Blood of Half Gods Read online

  Dagda waves a tired hand in front of him. “Whenever you are ready.”

  I sigh a sigh that I’m pretty sure comes up through me from middle earth. I’m starting to look forward to that dreamless sleep I’m supposed to be having tonight. “Like I said, there were three of them. One blonde, one brunette and one redhead.”

  “None with black hair?” Kegan asks.

  I shake my head. “They didn’t have green eyes, either. They had brown and blue eyes. And they were wearing these toga-like things in bright colors. And they liked dancing. A lot.” I get a little dizzy again thinking about how the one spun me around.

  Kallen’s brows draw together. “You are not describing Fairies. Were they large, like giants?”

  I shake my head and try really hard to refrain from saying out loud that I probably could have figured out on my own if they giants. And, from the look on their faces, I wasn’t successful. Narrowing his eyes at me, Kallen says dryly, “Fine, not giants then.”

  Dagda shakes his head. “Xandra, you lost another hour and a half, and before that, you and Kallen lost almost two hours. Before that, you lost six hours. It is now coming close to midnight and I am tired. Are you absolutely certain you did not fall asleep in the woods and dreamed these creatures you speak of?”

  I bite my bottom lip. I guess I can’t be a hundred percent sure. But, I’m pretty sure. “No, I don’t believe I was dreaming.” Kallen and I were making out for two hours. I’m going to put off thinking about that until tomorrow.

  Dagda must be having similar thoughts. Standing up again, he says, “We have the necessary items for the dream spell. We should get on with it and discuss this more tomorrow. As soon as the drivers are well enough rested, they will be resuming our southern progress this evening as we are so far off track now and need to make up for the shift in direction. I am hoping they will make good time if you are in a dreamless slumber.”

  I can’t think of a better plan, so I say, “Okay, what do I need to do?”

  “Sindri,” Dagda calls out. Poor Sindri, he was supposed to be able to go to bed a while ago. He comes into the room carrying a silver tray with several different plants on it. He sets it down on the coffee table in front of the couch I’m sitting on.

  Great, he remembered to get the…oh, yeah, I don’t know what any of this crap is. Or, what I’m supposed to do with it. I wonder if anyone else can tell if I act like I know what’s going on.

  Kallen chuckles. “Would you like me to tell you what they are?” Guess that answers that question. I scrunch my nose up at him and he laughs. “I will take that as a yes. The purple flower is wood betony. It wards off evil spirits, headaches, bad dreams, things like that. The light blue plant with the skinny leaves is rosemary.”

  “That one I knew,” I say, feeling proud I knew at least one.

  He points to the last plant. “That one with the pinkish colored leaves is heavenly bamboo. It is poisonous to most animals, and in large doses, it is poisonous to Fairies.”

  I frown at him. “You guys want me to drink poison?”

  He shrugs. “It does not seem to bother you when it is in Fairy darts.”

  Ah, guess it won’t poison me, then. “Okay.”

  Sindri comes back in the room and this time, he’s carrying a teapot and one cup on a silver tray. He kneels down in front of the coffee table and puts several leaves from each plant in the teacup. From the teapot, he pours what looks like plain old hot water in the cup. Then, he looks up at me and silently hands me the cup.

  “Am I supposed to just drink this? I thought I had to say a spell.”

  Dagda leans forward and puts his elbows on his knees. “Sindri, the grimoire and the rest of the ingredients, please.”

  Sindri nods and rises to his feet. He disappears down the hall and comes back in a moment with the grimoire Dagda had shown me earlier, and a small silver plate. He sets them both down on the coffee table in front of me.

  “Thank you, Sindri,” I say, trying to smile. I don’t think it turned out well because he gives me a strange look and backs away. I really need to practice some of my expressions in the mirror.

  I look down to examine what else he gave me as I set the cup on the small silver plate. There’s a tooth that I think used to belong to a crocodile, and a squishy white thing with blue rings on it. Because it’s squishy, it must be poked. I think that’s a universal law.

  I go to poke at it, but Kallen grabs my hand before I can. “You do not want to do that. That is a blue ring octopus and there is no cure for its venom.”

  I pull my hand back pretty quickly. “Why is it here, then? Am I supposed to poison myself to do the spell?” I know I already asked that, but why else would there be a poisonous creature with venom so toxic it doesn’t have an antidote?

  Dagda sighs. “Of course not. Read the spell.” Guess I know where I got my patience and surliness from.

  Fine, I’ll read the spell. Oh, he’s right, I don’t poison myself. That’s a relief. Looking back up at him, I ask, “Can I start now?” He nods. The expression on his face says, ‘that would be nice so I can go to bed.’

  With a deep breath, I kneel down in front of the grimoire. The room is completely silent and all eyes are on me. That’s good, I’d hate to have them make me nervous or anything. With a sigh and small shake of my head to clear away my negative thoughts, I focus just on the spell. The spell that does say that it needs to be performed by several Fairies to actually make it work. I guess it’s pretty difficult to get the mind to stop dreaming completely. We’ll see if I’m strong enough to do it on my own.

  Picking up the crocodile tooth, I use it to gently poke a hole in the octopus, being really, really careful not to get any of the fluid on my fingers. It would be a lot easier to avoid the poison if I had an elephant tusk, or something else in that size range. Then, I use the tooth to draw a circle around the cup. It’s a little awkward, and I have to poke the octopus a couple more times for more fluid, each time more nerve wracking than the last because it’s getting messy, but I finally have a complete ring of lethal octopus juice.

  Setting the tooth down, I begin to say the spell. “Plagued by dreams of loss and pain, drowning in sorrow lived again, nightly torment, daily rage; I find peace written on this page. Freedom sought from what time has forgot, my mind to be closed, no longer exposed, to the anger and danger wrought by the fingers of dreams unsought.”

  I pause to lift the cup from the circle, careful not to touch the octopus goo. Putting it to my lips, but not drinking yet, I say, “Made of poison from deep within the sea, a circle of protection stolen by me, no dreams shall pass this safeguard, my mind remains unmarred. Sands of nightmares forsaken, while others slumber and dream, for me unbroken darkness in the light of this moon’s beam.” And then I drink down the nasty, nasty tea. I wonder if a Witch can have a stunt double like in the movies, or a pinch hitter like in baseball, to do all these things I don’t want to do. Considering how life has been going lately, it would probably be a full time job.

  When I set my cup down, Dagda stands up from his chair. “Sindri, if you would please have these things removed.” Sindri nods and leaves the room, apparently going in search of whoever cleans up messes. Turning to me, Dagda says, “Xandra, I hope for all of our sakes that you truly do have a dreamless sleep. I suggest that we all retire for the evening.” Eyeing both me and Kallen now, he adds, “To sleep.”

  I don’t know why the blood bothers to leave my cheeks. It would save it a lot of time and effort if it just stayed there; waiting for the next time someone says something that embarrasses me. There’s never a lot of time between instances lately. “Got it,” I grumble, as I stand up. Kallen and Kegan join me.

  Saying our goodnights, we head up to bed. To sleep.

  Chapter 9

  I’ll admit it, I’m a little afraid to go to sleep. I’m lying here wide awake, with Kallen’s arms around me, and listening to his even breathing. Obviously he’s not afraid to sleep. After a chaste kiss a
nd a good night, he was out. Every time I close my eyes, I swear I can feel the carriage moving and my eyes fly back open, afraid that I’m doing it. Maybe I should try counting sheep. I’ve never been a big fan of sheep. Or wool in general. It’s too itchy. Maybe I’ll count bunnies instead. One bunny, two bunny…oh, this is stupid. I don’t like bunnies, either. I hate the way their noses are constantly moving.

  Okay, I’m going to close my eyes. And keep them closed. The carriage is not moving, and it’s not going to until the drivers are rested and ready. My bad dreams are gone, at least for tonight, and I need to just relax. I’ll match my breathing to Kallen’s and see if that helps me calm down.

  “Xandra, where are you?” Kallen says. I turn and look at him, thinking he’s awake, but his eyes are closed. “Xandra, it’s dark, you need to come back inside now.”

  Weird. He’s never talked in his sleep before. I should probably wake him up, but I’m actually getting really sleepy now. I let my eyelids droop, and then close.

  “There you are! Xandra, you need to come inside. You can’t be wandering around in the darkness. It’s dangerous,” Mom scolds. I can hear her, but I can’t see her. I can’t see anything. It’s like I’m in a void in the middle of the universe, and all the light from the sun has disappeared. “Xandra, the door is unlocked; you only need open it to come in.”

  Um, I’m not supposed to be dreaming, so why am I hearing Mom’s voice? Or is it Kallen’s voice and I only think it’s Mom’s. “Mom?” I say tentatively.

  “Xandra, I can’t see you. Why won’t you come back inside? I’m so worried about you.”

  Inside? Inside where? “Mom, I don’t know what you mean. I’m not outside.”

  “I can’t see you, honey. Your father and I are so worried. If you can’t come inside, open the door and we’ll come get you.”

  Open the door? “But, Mom, you can float through doors.”

  “Don’t be silly, Xandra. I thought we settled all that foolishness. The doctor said you should be better, now.”

  “What doctor?”

  Her voice has turned to scolding now. “Xandra, you know very well what doctor. Now, you stop this nonsense and come back inside.”

  This is definitely not right. “You aren’t real. You’re just a dream.”

  “How can I be a dream, Xandra? You can’t dream. The medication keeps you from dreaming and letting your imagination run wild with thoughts of magic, and all those other ridiculous notions you were going on about. Now, open the door so we can come get you. We’re waiting for you.”

  “Why can’t you or Dad open the door if you’re not ghosts?”

  “Xandra Illuminata Smith, stop being smart with me and open the door.”

  “I can’t even see a door, it’s too dark.”

  “You simply need to reach out, and you will find it. Just turn the knob and open it.”

  This seems like a really bad idea. And why am I hearing her voice. It’s echoing around the void as if it’s coming from several different directions at once. I’m not supposed to be dreaming anything. But, is it a dream if you can only hear things, but not see them. I guess it comes down to what makes a dream a dream. Is it only a dream if there are images? Or, am I simply crazy and hearing things?

  That’s it. I’m opening my eyes if I have to pry them open. On the count of three. One. Two. Three. “Aaaaaahhhhhh.” Holy crap! I scoot up on the bed and pull the covers up to my neck. “What are you guys doing in here?”

  “Xandra, honey, please, just open the door.” Okay. Why is Mom’s voice coming out of Dagda’s mouth?

  “It’ll be okay, you can come inside. You can even talk about magic if you want.” And now it’s coming from Kegan’s mouth. Oh, god. I haven’t been dreaming. I’ve been hearing Mom’s voice come from the different people who are standing around the bed. And they’re either still sleeping, or they’re zombies. I’m going to hope for the best and assume they’re sleeping.

  Pulling magic, I say the spell that comes into my head, bypassing the panic attack I’m having. “Deep in slumber, caught in the fray, used as vessels, as evil’s prey. In the clutch of sleep, its fingers holding tight, awaken now to the reality of this night.”

  All at once, ten eyes pop open and a couple of mouths scream. Specifically, Kegan’s and Radella’s. Kallen and Dagda swear, and Alita’s mouth is in a perfect O. Her green eyes are as big as a bush baby’s.

  “What the hell is going on? What did you do?” Dagda demands. His forest green pajamas are barely wrinkled, as if he hasn’t even had a chance to lay down in them.

  “Hey, I’m not the one sleepwalking in someone else’s room. I’m the one who woke you up after you scared the crap out of me.”

  Kallen looks a little shell shocked beside me. “I was dreaming about you. You wouldn’t come in from the darkness. I kept asking, but you wouldn’t come in.”

  “No way,” Kegan says, looking a little green, now. His t-shirt and black pajama pants are definitely wrinkled. “That’s what I was dreaming.”

  “Me, too,” Alita says quietly.

  I look at Radella and Dagda. They both nod, indicating they had the same dream. “Well, this is freaky.” That’s about all I have to add to the conversation, since I don’t know what’s going on any more than they do. I guess I could add how uncomfortable it is to have them all staring at Kallen and me in bed. That probably wouldn’t be helpful, though.

  “Why are we having your dreams?” Kegan asks, with more than a little accusation in his voice.

  I give him my sourest look. “How should I know?”

  “They were not dreams, they were possessions.” Well, at least no one’s looking at me and Kallen anymore. We’re all looking at Dagda.

  “What does that mean?” I ask.

  He rubs his hand over his face as if to clear away the cobwebs of sleep. Or a possession. Sitting down heavily in one of the chairs, he says, “Whoever, or whatever, haunted your dreams earlier, must have tried to go through us when your mind was not accessible.”

  It takes a minute for that to sink into my head. When it does, I gasp. “You think I was possessed??”

  The rise of his eyebrows in a ‘duh’ kind of way answers that question. “Why didn’t you say that before?”

  He shrugs. “I was hoping I was wrong.”

  Kallen sits up straighter. “When Xandra and I lost time earlier…” his voice trails off and he takes a moment to clear his throat. “Do you believe possession to be at fault there, as well?”

  Dagda sighs as he looks around the room. Radella, who is wearing what can only be described as a pink teddy, eew, is now leaning against the door frame. I think she’s trying to be sexy. I may not be the best judge in this instance, because I hate her, but since none of the guys in the room are taking much notice of her, I’m assuming she’s failing. Kegan and Alita are both sitting on the floor, made easier by the fact that they’re wearing real pajamas, and they are as shell shocked now as they were five minutes ago. “If someone or something is powerful enough to possess the five of us, I believe that is a strong possibility, yes.”

  “But…” How do I say this without sounding way too egotistical? “I’m supposed to be the strongest magical being around. How can someone possess me?” Okay, that wasn’t how.

  Dagda chuckles. “And you accused me of delusions of omnipotence. Well, lovely daughter of mine, there may be monsters out there that are bigger, stronger, and more powerful than you.”

  Did he just call me a monster? I think he did. I’ll attribute my sudden bad mood to that. “Okay, name a few.”

  He still looks amused, as he says, “I will grant you that I cannot name any off the top of my head, but that does not mean they do not exist. They simply have not made their presence known before now.”

  I cross my arms across my chest as I lean back against the headboard. I would like to get up and pace, but, unfortunately, I have to admit that I’m not dressed that much better than Radella. Obviously, I let Kallen make my pajamas
tonight. I really wish I could change my own clothes with my magic.

  “So, there’s a monster who’s bigger and badder than me, that’s invading my dreams; and if I’m not available, it’ll go through you guys to get to me. Gee, I’m so glad I chose to stay in this realm,” I grumble.

  Kallen gives me a funny look. “I believe your problems are more to do with your magical ability than the realm in which you reside.”

  He’s probably right. Doesn’t mean I have to admit that, though. “What do we do about it?”

  Dagda stands up. “The first thing we are going to do is get you off this carriage.”

  I know my eyes are as wide as Alita’s now. “You’re kicking me off?”