Chapter 24 #2
For comfort, I put a hand in my pocket and felt the Firebird’s feather.
As I touched it, it didn’t burn me but instead had its usual, calming effect.
I felt reassured that everything would be all right.
I had managed to escape Baba Yaga, a much scarier witch than this one.
I’d confronted Quinn not once but twice and had managed to defeat him both times, triumphing in the end by outsmarting him and breaking the needle that contained his soul.
Surely I could also outsmart the Mistress of the Copper Mountain, or Martha, whoever this woman was.
“Now, tell me.” Martha narrowed her eyes. “Who are you, really?”
“Ivan.”
“Let’s drop the pretense, please. Show me what you’ve got in your pocket.
” She looked exactly to my right, where I was keeping my hand clasped over the magical feather.
“I asked the mirror, but it wouldn’t tell me exactly what this object was.
It also didn’t exactly tell me your origins, though it offered a small explanation.
My mirror is never wrong, you see, but you’d managed to confuse it. ”
“The mirror? What mirror? Wait, are you really the Mistress of the Copper Mountain?”
“Am I really the Mistress? What do you think?” Martha chortled and tapped her finger on the table.
Only then did I notice a silver mirror lying right in front of her.
She flipped it up and showed it to me. It had a long handle and was oval, with a flowery design.
I should have known better, but I reached for it and immediately held it up to my face.
In the reflection, I saw myself as I’d first come to Virginia.
I was standing at the entrance to the historical bathhouse, having just arrived from Zorya, with my long hair disheveled and stubble on my face.
I was wearing the long tunic with a red sash and loose pants.
And on my feet were the worn bast shoes Lisa had so generously helped me replace with the sneakers.
The second I saw my reflection, I pushed the mirror away and laid it on the table, facedown, but it was too late. A victorious smile appeared on Martha’s face.
“You’re from Zorya, aren’t you? I knew it would happen one day, but I didn’t think it would be so soon. You came through the portal in the bathhouse?”
“You know who I am?”
“I had my suspicions. You’re Ivan the Dimwit, aren’t you?
Crossovers are more and more common, and I know there’s a portal over in Fernwood.
That place is quite full of vortexes, with tons of mystical energy.
That’s why the founding fathers started building there in the first place.
The bathhouse also makes sense. The water in it is regenerative. ”
Having heard plenty about the magical powers of the bathhouse from Lisa, I got straight to the point.
“Have you been to Zorya?” I asked, in part relieved the witch seemed to have forgotten about the feather.
“Not personally, no.” Martha grinned. “But you and Lisa, what exactly is happening? I don’t quite understand the energy I’m feeling between the two of you.”
“I, I don’t know.” I averted my eyes.
“Come on, Ivan, be a man. Tell me what you want. I just might be able to help you.” The Mistress winked at me.
“Help me? How?”
“You’ll see. But not for free, of course. I will ask for a favor in return.”
“What kind of favor?” I gawked at her. Was I about to enter into a deal with this dangerous witch?
“It depends on what you want, Ivan. But I think I have an inkling of what it is.” She reached across the table and placed her fingers on my hand. It felt as if I’d been burned by fire and I jerked back, pulling away from her. “Don’t be shy, it’s all right.” She smirked.
“I don’t think I can tell you,” I stuttered, pushing the mirror across the table back to her.
“What’s wrong? Did I scare you?” Her tone was half mocking.
She rose from her seat and walked over to where I was sitting, hoisting herself on a chair right next to me.
“Now, let’s chat, shall we? But promise me you won’t be shy.
You’re not a little boy anymore—you need to know how to act with a woman.
Especially if you’re trying to win over Lisa. ”
“What?” I felt my cheeks turn bright red from embarrassment.
“Isn’t that what you want? For Lisa to fall in love with you?”
When I didn’t answer immediately, Martha pulled her chair even closer.
“Now, Ivan. If you don’t want my help, that’s fine, too.
But I saw how Lisa was acting around you.
It’s not looking good. I feel a lot of uncertainty on her end.
Whatever little magic you have, it can all go to waste very quickly.
You’ve heard about Quinn, and Lisa is still very troubled by him and what he did. ”
“Why?” I yelped, forgetting that I hadn’t even admitted to this woman that I had feelings for Lisa.
“Quinn is a terrible man, though for some reason I don’t see him as a threat any longer.
” The witch tilted her head, giving me a quizzical stare.
I was about to boast about the needle and the soul of Kashchey, but thought better of it.
“Lisa, as you may have already noticed, has magical abilities. The only issue is that she hasn’t yet started to believe in herself and her powers. ”
“She does!” I raised my hands in protest. “Lisa believes in magic. She knows about me, where I come from, and she’s fine with it.”
“Don’t forget, one thing is to believe in magic in general, but it is quite another to embrace one’s own magical abilities.
And Lisa hasn’t yet done it. Any time she feels like something magical is about to happen, she pulls back.
I’ve seen it plenty of times with her. And with you, coming from Zorya, of course she resists her feelings. ”
Immediately, I remembered Lisa’s words right after Quinn sped off on his motorcycle—None of this can be real. What am I even doing?—and fidgeted in my seat. Martha observed me, then raised her eyebrows.
“You know, I could expedite the process and activate her. If you let me, I’ll do it in such a way that Lisa will wake up and find you irresistible. How would you like that?”
“I—I don’t know.” I looked away. The image of being with Lisa, of the two of us happily in love, was too much.
I wanted it more than anything in the world, and it felt as if a bottomless pit opened inside me.
It was the fear of losing this dream, mixed with the realization that it was right there, within reach.
Vasilisa and I could be in love, happy together.
“I think you know. Now, if that’s what you want, just say it and I’ll make it happen. Just like that.” The witch snapped her fingers.
“Really?”
“Just don’t forget, I’ll expect you to do me a favor in return.” She paused and glanced at the door. “Do you need some time to think about it?”
“No.” I shook my head. “Let’s do it.”
The second I said it, it was as if a huge weight lifted off my shoulders.
I wanted to be with Lisa. And if the Mistress of the Copper Mountain needed a favor in return for making it happen, what did it matter?
I’d already entered into a deal with Baba Yaga, and now I’d have another with this woman.
Just one more promise. Why not? Nothing mattered because I was about to get Vasilisa to fall in love with me.
I was about to be the happiest man alive.
“All right, Ivan. Do you want to know about the favor you’ll owe me?”
“Yes.” I nodded eagerly.
“I’d like a gold mine.”
“What?” My jaw dropped.
“A gold mine. I want to own a gold mine, and I’d like you to help me get it.”
Out of everything in the world, I couldn’t imagine a more impossible favor. A Firebird I could capture. A Fabergé egg I could steal. But how would I get a gold mine and bring it to Martha Coppersmith? I blinked fast, staring at the witch, hoping this was a test, a joke.
“But how would I bring it to you?”
“We can figure out those details later, but you wouldn’t need to bring it to me. You can help me get the title to it.”
“Oh, I know about titles,” I said, remembering the one Quinn had hidden in the Fabergé egg.
“Great. Now that this has been settled, we have a deal, don’t we?” She pushed her chair back and stood up.
“We do,” I said.
“Very well then. Now, I’m pretty sure Lisa and Grayson are about to come back.” Martha smoothed out her dress.
“Oh, yes, haven’t we been speaking for a long time?” I asked, glancing at the cuckoo clock that was hanging on the wall.
“We haven’t. It’s only been five minutes. Don’t worry,” she said. I was certain we’d been speaking for much longer, and opened my mouth to say as much, but Martha was already walking to the front door. The second she stood in front of it, it opened and Lisa walked inside, followed by the wolf dog.
“What a good boy you are, what a sweet dog,” Lisa cooed over the beast, petting him between the ears.
The animal gave Lisa an affectionate stare and leaned into her touch.
I was about to ask Lisa how things had gone with Harry, but then she gave me a nice, open smile.
I smiled back and then caught myself thinking, Has it already begun?
Did Martha already do something to make Lisa fall in love with me?