14 страница. good at Human emotions anymore, either

good at Human emotions anymore, either

expressing them or understanding them.

She taught me well, and kept me from

harm; affection never really entered into

the equation. And having spent the

beginning of my life in the orphanage, I

didn’t know enough to expect it.”

A sip of wine covered some spasm of

emotion she doubtless hoped he

wouldn’t see—regret, maybe, or sorrow.

“I grew up without some of the

essential foundations that make a human

being Human,” she said softly. “I know

I’m not very good with people, or

making connections. We moved around a

lot, in the Baba’s hut on chicken legs,

going to wherever she was called, or

was in the mood to be.”

Liam reached out, caressed her cheek

for a brief moment. She leaned into him

for a moment before pulling away. “You

seem plenty human to me, Baba. And

folks around here liked you just fine

before Maya started her campaign to

discredit you. Belinda and the Ivanovs

still do. And just yesterday Bertie

actually kicked someone out of her diner

for daring to call you a witch within her

hearing.”

Baba looked at him, blinking rapidly.

“She did?”

He nodded, dropping his hand back

down as if he’d accidentally touched the

sun. “Didn’t you get lonely as a child?”

“Not really,” she said, sitting up

straighter and jerking off her boots.

Chudo-Yudo ducked as one went sailing

over his head. “Ah, that’s better.”

Liam smiled. He got a kick out of the

fact that she hated to wear shoes,

although he couldn’t have said why. Just

part of who she was.

“I had the Riders as friends, when

they came to visit my Baba, and

Koshei.” A slight flush turned her tanned

cheeks rosy for a brief moment, then

vanished. “And Chudo-Yudo, of

course.”

Liam raised an eyebrow. “Every girl

should have a dog. Even if he is part

dragon.”

Chudo-Yudo coughed a tiny spurt of

flame, singeing Liam’s shoe. “Dude—

I’m all dragon. I just look like a damned

dog. Try and keep this stuff straight, will

ya?”

“I’m trying,” Liam said, “Really, I’m

trying.” He looked at Baba. “So the old

Baba raised you, and taught you about

herbs, and uh, all that other stuff?”

“Magic, yes.” She bit her lip, trying

not to laugh at him. “It’s not as bizarre as

you think. More like a type of science

you simply haven’t learned enough about

to comprehend.”

That actually made a kind of twisted

sense to him. “You mean like physics? I

never could wrap my mind around

physics.”

Her smile finally reached her

mysterious eyes, washing away some of

the sadness there. “I wouldn’t worry

about it. Most of what people believe

about physics isn’t true anyway.” She

pointed at Chudo-Yudo. “That whole

‘conservation of mass’ thing? How on

earth could a dragon with a ten-foot

wingspan become an only-slightlylarger-

than-normal pit bull?” She

snorted. “Physics. Bah.”

Liam pushed his hair back out of his

eyes again. He wasn’t sure if it was

good or bad that Baba was starting to

make sense to him.

“Is there anything else you need to

know?” she asked. “I don’t want us to

have any more secrets between us. I

want you to be able to trust me to help.”

Secrets. He looked down at his

shoes, one of which now bore a large

charred spot, and thought about the

things he hadn’t told her about. Melissa,

in particular. The truth was, he didn’t

think he could ever trust another woman

after what he’d been through with

Melissa. Not even one he had to fight the

urge to kiss every time he got within two

feet of her. He opened his mouth to say

something; to reward her story, which

had clearly taken courage for her to tell,

with his own. “I don’t

suppose you have any pie?”

* * *

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