who is Baba Yaga?”
For once, he didn’t answer me. He kept his eyes on Madam Healer.
“Are you sure there’s no other way?”
“There is not. And as the little witch’s power is bound, she’ll need a champion to see her through the woods.” She raised one silver eyebrow at him. “Are you prepared to take on the task?”
Rath lifted his chin.
“I am,” he rumbled. “I’ll see Sarah safely through to Baba Yaga’s hut and back again.”
“Very well. Then I wish you good luck on your journey,” Madam Healer said. There was a noise in the background and she cocked her head to one side. “I’m afraid I need to end this consultation—my next patient is here.”
“Thank you for talking with us,” Rath said.
“Any time. I hope to see you again, Rath—if you get back in one piece. A pleasure seeing you as well, Sarah. I hope you’re successful in getting your magic unbound.”
She nodded briskly at us both and then the phone screen went black.
But though what she’d said had shed some light on my situation, somehow I now had even more questions than before.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
“So who is Baba Yaga and why is she so scary?” I asked, looking at Rath.
He sighed and ran a hand through his hair.
“Haven’t you ever read any fairy tales? She’s the strongest and oldest witch alive and she doesn’t always use her power for good. It’s one reason she lives outside the barrier that surrounds Hidden Hollow.”
“So she lives out in the woods past the, uh, magic bubble?” I asked, frowning.
“Yes, but not these woods, exactly. She lives in a realm of her own making.” He got up and started pacing. “Fuck! Your mother must have been really serious about getting you bound if she got Baba Yaga involved.”
I shook my head.
“I just don’t understand why my Mom would do this to me. No matter how bad the family curse is, I don’t see how it could be worse than this binding. I mean, I used to come home from school crying every day because of the other kids teasing me and the teachers yelling at me because I couldn’t talk!”
Just the memories of my awful school days had my stomach in knots as I remembered the taunts and jeers…as well as the many times I’d been sent to the principal’s office for “being uncooperative” in class.
“Hey, I’m sorry, baby.” Rath put one long, muscular arm around my shoulders and squeezed comfortingly. “I know how it is, in a way.”
“But you can talk to everyone—you’re an extrovert,” I pointed out.
“Yeah, but I wasn’t always. I was the only half-Orc in my tribe growing up. The other kids used to tease me for being so scrawny and for being a ‘half-blood.’”
“Scrawny?” I looked up at him. “But you’re freaking seven feet tall!”
“Yeah, but a full-blooded Orc male gets to at least eight or nine feet tall,” he told me. “I’m kind of a runt for my kind. And that made my life a living hell for a long time.”
“I’m really sorry,” I said.
I hadn’t thought there was any way someone as handsome and strong and extroverted as the big Orc could understand how small and weak and weird my Selective Mutism and the social anxiety that came with it could make me feel. Now I understood why Rath was so empathetic to my plight and so eager to help me get myself unbound. He got me in a way no other man ever had, because he’d been bullied as a kid too—albeit for different reasons.
“That must have been tough,” I said, since he hadn’t answered me.
“It was at the time, but I got through it.” He looked thoughtful. “I’m actually glad I was kicked out of my tribe for being a half-blood. Moving to Hidden Hollow and meeting your Grandma really helped get my life on a different track. I think moving here is going to do the same for you,” he added, smiling down at me. “As long as we can convince Baba Yaga to reverse her spell and unbind you.”
“Is it too dangerous to go see her?” I asked cautiously, remembering what Madam Healer had said about me needing a ‘champion.’”
“It can be—it depends on her mood.” He frowned. “But Sarah, I think we have to go. You need to be free of this binding.”
“I want to be free of it,” I said. “But I don’t want to put you in danger.”
Rath rumbled laughter.
“Look who you’re talking to! I’m a fucking Orc,” he reminded me. “If I can’t handle a little danger, I might as well have my tusks pulled out and grow a pair of wings like a fairy.”