Witch Fairy book 3 (10 page)

“I know you’re there,” I say without looking up from the shell.  I almost have it clean.

“Yet you keep your back to me when you have no idea who I am or what I am planning to do.  Are you brave or senseless?”

Hmm, who would have thought I’d be asked that question so many times in such a short period of time?  I don’t think I’ve gone a day recently without being asked that.  “I guess we’ll see.”

I feel her getting closer to me, but I just keep working on my shell.  “What do you hold in your hands that intrigues you more than your safety?”

I hold the shell up over my shoulder so she can see it.  “Have you ever seen a prettier shell than this?” It has swirls of green, blue and purple.  “Kegan said it’s an abalone shell.”

“Kegan does know his shells.”

“Are you going to come over here or are you going to make me get up?  I should warn you, I’m not in the mood to be threatened.”

“Brave and egotistical.  Not the most flattering combination.”  She doesn’t sound mean or nasty.  Honestly?  She sounds more amused and curious than anything.

I shrug again.  “You didn’t answer my question.”

Walking around so that she’s facing me, she kneels down to examine the shell more closely.  “If you rub a little sand over it and then wipe it, it will clean up better.”

I take her advice and rub some sand on the shell before rubbing it with my sarong.  She’s right.  The seaweed comes right off.  I smile up at her.  “Thanks.”

“My name is Alita.  May I ask yours?”  Alita is tall, with a waiflike frame, and is dressed in a gauzy, seemingly weightless dress of deep blue.  Her black Fairy hair is shoulder length, and her eyes, while not the vivid green typical of a Fairy, are a pale green that give her face an ethereal appeal.  She reminds me of the Angels in the way she holds herself and the kindness that dances in her eyes.  I like her instantly. 

“Xandra,” I say with a polite smile.

“I have never seen you here before.”

“I just got here this morning.”

“Are you staying long?” she asks.

I shrug.  “I really don’t know.  I like it here, though.”  The place.  Still not happy with the people.  One in particular.

“Are you staying with Isla?”

I nod.  “Yes.  Do you know her?”

Alita laughs softly.  “You cannot be a Fairy and not know Isla.  She is a force of nature.”

“Yeah, she is, isn’t she?”

She doesn’t say anything for a minute as she pulls her bottom lip between her teeth.  “Are you…”

She doesn’t finish her sentence.  I hate that.  “Am I what?”  And then a thought hits me.  Great, she knows who I am.  I was hoping to stay anonymous.

“Nevermind,” she says with a shake of her head.

“I’m kind of having a bad day, Alita, so please, just ask me, okay?”

She nods as she lets her lip slide out from between her teeth.  “Are you here to be Kegan’s bride?”

“Good lord!  Why does everyone want me to get married?  Have I fallen back in time to where it’s normal for teenage girls to be forced into wedlock?  Am I going to have to start popping out babies, too?”

Alita’s brows knit together.  “Does that mean you are not here to be Kegan’s bride?”

Underneath her confused façade, I see a little kernel of hope.  Finally, I understand.  She’s hoping I’m not getting married.  That’s refreshing.  “No, I’m not.  He’s all yours.”

Her eyes fly to her hands folded in her lap.  “He is not mine.”

Interesting.  “But you want him to be?”

Her lip is back between her teeth.  “Of course not,” she says after a moment.  “That would not be proper.”

“What’s not proper?”

Color floods her cheeks.  “I am not of pure enough blood.”

Okay, now I feel like I’ve been thrown into a medieval caste system.  “You’re joking, right?”

Her eyes meet mine again.  “Why would I joke about that?”

I close my eyes and shake my head.  For a race that’s supposed to be so superior, they sure have some backwards ideas.  “Where I come from, blood doesn’t matter.”  Okay, in some parts of the world it still does, but not where I’m from.

She smiles sadly.  “I would like to live in a world such as that.” 

Suddenly, her eyes dart over my shoulder.  I feel them too, as the gentle hum that was Alita turns into a bongo drum solo in my head.  So, I’m pretty sure these Fairies aren’t going to be as friendly as Alita is.  Dropping my shells to the ground, I stand up and face them. 

Two women, one thick set with wide shoulders and a nose that looks like it’s been broken a couple of times, and the other petite, with short cropped hair and an attitude big enough to make up for her short stature.  Hmm, she looks different with her clothes on.

When they’re close enough to be heard, the one I had sent flying onto the beach earlier, says to Alita, “Why, Alita, you always seem to be talking to people you are not supposed to be talking to.”

“Hello, Rhiannon. I am surprised to see you walking on two feet and without gills.”  I can’t help but chuckle at that.

A dark shadow falls across Rhiannon’s face.  “At least my blood is pure, not a drop of Cowan,” she says with a nasty smirk which has Alita nervously folding her hands together and looking at the sand instead of Rhiannon.

Good lord, this is ridiculous.  “What’s wrong with being part Cowan?  I’m half Cowan and I’m proud of it.”  Alita’s head shoots up as she tries to figure out if I’m telling the truth or not.  Okay, I’m not really half human, but I can’t tell her I’m half Witch, that will blow my cover. 

Rhiannon snorts.  “Listen to the way you speak.  Do you not understand proper grammar?  Words are meant to be spoken in their entirety.  And Kallen would not have been caught dead with a person who is any part Cowan, so do not lie for the sake of this mutt.”  She looks Alita up and down with disgust clear in her eyes.

I roll my eyes and shake my head.  Yes, I use contractions.  So sue me.  And I know that my boyfriend (ex-boyfriend?) used to be a major blood racist.  At least he had been honest with me about that.  And he’s reformed.  “What do you want?”

“I wanted to have a little chat with you while Kallen is not here to protect you.”

I practically burst out laughing.  She thinks Kallen threw her on the shore?  Instead, I keep quiet.  No sense in giving away all my secrets.  Let her think it was Kallen.  “What do you have to say to me that Kallen can’t hear?”

“I wanted to tell you that when my sister finds out about you, she will make sure Kallen never wants to see you again.”

I cross my arms over my chest and smile.  “Really?  What’s she going to do, turn me into a frog?”

Rhiannon cocks her head and looks at me with sympathy.  Mock sympathy.  “Oh, you poor silly thing, you have no idea who you are up against.  My sister is Xeniaa.”

If this was a movie, this is where the dramatic organ music would be.  Dun dun duuun.  I shrug my shoulders indicating that I don’t care who her sister is.  Which I don’t.  “So?”

The woman next to Rhiannon gasps, but Rhiannon continues to smirk.  “Oh, I am sure you have heard of her.  Do not pretend you have not.”

I shrug again.  “Yes, I’ve heard the name, but not in a way that indicates that I should be afraid of her.”

There’s that dark shadow passing over Rhiannon’s face again.  She should get that checked out – it can’t be good for her health.  “Perhaps I should not wait for my sister; perhaps I should teach you a lesson right now.”

Yet again, I shrug.  “Okay, you go right ahead.”  I’m going to have a life time of these kinds of challenges, so I’m not going to get worked up over each individual one.

“Xandra, I do not believe this is wise,” Alita says quietly.  “Xeniaa and Rhiannon come from a very powerful Pooka line.”

I’m saved from having to respond by the raven that lands at my feet.  A second later it’s Kallen.  Another second and it’s Kallen with clothes on.  And, apparently, I wasn’t the only one to enjoy the show.  Rhiannon and her friend had no qualms about looking him up and down before he put those shorts on.  Boyfriend or no, I don’t like that.  Me, jealous?  Yes.  Yes, I am.

Kallen looks dead serious when he says, “Rhiannon, I have spared your life once today.  You should not go for twice.  You may not be as lucky this time.”  Hey, did he just imply that I might kill her?  What’s up with that?

A smile that I think is supposed to be sexy creeps onto Rhiannon’s face.  She is definitely not pulling the look off.  She looks constipated.  “Kallen, it is nice to see you have figured out where your priorities should be and have come home.  Though, I am not so sure that my sister is in a forgiving mood.  She was quite upset when you broke off the hand-fasting.”

Whoa.  What?  “You were married to her sister?” I say with my hands on my hips and a dirty look on my face.

The dark shadow that passes over Kallen’s face is a hundred times darker and meaner looking than the one Rhiannon had.  “No, I was not.  Not in a binding way.”

“So, you were you married to her in a non-binding way?”

“It is complicated,” he growls.  Turning away from me, he says, “Rhiannon, I suggest you leave.  Now.”

Oh, I have definitely had enough of this conversation.  “That’s okay, I’ll leave.”  I turn around ready to stomp off, when Rhiannon says, “It is rude to walk away in the middle of a conversation.  I am going to teach you a lesson about what happens when you cross a member of my family.”  And then, I feel her drawing magic.

Now, I’m really mad.  I turn back towards the group, and I can’t miss the smirk on Kallen’s face when he says to Rhiannon, “You really do not want to do this.”

“What is the matter, Kallen.  Are you afraid I will hurt your precious,” she looks me up and down, “
friend?”
  She says friend like it’s a tiny, dirty and hairy worm that has somehow found its way onto her tongue.  I expect her to cough up a hair ball any second.  “Are you going protect her again now that you know it is me?”

“No,” Kallen says.  “I am not.”

Rhiannon has a shocked expression on her face but she recovers quickly.  “Then you will not mind if I show her a thing or two?”

Kallen steps aside and uses his arm to gesture in my direction.  “Be my guest, but remember, I did warn you.”  Well, if nothing else, he at least has faith in my abilities.

Alita gasps.  “Kallen, this is not like you!  Why are you being so horrible?  Rhiannon could kill her!”  Turning towards Rhiannon, she says, “You will have to go through me first.”  Alita firmly plants her body in front of mine.  That is so sweet; if grossly unnecessary.