Blood of the Exiled (Witch Fairy Book 10) (18 page)

I learn several things in the next thirty seconds.
 
One, the wire haired Witch is wearing a pink, lacy bra to match her pink, lacy thong.
 
My mind is now tarnished forever by the sight of her underclothes.
 
My grandfather is a tightie whitey vs.
boxers
kind of guy.
 
I would have predicted that.
 
Fatin likes to go commando.
 
Really,
really
didn’t need to know that.
 
Fortunately, the cloth napkins are large enough for him to cover up when he realizes what happened.
 
One of the female Witches I haven’t met, a pretty, dark skinned woman with braided hair, a flat nose and strong cheek bones, also likes to go commando, at least on top.
 
Goes with the hippie style she was sporting, I guess.
 
Being smart guys, Kallen and Kegan find other places for their eyes to rest than on her chest.
 
It must be laundry day for the other female Witch I haven’t met, a woman with a slightly hawkish nose and straight black hair that goes down to her butt.
 
I think this because her granny panties have an ugly hole in them and her bra looks like it’s a size too small since she is in danger of popping out of it.
 
Jadyn, sitting between the Witches and my group, remains fully clothed.
 
That goes a long way towards trusting her.

My red-face, apoplectic grandfather bellows, “What is the meaning of this?!
 
What kind of sick game are you playing?”

I pick up a spoon and try a taste of the French onion soup in front of me before I answer.
 
Not bad.
 
After another taste, I respond to his question.
 
“It came to my attention,
after
I changed my clothes, that there is a video camera in my and Kallen’s room.
 
It is my guess that there are also cameras in the other guest rooms as well.”
 
Alita’s face blushes a deep scarlet and Kegan looks a little ill.
 
Adriel is pissed.
 
“Now, I suppose you could argue that I should have known you would do such a deplorable thing, but I guess I am still young and naïve.
 
Lesson learned.
 
Now, until these cameras, which do not work anymore by the way, are removed from our rooms and not replaced, along with any listening devices of course, anyone having knowledge that these cameras were being used will become as,” I purse my lips as if trying to find the right word, “vulnerable as we were whenever you are in my presence.”

Horrified doesn’t even come close to the looks on the Witches’ faces.
 
Jadyn, however, is trying hard not to laugh.
 
She has to bring her napkin to her mouth and pretend to cough.
 
Kallen is sitting back in his chair with a grin almost as evil as mine.
 
Over the shock of being caught on camera, Kegan and Alita look vindicated as they glower in the Witches’ direction.
 
Adriel is still just as pissed as she was a moment ago.

Barely heard over the outrage, is Tana’s voice.
 
Studiously averting her eyes from Grandpa’s abundant physique, she says, “
Xandra,
is this really necessary?”
 
Her expression is neutral.
 
She is neither horrified nor amused.

I meet her dull green eyes with mine.
 
“Yes.”
 
She gives a barely perceptible shrug and takes another spoonful of soup.
 

Cloth napkin barely in place, Fatin stands.
 
His chair tips backwards with his momentum and he just barely catches himself before turning around to storm out.
 
He only has one napkin.

My darling Kallen has other plans for him.
 
He creates a wall of magic that encircles us, preventing anyone from moving too far away from the table.
 
There is a challenge in his eyes when they meet Fatin’s.
 
He hasn’t forgotten the Fairy traps the Witch and his cronies had used on him the first time they met.
 
After careful consideration, and awkward movements, the Witch retrieves his chair and sits his bare butt back down.

Loud enough to wake the recently dead, Grandpa shouts, “You will not behave this way in my house!”
 
He bangs his fist on the table for extra effect.
 
Soup bowls at his end of the table slosh over.
 
Tana frowns at him before going back to eating.

I scrunch my forehead slightly.
 
“Isn’t it a tenet of Witch magic that what goes around, comes
around,
or something like that?”

“That is not what this is,” Grandpa
growls
.
 
“This is intimidation and humiliation.”

I put my elbow on the table, ignoring the bad manners of the action, and tap a finger against my chin.
 
“I am assuming that you are saying my actions are humiliating and intimidating but yours were not.
 
Is the difference the fact that I did not hide my actions?”
 
I look at Kallen.
 
“What do you think?”

Giving me an endearing smile, Kallen says, “I love that you are always brave enough to use your magic honestly and overtly.
 
Hiding behind ceramic figurines is a cowardly thing to do.
 
To answer your question, yes, I believe that is the difference your grandfather is attempting to use as rationale.”

“Do something, make her stop this disgusting behavior,” Grandpa pleads to Tana.

Shaking her head, she says, “As we discussed earlier, Xandra is a willful creature, unable to be controlled.”
 
My amusement slides from my face and magic begins to boil deep within me.
 
Continuing, she says, “That being said, it was beneath you to spy on guests in your home.”

Is that shame on my grandfather’s face?
 
I’m surprised he isn’t breaking out into an itchy rash because I thought he was allergic to the emotion.
 
Blustering put on hold, he says, “The electronics were suggested by my security team.”

“Hmm,” is Tana’s
reply.
 
Her soup bowl has to be close to empty now because she has not stopped eating while all of this has played out.
 
At least she has her appetite back.

Grandpa tries again.
 
“They are rarely turned on.”

Instead of replying this time, Tana sets her spoon down next to her bowl and moves her napkin from her lap to the table.
 
She stands and face still neutral, she says, “I find my appetite has left me.
 
I will retire for the evening.”
 
She turns to Kallen and raises her eyebrows slightly.
 
Understanding what she wants, Kallen drops his wall of magic.
 
Without a look back at any of us, Tana leaves the room.

Kegan watches her go and then says to Kallen, “Have you ever seen the Queen so disappointed in someone?”

Kallen hesitates half a second before playing along.
 
“No, I have not.”
 
His voice is terse but not enough to suspect he is
lying
.

One of the Witches I don’t know clears her throat.
 
“May we leave?” She’s the one without the bra.
 
I’m more than happy to get her out of here.

Genially, as if she simply asked to be excused instead of being set free from a magical cage, I say, “Of course.
 
It was nice to meet you.”

It’s not a surprise when she doesn’t repeat the sentiment.
 
With a nod to my grandfather, she walks out of the room with her head held high.
 
Good for her.
 
I’m just happy to see she has underwear on.

Grabbing another napkin, Fatin rises as well and says to Grandpa, “We will meet in the morning and I will help you work out this,” he glares at me, “problem.”

I give a little princess wave in his direction.
 
“Bye.”

The remaining Witches follow suit until Grandpa is alone at his end of the table.
 
He has been grinding his jaw hard as he watched his friends leave.
 
I expect his teeth to be only half the size they were when he opens his mouth again.

Finally, when the last Witch has left, the bluster goes out of him like a flag no longer in the wind.
 
“Xandra, why are you here?
 
You know how the Witches feel about you.
 
Even if we had a relationship, fear of your power and dislike of your brash personality would make it impossible for you to be Queen someday.”

That hurts a lot more than I thought it would.
 
I actually feel moisture growing in my eyes.
 
I’m hoping the heat and humidity in the room have risen to the point that my eyeballs are sweating because I
certainly
cannot be crying over something my grandfather said to me.

Saving me from having to reply to his insults, Adriel rises from her seat and walks slowly to Grandpa, like a panther stalking prey.
 
When she reaches the place Tana had sat, she puts her hands on the table and looms over him.
 
He leans back in his chair but doesn’t get up.
 
There is fear in his eyes, though, as he looks at the petite, blonde
,
 
and
beautiful Fallen Angel.
 
Smart man.

In a voice that makes
me
want to leave the room, she says, “When you die, your soul will come to me to be stripped of every last bit of darkness.
 
When I have you in my hands after you have been judged, there will be no mercy, no consideration for your pain.
 
I can already see that your soul is filthy with the residue of the deeds you have committed against your kind and mine and I will enjoy every second of our time together.
 
When I am done, there will not be enough of your soul to be reincarnated as a Patu Digua spider.
 
That means that if there is any good left within you, it will be so miniscule that it cannot move on.
 
It will reside in the Shadow realm for eternity.
 
I alone have the power to intercede, to save you from the Shadows.
 
Keep that in mind as you decide whether you stand with my very dear friend, your granddaughter, or against her.”
 

Not everything she said is exactly true, Rashnu is her boss and she is one scary Angel, and there are other Angels of Death.
 
But just as my grandfather
does
, I know Adriel will make sure she is the only one to have power over his soul remnants.
 
Having said her peace, Adriel strides from the dining room leaving my grandfather open mouthed and terrified.
 
That speech alone makes me glad she came with us.

“You should know,” Kegan says to my grandfather, “Adriel never makes a promise she does not plan to keep.”
 
With a glance in our direction, he says, “I believe we will retire as well.
 
We want to be well rested for whatever tomorrow may bring.”
 
There is a promise in his voice.
 
A promise that says whatever happens, he and Alita are with us until the very end.
 

What a crappy way to spend their honeymoon.
 
Guilt is warring with my pride in having such generous, loyal friends.
 
I’ll have to find a way to make this up to them someday.

There are only four of us left in the dining room now.
 
Jadyn has been silent this whole time, enjoying the show.
 
It seems she is in it until the very end as well.
 
I just have to figure out whose side she’s really on.