“Not these handcuffs,” Beka said triumphantly. “They used to belong to Barbara’s husband, who is a sheriff, but I put a spell on them that would force anyone wearing them to stay in the form he or she was in when I put them on. I thought they might come in handy in this particular situation. Should make it a lot easier to get this guy back to the queen without a fuss.”
As soon as he heard her, Hayreddin started to struggle in earnest, but Alexei reached out and whacked him upside the head, and the erstwhile pirate fell to the deck with a thud.
“Feel better?” Bethany asked, eyebrow raised.
“I do,” Alexei said. “You have no idea how long I’ve been waiting to do that.”
“Well, it looks like my work here is done,” the red dragon said, and landed lightly on the boat to become a devilishly handsome man with curly dark hair, a close-cropped beard, and light blue eyes.
“Baba Yaga, you are as ravishing as always.” He bowed in her direction, then leaned in and kissed her lightly on the cheek. “Black Rider, it is good to see you looking so well.”
His eyes glowed as he examined Bethany. “I don’t believe we’ve met. I am Koshei. A friend of the family, you might say. And you are?”
“Off limits,” Alexei said with a growl.
Koshei blinked. “I see. Indeed. So that’s how things are. Lovely.” He bowed at Bethany too. “A pleasure to not meet you, my lady. Now, if you would be so kind as to steer this vessel back in the direction of Beka’s hut - I mean, school bus - she and I can take this miscreant back to the Otherworld to face the queen’s justice. That should prove to be an entertaining afternoon.”
“You’re going to drive Beka’s school bus to the Otherworld?” Bethany said, her face scrunched up in a way Alexei found irresistibly adorable as she tried to envision it.
Beka smiled. “Not at all. There is a magical doorway inside my bus. I assume that’s how you got here in the first place,” she said with a nod toward Koshei.
“Naturally. Kind of you to leave it unlocked for me,” he said. “I came through in Human guise, since my dragon self is not only too large to fit through the door but also would undoubtedly have caused something of a stir if it had been spotted. Once I was out of sight of any innocent bystanders, I changed forms and flew to you as quickly as possible.”
“But how did you know where we were?” Bethany asked.
Koshei gave a wicked grin. “I can always sense a Baba Yaga. As I said, something of a member of the family. Besides, dragons are very territorial; we can perceive each other from miles away.”
He glared down at the seeming Human at his feet. “Mind you, most of us have better manners than this one seems to have displayed. I knew him in the Otherworld, of course, but we dragons rarely socialize with others of our own kind, so I can’t say I could have predicted his bad behavior.” Koshei scowled. “Greedy fools like this give dragons a bad name. It will be a pleasure to watch the queen make an example of him.”
Koshei turned to Alexei, a wicked glint in his light blue eyes. “Perhaps her majesty would like to meet your lady. I’m sure she would be interested in your testimony as well. You have been much missed at court.”
“I don’t think that will be necessary,” Alexei growled. “The word of the Baba Yaga should be more than enough. I am not ready to return to the Otherworld. You two can take Hayreddin back without me. Bethany still needs me to help with her father.”
Bethany gave him a look he couldn’t quite decipher. “Once you get us back to the truck, I’m sure I can manage,” she said. “If you want to go back.”
Alexei glared at her. Was she trying to get rid of him? Maybe this whole adventure - dragons and all - had been too much for her. He couldn’t blame her if she just wanted to go back home and forget all about the Paranormal. Or maybe she was just sick of having him around.
“You got kidnapped and knocked out,” he said. “I can stick around for another couple of days.” And he stomped off to the cabin to check on Calum, before anyone else tried to make him do something he didn’t want to do.
Chapter 20
In the end, of course, he went anyway. As Beka pointed out, the queen had been waiting for some time to get word that Alexei was okay. If Beka and Koshei went back and reported they’d had an adventure that involved the former Black Rider and Alexei didn’t even bother to make an appearance, there would be hell to pay.
Besides, as Bethany said somewhat acerbically, she and her father had managed without Alexei before he’d shown up, and no doubt they would continue to do so after he was on his way to wherever he decided to go next.
So that was him to. And she wasn’t wrong, but for some reason the statement made him grumpy anyway.
Not so grumpy that he couldn’t appreciate the unearthly beauty of the Otherworld when they arrived back at the place where he’d spent so much of his time. Including the six months he’d spent recovering from his torture at the hands of the evil Brenna, but he was trying hard not to think about that. As far as he was concerned, he’d be happy never to think about that time again.
The sky was various tones of lilac shading into indigo, so the queen must have been in one of her purple moods. Bright pink grasses lined a path made of sparkling white stones and willow trees sang quietly as they walked by, accompanied by a satyr on a lyre who was serenading a pretty green-haired nymph. A part of his heart he hadn’t realized he’d walled off seemed to open up again, leaving him feeling lighter than he had in a long time.
“It’s good to be back, isn’t it?” Beka said perceptively. “Even if you wouldn’t want to live here.”
Alexei had to smile. “Yes, I suppose it is. I’ve probably been avoiding the place for too long.”
“You had a really tough experience,” she said as they rounded a corner to see the dainty spires for the castle up ahead. “You just needed some time to heal and figure out what you were going to do next.”
“Besides,” Koshei added as he shoved a scowling Hayreddin down the path ahead of him, Chewie helping with the herding by nipping at his heels. “It never hurts to return bearing gifts.”
*
The queen always knew what was going on in her lands, if she was bothering to pay attention, so it was no surprise when they arrived at the castle grounds to see an elaborate pavilion prepared for high tea, with extra plates set for guests. But clearly she hadn’t anticipated the addition of a handcuffed and disgruntled dragon-in-Human-form, since she raised one silvery eyebrow in mild surprise as their group came to a stop in front of the throne-like chairs she and her consort sat upon.