Blood of Half Gods: Kallen's Tale (22 page)

I nod jerkily.  “I pushed one into the room, remember?”

A flash of jealousy crosses her face but she tamps it down.  “Then why didn’t she see them?”

“See who?” Kegan asks from behind Radella.

“Oh no,” Alita says from behind him.  She drops to her knees with her hands on her head.

Kegan crouches down in front of her.  “What is it?”

“This whole area is filled with black magic,” she says.  And then she faints.  Kegan catches her before she hits the floor.  Lifting her into his arms, he carries her back to her room, out of harm’s way.

Stating the obvious, Xandra says, “Whoever those people were, they definitely use black magic.” . 

“You two really saw others in the room?” Radella asks.  Doubt no longer clouds her words.

“Yes,” I say, controlling my temper.  “Two were posing as Xandra and me, and the other was here to retrieve the first two.”

With her hands on her hips, she says, “You are supposed to be this all-powerful being.  Why did you not stop them?”

Violent emotions roll over Xandra’s face and she stalks towards Radella.  As much as I would like to see her punch the Fairy in the mouth, I grab her arms, holding her back.  “This is not going to help,” I whisper in her ear. 

“Maybe not, but I’ll feel a whole lot better,” she growls.  I can relate to that; almost enough to let her go.  I do not.  Regardless, Radella backs up the three steps Xandra took towards her.  “Instead of insulting me, you should
do your job”
Xandra snarls, “and figure out how you’re going to keep Dagda safe if they come back.  Because if my magic wasn’t strong enough, do you really think yours will be?” 

Radella blanches.  She had not even considered this.  I shake my head.  I truly have no idea why Dagda hired such an incompetent Fairy.  She turns and practically runs away.  Hopefully, she is going to warn Dagda of this new threat. 

I turn to find Xandra deep in thought until she runs a hand through her still wet hair and her fingers get caught.  She mutters an oath that makes me chuckle.  As she tries to work out the snarl, she says, “Kallen, there’s something I have to do.  You probably aren’t going to like it, but I would really like it if you came with me.  I’ll understand if you don’t want to.”

Just the thought of her leaving this house without me puts a chill in my heart.  I put my hands on her shoulders and turn her until she is facing me.  “If you think you are going anywhere without me, you have not recovered fully from your concussion.”

“Aren’t you going to ask me what it is?”

I shake my head because I do not care.  If she is going, then I am going, no matter where.  “I am not.”  I lean down and kiss her lightly, then lean my forehead against hers.  “Xandra, I do not care if you are about to commit murder.  The last two days of not knowing where you were, or even if you were alive, would be worth any darkness on my soul from helping you commit any number of atrocities.”

She giggles.  “I’m not planning to kill anybody.”   

I stand up straight and grin.  “That is a relief to hear.”

Grabbing my hand, Xandra abandons her attempts of de-snarling her hair and says, “Come on.  We have to find Breena.”  I did not expect her to say that.

Chapter 25

After leaving our bedroom, we find the house in an uproar.  Dagda is barking orders.  Radella is corralling her security team and trying to come up with a defensive plan.  Quinn is happily encouraging all who will listen to wage war immediately. 

Everyone is so busy trying to get someone else to listen to them, no one sees Xandra and me slipping past.  We make it to the kitchen without alerting a soul.  We find Breena’s father sitting alone at the table, hunched over a piece of wood he is whittling. 

“Do you know where Breena is?” Xandra asks him.  He mumbles something unintelligible.  He does not even look up at us. 

Not wanting to risk being seen by the angry mob planning war, we decide to wait in the kitchen for her.  Fifteen minutes later, Breena finally shows up.  “We must go,” she says without preamble.  I guess explanations will not be forthcoming.

We turn to follow her out the kitchen door, but the old man clamps his weathered hand on Xandra’s arm.   He holds the little figure he whittled out to her.  Reluctantly, she takes it. 

With eyes more lucid than I have ever seen in him, he says to Xandra, “For the beautiful virgin who captures hearts, a touch of blood holds them in place,” he says.  “A touch of poison prevents escape.”

I give Breena a questioning glance over Xandra’s head.  She simply shrugs and shakes her head.  She has no better idea of what the old man is talking about than we do.  Xandra forces a smile on her lips and says, “Thank you.”  She shoves the object into the pocket of her sweater. 

“We must go,” Breena says impatiently.

I still have no idea where we are going, and that is starting to concern me.  But, when Xandra grasps my hand and tugs, I follow her out the door.    The night temperature has dropped and Xandra shutters at the cold.  I believe she warms up quickly as she struggles to keep up with Breena.  The Giant is moving faster than even I can keep up with.  As we walk, Breena jumps at every little noise, which in turn makes Xandra jump.  I am just trying to figure where the hell we are and where we are going.  Breena is attempting to hide behind trees every few yards or so.  Who does she think is after us? 

I know where we are as soon as Ellu’s house comes into sight in the distance.  We are approaching it from behind, skirting the village.  Magic begins to pour into me as I think about the revenge I am going to work out on Ellu when we reach him.  I am so focused on this, I practically run into the Breena when she abruptly turns right. 

Xandra is as surprised as I am.  “Where are we going?” she asks, looking at the large house and wondering why we are no longer walking towards it.

“You will see when we get there,” Breena whispers.  “The trees have ears.”

Unease forms within me.  Is Breena leading us into a trap?  I turn in a circle, looking for shadows moving through the trees.  All I can see is darkness.  We continue to follow Breena, but Xandra has drawn magic as well now.  The same thoughts of ambush must be in her mind, too.

After another few minutes, we come to what appears to be an old tool shed.  It is in great disrepair.  I half expect it to fall down under the weight of our stares.  I am shocked when Breena swings its door wide open and gestures for us to go in ahead of her.

Xandra balks at that.  “I’d feel better if you lead the way.”

With a pointed look, Breena walks into the building, letting the door slam closed behind her.  I step forward and open the door for Xandra and then follow her inside.  Breena disappears into a room at the back of the building.  The door for it fell off its hinges long ago.  There are no windows in the little room, so it is bathed in darkness.  Breena is barely visible in the middle of the room, tugging at something on the floor.  After a couple of seconds, a trap door swings up and open.  After another pointed look, Breena disappears from view. 

Xandra and I move forward and we find a ladder leading down into another room.  The rungs on the ladder are too far apart for Xandra.  Her legs will not reach between them.  I raise a brow when she looks at me with a ‘what should we do’ look in her eyes.  Since I have no idea why we are here, I am not much help.  A raised brow and a slight shrug is all I can offer her.  With a resigned face, Xandra moves to the hole where Breena can now be seen holding a small candle.  Swinging her legs down, Xandra holds out her hands to me.  I grab them and then dangle her over the ladder.  It takes a moment for her to get purchase on the first rung.   When she does, she lets go of my hands and reaches out for the side of the ladder.  She then uses the rung to lower herself to the next one down.  She continues this process until she reaches the bottom one.  I am right behind her, hoping she does not fall.    

Xandra squeals when Breena plucks her off the last wrung.  I jump down on my own.  We are now in a smaller room that is empty except for the ladder.  There is a door on the far wall.  Breena pulls a key from her bra, causing me to avert my eyes as she rummages for it, and then uses it to unlock the door.  She swings it open, revealing a long, underground tunnel.  Why does she have a key to an underground tunnel in the Daityas’ village?

“Where does this lead?” Xandra asks.

Breena hesitates, debating how to answer the question.  Finally, she says, “I am…was…close to Ellu.”  She looks down at her feet as she says this.

Xandra tilts her head and raises her eyebrows.  “How close?” 

The flush on Breena’s face answers that question.  “Closer than you two,” she says quietly.

Xandra’s eyes flash at Breena’s hypocrisy.  She treated us with disdain for our behavior when she was hiding an affair.  Seeing that Xandra is about to blow, I put a hand on her shoulder and shake my head.  Turning to Breena, I ask, “Why did you use the past tense?”

It takes her another long moment to answer.  “He has changed,” she says, lifting her head to look at us.  “His behavior is erratic, and his judgment poor, as of late.  It has been difficult to be around him.”

There is more to this than she has yet to say.  “How long has it been since you were with him?” I ask.

Breena is clearly uncomfortable, but she says, “We have not seen each other for two moons.”

“Why?” Xandra asks.

Breena looks her in the eye.  “That is not your business.”  There’s a finality in her voice that says she is not going to say anything more about it.  “You only need to know that I still care about him enough to try to prevent this war.”

There are more important things to discuss than Breena’s sex life.  “Where does this lead, exactly?” I ask, pointing down the long tunnel. 

“To the cellar of Ellu’s home.” 

I do not like this.  This plan is lacking important details.  “What are we expected to do when we get there?” I ask.

“That will be up to you,” Breena says.  “I must get back before my absence is noticed.”
 I believe our absence will be more noticeable than hers.  Regardless, Breena climbs back up the ladder and then closes the trap door above us.  To her, it is a done deal that we will follow the tunnel.  I wish I had her confidence in this plan.  To me, it seems foolish at best, deadly at worst. 

The tunnel is long it and it takes a good ten minutes before we reach the door on the other side.  To our surprise, the door is not locked.  It pushes open easily.  Moving ahead of Xandra, I peer around it.  We have come to a cellar full of random old pieces of furniture that will never be used again, except by mice.  Seeing no Giants, I gesture for Xandra to follow me.

To our right are stairs leading up to the house.  Xandra suggests teleporting to the top instead of trying to scale them.  I shake my head.  By the thick coating of grime, it is obvious no one has used them in quite some time.  I am afraid some of the stairs are rotted through.  If we climb, we can test each one before stepping on it.  Xandra does not need another broken leg. 

When we reach the top, I am happy to find this door unlocked as well.  Ellu should be concerned about the safety risks, but it certainly helps us out.  Opening the door slowly, I peer around.  Again, not a Giant in sight so I gesture for Xandra to follow me into a short hall.  To our right is the kitchen and several voices flow out into the hall.  To the left is another hallway, perpendicular to this one.  Only quiet resonates from that direction.  The choice is obvious.  We go left and see where it leads.

One end of the new hallway looks like it leads out to a foyer, the other way is long and lined with doors.   The second door down on the left, loud voices are carrying out into the hallway.  We move a little closer to hear what is being said.

“Ellu, we are on the brink of war.  Do you not care?” a frustrated and strained male voice says.

“What are you talking about, what war?” we hear Ellu reply.  There is genuine confusion in his voice.

“The war that the Devas are about to wage because they think you are responsible for the kidnapping of the Princess.  We discussed this just an hour ago.”

“What is all this foolishness about a Princess?  You know as well as I do that the Queen is barren.”  Xandra looks up at me with raised brows.  I nod, indicating that is true.

“Ellu, snap out of it!  You have been walking this house as if in a cloud of dreams.  I have already explained to you that the King does indeed have a daughter.  She is the bastard child of a Witch.”

Xandra bristles at this.  I have to grab her shoulders and pull her back against me to keep her from barging into the room, magic flying.  “Stop,” I whisper in her ear. 

A noise from behind us has me pulling her into a dark room with an unlocked door across the hall.  Several Giants come from the direction of the foyer.  They disappear at the far end of the hall.  A moment later, the door we had been eavesdropping through opens and a Giant steps out.  From the stomping of his feet and the slamming of the door, he is not happy.  Peeking through the keyhole, Xandra signals to me when the coast is clear.

Opening the door, we walk quietly across the hall and open the door to where we will find Ellu.  I am glad to find him alone, his back to the door and staring out the window.  He still has on the striped pajamas and robe he wore when Dagda and I saw him last.  This room is clearly his office, but the half inch of dust on the desk implies he has not used it in quite some time. 

“I told you to leave,” Ellu says, turning around.  His eyes open wide when he sees us instead of the Giant he expected.  “Who are you and how did you get in here?”

I open my mouth to remind him we have already met, when Xandra says, “I’m Xandra and this is Kallen.”

Ellu slams the glass he has in his hand on the small end table next to him.  The glass shatters, but he does not seem to notice.  He stalks across the room and looms over us with his thirteen foot frame.  “Again, who are you and how did you get in here?” he growls. 

Refusing to react to his menacing stance, Xandra says, “I’m the person all the Devas Giants and the King think you kidnapped and tried to kill.”

To say he’s shocked is putting it mildly.  Ellu blanches and I become concerned that he will have a heart attack any minute.  “Then it is true, the King does have a daughter.”