Witch Fairy book 3 (23 page)

She looks crestfallen.  “I am afraid that my sister has not been forthcoming with details regarding what she plans to do.”

She looks so miserable that I believe her.  I’m sure she would tell us anything she knows right now if it will mean that Dagda doesn’t throw her in a dungeon or something.  Hmm, I wonder where the Fairy jail is, and what they do to keep prisoners from breaking out.  Are they bound with iron or something?

“What about how she fights?” I ask.

I don’t think she knows what I’m talking about because she looks at me like she doesn’t know what I’m talking about.  My powers of deduction are excellent that way.  “Physically.  Did you and she train physically as well as magically?”

Now, she seems to be getting it.  She nods.  “Yes, father taught us well.  It is important to the Pooka to be warrior trained.”

What is this, ancient Sparta?  “Come on then,” I say.  I grab Kallen’s hand and walk out of my room, expecting her to follow.  She does.

For the next six hours, I work harder than I have in my entire life.  I have to stop every hour or so to heal my strained muscles.  Kegan is the toughest on me.  Even Kallen gives him a couple of harsh looks as he insists I try harder.  Rhiannon is my sparring partner.  Mostly because she’s the one most likely to snap and really try to hurt me.  Dagda stops us every once in a while to show me a different technique or a dirty trick.  I’d be annoyed if his tips didn’t help me put Rhiannon down on the mat more often than she does me.  Alita watches from the side line but I’m pretty sure she’s spending more time watching Kegan than what is going on between me and Rhiannon.

I think Kegan and Dagda would have been happy to go all night, but Isla takes pity on us.  We have a very late, and much needed, dinner, and then she sends us upstairs to relax until we have to get up and start all over again.

At the top of the stairs, Rhiannon splits off from the rest of us and heads towards the room she will be staying in.  “Rhiannon,” I say and she turns around.  “You’re welcome to join us if you want.”

I think she’s actually tempted, but she still shakes her head no.  “I do not believe that would be for the best.” She turns around and continues on her way.  I shrug.  She can be lonely if she wants to be.

“Should we sit out on the terrace?” I ask the others as I open the door to my room.

“No way,” Alita says firmly shaking her head.  “The less I see of that spider web, the happier I am.”

I laugh.  “Yeah, it is pretty disturbing.  I still can’t believe Isla came up with something so dark and potentially fatal.”

As if to prove its worth, an explosion of sound echoes around the spider web. We all rush outside to see what caused it.  Looking up, we can vaguely see the red glowing light of some sort of missile attempting to penetrate the web.  The web doesn’t even dip in with the impact. 

Kegan lets out a low whistle.  “You are one amazing Fairy.”

“Witch Fairy,” Kallen corrects him.  He has his arms around my waist and I’m leaning back against his chest.

We stand outside for a little bit, even though the web is creeping us all out.  Several more attempts are made to penetrate it, but not so much as one piece of silk detaches from the web.  When it’s apparent that whoever is doing this is giving up for the night, we go back into my room and spend some time just hanging out. 

It’s not long before Tabitha pokes her head in the door.  “What are the four of you doing?  Do you have any idea what time it is?  You head on back to your own rooms now.”  She looks pointedly at Kallen for that last part.  “Scoot, you two.  These young ladies need to dress for bed.”  Need to be dressed for bed is more like it.  Tabitha shoos Kegan and Kallen out the door with dire threats about what happens to Fairies who don’t abide by the rules.

Once they’re gone, Tabitha dresses us in long cotton nighties.  She was going to do silk, but under the circumstances, neither of us are too keen on the idea of wearing anything that reminds us of spiders.  Once that’s done, she leaves us alone. 

“I am pleased that I met you, Xandra,” Alita says.

I can’t help a snort.  “I left you on the beach when my Angel wings popped out, I caused you to almost lose a leg, and now I’ve sealed you in a giant spider web.  What’s not to like about meeting me?”

She laughs.  “You have made this one of the most exciting days I’ve ever had.”

“I really appreciate you staying.  Now we just have to work on that shyness of yours.”

“A condition you do not seem to be afflicted with.”

It’s my turn to laugh.  “I think because I was isolated in the mountains with ghost parents for so long, I’m making up for lost time.”

Alita looks stunned.  “Excuse me, but I thought you said ghost parents.”

“Sorry, I forget how unusual that is.”

Her eyes are like dinner plates.  “Unusual?  Is that what you call having ghost parents?  Or are you simply teasing me?”

I shake my head.  “I really do have ghost parents.”  I explain to her what happened. 

After that, I’m beat.  Alita can tell so she excuses herself to go back to her room.  Just as I’m pulling back the covers to crawl into bed, there’s a knock on my door.  It must be Kallen.

I open the door with a grin on my face that instantly disappears when I see who it is.  “What do you want?”

“I want to apologize to you for treating you so abominably.  I was a fool,” Dagda says.

“Can’t this wait until morning?  I’m really tired.”

“I will leave you to your slumber in a moment.  I want you to understand that I meant what I said earlier.  I am ready to abandon the idea of opening the realms.”

“That’s great.  Can I go to bed now?”

With only mild irritation showing around his eyes, he bows his head slightly.  “Good night, Xandra.  I hope your dreams are sweet.”  He turns and walks down the hall.

After closing the door, I quickly crawl into bed before anyone else decides to keep me up.  I use my magic to blow out the lanterns and I’m asleep as soon as my head hits the pillow.

 Sometime later, I awaken to a kiss.  I smile as I swim towards consciousness.  I was hoping Kallen would join me.  His lips don’t feel right, though.  This isn’t how he usually kisses me.  Opening my eyes, I back away and I’m pissed.  “Kegan, what the hell are you doing?”  I can’t really see him in the dark, but I know it’s him.

“I am sorry, Xandra.  I just had to feel your kiss at least once.”

“You know, there are laws against stuff like this!  At least, there are in my realm.”

“I am sorry I invaded your privacy, but you have turned my life upside down.  I have never been so affected by a girl before.  I believe I am in love with you.”

“Are you kidding me?  You just met me yesterday.  What did you think would happen here?  Did you think you would come in and wow me with a kiss, I’d dump Kallen and we’d live happily ever after?  Not going to happen.”

He doesn’t have a chance to answer.  A hand moves in the darkness and grabs him by the neck.  He’s slammed into the wall hard enough that I hear his head cracks the plaster.  I can just make out Kallen’s silhouette in the darkness.  “You accost the one I love in the middle of the night?  You have crossed a line, cousin.”  Kallen pulls him forward and then smacks his head into the wall again.  Kegan is pulling at the hand around his neck but Kallen’s rage fueled grip is too strong.

“Kallen, you’re going to kill him.”  He doesn’t respond; he just slams Kegan into the wall again.  “Kallen, you have to stop.”

Suddenly, the room is flooded with light.  It takes a second to focus after the assault against my retinas.  When I can see again, Kallen’s face is twisted in a rage I personally hope never to see again.  Kegan’s face is purple and getting darker by the second.  “Kallen, let him go,” Isla says sharply from the doorway.

Kallen hesitates.  I don’t think he’s going to do it.  After a couple of heart beats, he surprises me and he pulls his hand from Kegan’s neck.  Kegan slides down the wall gasping for breath.  He was milliseconds away from passing out.

“What is going on?” Dagda says loudly.  He stops in the doorway and assesses the scene.  “Xandra, why are they in your room?”

“Hey, how did I become the bad guy in this?  What a bunch of chauvinistic crap.  I’ll have you know, I was sound asleep until five minutes ago.”

Nope, he’s not used to someone talking back to him.  He has to take a few deep breaths before he responds.  “I apologize for assuming the worst.”  Wow, what a suck up!  Even Isla gives him a quizzical look.  “I still would like an explanation.  Kallen, why are you in Xandra’s room?”

Kallen turns around and even Dagda seems taken aback by the unchecked hostility on his face.  “I am preventing any further advances on her from my
cousin
.”  The way he says cousin makes it clear how betrayed he feels by Kegan.  This sucks.  I don’t want to be the thing that drives them apart. 

Thunder clouds are forming in Dagda’s eyes.  “Kegan, is this true?” 

I don’t think Kegan’s vocal chords are working yet.  “Okay, this is getting blown all out of proportion,” I say.

Kallen crosses his arms over his chest and glares at me.  “What proportion of anger do you think finding Kegan in your room in the middle of the night merits?”

“So, you’re mad at me now?  How does that work out?”

“I apologize.  I was under the impression that you did not want him in here.  Perhaps I was mistaken.”

You’ve got to be kidding me.  I get off the bed glowering at him.  “You’re being a jerk.”  Rounding on Kegan, I say, “Get out of my room.  Now.”

My voice must tell him I’m serious.  He stumbles to his feet and walks unsteadily towards the door after giving Kallen a wide berth.  His eyes are cast downwards as he walks by Isla and Dagda.

“Kegan, wait for me in the kitchen,” Isla says and he gives the slightest of nods and then grimaces in pain.  His neck is already bruising.  Turning to me, she interrupts Kallen’s and my glaring contest to say, “Xandra, do remember what I said to you on the stairs yesterday.  Dagda, Xandra and Kallen need some time alone.”

Dagda has a few words to say about that but Isla wins in the end.  I don’t even pay attention to them.  I’m too angry.  I’m glad when the door closes softly behind them.

“Did you enjoy his kiss?” Kallen asks with a sneer.

Instead of answering him, I turn and grab a pillow off the bed. Then I turn back around and hit him with it.  He seems shocked but he doesn’t do anything.  I hit him again.  And then again.  I don’t know about him, but this is making me feel a
lot
better.

“How long do you plan to continue this?” he asks.

I shrug.  “Until you apologize for what you said.”

“You want
me
to apologize?”

“Yup.”