Blood Prophecy: Kallen's Tale Page 4

  That sobers him up. “I don’t believe this is a good idea. I’m worried about letting that woman into your life.” I wish I could reassure him, but I do not think he would believe me without an explanation, as Xandra has chosen to do.

  Xandra looks as thrilled as he is at the idea. “Yeah, me too. But it doesn’t seem like we have much of a choice.” I half expected her to push for more information from me again, or at least let her father know that I am holding something back, but she does not. I would smile, but I would probably look like an idiot for doing so at the moment.

  “That may be true, but I still think it’s wise to take precautions. If trusting Athear turns out to be a mistake, I don’t know that your mother has it in her to stand against her own mother. She has always clung to the belief that her mother had not agreed with your grandfather and his lackeys, and Athear played right into that. But even if your mother could stand against her, I’m afraid that she doesn’t have enough power to hold both of us in this plane, and still wield enough magic to fend off an attack by a Witch who she believes is more powerful than she ever was.”

  “That’s not very comforting, Dad.” I do not believe she cares for his brutal honesty.

  He is resigned. “I know.” Looking at me, he says, “That’s where you come in.”

  There are a whole gambit of things that he could mean by that. Anything from chasing the Angel off to killing her. I am not sure how curious I am to hear what he wants me to do.

  Clearing his throat, the spirit says, “If someone had told me an hour ago that I was going to say this, I would have pronounced them insane right on the spot.” What a great lead in. I am even less thrilled to hear what he is proposing, now. “I want you to be glued to Xandra’s side. Every minute of the day.”

  It is impossible that I heard him correctly. Xandra seems to be suffering from the same deafness as I am. “Every minute?” she asks. That brings to mind images I would not care to share at the moment. But, I would certainly like to carry them out.

  The look on his face expresses how difficult it is to answer that question. “Yes, every minute.”

  I believe Xandra is dumbfounded. I do not hear her objecting, though. “Oh, okay.”

  Her father says stiffly, “I heard what you said this morning. You said that your grandfather’s magic didn’t even show up as a blip on your radar when you forced him to leave the house. But, you said that Kallen’s magic is strong enough to at least give you a challenge. If he’s truly that powerful, then he just became your own personal bodyguard.”

  Guarding Xandra’s body. If I do not relax, everyone will be able to tell how I feel about that. Not trusting my voice at the moment, I nod my head in agreement. To my consternation, Xandra still looks dumbfounded.

  Her father tries to smile. “Humor me, kiddo. I’m worried about you, and it would make me feel better knowing someone powerful is watching your back.”

  She nods. “Okay, I get it.”

  Her father turns back to me. “I’m assuming this is okay with you?” Again, I do not trust my voice, so I nod.

  “And I expect you to be a gentleman.”

  I do know the spell to exorcise a ghost. And it is begging to come out of my mouth. How dare he accuse me of using this as an opportunity to take advantage of his daughter? He knows nothing of me, or of the Fairy ways. If Xandra was not present, I would tell her father what he could do with his request. Instead, I just do my best not to exorcise her father.

  The spirit is not finished offending me. “Do I have your word?”

  Why would he believe my word if he feels he has to ask this question? Xandra takes an unconscious step back from me, so my rage must show on my face. In as even of a voice as I can manage, I say, “Yes.”

  “Alright then. I’ll see the two of you inside.” He turns and starts floating towards the house. I take my first deep breath to try to calm down. I do not know why I bothered. When the spirit is about fifteen feet away, he says over his shoulder, “Kissing is fine. Just not when I’m around, please.” Now I am insulted and chagrined at the same time.

  Xandra looks up at me. “I’m impressed you were so quiet after he said that. I almost expected to feel you pulling magic any second there.”

  Attempting a deep breath again, I say, “Even though I have never been accused of being anything other than gentlemanly, I thought it best to let your father have his say. I am a guest in his house.” Hopefully, not for long. Building that house up the mountain is sounding better by the moment.

  “Are you really the same guy who showed up naked in the woods last week? Cause you’re certainly not acting like him. I think I liked that surly, sarcastic, not afraid to say what’s on his mind, guy better. This guy,” She moves her hand up and down to indicate all of me, “is kind of dull.”

  I am about to take my frustration with her father out in a verbal sparring match with her, until I see the glint in her eye that tells me she is teasing. “Is that so?”

  She sighs and nods her head. “I’m afraid so.”

  With a deep growl, I think of a much faster, and pleasant, way to alleviate my frustration. I put my arms around her waist and lift her from the ground, drowning out her amused squeal with my mouth on hers. I am proving her father’s point, but at the moment, I do not care. All I care about is the feel of my lips on hers, her tongue dancing with mine. I would give anything for something soft to lay her down on and cover her body with mine.

  But, this is not the time. Slowly, I end the kiss and let her slide down until her feet are once again on the ground. “Still prefer the surly, sarcastic guy? Because I can bring him back.”

  She smiles contentedly and shakes her head. “He had his moments, but I guess I don’t miss him as much as I thought I did.”

  Just what I wanted to hear. Grinning, I pick up her grandmother’s bags. “I am not the biggest catch for hand-fasting in the Fae realm for nothing. No one can resist my charm.” I chuckle at her jealous expression and walk back to the house.

  Chapter 3

  I set the suitcases on the floor next to the Angel. She does not hesitate to start opening them. She begins to pull out magical paraphernalia as if she just came from the magic market and spent her life savings.

  “What is all this?” Xandra asks, peeking around me at the coffee table where the Angel is placing the items.

  The Angel answers before I have a chance. “I’m sure you are familiar with some of these items, and I’ll explain the others…”

  Xandra cuts her off, and I try to cover up a chuckle when she says, “Before you start making assumptions about what I know and what I don’t, you should just assume that I don’t know it. I didn’t even know magic existed until last week, and the only magic I’ve used has been my Fairy magic.”

  The Angel’s eyes are about to pop out of her head. That is the same reaction I had when Xandra first told me this. “You didn’t know that magic exists?” Her eyes shift to her daughter and the Witch spirit has the decency to look embarrassed. So much of this mess could have been avoided if she had only told Xandra about her heritage and started her training young.

  “I thought I was keeping her safe from the magical world. I had no idea that as soon as she turned seventeen, the Fairies would come looking for her.” The Witch’s eyes shift to me briefly. “If Kallen hadn’t taught her to use her Fairy magic, she may not have survived.” Now, I believe my eyes are about to pop out. I did not think that she would say anything that sounded complimentary towards me. Maybe I misjudged her.

  The Angel looks at me with a new understanding dawning in her eyes. Perhaps she is seeing me in a different light. “You must have taken quite a risk coming here to fight against your own kind.”

  My mistake. She was simply thinking of yet another way to insult me. “It was the Pooka who came to this realm to do harm. They are neither my kin nor my kind,” I reply, wanting to say so much more.

  Like mother like daughter, and now the Angel looks embarrassed. “Of course. I apolo
gize for not distinguishing between you being a Sheehogue Fairy rather than a Pooka.” What is her deal with Fairies? To the best of my knowledge, there has never been a disagreement between the Sheehogue and the Angels.

  Turning away from me, she says to Xandra, “You have not used any type of spell?”

  Xandra shakes her head. “No. Unless you count combining my saka with Mom to make a mana.” The obnoxious words the Witches use for magic cause her to stutter a little. “But Mom worked the actual spell and had Aunt Barb mix the plants for the salve.”

  “I believe you mean using your mana to create a saka,” the Angel corrects her.

  Xandra rolls her eyes, making me smile. “Can we just call it magic like the Fairies do? It’s a lot less confusing that way.” Finally. That really needed to be said.

  The Angel nods. “That is an excellent suggestion.” Angels refer to magic as magic, as well as Fairies. I did not think she would argue.

  The Witch spirit speaks up. “When we combined our mana…I mean magic, to heal Kallen from a wound created by iron, I was not a strong enough vessel to channel her magic. Once it was focused on his wound, I had to let go.”

  The Angel is confused. “What do you mean by not a strong enough vessel?”

  I will try to word this so she will understand, since I have way too much actual experience with it. “Her magic burns hot and fast, and she draws more magic than any other magical being I have come across. It cannot be channeled by another without causing physical harm. It feels like being burned from the inside out, and it is impossible to contain it if she loses control.” I glance sideways at Xandra as vivid memories run through my blood. She gives me a sheepish look in return.

  “She healed his wound almost instantly,” the Witch spirit adds.

  The Angel’s eyes fly back to me. “Healed? Completely? I’ve never heard of such a thing; iron does massive internal damage to a Fairy. How is that possible?” Well, it makes a lot more sense now that I know that Xandra is part Angel. Her grandmother’s eyes find mine as my understanding is mirrored with hers. Only Angels can heal instantly.

  Xandra shrugs in discomfort. She is beginning to understand how rare an ability this is. “I just did what Mom told me to do. I visualized his wound healing. And then it healed.”

  The Angel shakes her head. “Unbelievable. You are certainly a remarkable young woman.” She pats the spot next to her on the couch. “Please, join me and I will explain what I’ve brought with me.” I can understand why she wants to move on to a different subject. This one is hitting too close to home.

  I lean my shoulder against the wall and cross my ankles. This should be amusing to watch. Xandra looks over the stuff her grandmother has brought with her, and she has no clue what any of it is. Finally, she looks at me with a question in her eyes.

  I know what she is asking. “It’s all defensive magic,” I say.

  “Xandra, give your grandmother a chance, please,” her mother rebukes gently. I would like to gently rebuke her for her for how she has handled all of this. She has no reason to give Xandra a hard time about being skeptical.

  “Fine, it’s just my life we’re playing with,” Xandra grumbles under her breath as she sits down on the couch next to her grandmother. I say under her breath, when I really mean, loud enough for the entire room to hear it.

  “And I have every intention of keeping you alive,” the Angel says. Xandra gives her a sour look and sits as far away from her as possible on the couch.

  Her grandmother tries her best Angel smile to win her over. I do not believe it is going to work. “Why don’t we start with something simple? We’ll make a mojo bag for you to wear. It will help protect your person from magic which causes a physical attack, deflecting the attack back towards the Witch responsible.”

  I wonder when I should tell her what a bad idea this is. She apparently was not paying attention earlier when I explained that Xandra pulls too much magic to perform simple spells. She may end up blowing up the house.

  “You mean like Witches’ bottles?” Xandra asks.

  Her grandmother nods. “Yes, if a Witch bottle explodes around you while you are wearing the mojo bag, it will flare to life and cause a, for lack of a better word, a force field around you, sending the spell back to the one who used it. But, it may only be used once, so you will need several of them.”

  She holds a small leather pouch out and Xandra takes it. “Okay, I’m supposed to put stuff in it?” I cannot help a snicker, which earns me a dirty look. This is not going to end well.

  Ignoring me, her grandmother continues with her Witch magic lesson. “Yes, you will put an assortment of items in it that are known for their protective properties. Then you will say a spell that binds their collective power, and holds it until needed. This is considered low magic – magic that invokes an item’s natural power. It’s also called Earth magic.” I suppose yawning loudly would be rude, but this is already tedious.

  Xandra looks bored, as well. I find her impatience amusing when not directed towards me. “What first?” she asks to move things along faster.

  “You will need to use several herbs and stones. The first will be yarrow. It’ll provide protection as well as boost your self-confidence.”

  I snort. “She is definitely not lacking self-confidence. You may want to start with something that will lessen her self-confidence.” Ah, another dirty look. She is cute when she does that.

  They both ignore me now, which will be to their detriment momentarily. Her grandmother has her fill the bag with the required items as she continues to explain what each thing does. Finally, she looks at the Witch spirit. “Where might I find your grimoire?”

  In a cave, directly northwest from here. Buried under an avalanche. Because of Xandra. I am impressed the Witch is not forthcoming with that information. “I no longer have it.”

  “Did you lose it in your travels?”

  Xandra ends up confessing. “No, I did. I caused an avalanche and it got buried in the cave Kallen and I were staying in at the time.

  “Avalanche? Cave?” The Angel is beginning to sound like a parrot.

  Xandra’s father has had enough of this inane conversation. “The details aren’t really important, are they? Can’t you just write the spell down for her?”

  The Angel snaps back to what she was doing before the whole grimoire thing came up. “Of course.” She finds a writing utensil and a pad of paper in her purse. She writes down the spell and hands it to Xandra. “Now, just hold the bag close to you and while saying the spell, imagine a defensive wall coming up around you.”

  “Okay.”

  Okay, there is no way I can let Xandra say this spell with her grandmother so close to her. I may not be happy with the Angel, but this could go very badly and she will end up getting hurt. “You may want to move away from her,” I say, trying hard not to laugh at her naivety. All I get is yet another dirty look from Xandra.

  Her grandmother looks me at impatiently. “I’m sure I’ll be fine.” Okay, it is her injury I was trying to prevent. “Go ahead, dear.”

  I am undecided about whether or not I should leave the room. Xandra does not know it, but this spell, when it backfires horrendously, will tell me how she feels about me. If I am unharmed, then her feelings mirror mine. If I become collateral damage, well, there is always that house up the mountain I want to build. I really do not want to be collateral damage. I take a deep breath and hold my position leaning against the wall.

  Xandra stands up to recite the spell. “Herb and stone, heart and mind, with my will may all combine. Protect my body, my life, my soul, from forces dark who strike first blow. Evil magic based in sin, sent back before it can begin. Those in my heart will be unharmed, by this Witch’s protective charm.” And then there’s a loud explosion.

  The coffee table beats the couch to the window and shatters the glass as it flies through. The couch has a passenger as it goes flying. I guess the Angel will be a little more likely to believe me in the future. As t
he couch flies into the door, she is thrown off and ends up under the window. She is out cold from hitting her head against the wall. Other than a few scrapes and bruises, and obviously a concussion, she looks okay. She is breathing and not wheezing, so I believe she is fine. The recliner has flown into the fireplace, making me glad no one asked me to build a fire earlier. Me? I am standing against the wall, as I was before, watching the shocked face of my beautiful, powerful Witch Fairy. Completely unharmed.

  Xandra’s eyes fly to me and her relief that I am not harmed is tangible. Which curls my lips into a knowing smile. She cares for me as deeply as I care for her. “Guess that answers that question.”

  She is confused for a moment and it is fun to watch her face as understanding dawns. A massive amount of blood rushing to her cheeks tells me when she knows what I am talking about. Instead of acknowledging it, she asks, “What happened? It wasn’t supposed to do this, right?”

  I cannot help but chuckling as I push away from the wall and walk towards her. “No, it was not.”

  She turns to look at her spirit parents, also unharmed, and they are in complete shock. Not surprising, since this was their first real taste of their daughter’s power. Xandra is only slightly less shocked than they are. “What went wrong?” she asks.

  That makes me laugh. She honestly has no clue how strong her magic is. That makes her even more delicious. “Nothing went wrong, my little Witch Fairy. You did everything correctly.”

  Doubt washes over her face as she looks around the room that looks as if a bomb went off. “Then why does the house look like a tornado stormed through it?”

  I laugh more. What a great analogy. She is the perfect storm. “How aptly put. You are a tornado personified.”

  Her eyes narrow in my direction. “Will you please just answer my question?”

  Oh, but it is so much more fun to tease her. “This,” I say as I sweep my arm around, “is what happens when what should have been a gentle summer breeze, is replaced by a tornado.”