Blood of Retribution (22 page)

Chapter 27

As if on cue, I feel a sharp pain in my head and then I hear Kallen’s voice in my mind.  “
We are in the village.  Meet us in front of the fruit market when you can.”

Okay, if only I could remember where the fruit market was.  I wasn’t in the best frame of mind when I was in the village earlier, so I wasn’t really paying attention to everything I passed.  It won’t help that it’s so dark out now, either.  Well, here goes.

I teleport myself to the one place that I remember clearly about the village.  The place where I was told a Witch hunt was a growing possibility.  But I don’t have time to worry about that right now.  I can fend off torches and stakes later. 

I begin a three-sixty turn as I try to get my bearings.  The streets aren’t as crowded as they were earlier today and street lamps are shining brightly, which should make it easier to find the fruit market.  Three quarters of the way into my turn, I find that I am standing right in front of the fruit market.  I guess Kallen knew I’d remember the place I was attacked.  He and Isla are waiting impatiently for me. 

And Taz.  “It’s about bloody time,” he gripes.

I ignore him.  “What’s going on?” I ask Kallen and Isla as I approach them.

“Dagda has discovered the location of Tana,” Isla says evenly.

“Not before I did,” Taz grumbles.  He must have followed her scent all the way to wherever she is staying.  I still choose to ignore him.

I nod.  “I know.  I was there when he found out.”

Isla’s brows draw together.  “Then why are you not with him and his lackeys?”

Was I just insulted?  I’m not really sure.  So, I’ll ignore it.  “He didn’t want me to come with him.”

“He said that?” Kallen asks. 

I shrug.  “Not those exact words, but he made it pretty clear.”

“Then where have you been?” he asks.

“I went to cure Alita.”

He’s surprised.  “Were you able to get close enough to her?”

I nod and smile.  “She is alive and well and thoroughly enjoying making out with Kegan.”  A throat clearing from Isla makes my cheeks pink.  I probably should have waited until later to tell Kallen that last part.  “Anyway, the darkness on my aura is gone.  I could touch her without causing her any pain.”

Kallen smiles.  “I am glad to hear that, Angel.”  He pulls me into a warm hug.  I could stay like this all night long.

Dryly, Isla says, “Do you think we can get on with what we need to do?”

If she would give in and let herself love Garren again, I bet she wouldn’t be so touchy about the whole PDA thing.  I’ll keep that thought to myself, though.  No need to get her pissed at me before we go into battle.

“Where is the house we need to get to?” I ask.

“Not far from here,” Kallen says, loosening his arms and letting me step back from his embrace.  He takes my hand in his and begins to walk in a direction that will bring us away from the center of the village.  Isla walks with us.

On the outskirts of the village, after we pass the streets where most of the Fairies live, there are a handful of large houses.  They could probably be considered mansions, but none of them are quite as big as Isla’s.  Among them, it’s easy to pick out the house that has been harboring Tana.  It’s the one being surrounded by a large army of angry Fairies who are following orders from the angriest Fairy of all.  My biological father.  This is not going to go well at all.

I’m not really sure what’s happening, but I get the impression that Dagda’s plan is to just storm the place with magic flying.  That is not going to be the best approach.  I don’t know the Fairies Dagda brought, but I still don’t want to see them die, and I believe Tana is capable of making that happen.  Best case scenario, they catch her by surprise and she feels outnumbered and gives up.  Yeah, right.  Worst case scenario, she kills them and then comes outside to kill the growing crowd of Fairies.  There has to be a different way.

A rush of magic being pulled from several different directions forces me to act.  Separating myself from Kallen and Isla, I speed forward and throw out a magical wall around the house, preventing the Fairies from using the magic they’ve pulled.  Unfortunately, everyone knows I did it.  I get a lot of eyes turning my way and I don’t like the look in some of them.  Nor do I like the rumblings I’m beginning to hear about me protecting the one trying to kill the King.  Oh for god’s sake, if I have to get over my issues then they should have to get over theirs.  It seems only fair.  That’s an argument for another day, though.

It doesn’t take long for my menacing biological father to find me and begin stalking towards me.  “What the hell do you think you are doing?” he hisses when he’s within earshot.

“Preventing you from doing something you’ll regret,” I say, unmoved by his anger.

“What gives you the right?” he demands.  I bet if I grew up with him as my dad, he would’ve been a spanker because I think that’s what he wants to do to me right now.

“This does,” I say evenly.  Letting the magical net go, I push every bit of their magic back into the army of Fairies.  Each Fairy feels the burn of my magic running through them, which is why a cacophony of screams emerges from their mouths.  Wow, that’s really loud.  If Tana didn’t already know we were here, she sure does now.  I pull my magic back and the Fairies drop to their knees.

My eyes still trained on my homicidal father, I continue.  In a hushed voice so hopefully no one else hears me, I say, “I know damn well that you still love this woman and if she ends up dead, you would never forgive yourself.  So stop trying to prove to all these people that you’re ruthless enough that you’ll even kill your wife if she gets out of line.”  The crowd has given us a wide berth now so I don’t think we have to worry about being overheard anymore.  I guess both of our tempers are legendary and no one wants to be caught in the crossfire.

Dagda moves closer.  “Do you truly consider trying to murder the both of us to be simply ‘out of line’?” he spits out.

It takes everything I have to not rub away the tiny spray of saliva that came along with his words.  For some reason, I feel like that would be a show of weakness.  “Okay, so maybe she’s a little more than out of line, but that doesn’t change the fact that you still love her.  What if she can be stopped without violence?  Maybe we can even talk her into some semblance of her old self.”

Disbelief oozes from his pores.  “I realize you know nothing of what she was once like, but I can assure you that that Fairy,” he points towards the house, “is not the same Fairy that once resided in that body.  There is nothing of my wife left.”

“How do you know that for sure?” I counter.  “Do you have a Geiger counter or something that you’ve waved in front of her and confirmed that?”  I wonder if they have Geiger counters here.  “If not, then I say let’s give diplomacy a shot.”  Yes, those words came out of my mouth.  Halleluiah, I’m maturing.

If he didn’t know that my magic is stronger than his, I would be toast right now.  Crossing his arms over his chest, he says, “Those are funny words coming from you.” 

I’m going to ignore that comment, only because it’s true.  “Well, maybe we both should give it a shot.  What can it hurt?”

“Every Fairy between her and us,” he growls. 

Good point.  “Then we need to privatize the fight.”  I have no idea if that sentence was grammatically correct, but he gets my point.

“How do you propose we do that?” he demands.

I roll my eyes and am about to make a smart comment regarding my ability to teleport when screams make my eardrums vibrate painfully.  Before I turn around, I know that Tana has already decided to make the fight public.  Very public.

Rings of fire have begun to surround groups of Fairies, including Fairy children.  Why in the world would parents bring their kids to someplace like this?  Are they really that stupid that they didn’t consider the fact that taking down a practitioner of black magic could lead to collateral damage?  Especially that of the ‘small children who can’t protect themselves’ kind?  I just shake my head at them, but regardless of what their IQ scores may be, I am not going to let them get hurt.  Pulling magic, I push it in the direction of the flames, tamping them down until they are simply puffs of smoke.

I don’t think that Tana realized how easily I would be able to trump her magic when she is no longer being aided by Hades.  Good.  One thing that Dagda has taught me, it’s always better to have your opponent underestimate you. 

She’s not down for the count, though.  She has other tricks and she begins tossing them out.  A black, acrid cloud descends around all of us, making it difficult to see more than a foot from our bodies.  On top of that, tiny zaps of electricity start tearing at our skin.  The sounds of mothers trying to protect their children from the pain can be heard all around us.  Again, this wasn’t the best place for a family night out.  I feel badly for the kids, though.  It’s not their fault they’re here.

Reaching out an arm, my hand bumps into Dagda’s chest.  “Meet me at Isla’s,” I say. 

I barely hear his angry reply.  I’m already moving through the crowd, trying hard not to run into anyone.  That’s impossible, of course.  So I focus on not knocking anyone down.

I can feel when I’m getting closer to Tana.  I was worried she would try to escape, but I guess she’s more interested in hurting anyone around her than saving her own hide at this point.  The buzzing of her magic in my mind is strong and getting stronger.  She must be only a few feet away from me now.  Pulling magic again, I use it to clear a space in the cloud, and there she is.  Her sores on her scalp have grown and they’re oozing something greenish now and her sallow skin has become something more like old, yellowed tissue paper.  She’s looking rough.  Or rougher, I should say.

“Get away from me,” she hisses.  “You are nothing but a half-breed bastard born from a stupid, whorish Witch.  Your presence disgusts me.”

“Have you looked in the mirror lately?” I ask.  Then, in a voice that reeks of violence, I say, “And if you say one more thing about my mother, I will take everything I said to Dagda about having mercy and understanding and let him kill you on the spot after I’ve had fun torturing you.  Trust me, without Hades your magic doesn’t come anywhere near the power of mine.”

That gets her to shut up.  I must have finally mastered the look that says ‘I’m ready to do exactly what I just threatened and I’ll like doing it’.  The bravado Tana had a minute ago is dwindling.  So much so, she turns and tries to run.  Yeah, I don’t think so.

Reaching out, I catch her ugly black cloak, stopping her.  Her magic may be strong, but her body is weak.  I am easily able to pull her back to me so I can wrap my hand painfully around her arm.  “Let the magic go,” I growl.  “You are hurting children.”  I could dissipate the cloud myself, but it seems important that Tana do it.  I guess I need some sign that there’s still at least a kernel of humanity in her.  I wonder what the Fairy term for humanity would be.  Fairyanity?  Fairydom?  I don’t know.

After a long pause, the black fog begins to clear.  The screams in the crowd are replaced by crying.  Mothers and fathers are pulling their kids close and checking them for any lasting damage as they quickly lead them back to their homes.  Meanwhile, my eyes are glued to Tana.  When I am sure she has pulled all the magic back, I teleport the two of us out of here.