Dominic didn't react to their return. He continued to munch on his orange as he watched them.

No one said anything for the longest time. Sasha finally broke the silence.

"How long have we been gone?" She asked.

Dominic glanced at his watch and shrugged. "An hour maybe," he said nonchalantly.

Sasha nudged Evan with her foot.

"How long were we there? Eight? Nine hours?"

"At least," he moaned lying on his back with his arm thrown across his eyes.

Sasha crawled to Evan and put her face close to his. He seemed ok but she knew portal travel was hard on him.

"You ok?" She asked her hand on his.

He nodded his response but didn't lift his arm.

"Can we get some water over here?" she growled.

Dominic disappeared into the house and returned with two gla.s.ses. Evan drank his greedily while she sipped. The water was cold and refreshing.

"So?" Dominic said casually returning to his seat.

Sasha turned her attention to Dominic and smiled. She knew what he wanted to know. She wanted to make him ask for it but that seemed petty.

"Evan was successful," she said.

Dominic raised an eyebrow and looked between Evan and Sasha.

"Yes, Evan," she said. "He destroyed the talisman. I was too dead to help him."

Dominic didn't react and popped an orange slice in his mouth.

"I expected as much," he said.

"You thought I'd die?" She said incredulously. She couldn't believe he'd allow her to go to Tysseland if he realistically thought she'd die. That seemed too cruel. "There was a high probability. I warned you that you probably wouldn't live out the day."

Dominic continued eating in a calm manner while Sasha seethed inside.

"I thought you were being sarcastic," she spat. "Being your usual negative self. Here I thought I'd thank you for your help but it turned out you knowingly sent me to my death and didn't even bother to come with us to improve our odds."

Dominic sniffed unaffected by her anger.

"I couldn't join you," he said. "I created the portal."

Dominic offered his peeled orange to Sasha. She grabbed it roughly, p.i.s.sed that he didn't seem to care about whether she lived or died.

Sasha bit down on a piece of orange, the juice bursting in her mouth. She took her time slurping and chewing. She offered some to Evan but he still had a hand over his eyes.

"Are you going to give me the details?" Dominic said finally showing some impatience.

"I haven't decided," she said still feeling ornery. Although they had broken the curse she didn't feel entirely safe. The queen had still tried to kill her as she was leaving. She feared she was always going to be a target.

"Perhaps we should keep the dead part from your mother," he said suddenly nervous.

It was Sasha's turn to laugh.

"Afraid of my mother?"

"Yes," he said.

Sasha laid in the gra.s.s and closed her eyes, breathing in deeply. She smelled fresh cut gra.s.s, roses and the sweet scent of some blossoms from a bush growing in Dominic's backyard.

She wasn't sure she'd get back home and she wanted to appreciate every moment of her return.

"How did you destroy the talisman?" Dominic asked eager for details although trying to restrain himself.

"I didn't," Sasha said not turning her gaze from staring at the clouds in the sky. "Evan saved me."

She described what happened in the queen's tomb and motioned for Evan to supply the details about the talisman destruction.

Evan rolled onto his side still recuperating from the portal travel. He picked up a slice of orange and nibbled gently. He took a sip of water and swallowed slowly. Sasha suspected he was drawing out his motions to make Dominic antsy and she loved it.

Evan explained how he found a lock of brown hair in a delicate box that could only belong to a member of the royal family. It was lined with purple velvet and had a crown carved onto the outside. He destroyed the hair with fire and then decided to burn all the talismans just in case he'd made a mistake.

Dominic leaned forward, on the edge of his seat. "You destroyed everything?"

Evan nodded and flopped back in the gra.s.s exhausted.

"That might have repercussions," Dominic said leaning back in his seat deep in thought. "She'll be fabulously furious. That might even be why she chased you to Glenbury's house."

Even shook his head. "She wouldn't have known that quickly. I put all the boxes back."

Dominic burst out laughing. "That's beautiful. She might not know for months, years even."

Dominic chuckled heartily and nearly fell off his chair. Sasha smiled at his enjoyment and tried to share in his glee.

"Why did she chase us?" She asked Dominic after giving him a few moments to regain his composure.

His shoulders rose in an exaggerated shrug. "Maybe she knew you were alive," he said. "We'll never know unless we see her again."

Sasha shuddered at the thought and rolled onto her knees. "No thanks," she said. "I guess it'll have to stay a mystery."

Sasha didn't keep anything from her mother. Since she understood so little about what was going on she figured she'd provide her mother with information overload so she could sort it all out.

"Sasha, is that you?" her mother yelled from another room. Sasha stood in the foyer, clothing torn and dirt smudging her face. She dropped her knapsack with a clunk. She'd thrown out the burlap dress at Dominic's house.

Willow Bean swept into the room and halted seeing a disheveled Sasha. She rushed over to her daughter and tried to give her a hug.

"Sasha, what's happened?" She pulled Sasha into her arms. She slackened the embrace when Sasha moaned in pain. "Tell me what's wrong? Where have you been? I've been searching for you."

Sasha pulled away from her mother and dragged herself to the family room. She flopped down on a leather sofa and asked for a drink.

"Mother you lied to me," Sasha said leaning back into the sofa cushions. "You've been lying to me my whole life."

Her voice was surprisingly calm. She thought she'd be hysterical when she confronted her mother about not adequately protecting her. She thought she'd never be able to forgive her for the danger she had to face. A danger her mother should have defused years ago.

Willow Bean was stunned. "What are you talking about Sasha?" she came into the family room carrying a gla.s.s of water.

"Mother, I was in Tysseland," Sasha said. "I met Queen Vania. We broke the curse."

Stunned, Willow Bean stumbled and the gla.s.s slipped from her fingers and landed on the floor with a thunk. Water seeped into the carpet and Willow Bean didn't seem to notice.

"Who sent you there?" Willow Bean said trying to recover her composure.

"Mother, please," Sasha said pulling herself off the couch and scooping up the gla.s.s from the floor. She went into the kitchen, filled it and turned back to her mother. "Who do you think sent me?"

"Dominic," she said quietly. "Why would he? I was taking care of this."

"Really? I want to believe you mother but I'm barely alive. My lovely grandmother has tried to kill me every way she knows how while you have stood by and what, sold houses?"

Willow Bean stiffened. "That is not true. I was... I was preparing."

Sasha was surprised. "How?" she said slamming her gla.s.s on the counter. Willow Bean didn't flinch.

"I'm not like her," Willow Bean said. "I would never hurt you."

Sasha shook her head. "I'm having a hard time believing that mother because it seemed you stood by while your mother tried to kill me many times.

"I can see why you wouldn't tell me about this horrid woman. I mean, who would be proud of being related to that? But you didn't prepare me mother. I didn't know what I was doing. If Evan hadn't been there-," she collapsed sobbing.

Willow Bean approached her daughter apprehensively. She rested a light hand on her shoulder and rubbed in gentle circles.

"It was super scary mom," Sasha cried. "She actually killed me and Evan brought me back. If it weren't for Evan, I'd be dead."

Sasha slumped on the tiled floor. Willow Bean held her as she fell. The two sat in a heap rocking together while Sasha cried.

Once she calmed she told her mother what happened, clinging to her like she did when she was small and sc.r.a.ped her knee. Willow Bean put her hand on Sasha's head and brushed her hair away from her forehead.

"I don't know how you could stand that woman," Sasha said pulling away. "She's pure evil. "

Willow Bean pulled her daughter back in for a hug, tighter this time.

"You don't have to tell me," Willow Bean said. "I lived with her for 17 years. She made my life miserable but thought she was making it better. I didn't have any freedom."

She gently held Sasha away and gazed into her eyes.

"That's why I give you s.p.a.ce, so you can learn and fix your own mistakes. There's nothing worse than someone always trying to control you."

Sasha was skeptical. That's not how she'd characterize how her mother treated her but she kept silent. She didn't want to fight anymore.

"I hope Glenbury is ok," Sasha said wiping away her tears. She explained how the queen showed up just as they were leaving.

Willow Bean rubbed Sasha's arm. "Don't worry about Glenbury. He has great survival skills."

"Still," Sasha said still bothered by the way she'd left the old man. "It was the queen. He told us she's more powerful than he is."

Willow Bean nodded and leaned away from Sasha. "True but don't worry. Dominic will find out. They don't have to open a portal to communicate."

Sasha glared at her mother and found her nonchalance about Glenbury's fate disturbing. Maybe Willow Bean was more like the queen than she wanted to admit.

"What now?" Sasha asked.

Willow Bean got to her feet and took a roll of paper towels over to the water she'd spilled. She mopped it up not looking at Sasha.

"We found Nefar," she said not providing too many details. "He won't be bothering you anymore."

Sasha wasn't sure if she believed her. "Did you kill him?"

Willow Bean stared into her daughter's face. "Do you really want to know?"

Sasha paused. Did she want to know if her mother had killed someone? "No," she said realizing she didn't want to know all the gory details.

"Ok then," Willow Bean said taking the soaking paper towels to the garbage bin. She dropped them inside and dried her hands on a cloth.

"Do you think the queen still wants me dead?" Sasha asked.

Willow Bean was slow to respond. "It's hard to say," she said. "It will be harder for her to do it because you've got your full magical abilities now."

"Yeah about that," Sasha said. "What was wrong with the pendant?"

"Do you have it?" Willow Bean stretched out her hand.

Sasha put a hand to her throat and remembered it was gone. Cady had destroyed it before she died.

"No."

Willow Bean grabbed her purse and started rifling through it. "Here is my theory," she said taking out a lipstick and compact. "I think Cady was in on this from the beginning."

"What?" Sasha screeched.

"Hold up," Willow Bean said putting up a hand. "I think she was giving you something to make you leak magic. I think the point was to nullify the effect of the amulet but it didn't work entirely because magic couldn't hurt you."

Sasha nodded her agreement. "She gave me milkshakes but would never give me the recipe," she murmured. "The blue sparks haven't appeared since she was kidnapped."

"About that," Willow Bean said blotting her lips. "I think the kidnapping was staged. It looked like the same two guys who we caught with Nefar."