Blood Prophecy (Witch Fairy) (6 page)

Of course, he doesn’t take me seriously, but he does answer my question.  “The average witch would be the gentle summer breeze.  The spell would have been cast, the mojo bag would have been properly stored for future use, and the Witch would have gone on her merry way.  But if you replace the gentle summer breeze with a tornado, you create a spell so large that it cannot be contained by a tiny little leather pouch. Therefore, instead of being stored, the spell is cast out.  And where a normal Witch would have created a thin wall around herself, your wall is a hundred times thicker and needs more space.  To make room, it removed all obstacles except for those you specifically told it not to harm.”

“Oh.”  What else is there to say to that?

“Are you saying that she can’t perform spells?  She is half Witch,” Mom says.  There’s some defensiveness in her voice.

Kallen turns his eyes to her and Dad, who have not moved from where they were floating before I worked the spell.  He shakes his head.  “No, I am saying that the outcome of a spell that Xandra casts will be a hundred times greater than it was meant to be.”

“And you couldn’t have said something before she worked the spell and destroyed the living room?”  Mom’s voice isn’t defensive anymore, it’s angry.

Kallen inclines his head.  “Would you have believed me if you had not seen it with your own eyes?”

Mom’s lips move as if she’s about to say something, but apparently she thinks better of it. After a moment, she finally admits, “No.”

Across the room, Grandma starts to stir.  Her eyes open and she takes in the room; and then her eyes turn to me.  Is that concern in them – or fear?  She tries to stand up, but it seems her ankle must have gotten twisted and she sits back down.  “So much power in one so young is dangerous,” she says to the room.

“I did warn you,” Kallen points out.

Grandma gives him a tired look.  “Yes, you did.  But my pride wouldn’t listen.”  She smiles weakly.  “I’m lucky that it didn’t get me more than a twisted ankle and a headache.”

“If it had been a truly dangerous spell, I would not have let you teach it to her.”

I look up at him as I place my hands on my hips.  “What do you mean, you wouldn’t
let
her?  Just because you were the first one to teach me things doesn’t mean that you have full rein over my magical education.”

Both of his eyebrows raise and I know he’s going to say something condescending that’s going to make me even madder.  “And what basis from your vast magical experience will you use to determine if a spell is safe or not?”  Okay, he has me there, even if he is being a jerk again.  Before I can say anything, he continues, “It makes more sense for someone who is versed in Witch magic, and has experienced your magic first hand, to determine the ramifications of a spell spoken by you.”

I scrunch my face up in what I hope looks like disgust.  “You know, my father is right over there.” I nod my head in Dad’s direction.  “I don’t need another one.”

“Believe me, I have no desire to be your father.”  The curve of his lips and the fire in his eyes tells me that he really doesn’t want to be my dad.  Again, a blush crawls up my neck to my face.  Now I’m flustered and tongue tied; which I’m sure is what he intended.

Dad clears his throat in the awkward silence.  “Yes, well, now that you’ve established that you only have one father, I’ll give my opinion.  I believe Kallen is right.  He has the best idea of all of us what you are capable of, so he should have final say in what spells you do.”  Great, the father/boyfriend bonding has created a brain trust that will decide what I can and cannot do.  They can go back to hating each other any time now. 

I glare at both of them but Kallen look s amused and Dad pretends not to notice as he continues.  “But, before any of that is decided, we need to figure out what we’re going to do about the door and window.  It gets awfully cold in these mountains at night.”  Of course, he and Mom don’t have to worry about that, but the rest of us do.

Kallen looks a little less cocky, but still self-possessed, as he turns to Dad.  “Of course.  If Xandra will let down her wall, I can reverse the damage she has done,” he says making me sound like a five year old who broke a lamp and now he has to clean it up.  He and I are going to have a long talk about his attitude when we have some time alone.  Or maybe I’m just being too whiny and defensive because of my magic going all wonky again.  Yeah, probably that.

Grandma looks at him doubtfully.  “You are able to perform reversal magic?”

“Yes, I am.”

Grandma actually looks impressed now, though she looks like she’s trying hard not to.  I look away from her and turn to Kallen.  “Can all Fairies do that?”  If so, maybe I can do it, too.  It would be nice to be able to clean up my own messes.

He shakes his head of silky black hair that got mussed by the explosion, the only effect on him, making it look even better.  I’d love to run my fingers through it.  But I’m going to ignore that desire right now.  I have to focus on the situation at hand.  Besides, that would be more than a little awkward with my parents and grandmother right here.

“No, it is quite difficult to perform reversal magic.  It requires a lot of power and refined skill,” he says.  “The only other Fairy I know who can do this is my Grandmother.”

My lips purse together as a thought hits me.  “So, you could have reversed the avalanche and the rock slide I caused?”

He shakes his head as he looks amused at my expense again.  “You created natural disasters on a grand scale.  There is no magic strong enough to reverse that.  Now, as impressive as it is that you are holding this wall in place for so long without another magical mishap, I cannot reverse the damage until you let it go.”  Again, I’m five and he’s scolding.  Yeah, we may still need to have that talk even if I am being whiny. 

Letting that idea go for the time being, I take a minute to marvel over my accomplishment here.  Honestly, I hadn’t even realized I’m still holding enough magic to keep this wall in place.  Kallen had told me that I would learn to do this, but I didn’t think it would happen any time soon.  I smile proudly, which causes some eyebrows to rise in my direction.  I don’t care, I may have destroyed the house but I learned something about myself in the process.  I am capable of control.

Kallen cocks his head to the side.  “Care to share with the rest of us what is making you smile so?”

“No,” I say sweetly.  He narrows his eyes at me but I ignore him as I concentrate on letting my magic go.

That turns out to be easier said than done.  I haven’t really had to pull back magic that is creating a solid object, transparent as it may be, back through me before.  And trust me, this wall is solid.  The problem is, it wants to stay put.  I know that sounds strange, but my magic seems to have a mind of its own sometimes.  Kallen once told me that the only other person he ever heard talk about magic as if it is sentient is his grandmother.  I wish I could meet her someday, because she sounds really interesting, but that probably isn’t going to happen since I’m never, ever going to the Fae realm.  I’d be a walking target there.

Okay, Kallen’s impatient look reminds me of what I’m supposed to be thinking about.  I try doing what I normally do and imagine my magic sliding back to the earth.  But it won’t go.  Maybe if I take a deep breath, close my eyes and try to clear my mind of everything else.  I focus only on my magic.  I love how it feels flowing through me, so warm and calm.  I let it wash over me as I reconnect my conscious mind to my subconscious that has been holding the wall in place.  That quiet hum in the back of my mind.  Not an annoying hum, but a pleasant, calm hum, like a monk meditating.  It becomes louder.  As I delve deeper into the magic within me, it feels as if it’s singing to me now.  Like the sound of my mother’s voice singing a lullaby.  My magic will take care of me.  It’ll soothe my soul from the stress it has felt.  It’ll wrap me tightly in a cocoon of love, keeping me safe, guarding my body and mind.  And all I have to do is hold onto it, burrow into its arms; my haven from the woes of the world.  My sanctuary.  Just hold it close, don’t let it go.  It’ll teach me of its power, its wild abandon that will bring me happiness as I surrender myself to it.

Ow.  Ow!  What is that?  This isn’t peaceful, this hurts.  My magic isn’t comforting now – there’s too much power.  It’s overwhelming.  It’s giving me a headache.  And what was that?  Oh, that’s just annoying.  Not only is my magic causing too much pressure inside of me as it tries to ooze out my pores, but now there’s something on the outside pushing against me.  Like I don’t have enough to deal with right now.  Oh, I recognize that magic.  I’ve tasted it before.  Kallen.  If he’s using his magic against me, that can’t be good.  Something about this cocoon I’ve wrapped myself up with must be making him use his magic against mine.  And that never works out well for him.  And I promised him that I wouldn’t hurt him anymore like that.

I have to take control back.  I control the magic, it doesn’t control me.  This is not how I save my family and Kallen from becoming targets in my fight.  If I don’t have control, I’m as dangerous to them as I am to my enemies.  I pull the magic back, like I’m playing tug of war and I have the strongest people on my side.  I feel it diminishing, struggling – but losing.  I’m pulling it back through me and shoving it back into the earth.  As the wall falls, Kallen’s magic comes rushing towards me.  I have to stop it. If I don’t, it’ll burn through me as if I’m being burned from the inside out.  It may not burn as hot as mine, but it still burns.  So, I’m going to gently push back, keeping our magic a line of molten lava where they interact, but not burning through either of this.  After a moment, I feel his magic pulling back.  He senses that I’m in control again.

When I feel the last drop of magic leave me, I open my eyes.  And I thought the living room looked bad before.  Now it looks as though it has been set on fire and then extinguished. Several times. 

Chapter 5

I search for Kallen, hoping that I didn’t hurt him again.  He’s kneeling on the floor about ten feet away from me, panting.  I’ve never seen him look so pale.

“You did it,” Grandma breathes from where she is standing next to the window with what looks like a bucket of water.  She must have been trying to put the curtains out, because a small flame starts up again, startling her.  She uses the last bit of her water to put it out.

I drop to my knees in front of Kallen.  I expect him to be angry, to back away from me.  Instead, the corners of his mouth start to move up but they only make it to a half smile.  In between breaths, he manages to say, “Always interesting around you.”

A small laugh escapes me as I recall our conversation from earlier.  I put my hand on his cheek.  “Did I hurt you?”

He turns his head slightly so he can kiss my hand.  “Not this time.  But you have tired me a great deal.  I have endless pity for whomever you release that magic of yours upon.”

“Xandra, are you alright?” Mom asks with a tremor in her voice.

I turn to look at her and am about to ensure her that I am, when I realize Dad isn’t next to her.  Oh god, where is he?  “I’m fine, Mom.  Dad…?” I leave the question hanging because I’m not sure I want to finish it.

“He’s fine,” Mom assures me.  “I sent him outside when it all began.”

“When what began?” I ask Mom but I’m looking at Kallen.

He lifts his arms and puts his hands on my shoulders.  “When you began to turn the air to flames.”

“What?!”  That’s not possible.  “I did not.”

It takes him another moment to take in enough oxygen to explain.  I half expect Mom or Grandma to jump in, but they wait for him to do it.  “You did.  You pulled so much magic around you that it was competing for space with the very molecules of the air.  You created an imbalance.”

I remember him explaining imbalances to me.  Suddenly, I feel ill.  “You said only black magic practitioners create imbalances.”

He shakes his head.  His breathing is slowly returning to normal.  “No, I said practitioners of black magic create imbalances on purpose to draw as much power as they can.  You created an imbalance because you temporarily lost control of your magic.  It is not the same.”

“Why did Dad have to go outside?” 

Hesitation washes over his face.  After several heartbeats, he finally says, “Because the imbalance you created did not only affect our plane of existence.”

I don’t understand.  “How could I affect another plane of existence while in this one?  They should have been safe, shouldn’t they?”

Mom does answers this time.  “No, honey.  We do exist in another plane, an in between place, not where we came from and not where we’ll eventually go.  This plane is only separated from yours by a hair’s breath, which put your father in danger as he can’t protect himself as the rest of us can.  Though, I was starting to believe we wouldn’t be able to protect ourselves either,” she says and I can’t tell if that’s sadness and despair in her voice or fear.  Probably all three.  Great, my mom’s scared of me.  “If Kallen wasn’t here…”  She shakes her head.  “This is all my fault for keeping so much from you.  We all would have been safer if I had taught you the ways of magic as you grew up.”

My mouth is still open from the first part of what she said.  It’s insane.  They’re ghosts, how could I hurt them?  I turn back to Kallen.  “Am I that dangerous?”  Please say no.

“Yes."

My face falls and I stare at a singed spot on the floor.  Kallen places a hand under my chin and lifts my face.  “But, you are learning control.  It was not me who brought you back from wherever your magic had taken you.  You did that.  I only lessened the damage while you took control back.  And now, I can reverse the damage.”

“Okay,” I say quietly.  I felt so powerful a few minutes ago and now I feel defeated.  How can I fight off my enemies if I will end up hurting my family and Kallen in the process?

Kallen pushes himself to his feet.  He’s a little wobbly, but other than that, he seems okay.  He holds his hand out to me and I let him help pull me up, though I’m not the least bit tired from having that much magic flow through me.  “Perhaps you could make your grandmother a cup of tea while I clean up.”

I nod and give Grandma a half-hearted smile.  “Would you like tea?”

“That would be lovely.”  Her smile is about a hundred watts brighter than mine.  “I’m afraid using magic tires me out quicker these days than it used to.”  She starts walking toward me with a slight limp, causing me to remember that she injured her ankle when I threw her across the room.  Knocked out, almost set on fire.  I bet she’s really happy she came to help, now.

I walk over to her and put her arm around my shoulders and my arm around her waist.  “Let me help you,” I murmur.  It’s the least I can do since I’m the one who caused all of this.  We walk slowly to the kitchen.

“I’ll let your father know it’s safe for him to come back in,” Mom says and she floats towards the place where the door was.  If she wasn’t a ghost, she wouldn’t be able to get through with the couch across it.  But, she can just float through it with her blond hair gently flowing behind her.  Are those singe marks on the ends of her hair?  I don’t think ghosts get split ends, so it must be.

I help Grandma into one of the chairs at the kitchen table and then I fill the tea kettle with water.  After lighting the burner underneath it, I get a mug out of the cupboard.  From the pantry, I get a couple of different boxes of tea to give Grandma a choice.  “We used to have better tea when Mom still drank it,” I explain, “but Aunt Barb and I aren’t as picky as Mom was.  I’m afraid we only have Earl Grey and Orange Ginger Mint.”

Grandma smiles again.  “I would love a cup of Earl Grey.”  As I putter around getting her tea ready, she says, “Your friend is quite extraordinary.  I’ve never met someone who could wield such magic.  Except you, of course.  He’s quite handsome, as well.  I can see why you’re drawn to him.” 

Drawn to him?  What am I, a moth?  “But you hate the fact he’s a Fairy, right?” I ask and I’ll admit there’s some accusation in my voice. 

Grandma shakes her head.  “No, but I am worried about his influence over you.”

I whirl around to face her.  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Grandma falters a bit for the right words, but then says, “I’m afraid I’ve never met a Fairy who wasn’t looking to gain from helping another.  It’s not their way to be altruistic.”

I’m about to tell her what she can do with her opinion of Kallen when a lightning bolt hits me.  “What do you mean you’ve never
met
a Fairy who wasn’t out for their own gain?  Fairies have been locked out of this realm for over three hundred years.  Are you saying there are other Fairies here besides Kallen?”

Grandma’s face turns pink and I can tell she’s about to do some backpedalling.  “I misspoke, I have never
heard
of a Fairy who was not out for his or her own gain.”

The kettle starts to whistle and I turn to make her tea, giving myself a moment to resist the temptation of drawing magic and kicking her out of the house like I did Grandpa.  She definitely has secrets; big ones, I think, and I want to know what they are.  I suspect my life may depend on it.  I take a deep breath before I turn around.  “What ancient Sheehogue law was woven into the blood oath that Kallen can’t tell me about?”

When I peed at her over my shoulder, Grandma suddenly becomes very busy straightening her pink wool skirt that has little scorch marks on it.  “I’m sorry, dear.  I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Uh huh.  Sure she doesn’t.  I bring her tea to her and put it down so hard that some sloshes over onto the table.  “You know, keeping secrets from me isn’t the way to make me trust you.” 

“Again, I don’t know…”

I shake my head.  “Don’t even bother with denying it.  You aren’t telling us the whole story, and until you do, I don’t care what Mom thinks.  I’m going to consider you a temporary ally at best.”

Grandma looks at me for a long time before she speaks.  “I know that life has not treated you well as of late, so I understand your suspicion, but not all secrets kept regard your safety.  Some secrets are too big to tell.”

I roll my eyes.  “In other words, you don’t care what I think; you’re not going to tell me.  Gee, glad you came to visit.  How soon did you say you’d be leaving?”

“Xandra!” Mom exclaims from behind me.  “You should be more respectful to your grandmother.”

I turn to give Mom an incredulous ‘Really?’ look.  “Sorry, Mom, but I’m not buying her innocent act.  I don’t consider anyone keeping secrets from me right now as being on my side.”

Mom looks like she’s about to scold me again but Dad cuts her off.  “Julienne, you can’t let your feelings take precedence over your daughter’s safety.  Xandra has every right to be leery.  Or have you forgotten it was just yesterday that her grandfather tried to kill her?”  I like how Dad keeps throwing that out there so no one gets too caught up in this whole family reunion thing.

Mom’s pale lips press together in a thin line.  She’s spared having to reply by Kallen coming into the kitchen.  “It is done,” he says to no one in particular.

Wow, he looks terrible!  There are dark circles under his eyes and he looks like he’s about to fall down.  Between trying to keep my magic in check and reversing the damage I did to the house, he must have exerted a tremendous amount of energy.  My face scrunches up into a frown as I watch him lean his back against the wall.  “You look like you should be lying down.”

“Are you alright?” Dad asks with true concern in his voice. 

Kallen nods weakly.  “I will be fine if I rest for a short while.”

Dad turns to me.  “Why don’t you take him to your room so he can lie down?”  With a guarded look at Grandma, he adds, “I think you could use a little time away from our guest, as well.”

He certainly doesn’t have to tell me that twice.  I can barely suppress the relief I feel at the idea of getting even a few minutes out of my Grandmother’s presence.  I nod and take Kallen by the hand to lead him to my room.  I bite my tongue so I don’t say anything that will get someone talking and we won’t be able to make our escape, however brief it may be.

Kallen practically flops onto my full size bed, which barely accommodates his length, and closes his eyes.  Pulling my bottom lip between my teeth, I ask, “
Are
you alright?”

He opens one eye.  “I would be much better if you were lying here next to me.”

I smile and climb onto the bed so I’m lying on my side next to him and prop my head on my hand.  “I guess that means you’re not
too
tired,” I tease.

I give a small yelp and laugh when he rolls me onto my back with him on top of me.  He holds himself up with his elbows to keep most of his weight off from me.  “Perhaps I am faking fatigue to have a few stolen moments with you.”  Mmm, I like the sound of that.  But I don’t believe him.  “It is amazing how you can make flannel sleepwear look good.”

Oh god, I forgot we’re still in our pajamas!  With everything that’s happened since we got up, fashion has been the least of my worries.  I have on loose fitting baby blue flannel pajama pants and a matching form fitting long sleeve tee.  Nothing revealing, but still, they’re my pajamas.  “I guess we should get dressed.”

“Soon,” he says and then his lips are on mine.  I wrap my arms around his back and I revel in his touch as one hand is buried in my hair and the other starts to explore.  I can’t help a soft moan as his lips kiss a trail along my jaw to just the right spot on my neck.  I don’t even care if Dad comes in.  This feels way too good to make Kallen stop.

“You are so beautiful,” he murmurs just before his lips find mine again.  I pull him down so that his body is flush with mine, supporting his weight so I can deepen the kiss and let my hands roam just a little bit.  Now it’s his turn to moan.