Blood Prophecy: Kallen's Tale (11 page)

She laughs, but she is not
amused.  “Do things really work that way in the land of the Fae?  Because they
don’t work that way here.  In this realm, there’s always someone who wants to
prove that they’re stronger or meaner or better than you.  I might as well hang
a sign on the door that says ‘challengers welcome.’  It’s dangerous for anyone
to be around me.”

So much for me thinking she
is too naïve to know the truth.  Pushing a strand of hair back behind her ear,
I stroke her cheek with my thumb.  Suddenly, my entire body is aware of her
lying so close to me.  Just from that simple touch.  “Your life may be
difficult, yes.  But that does not mean that you give up.  You have a generous
and courageous heart and you are surrounded by people who love you – myself
included.  I will gladly take the danger you bring with you to keep you in my
life.”  There, I have said it out loud.  She may do with it what she will, now.

Tears have found their way
to eyes, and she attempts a smile.  “That’s not fighting fair.”

Okay, that is not at all how
I thought she would react to me telling her that I love her.  “What do you
mean?”

“You know you’re
irresistible when you’re being so nice and sweet.  You could probably convince
me I can fly when you act like this.”

I like that idea.  It is not
an affirmation of her love, but it is very close.  My lips fold out into a grin
as I say, “I will keep that information safely tucked away for later.  I can
think of several things I would like to convince you to do with me.”

She laughs.  “I’m sure you
can.”  She brings her lips to mine in a soft kiss and then leans her forehead
against mine.  “Can’t we create a circle between realms and live there
forever?”

Some very graphic images
have jumped into my mind as I think of all the things we could do in our own
little world with no one to answer to except ourselves.  But, that can never
be.  “As much as I would like to have you all to myself like that, I am afraid
you would miss your family.”

“You miss your grandmother,
right?”

More than ever.  I would
love for her to meet Xandra.  Even if that meant seeing the triumph in her eyes
over her successful matchmaking.  “Very much.”

“Then why is it different
for me?”

It just is.  “I knew when I
came here that I would never see her again.  We said our good byes, and I know
that she is content to have me live here with you.”  Her parents would not be
quite as content.

She sighs heavily.  “I just
wish life could be as simple as it was before I found out I had magic.  It
really hasn’t done a lot of great things for me.”

I stroke her cheek again.  “That
is a tragedy.  You should be able to revel in the fact that you are a magical
being.”

She shrugs sadly.  “Maybe
the reveling will come later.  Right now, I’m pretty mired in the woe is me
aspect of my magic.”

I am saved from responding
to that by her mother whispering through the door.  “Kallen, is she awake?”

Xandra groans.  It seems she
is just as disappointed as I am to have our precious alone time interrupted by
the real world.  Loud enough for her mother to hear through the door, she says,
“I’m awake, Mom.  We’ll be right out.”  Turning back to me, she asks, “Are you
sorry you stayed in this realm, yet?”

She says the craziest things
sometimes.  This question I believe is better answered without words.  I lower
my lips to hers, and this is not a soft, gentle kiss.  This is a kiss filled
with urgency and passion.  A kiss to assure her that there is no place else I
would rather be.  I would love nothing more than to cover her body with mine
and discover new ways to give her pleasure.  My body wholeheartedly agrees with
my mind on this.  But, I have learned that spirits are not patient beings. 
They are rather impatient and can move through walls.  Pulling back slowly,
reluctantly setting her lips free, I whisper in her ear, “I would risk any
amount of danger to be able to do that.” 

Running her fingers through
my hair, she pulls me back for one more kiss.  “Thank you for staying,” she
murmurs, making me want to forget all about wall transcending spirits.  But,
before I have a chance to kiss her again, she is moving away from me.  My
entire body groans in frustration.   

I stretch out on the bed as
Xandra heads off to the bathroom to freshen up for the start of another long
day.  Using my ability to sense other magical beings, I make sure that the only
ones around are the ones in this house.  So far, so good.

I get up when I hear the
bathroom door open and her footsteps traveling down the hall.  Her grandmother
must have heard her as well, because I run into her coming out of Xandra’s
parents’ room.  She is looking rough this morning.  I am guessing she got
significantly less sleep than I did.  We both follow Xandra outside, where her
parents must be.

Xandra is feeling guilty
about not being conscious to help with the preparations.  Considering she made
a virtually impenetrable force field around the entire house, she could have
slept until the Witan came and still be the one who contributed the most.  Her
mother is assuring her of that.

“Xandra, don’t be
ridiculous.  Your body needed to recharge.  The protection spell you worked is
amazing – and far bigger than your grandmother had thought possible.  You’ve
done plenty to help.” 

She is still not convinced. 
Changing the subject, she asks about the arrival of her grandfather.  The phone
call from yesterday is related to her.  She snorts.  “What, does he think we’re
just going to let him back in the house for a friendly little chat about
whether or not you should let him kill me?”  There’s that biting sarcasm I have
grown to love.

Her father’s shoulders are
stiff with anger as he shrugs.  “Apparently.”

After a few minutes, Xandra
starts to shiver, standing out here in the cold without a coat on.  Putting a
hand on her shoulder, I say, “Perhaps we should go back inside and discuss how
we are going to proceed.”  She nods and follows me back inside.

“Are you hungry?” her
Grandmother asks, heading for the kitchen.

“Starved,” she says, opening
the freezer door.  Probably in search of those disc things.  Her grandmother is
not having it, though.  “Scoot, I’ll make us some breakfast.”  I secretly smile
with relief.

“I remember waking up to
your French toast.  I missed your cooking over the years,” Xandra’s mother
tells the Angel.

Xandra’s father rolls his
eyes.  He is still not on board with the reminiscing of old times.  When Xandra
gives him a funny look, he winks at her. 

Xandra sits down next to me
at the table.  “Would anyone like to fill me in on all the things I missed
while I was passed out?” 

“Your grandmother made a
number of talismans that will offer protection from certain spells.  And Kallen
worked an impressive circle that surrounds the house,” her mother says.  I am
touched that she included me.  There was not even any animosity in her words.

“So, we’re in a protection
circle inside a protection circle?”  I want to tease her about how astute she
is, but I refrain.  She’s too on edge at the moment.

“Yes, and I’ve thrown up an
illusion of us sitting around the table as an extra measure.  It’ll take an
awful lot on their part to get through it all.”

Xandra picks up on her
mother’s wording.  “But they will be able to get through them?”

“I don’t know,” her mother
answers honestly.  I think she could have been a lot more confident.  No one is
getting through that protection circle Xandra made.  I doubt even my
grandmother, the most powerful Fairy alive, could get through it.

Xandra slumps back in her
chair with a little pout.  She does not stay that way for long.  Suddenly, she
jumps up from her chair and does an odd little dance.  “What the heck was
that?” she asks louder than necessary since this room is so small.  Has she
gone crazy?  Looking around the room, she notices that we are all staring at
her with puzzled expressions on our faces.  “Didn’t anyone else feel that?” she
asks.

I raise my brows, but not my
voice.  “Feel what, Xandra?”

“Something just shocked me. 
Really hard.  It felt like lightning.”

Lightning.  The stuff that
comes from thunderstorms.  Not only is it the wrong season for thunderstorms,
the sun is shining brightly outside. 

“Are you feeling alright,
dear?” her grandmother asks, temporarily pausing her work on the French toast
she is making.  “Perhaps you’re still feeling the effects of the spell you
performed yesterday?”

Xandra scowls, but she sits
back down.  For about two seconds.  Then she jumps back up and yells, “What the
hell?”

“Xandra!” her mother
admonishes, not pleased with her choice of words.

“Kallen, why don’t you feel
her forehead, see if she’s feverish,” her father says, moving closer to assess
his daughter.

I put my hand out to do as
he asked, but Xandra pulls back from me.  “I’m not sick.  Something is shocking
me!”  Okay, she is going to beautiful and crazy now.  I suppose I can get used
to it.  “Just because you guys can’t feel it, that doesn’t mean it’s not
happening,” she says through gritted teeth.

I will humor her.  “What
exactly does it feel like?”

She rolls her eyes at my
apparent stupidity.  “I already told you.  It feels like I’m being struck by
lightning.”  She barely gets that last word out before she drops to her knees. 
The expression on her face tells me that whatever is happening, she was not
lying about the pain. 

I am by her side only a
heartbeat after her father is.  “Xandra?” he says with worry dripping from each
letter that passes his lips.  Xandra holds her hand up, signaling that the pain
has not stopped and she needs a minute.  She closes her eyes and starts taking
slow, deep breaths.  Her sentiment from a moment ago suddenly seems a lot more
relevant.  What the hell is going on?

Slowly, her face eases.  The
pain must be lessening.  “Xandra, open your eyes now,” her father says.  She
does not respond.

“Xandra, are you okay?” I
ask.  Again, nothing.  I want to shake her, but I am afraid of bringing back
her pain.  Turning to the Angel, I ask, “What is wrong with her?”

The Angel is deathly pale. 
I believe her Witch heart is debating giving out on her.  “I don’t know,” she
says, barely above a whisper.  That earns her a disgusted look from everyone in
the room.

Ignoring her to avoid
becoming too angry to control ourselves, Xandra’s father and I turn back to
Xandra.  We call her name in turn, trying to bring her out of this catatonic
state she seems to be in.  At least, I thought she was catatonic.  She proves
me wrong when she lifts her hand, brings her fingers and thumbs together, and
takes our voices away.  Whatever she is, she is
not
catatonic. 

Her father clutches his
ghostly throat.  I would explain to him that this is simply a little trick
Xandra learned at my expense, but I do not have the voice to do so.  Which
leaves her father, and now her mother, to think the worst. 

“What did she do?” the Witch
spirit demands.  “Has she made him mute?  How do we fix this?”

I raise my brow and point to
my own throat as I try to say something and fail spectacularly.  She can demand
answers all she wants.  That does not mean I am in a state to give them to her.

Xandra is lost in her own
little world for a good five minutes, while I stew.  Why is she not letting us
know what is going on.  Her grandmother is on the floor in front of her now,
after much prodding from her daughter to ‘do something.’  She is shaking Xandra’s
shoulders when she finally opens her eyes.

“Xandra, dear, are you
back?” 

Her grandmother is still
shaking her shoulders.  “Yes,” she says, gently pushing her grandmother’s hands
away.

“Thank goodness.”  Looking
over at us, her grandmother says hesitantly, “Do you think you could give them
their voices back now?”

Xandra looks at me
sheepishly.  She knows how much I love it when she does this.  Probably the
single most irritating thing that she does.  My warm and fuzzy feelings toward
her have taken a break for the moment.

With a small effort, she
pulls the magic back that has my voice.  “Thank you,” I say dryly when I can
speak once again. 

Her mother is hovering and
wringing her hands.  “Xandra?  What happened?”

“I just met Beren and
Maeva,” she says, standing up.  Her grandmother grabs her arm so she doesn’t
fall.

Her comment erases all
traces of irritation.  “What do you mean, you just met them?”

“I mean, I just met them. 
We introduced ourselves, I told Beren to quit scrying for me and I told Maeva
that she wasn’t my type.”

Her grandmother is suddenly
in seventh heaven.  “Did you really?” she asks.  Xandra nods.

Xandra’s mother is
significantly less amused.  “How is this possible, Mother?”

The Angel suddenly has the
urge to return to her cooking.  “As we discussed yesterday, she seems to have a
strong connection to the protection circle amongst the trees.  I cannot account
for it, but she is more in tune with them than I had ever dreamed possible.”  She
is not fooling any of us and she knows it.