Blood of the Exiled (Witch Fairy Book 10) (17 page)

No one bothers us the rest of the afternoon.
 
We don’t even hear anyone in the halls.
 
It’s kind of eerie since we know there are other people here, but they must be avoiding this part of the house.
 

At six thirty, we all disperse to our rooms to get ready for dinner.
 
The room Kallen and I have is smaller than the guest rooms at Isla’s, but it’s comfortable.
 
The room is decorated in mint green and white and it overlooks the stables.
 
My grandfather has some beautiful horses.
 
They look so peaceful out there munching on grass and nuzzling noses.
 
I’m tempted to turn into my animal form, join them, and try to suck in some of their serenity.
 
The Witches would probably notice my giant wings, though.
 
They’re a tad obvious and would make it difficult to blend in.

Kallen comes up behind me and wraps his arms around my middle, his chin resting on my head.
 
“What are you thinking about over here?”

I lean back against his chest and lay my hands over his.
 
“How nice it would be to change into my Pegasus form and join the horses out there.”

He leans down and nuzzles my neck.
 
“We could fly away together.”

“Would we have to come back?”

He chuckles softly.
 
“Not if you do not want to, no.”

I know that’s a lie, but I appreciate him saying it.
 
I wish I had the freedom to take off and find my own place in the world.
 
But, I have too many responsibilities, just like most people.
 
It’s a nice dream, though.

Twisting in his arms, I snake mine up around his neck.
 
“I love you.”

He kisses me softly.
 
“I love you, too.”

Reluctantly, I pull away and walk to the garment bag lying on the bed.
 
“We need to change for dinner.”

Instantly, Kallen is in a black suit with a gray button down shirt and a green tie that matches his eyes.
 
“Done.”

I roll my eyes.
 
“That’s cheating.”

He raises a brow.
 
“You, my love, are simply jealous of my superior abilities.”

I shake my head and laugh.
 
“Yes, I should bow down to your ability to create clothes.”

“That is correct,” he says as he walks to me.
 
He places his hands on the bottom of my tee and pulls it up and off.
 
“I also have superior abilities when it comes to taking off clothes.”
 
His hands find my bare skin and a tingle of excitement travels down to my toes and back up my body.

I gently push his hands away, wishing I could fall into them instead.
 
“We will not make it to dinner if you help me undress.”

“I am not hungry,” he says, unsnapping my jeans.

Again, I push his hands away with a laugh.
 
Pointing to the end of the bed, I say, “You need to go over there and sit down.”

Kallen sighs as if I just sent him to time out.
 
He goes to the end of the bed and sits down, leaning back on his hands.
 
“I still get to watch, right?”

A blush stains my cheeks.
 
“Yes.”

I finish undressing and then pull the black dress I bought from the garment bag.
 
I slip into it, forgoing my bra because of the delicate straps at the shoulders.
 
The top is halter style but covers everything it’s supposed to cover.
 
It’s similar to a nineteen thirties dress with fringe that swishes when I walk.
 

Kallen rises from the bed to do the zipper in the back,
then
rakes his eyes over me.
 
It’s obvious he likes how I look in my new dress.
 
“You are beyond beautiful.”

The way he’s looking at me, I know he would rather be unzipping the dress than zipping it.
 
If he continues to look at me like that, I might let him.
 
Softly, I say, “We should go.”
 
I don’t really mean it.

Kallen pulls me close and kisses me in a sweet promise that there will be more
coming
later.
 
“We should.”
 
He kisses me again.

“Oh, excuse me,” a nervous female voice says behind us, startling us both.

I peer around Kallen to find a woman dressed in a maid’s uniform.
 
Kallen turns around and puts his arm around me, pulling me close in a sweet, protective gesture.
 
I’m pretty sure I could take the maid, though.
 
“Is there a problem?” he asks, his tone indicating that there had better be since she just barged in without knocking.

Flustered, the maid says, “I…I thought you had gone down for dinner.”

Narrowing my eyes, I ask, “What were you planning to do in here?” Yes, I am crawling with paranoia now.

“I…” she hesitates and I can’t tell if she is trying to come up with a lie or if she’s afraid of us.
 
Probably both.
 
“I came to turn down the bed,” she manages.

“We will turn down our own bed, thank you,” Kallen says in a tone that also says ‘get the hell out and don’t come back’.
 
The maid turns around and leaves without another word.

“Do you think she was going to plant a bug or something?” I ask.

Kallen is lost by what I just said.
 
“Why would she bring an insect in here?
 
Are there poisonous pests in this area?”

I shake my head, remembering the lingo barrier between us.
 
“Not an insect, an electronic listening device.
 
That way Grandpa and his goonies could listen to our conversations without being in the room.”

His face darkens.
 
“I would not be surprised then.
 
Are there other such devices we should be concerned about?”

I’m starting to get a creepy feeling.
 
“They could have some sort of video lead in here.”
 
When he looks at me quizzically again, I explain.
 
“That means they could be filming us, watching everything we do.”
 
What a horrifying thought after just changing my clothes.

“We should search the room.”

I nod, dreading what we’ll find.
 
Sure enough, I find a suspicious figurine on the dresser.
 
Not caring if it’s valuable or not, I drop it on the floor and step on it.
 
It shatters into a thousand pieces and inside there is a tiny camera.
 
I am going to kill whoever just watched me get undressed.
 

Deep in thought instead of outraged like I expected him to be, Kallen mutters, “I wonder…”
 

I’m about to ask him what when he pulls an enormous amount of magic.
 
Enough to make magic automatically draw into me in response.
 
Worried, I ask, “What are you doing?”

With a wry smile, he says, “Please do not let your magic attack me.
 
I am going to try to pinpoint my magic to find all electronic devices in the house and destroy them.”

Ignoring the implication that I will not be able to control my magic when it senses his, I say, “That sounds difficult to do.”

He shrugs.
 
“If my magic can restore things to their correct form and place, I will direct my magic to consider the electronic devices as a flaw that needs to be corrected.
 
I am not sure if it will work or not.”

I wave my hand in a ‘go ahead’ gesture.
 
“It can’t hurt to try.”
 
It could, but I hope it doesn’t.

I feel Kallen let his magic go.
 
It doesn’t shoot from him in a burst, it sort of oozes away from him.
 
I feel it lapping at the nooks and crannies in the room as Kallen gently encourages it.
 
I doubt I will ever have that much control over my magic.

While Kallen pushes his magic out further, towards the rest of the house, I focus on the broken recording device on the floor.
 
A spell races through my mind and a malicious grin crawls over my face as I say it aloud.
 
“
Privacy stolen from me by some unknown, a weapon concealed for this trickery now shown.
 
To right this wrong of bare flesh desired, when in my presence, privacy lost will be required. Tit for tat, yin and yang, balance must be maintained.
 
What has been seen will be shown, but not by only one alone.
 
By several this trickery condoned, my wrath on all will be sown.”

I find Kallen looking at me in surprise.
 
“You know what that will do, right?”

I nod.
 
“Serves them right.”

He chuckles.
 
“I am glad you love me because I would hate to be on the receiving end of your anger if you did not.”

I feel his magic pulling back.
 
“Did you get them all?” I ask.

“I think so.
 
I cannot be certain that my magic searched the entire house, but I am certain any electronic device on this floor has been disabled.”

I really do love him.
 
“Okay then, let’s go to dinner.”

He shakes his head in amusement.
 
“This is going to be an interesting night.”
 
Maybe too interesting, but like I said, they deserve it.

The time it took to do our magic makes us the last to arrive for dinner.
 
The formal dining room has a long table that can seat up to twenty people.
 
There are place settings arranged with little placards telling us where to sit.
 
The only one from my group who isn’t sitting on the opposite side of the table from my grandfather is Tana.
 
He has her seated to his right.
 
Fatin and the wire haired Witch, and two other Witches I do not know, are present as well.
 
They do not look any more pleased about the situation than Kallen or I do.
 
None of the Fairies from outside are here.
 
They must be security only.

An interesting thing happens when I enter the room and take my seat.
 
The room warms with a flood of magic that circles the table, doing what it has been commanded to do by my spell.
 
All conversation comes to an abrupt end and mouths gape open.