Blood of Egypt (Witch Fairy Book 8) (10 page)

“What’s happening?” Agent Amman shouts.

“I don’t know!” Eliana shouts over the roars of the storm.

Kallen’s face is showing strain now as well.  I can tell that their combined magic is keeping the sand storm somewhat at bay, but it’s not lessening it in the slightest.  I don’t want to do this.  I really, really don’t want to do this, but I don’t have a choice.

I give Kallen and Eliana my best ‘I’m so sorry, but this is going to hurt’ look.  Kallen nods slightly, dread filling his eyes.  Drawing magic up from beneath us, I fill myself with it.  I let it build and build until it must overflow.  Then I push it out.  All of it.  I push it through Kallen and tears flow from my eyes and down my cheeks as I hear his cries of agony.  Then my magic follows the trail of his magic, which he is somehow able to maintain, to Eliana.  She’s never felt my magic.  She has no idea what is about to happen, and I don’t have time to explain it to her.

My magic burns hot and fast as it tears at her from the inside, clawing to get out, reaching out towards her hold on the sand.  Then it clamps on to hers.  She couldn’t let it go now if she tried. 

“What are you doing to them?” Josh yells, dropping to his knees next to Eliana’s collapsed body.  “You’re killing her!” 

My magic has one goal.  Stop the sand.  Let us out.  It takes the power from Kallen.  It takes the power from Eliana.  Like a B rated action movie, it stops the sand.  Instantly.  It falls in a heap around us.

“Stop whatever you’re doing!” Josh yells, even though the sand is no longer making it hard to hear him.

Agent Amman moves in front of me and reaches out to put his hands on my shoulders, presumably to shake me to my senses.  “Don’t…” is all I get out.  Magic is like water; it takes the path of least resistance.  Humans can’t resist it.  So when part of it escapes into him, the agent falls to the ground in a heap.

I’m trying to pull it back.  I am.  But it has grown out of my control.  I look at the tortured forms of my husband and my new friend and tears stream even faster  down my cheeks.  What happened that required this much power?  What happened to make it so I had to draw my strongest magic?

“I did.”

Chapter 18

Not only am I in Angel time, I’m somewhere I’ve never been before.  It’s not a good place; I’m standing on the precipice of a large cliff.  I am standing on a piece of rock no bigger than my feet.  Staring down at a cavern so deep, I can’t see the bottom through the darkness. If there is a bottom.

Trying to ignore the peril that comes with the tiniest move of my feet, I turn to Belial.  “What do you mean, you did?”

“Surely those synapses in your mortal body can decipher the meanings of my words.”

He is not standing on a precipice.  He is floating in the air, his black wings moving softly.  I should probably call my wings, but they would push me off this tiny ledge and I can’t say for sure that my ability to fly with them will override my terror of falling into an abyss.

“You took control of Eliana’s magic?”

“Control?” he scoffs.  “I merely encouraged the essence within her to use all she had to keep that puny little sandstorm of hers going.  I never did like Ra very much.  He wore righteousness almost as badly as Raziel.”

“Did you really drag me here to give me a list of other beings you hate besides me?”  Stupid cocky mouth.  Stay closed for once.

“To think Raziel spent eons pining over you.  You are nothing but a harpy and a mutt.”

“Is this where I say ‘sticks and stones will break my bones but words will never hurt me’?”  Oh my god.  Really?  I had to go and give him ideas?!  Oh my god, he did not just throw a boulder at me.  Really?  He’s that childish?

I wonder if my femur breaking hurts as much as my magic burning through Eliana.  If so, then at least I feel like I’ve somewhat atoned for that.  Though, it is impossible to maintain my balance now.  My twisted leg leaves the safety of the tiny ledge and the rest of my body follows.

If there was ever a time I needed my wings, it’s now.  Any millisecond now would be great.  I am so relieved when I feel the pinches on my back announcing their presence that I smile over the pain in my leg.  By their own accord, they stop my descent and float me back up to where Belial is waiting.  Then, I remember that I can heal myself instantly when I have my wings.  So I do. The sudden absence of such a great pain is a little disconcerting and I get dizzy for second. I’m just going to have to ignore that at the moment.

“Was that really necessary?” I ask.

“Tit for tat as the Cowans say,” he says with a sneer.

I shake my head.  “Is this how it’s going to be?  Are you going to randomly pull me out of realms so that you can bore me to death with your insults and ‘tit for tat’s?”  That’s it, I have Tourette’s.  It’s the only explanation. 

“You are right, little Witch Fairy.  Let me give you a taste of the torture that will befall you at my hands.”

“Wow, dramatic much?” I mutter.  A helpful thought burns into my brain and I’m so surprised, I almost don’t know how to react.  Right before he throws he magic at me, I hold a hand up to keep him from doing whatever painful thing he’s about to do to me.  “Wait.  I have a question.”

I’m not certain that he’s going to wait.  He cold eyes are assessing me, trying to determine if his curiosity will win out over his immediate need for revenge.  His curiosity wins thank God.  “What is this question?  Are you going to beg for your life like the pathetic creature you are?”

I snort.  “Please, you’d have to have some sort of conscience for that to work.  I assume you were sick the day that was handed out.”  The look on his face tells me I had better get to the point quickly, because he’s losing interest fast.  “Didn’t you violate Eliana’s free will?”

He tries to hide his surprise.  “Encouraging her to continue something she was already doing is not a violation of her free will.”

“Yeah, you’re forgetting a tiny little detail.  She was trying to let her magic go.  She wanted the storm to stop and you wouldn’t let it.”  I’m starting to feel like my argument has merit.  The fury in his eyes only confirms that I’m right.

“Who are you to judge the actions of an Archangel?” he growls.

“Me?  Nobody.  But her?” I nod my head towards the space behind him.  “She definitely gets to judge the actions of an Archangel if he violates the free will laws.”

Belial spins around to find the Angel Tabbris behind him.  Tabbris is a dark haired beauty.  She looks like a Persian princess with her straight black hair pulled back with jewels, her eyes shaped like a cat’s and her regal presence in her gown of deep hues.

“Tabbris,” Belial says in a voice that could harden lava instantly.  “Leave this place.  You have no concerns here.”

Tabbris is not one to be easily intimidated.  I’d put her will up against any of the Angels I’ve met.  She takes her job very seriously.

In a tone of voice that could probably stop lava faster, she says, “Belial, you have twice broken an absolute law.  You know what will happen if it becomes thrice.”  She moves closer to him.  “I warned you when I took you the first time.”  Ohh, now I get it.  She must have been the white light that took him by the pyramids.  Wow, she is powerful.  Why isn’t she an Archangel?  I’ll never figure out the hierarchy of the Angels and who is really most powerful.

Belial’s eyes follow her as she floats closer to me.  I assume it’s for my protection, not because she’s afraid of the homicidally pissed off Archangel.  “This is your second and final warning.  I have witnessed your grievous error in judgment once again.  You will be stripped of your wings and sent into exile should I witness one more.”

Angel exile is horrifying.  They are sent to a place of nothingness.  Absolute nothingness.  It probably doesn’t take Angels long to become completely batty there.

“You dare threaten me in the presence of a lesser being?”  Belial spits out each word like it’s a hot poker aiming for her eye.

“I find no lesser being here.  I do see the prophesized one.  The one tasked to bring harmony to the universe.  That is too great a role to play if she was a ‘lesser being’.”

“That does not make her more than a mutt.  A cur to be treated as the lower being she is.”

Really?  He’s going to argue about my lineage when he’s in danger of losing his wings?  “Can we move this along; I have friends to get back to.”

I can’t believe it.  Is that a teeny tiny movement of her lip that might be the start of a smile?  Nah, must just be a little tickle she’s feeling on her skin.  Tabbris isn’t known for her light and cheery personality.

“Of course,” she says to me, completely ignoring Belial’s death glares.  Turning to him again, she says, “You have been amply warned.”

In a flash, I’m no longer floating in the air over a bottomless abyss.  My feet are on solid, sandy ground.  And there’s screaming.

Chapter 19

Tabbris must have sent me back to the human realm.  I can’t imagine that it was Belial.  I can’t decide though if she did me a favor, or put me in more danger because my wings don’t disappear instantly.  Meaning I am now exposed to a couple of non-magical beings.  I’m pretty sure that’s not allowed.

On the other hand, it’s my wings that are able to pull back the magic that didn’t go away with my little jaunt into Angel time.  I drop to my knees in between Eliana and Agent Amman and I lay my hand on them.  My wings do the rest.  They pull my magic back, releasing them from its grip and then Ireach out to Kallen and do the same. 

Three things happen at once.  First, the assassin who was apparently waiting for the sand storm to disperse, sees my wings and stops mid-climb down a neighboring mausoleum and then loses his hold and falls onto a tombstone.  That was definitely not good for his spine. 

Second, Josh grabs Eliana and pulls her to him once her body is no longer writhing in pain.  She’s barely conscious.  I really need to heal her but I think Josh has other ideas that don’t include me touching her again.

Third, Agent Amman has drawn his gun and it’s pointed at me.  The fear in his eyes has erased from his mind that I am here to help him.  On the other hand, he doesn’t really know me so I can understand why he has doubts at the moment.  Still, I’m not a fan of guns pointed at me.

“You might as well put that away,” Kallen says in a scratchy voice as he sits up with my help.  “I have shot at her from a lesser distance and she was still able to deflect my weapon.”

“You shot at your wife?” Josh says aghast.

Wow, we’re not making the best impression right now.  “He was only proving a point.  He wasn’t trying to hurt me.”

The only one who believes me is Kallen.  Peering around us, I say, “I’m not really supposed to wear my wings out in public, so we really need to get out of here before anyone else sees me.”  The sand storm did a good job of sending the crowd back home, but I still want to be outta here.  Now.

I think Josh is seriously considering telling me to go to hell.  That would be ironic, I guess, since I’m wearing Angel wings.  What he is not seriously considering is letting Kallen and I back in his vehicle.  I really hate to do this, but I really need to get out of here. 

I reach out with magic and disarm Agent Amman.  A quick look at Kallen and the agent is being pulled towards us against his will.  Kallen can do that, but I don’t dare try.  I might ram him into the mausoleum or something.  I give him a small smile and then turn to Eliana and Josh.  I reach out a hand and touch them in a way that I have contact with both.  Kallen has grabbed my shoulder and I touch Agent Amman with my foot.  Before they can do anything about it, I transport our little party back to the house.  I put us in the foyer, the only place I’m sure I won’t set someone down on a table or bash them into a chair. 

Now I have two very unhappy people glowering at me.  Well, Agent Amman is more confused than mad, but he’s still putting some glower in his stare.  Eliana is just starting to regain full consciousness, so she’s not really giving me any type of look at all.  I put my hand on my head and wonder how I got myself into yet another mess.  I was just trying to help.