Blood of Sirens: Book 13 of The Witch Fairy Series (17 page)

My heart skips several beats.  Then several more.  Kallen was wrapped in the Sirens’ magic.  Did Urim give me false hope?  To be fair, he only told me to believe in what I already know.  I took that to mean Kallen’s love is too strong for the Sirens to turn his heart against me.  He could have just as easily meant I need to accept the fact that every male is susceptible to Siren magic.  After all, he wasn’t smiling when he told me this.  Whatever I thought I saw in his eyes could all have been in my imagination.

“Xandra?” Garren reaches a tentative hand toward me.  He rests it awkwardly on my shoulder.  “I am sorry.  For what it is worth, I thought he would be the last to go.”

I try to smile at is kind words.  My lips refuse to cooperate.  They tell my brain to stop sending them such stupid commands.  “He surrendered to them.  He gave himself up to save everyone else.”  The words come from my mouth but they sound so far away and hollow.

Garren swears under his breath as he witnesses my struggle with sanity.  “That foolish, idiotic, self-sacrificing moron.”

Taz growls a him.  “Only I get to insult the wanker.”  Huh, I didn’t know he really likes Kallen.

Garren takes a step back and holds his hands up in surrender.  “Sorry, now can you call him off?”

“He called the wanker a moron.  Let me bite his lips off,” Taz pleads, completely missing the irony in his words.

Too tempted to say yes to Taz’s kind offer, I ignore it.  None of this is Garren’s fault.  “You saw the Sirens and their warriors leave?”

Garren nods but his eyes do not leave Taz’s growling form.  “From the look of things, they were using some sort of spell to allow Kallen to breathe underwater.  The warriors, too.  They all disappeared into the ocean.”

Great. Just great.  At least I accomplished one goal I set out to accomplish.  I found Kegan.  Well, Garren found Kegan.  “We need to get him back to the palace.”

I reach out to grab Garren’s arm but he steps out of my reach.  “No, I still have work to do.  Tabitha and I have been taking shifts patrolling the shores with Adriel and Raziel.  I need to get back to it.” 

He and Tabitha are working together?  And so much for Isla’s belief that Tabitha was at home out of harm’s way.  “Okay.”  I suspect he doesn’t want to see Isla.  I can’t blame him.  Here he is unfazed by the Sirens despite her lack of faith in his love.   I kneel next to Kegan and lay my hand on his chest.  His heart is beating strong underneath the magic Kallen wrapped him in.  With an appreciative glance in Garren’s direction, I teleport Kegan and my Familiars back to the palace.

Alita’s surprised scream is deafening.  She had her nose in a book and our sudden appearance obviously scared her.  As soon as she sees Kegan, though, her fear morphs into something else.  “Is he dead?” she asks in a voice so quiet, I can’t be certain she actually said something.

I shake my head.  “No, he’s just under Kallen’s magic.”  I reach out with my own magic and sweep Kallen’s away.  It doesn’t give any resistance making me suspect Kallen didn’t want Kegan to be disabled for long.  I heal the cuts and bruises he received during his fight with the Siren warriors.

Kegan takes in a deep breath and then starts coughing.  It takes him a minute to orient himself.  “How did I get here?” he rasps.  He could use some water but I don’t have any handy.  His cotton mouth will need to wait.

“Garren was bringing you to the palace.”  At least, I assume Garren was bringing him to the palace.  I wonder if he would have just rung the bell and left him on the doorstep to avoid running into Isla.  “I ran into him on the road and I teleported you here.”

“Kallen?” he asks hopefully but he already knows the answer.

“Gone.” 

Alita and I help him to his feet.  “How are you?” Alita asks, inspecting him for any damage I may have missed in my assessment of his wounds.

Kegan pulls her close and wraps his arms around her.  “I am fine.”  Over her head, he says to me, “I tried to stop him.”

“I know you did.  Thanks for that.”

The door to the conference room bangs open and Dagda comes flying into the room with magic drawn.  “I heard you scream, what happened…”  His words trail off when he sees Kegan and me.  Letting his magic go, he asks, “Do you know where they have taken him?”

Tana was hot on Dagda’s tail.  She barrels into the room and runs into her husband with an ‘oomph.’  Dagda reaches an arm behind him to steady her.  Her eyes scan the room looking for the danger just as Dagda’s had.  “Are you alright?” she asks no one in particular.

“We are fine,” I assure her.  “Kegan and I startled Alita with our sudden appearance is all.”

Dagda skips over any niceties.  “I want to know everything you know right now,” he orders.

Kegan runs his hand through his hair like Kallen often does.  The cracks in my heart deepen as I watch the familiar gesture.  He takes a deep breath and breaks the bad news.  “I do not know much.  Kallen knocked me out with magic before I could learn anything.”

“That may be what saved your life,” I blurt out, refusing to believe anything but the best of Kallen.  All eyes turn to me and I explain.  “If Kegan knew where they were going, they wouldn’t want him coming back here to tell us.  By keeping him ignorant, Kallen made sure he wasn’t a threat to the Sirens.”

“Was Kallen under the Sirens’ spell?” Alita asks Kegan.

After a quick glance in my direction, he shrugs helplessly.  “Honestly, I do not know.  He was agreeing to everything they wanted.  Whether it was because of magic or not, I cannot be certain.”  I need to rescue my husband.  So I can kill him. 

“Kegan, thank goodness,” Isla says from the doorway.  She walks to her grandson and embraces him.  It’s kind of awkward.  Isla’s not usually a hugger.  Stepping back, she does her own assessment of his wellbeing.  “How did you get away?”

Guess she didn’t catch the story the first time around.  I give her a brief recap.  “Kallen knocked him out, Garren found him and I brought him here.”

Isla’s brow crinkles.  “Garren found him.  He was not asleep?”

I shake my head.  “No.  He wasn’t even near the palace when I did the spell.  He and Tabitha have been taking shifts with Adriel and Raziel patrolling the shoreline.”  I pause briefly before adding, “He said he hasn’t even been tempted by the Siren song.”

Isla’s face turns an interesting, iridescent shade of greenish red.  I can’t tell if it’s from embarrassment, shame or anger.  Maybe all of the above?  “Where is he now?” she asks.

“Um, he went back to patrolling.”  I do not divulge my suspicion that she is the last Fairy in the universe he wants to see right now.  She already knows this.  Instead, I urge the conversation forward.  “Can we talk about how we are going to rescue Kallen now?” I ask.

“We still have the problem of uninvited guests,” Tana reminds me. 

“Kegan, Xandra, come with me.  We will round the intruders up and dump them into holding cells.”

It would take way too much time to do it his way.  “It’ll be faster if I teleport them.  I already know where they are.  You guys get the cells ready and let me know which ones you want to use.”

“Are you really volunteering us to walk all over the palace again?  I’ve already walked off the pads on my feet.  Pretty soon I’ll have nothing to walk on except nubs,” Taz whines.  Now that there is no immediate danger, he’s back to himself again.

“Suck it up, tubby,” Felix advises.

“Each cell can hold approximately ten,” Dagda informs me.  “There are only three cells.  I am not concerned about overcrowding.  We will pack them in as tight as we must.”

There’s an evil glint in his eyes.  He wants them to be uncomfortable.  No, that’s not strong enough.  He wants them to be absolutely miserable.  “Okay.  You and Kegan head down there and I’ll start bringing them to you.”  I teleport to the first place I found intruders, the Great Hall. 

Dagda is surprised to see them dressed as guards when I begin teleporting them to the cell area.  “How could Cowans get their hands on guard uniforms?” he wonders.  Good point.  It’s not like they could use magic to create them.

“My guess is there are several naked guards under their blankets in the Great Hall,” I offer.  He grimaces while not so gently lifting the latest warrior and literally throwing him into the cell.  There is a growing heap of warriors covering every available space.

I go back to locating the warriors I disarmed earlier.  I leave them on the floor of the hallway and Kegan and Dagda take it from there.  Most can be lifted by either one of them without help.  A couple of the Warriors are big enough Dagda and Kegan need to work together to shove their unconscious bodies into cells.  There are about fifty total.  No wonder my bag of swords was so heavy.  After the last warrior is in a cell, I bring the bag of weapons to Dagda.  Kegan’s eyes light up when he looks inside.  He is seriously coveting a few of them.  I doubt Dagda intends to give them back, so Kegan will most likely be able to choose a couple to keep.  There is a really pretty, ruby encrusted dagger I have my eye on.  I don’t know what I’d use it for.  Maybe to cut cheese.

I am exhausted by the time I’m done.  I’ve never teleported so much in a short period of time.  I didn’t realize what a toll it would take on me.  I do not dare to rest, though.  Giving myself over to sleep would bring on nightmares I’m not willing or able to face yet.  “Now can we talk about how to rescue Kallen?” I ask my biological father who is busy inspecting one of the larger swords.

He tears his eyes from the steel.  “Of course,” he says. 

His face and his mouth are saying two different things.  His face is saying ‘I don’t have a freakin’ clue how to get Kallen back.’  We need to try something.  “I’ve done breathing underwater spells.  I can start where the Sirens and their army went into the ocean and start searching.”

Shaking his head, Dagda replies, “That would be a waste of valuable resources.”  I’m a resource now?  I’m insulted regardless of the valuable part.  Placing the sword back in the bag, Dagda continues, “I do not believe the Sirens are done with us quite yet.  I believe you will have the opportunity to face Irena on land.”

Where she wants and when she wants.  All of the advantages are hers.  “That gives her too much power,” I disagree.

Alita’s normally quiet voice echoes down the hall.  “Xandra!  Kegan!  Come quickly!”  Not only is she shouting, she is grinning.  That seems inappropriate for the current situation.  

“What is it?” Kegan calls back.

Alita skids to a stop.  “I will let him tell you.  Come on!”  She gestures for us to follow her.

“Him?  Is Kallen here?” I ask daring to hope for the impossible.

Alita’s face falls.  “I am sorry, no.”  Brightening again, she adds, “But, we have a better chance of finding him than we did before.”

Good enough for me.  I pick up the pace, following her wherever she wants to lead us.  Which turns out to be the family sitting room.  I skid to a halt when I see who is waiting for us.  “Dad?”  My ghost father is floating in the middle of the room.  He isn’t wearing a grin like Alita, but he is smiling.  “What’s going on?”

Tana and Isla are already seated.  Dagda, Alita and Kegan sit on the couch.  Dad gestures for me to sit, as well, but I shake my head.  I can’t.  Not until I know what is going on.  Understanding this, Dad begins to speak.  “Do you remember the first night the Sirens came and I told you that your mother and I could not hear the Siren song?”

“Yeah.”  Where is he going with this?

“Their song, their magic doesn’t seem to be able to transverse the divide between your plane and ours,” he says, now sporting a grin.    “It doesn’t stop there.  They can’t see us, Xandra.  They can’t see us at all.”

“Um, that’s great, Dad.”  His point is not any clearer in my mind than it was a minute ago.

He moves closer and puts his cold, translucent hands on my shoulders making me shudder.  “Xandra, you don’t understand.”  No, I don’t.  “Because they can’t see me, I was able to follow them.”

My heart stops beating.  Just stops.  I’m a little worried it’s not going to start again.  Finally, after a long pause, I feel a ping in my chest letting me know it decided to function once more.  “You followed them?”

Dad nods emphatically.  “Yes.  I was in the village helping Kallen scout the perimeter.”  Dad loves speaking like he’s on a cop show.  “We ran into some hostiles.”  He has watched way too many cop shows and military movies.  He and Mom don’t sleep so they watched a lot of late night TV back home.  “Kallen got into a scuffle with them but they didn’t take any notice of me.  At first, I thought they weren’t worried about me because I’m a ghost.  But, when I shouted a warning to Kallen about more of them coming, the ones Kallen was dealing with didn’t even glance my way.  Kallen figured it out, too.  He was careful not to look at me or talk to me.  When he surrendered to them, he knew I was following.  I think that’s the only reason he let them take him.”

My heart has gone from refusing to function to dancing a happy dance.  Kallen let the Sirens take him so my dad could follow them to their lair.  Now I’m using cheesy movie lines.  Still, there’s a question I must ask.  “Is he under the Sirens’ spell?”

Dad considers a moment before replying.  “Honestly, honey, I’m not sure.  He acted like he was.  I simply don’t know how much of it was acting and how much of it was real.”

Great, now my heart doesn’t know how to react.  From my ankle, a voice says, “He does a good job of acting like a wanker, he’s got this.”  Strangely enough, that makes me feel better.  Not that I think Kallen’s a wanker, but I like that Taz has confidence in him

“Where are they?” Dagda asks.

“Close,” Dad tells him.  “A lot closer than we suspected.”

A thought bursts into my brain.  Of course they are close.  “You guys said the Sirens can swim faster than Merpeople, but I doubt their warriors can,” I say to no one in particular.  “They can make them able to breathe underwater but I doubt they could make them all swim faster.”  Everyone in the room seems dumbfounded by my observation.  What?  I can’t make logical assumptions?

Dagda pounds his fist on the end table by him.  “Damn it, why did we not consider this before?”

Arie and Kai join us just as Dagda finishes speaking.  “What have we not considered?” Arie asks, sitting in an empty chair.  Kai stands behind her.

“How close the Sirens would need to be if they have an army of beings who cannot swim as they do,” I tell her.

“Underestimating the Sirens is not advisable,” Kai warns.  He should talk.  He greatly underestimated them.

“We are not underestimating them,” Dagda says in his most regal voice.  “We have located them.”  He pauses, then adds, “Jim found them.”

“Did you know Sirens can’t see or hear ghosts?” I ask Arie.

She considers for a moment.  “I seem to recall something about Sirens being immune to vengeful spirits.”

Feeling defensive, I inform her, “My parents are not vengeful spirits.  They are ghosts.”

Arie inclines her head.  “My apologies.  I am unaccustomed to the concept.”

I can’t be mad at her.  Basically, every other ghost in the universe is a vengeful spirit lingering to seek revenge on whoever did them wrong.  Moving on.  “Because they can’t see or hear ghosts, my Dad was able to follow the Sirens when they took Kallen.”

“You followed them into the sea?” Kai asks in astonishment.

“As I am a ghost, I am not susceptible to drowning,” Dad reminds him.  Kai flushes in embarrassment.

Enough talk.  “What are we waiting for?  Let’s go.”

Isla shakes her head.  “We need a plan.  We cannot simply go barging into their encampment.  They have an army which can breathe underwater, we do not.  Therefore, only a few us can go.  The odds of rescue are not in our favor.” 

The odds of death are, she is implying.  “So, you’re saying it doesn’t matter if we know where they are.”