Blood Prophecy: Kallen's Tale (15 page)

Chapter 15

The Angel follows her down
the hall to knock on the bathroom door.  “Go away,” Xandra  growls.  Not being
completely stupid, the Angel retreats back to the kitchen. 

A few minutes later,
Xandra’s mother floats through the outside wall.  The first words she speaks
are, “Is she awake?”

I nod.  “She is a bit upset
at the moment.  Her grandmother has told her how the Witan found her brother
and aunt.”

“You did what?!  Mother, how
could you?  You know I wanted to break that to her gently.  Not bombard with it
as soon as she regained consciousness.  What is wrong with you?”  With a
scathing look in her mother’s direction, the spirit goes off in search of
Xandra.

“She is in the bathroom,” I
say, trying to help her out. 

The Angel slumps down at the
table looking miserable.  “I have done everything wrong.  My entire life here
has been a disgrace.  I never should have fallen.”

“Sorry, you do not get off
the hook that easily.  Falling did not make you a liar.  You chose to become
one.”

Taken aback by my words, she
is speechless for several heartbeats.  Then, she says, “We are not allowed to
tell.”

“You are not supposed to
have children, either.  Somehow you managed that, so honesty had to have been
an option.  After all, they do carry your blood.  Does that not make them
immune to the ‘do not tell’ crap?”

I wonder if she knows that I
do not give a fig that she is crying again now.  Okay, it might bother me a
little bit, but not much.  I believe I will go back to pacing, as I have done
for most of the last hour.

When Xandra comes back into
the room, I ask, “How are you?”  I am prepared for a torrent of emotion.  What
I get is a genuine smile.  If my heart was not already a goner for her, this
moment would have been its downfall.

“Ready for the next fight,”
she says.

Her father jumps in.  “How
about you fill in the details of the last one before starting on the next.”

Grabbing a banana, she sits
down at the table to tell us what happened.  The gist of it is she projected
her spirit to Denver and was able to give her aunt and brother the opportunity
to escape.  They are on their way here now, so they will be better protected. 
She also slowed down the Witan, but she is realistic enough to know that they
are probably just behind them.  Her grandmother, of course, can offer no
answers as to why Xandra is able to do these things.  I doubt she is going to
be invited back for the holidays.

When she finishes her tale,
Xandra looks around.  “What did I do to the kitchen?” she asks.

Dammit.  I probably should
not have teased her about this.  “You blinded us.”

Confusion is written all
over her.  “What are you talking about?  You can all see, can’t you?”

“Yes, we can now,” I say
gently, trying not to set her off.  “An hour ago, it was a different story.”

She cocks her head to the
side.  “How on earth could I have blinded all of you?”

“It was as if your magic
became pure light and we were not prepared to shield against it,” her
grandmother says.  Hey, this would be a great lead in to the whole ‘by the way,
you are part Angel’ conversation.  Does she take the opportunity?  No.

“It caused flash blindness,”
her father explains.  “It burned our retinas.  My guess would be, considering
the effect on your grandmother and Kallen, the intensity was around that of a nuclear
explosion.  It even affected your mother and me.”

“If Kallen hadn’t
immediately harnessed his magic to create another protection circle here in the
kitchen, the effect could have been permanent,” her mother says softly.  I
guess we are all walking on eggshells now.

Instead of freaking out,
Xandra surprises the hell out of me.  With a broad smile, she says, “See,
another reason it’s good that he stayed here.”  I believe my heart just
stuttered.  That must be why blood is rushing to my cheeks.  My god, I love
her.

Her mother also surprises
me.  She chuckles.  “Yes, I suppose it is.” 

Look at that.  Less than forty-eight
hours and I have won her over.  All it took was her daughter almost dying a few
times to see what a great Fairy I am. 

With a sigh, though, I wipe
the smile off my face.  Time for round two of who can push Xandra over the
edge.  “Yes, the blindness was temporary, but there’s more.  Before your aunt
and brother arrive, we have to let down our protection circles.” 

She shakes her head a little
as if trying to clear cobwebs.  “What?” 

“Before your aunt and
brother arrive, we have to let down our protection circles,” I know she heard
me, so I am a little less patient this second time.

She rolls her eyes at me.  “I
heard you.  Why?”

“Because your circle creates
a physical barrier they will not be able to cross and my protection circle sits
between realms and cannot be seen from either.  To them, it would appear as if
the house is not here and they would not be able to find it.”

Her shoulders slump and she
begins taking slow deep breaths.  “Okay,” she says slowly.  “What do we do if
the Witan attack while the circles are down?”

Fight like hell.  “Hopefully,
we will be able to hold them off.”

“Hopefully.  That’s
comforting,” she mumbles.

“I’ve called Barb and
they’re only about fifteen minutes away,” her father says.  “Whatever we’re
going to do, we need to hurry.”

“You guys do realize that
Grandpa and the Witan could be right behind them, right?  My magic that was
keeping them asleep retracted when I left Aunt Barb’s apartment.”

Her grandmother nods and she
is on the brink of tears again.  “Yes, we’re assuming that they are.”

Standing up with admirable
stoicism, Xandra asks, “What do I have to do to lower the protection circle?”

“It’s very simple.  You need
to mix your blood with the clay again and draw a line through the pentacle.” 
All that work to create a spell and it can be reversed with a finger.  Angel
magic is almost as inane as Witch magic, apparently.

“Let’s do it then.  I don’t
want Aunt Barb driving into it.”

Getting up from the table,
she slips her boots on.  Without bothering to grab her coat, she opens the back
door and starts walking outside.  Abrupt, but at least she is not giving in to
the craziness around her.  Her rationality is making her sexier than ever.  I
follow her outside after using magic to create boots for myself.

The Angel follows after
getting the clay and the athame needed to break the spell.  Handing the athame
to her granddaughter, Xandra uses it to poke the end of her finger to get a
drop of blood.  She then sticks her finger in the foul stuff and stirs it.  At
the moment, she is sexy from afar.

With a glob of clay, she
draws a line through the pentacle.  And then she flies over all of our heads
and lands with a thump in the snow.  That looked like it hurt.  And now, she is
holding so much magic around her, I do not dare get close to her. 

“Xandra, are you going to
let that go?” I ask from the elder tree. 

“I’m trying,” she says
through gritted teeth.  After a moment of struggling, she is no closer to
getting the magic back to the earth than she was before.  I bet she wishes she
had worn a coat now.  I would make her one, but I am afraid her magic would
attack mine. 

“Um, anyone have any
suggestions about how I can get this magic off me?” she asks.

I am not understanding why
this is so difficult.  “Magic is not an elephant.  It cannot sit on you and
hold you down.”

Even from twenty feet away,
she gives an impressive glare.  “Well, apparently mine is because it won’t
budge.”  She looks so funny lying there in the snow that even her mother has to
cover her mouth to keep from laughing out loud.  “It’s not funny.”

Oh, it really is.  “Have you
tried simply returning the magic to the earth?” I know she has, but being
condescending is better than laughing, right?

Apparently not.  “Was I just
saying that it was good you stayed?  I’m seriously reconsidering that opinion
at the moment.”

I chuckle.  “Be that as it
may, but you are the only one who can return this magic to the earth.”

“Really?  Because I thought
little elves came along and did it for me.”  She is still glaring at us all. 
“Isn’t this the same magic that knocked me out cold for almost a day?  What if
I take it all back through me and it does the same thing again?”

Oh, that is a good point. 
She is key in the fore coming battle.  None of us are laughing anymore.

Her grandmother adds her
opinion.  “It very well could be that your mind and body are refusing to
process the magic for that reason.”  Way to be encouraging there, thanks.  Now
Xandra looks even more worried.

“Mother, I’ve never heard of
such a thing,” the Witch spirit admonishes gently. 

The Angel shrugs.  “Your
daughter is an enigma, Julienne.  Who is to say that it doesn’t work that way
for her.” 

I shake my head.  They can
both shut up any time now.  Xandra agrees.  “Hey, can we have the philosophical
debate later, and right now figure out what I’m supposed to do?  I think my
back is getting frostbitten.”

“You are literally pinned
down by your magic?” I am still having a hard time grasping the concept.

“Yes, I am literally pinned
down.  As in, I can’t get up.  As in, there is a large amount of magic hovering
over me like a giant elephant butt about to sit on me.  Would you like me to
paint a better picture of it or is it pretty clear now that I’m being pinned
down by my magic?”

“Yes, the mental image is
perfectly clear now, thank you,” I say dryly.

Her next words are cut off
by the sound of tires hitting gravel.  Somebody has arrived.  I know from my
ability to sense magical beings that we will not be lucky enough for it to be
her aunt and brother.

The Witch spirit can see the
driveway from where she is hovering.  “Oh my god,” she whispers.  “It’s Fatin.”

I move so that I can see as
well.  Out of the corner of my eye, I can see Xandra still struggling with her
magic.  She pushes up onto her side, only to belly flop back into the snow. 
Meanwhile, the Witch in front of us speaks.

“Quillian, Athear, you know
what needs to be done,” he says.  “Please don’t make this harder than it needs
to be.”

I can tell from here that he
is an egotistical moron.  No wonder he can only use his magic against ghosts. 

“Stay here,” the Angel says
quietly to Mom and Dad.  Xandra’s mother looks like she’s about to refuse until
she glances over at her husband.  Then she nods.  Her face is filled with fear
– I’m assuming at the thought of him being exorcised.  It is just the Angel and
me who walk forward to greet the unwanted company.

Chapter 16

“This is the Fairy I’ve
heard so much about?  He is a tall one, isn’t he?” Fatin says.  Turning to the
Angel, he says, “Athear, you know how this is going to play out. I’m going to
threaten your daughter and her husband, and then you and the Fairy are going to
try to stop me, and things are going to get tedious from there.  I was hoping
to avoid all of this, which is why I haven’t made my presence known until now. 
But, alas, here I am, and we both know, Athear, the Witan never loses.  Are you
willing to lose both the daughter you have mourned for the last eighteen years
as well as this sin against nature we seek?”  I know he thinks he is being
formidable, but his singsong voice makes him more comical than scary.  I
stopped listening after the first couple of sentences, knowing he was only
spouting hot air.

The Angel, on the other, was
paying attention.  “The only sins against nature are you lot who have abused
your power over the years.  Xandra has committed no crime.  You have no
business here and as queen, I demand that you leave.”  Her voice is even but
there is definitely an underlying threat in it. 

“You haven’t really served
as our queen for these past eighteen years, now have you, Athear.  Nor are you
a member of the Witan, so you don’t actually get a vote.  You may offer your
opinion, which you have done on several occasions, and it was taken into
consideration.  Then we voted to disregard it.” 

What an ass.  I am going
back to not listening to him.  The Angel continues to engage him until another
car pulls into the driveway.  I wonder how things are going with Xandra and her
magic.

 “Ah, finally,” Fatin says. 
“I knew they couldn’t be too far behind.”

The Angel gasps as her
grandson and his aunt exit the new car.  They are obviously under a binding
spell.  Great.

“Surprised, Athear?  It was
a simple matter for Beren and Davina to find them and compel them to give
themselves up.”

“Have you hurt them?” I ask
evenly.  I do not believe they have, but I want to keep them talking until
Xandra has a chance to do whatever she ends up doing with all that magic.  I
have an idea what I would like to do with it.

“We have no wish to harm
them,” Fatin says.  “We simply want to offer a trade.”

And they believe themselves
to be superior to Cowans?  “Trade one death for another, how sporting of you.” 

Zac and his aunt are
beginning to struggle against the binding spell now that they are in familiar
territory.  That is what makes Xandra’s parents come rushing forward.  Come on,
Xandra, hurry up.

“Ah, Quillian, how lovely to
see you again,” Fatin purrs.  If he uses that voice to try to charm women, he
must sit home alone a lot.

“Let our son and my sister
go,” Xandra’s father demands.

A walking corpse answers.  “We
would like nothing better.”  Xandra was right, this guy is freaky looking.  I
am pretty sure some vital cartilage and bone is missing from various parts of
his face.

Xandra’s grandfather is also
with this new group.  “Sveargith, you know this is wrong.  You’re the king, you
can make this stop,” the Angel pleads.  Where is her pride?  He is not going to
listen to her pleas now if he has not for the last eighteen years.

“The Witan has made a
ruling.  King Sveargith is unable to change it on his own,” a plain looking
woman says.  “Your pleas will do no good, Athear.”  Her displeasure in seeing
the Angel pours out of her mouth like vomit.  I am guessing she is the
Seductress.  Her magic is not working on me at all.  I am guessing my love for
Xandra is the culprit behind that.

The Witch King is beginning
to look uncertain.  “Athear, you have to understand.”

 “I do not have to
understand.  You are being led around like a stray dog by these Witches.”  She
should be careful how she says the word Witch.  She might give away the fact
that she is not one.

Someone resembling a ball
with a head begins to whine.  “Enough of this talk.  Where is that girl?”

Seriously?  He is trying to
be tough.  Perhaps I will show him how it is done.  “You will have to go
through me to get her.” 

The Witch backs up.  “I’m
not afraid of you, Fairy.”  Sure he is not.  I believe he may have just wet
himself.

“Davina, get your hands off
my son.”  Wow, Xandra’s mother has won the how to be scary contest.  Even I
want to step away from her.

While she is distracted with
her son, Fatin begins to say his spell.  “Spirit in unrest, soul in pain, come
to me, find peace again.  Leave this world of longing and woe, sorrow filled
days no longer you’ll know…”

“Jim, no,” she cries. 

We cannot wait for Xandra. 
We need to act now.  Pulling magic, I push it forward as the Witches scatter. 
Fatin, so sure of himself a moment ago, is the first to run.  My magic catches
him anyway.  “Focus on the Fairy!” he shouts, as my magic rips into him,
bringing him to the ground.

Suddenly, I am thrown
backwards as several explosions go off around us.  My god, did this Witch spend
all of her corporeal life in these mountains planting Witch bottles?  I do not
mean to complain, but she is hurting those of us who are on her side as much as
the ones who are not. 

I am distracted as I pull
myself from the ground.  “Kallen, watch out!” the Angel yells just in time for
me to avoid a small missile of iron that is flying my way.  I guess they did
some research after all.

Out of the corner of my eye,
I see Zac struggling.  Good boy.  He is going to grow up to be as brave and
strong as his sister.  Reaching into my coat pocket, I pull out several small
items I had taken it upon myself to whip up last night. 

“He has some sort of dart!” 

“Get behind the cars!”

The darts are not quite as
strong as Tabitha back home can make them, but I was limited in my choice of
ingredients.  They might not take down a Fairy, but they are more than powerful
enough to take down a Witch.

“Let Jim and Zac go!  Or I
swear, I will blow this entire area away,” Xandra’s mother yells.  I turn
towards her, trying to get an idea of where the next explosions are going to
come from.  “Kallen, they’re setting a trap for you, make a circle,” she
shouts. 

I cannot believe I let down
my guard enough for this to happen.  I have just let Xandra and her entire
family down.  I do not even care about the pain I am in.  I only hope to live
long enough to know that Xandra is okay.

“Mom, help!”  Zac calls.

“Shut up,” Beren snarls and
I hear a sickening smack.  I’m pretty sure the coward just hit a little boy.

“What have you done?  Zac,
wake up!” his mother cries.

“The Fairy’s down, finish
him off!”

I am not sure which of those
sentences give her the power to break the manacles of her magic, probably both,
but Xandra rounds the house.  The air around her is sparking.  She is on the
edge of creating an imbalance.  Fueled on by anger, each step brings her that
much closer to being a walking fire bomb.  Literally.

She takes an instant to observe
the scene.  Moving her head to scan for the location of all us she loves, she
makes sure we are all alive, if not well.  I feel her magic building to the
breaking point.  She has to use some of it or she will lose all control.  As
soon as that thought floats through my mind, a tree behind the scattered
Witches blows up.  Tiny tooth picks that used to be a mighty oak go flying
everywhere.  The Witches are only paying attention to her, now.  The rest of us
forgotten as inconsequential.

Walking past me, she swishes
her hand through the magic that is holding me in this trap and it melts away. 
I fall onto my hands and knees, trying to adjust to being instantly pain free. 
Xandra keeps walking until she is in front of her little brother.  Kneeling
down, she gathers him to her. 

The walking skeleton thinks
she is kneeling in front of him in a show of surrender.  What a fool.  “Say the
spell,” he says and his voice is filled with the glee of someone who believes
he has won.  “Kill them all.”

Seven voices begin to
chant.  “From ancient times of rhymes and runes, these witches call upon the
power of the moon to scourge the earth of magic black, and within its womb to
take mercifully back, this one born in heresy and shame, and those who’ve
shielded her also to blame, swallow their guilt and show us their pain.  All
this we ask in the goddess’s name.”

Before the magic has left
them, Xandra has curled herself around her brother and has thrown up a wall
around the rest of us.  No amount of Witch magic will be able to penetrate it. 
She has once again saved us all.