Witch Fairy book 3 (8 page)

“Now, then,” Tabitha says as she turns back to me.  “Isla has explained to me that you have trouble toning down your magic.  She thought maybe I could be of assistance.”

 “Oh, okay.”  What am I supposed to say to that?  Something along the lines of, ‘hey, good luck with that, and I hope I don’t blow up the house?’

“Come here, now,” Tabitha says as she walks towards the small bench in front of the dressing table.  "You have a seat and we will see about a bathing suit and putting that lovely hair of yours into a style more appropriate for swimming.”

I should be nervous if she’s going to make me try magic inside the house, but there’s something about her that makes me feel calm and comfortable.  Sitting down on the bench facing the mirror, I look up at her. “What do you want me to do?”

Moving behind me and picking up a brush from the dressing table, she begins to brush my hair.  “At the moment, I would just like you to sit and relax while I put your hair up.  It will take only a moment.”

True to her word, in the blink of an eye, my hair is in one large braid at the back of my head and a couple of small braids around the front, framing my face perfectly.  It’s a great look, very flattering for my oval face and strong, but not severe, bone structure.  “I like it,” I say as I move my head around to try to see more of the back.  “Thank you.”

Tabitha smiles.  “You are welcome, my dear.  Now, on to the trickier business of your magic.  I would like you to close your eyes and relax.”

Easy for her to say.  Kallen was right when he said she has no idea what she’s dealing with when it comes to my magic.  But, I close my eyes and try to do what she said, and surprisingly, I am able to relax as she massages my temples.  Strange, I haven’t been this relaxed in ages.

“You need to clear your mind of the clutter.  Imagine yourself sweeping the unnecessary thoughts and worry to the far corners of your mind.  When you have done that, let your mind float in the abyss where your magic will reside when you call upon it.”

The calming effect of her words and her massaging fingers soaks into me, making me feel as if I have been worrying for nothing.  All mishaps from the past are forgotten.  I am finally able to relax and revel in the fact that I am a magical being, and I can do with my magic whatever I desire.

“Xandra, I would like you to imagine the swimming attire you would like to wear.  Do not do anything with the image yet, just ponder it for a moment.  Do you have an image?” 

I nod my head.  Instead of imaging the old navy blue one piece from back home that I rarely had a chance to wear, I’m imaging a black bikini.  I saw it recently in a magazine and I fell in love with it.  The top has thick, satiny straps that tie at the neck and around my back.  The bottom of it has the same satiny strips that tie on each side.  I really want this suit because I think it’ll look great on me; it’ll compliment my curves.  I bet Kallen will agree.  And Kegan, for that matter.  I wonder if Isla and Tabitha will like it.  It might be too revealing.  Hmm, no room for those doubts.  Of course they will like it.  Especially, if I create it myself.

“Now, I would like you to pull gently on the magic from the earth.  Let it swirl inside of you for several heartbeats as you allow it to form around the image in your mind.”

I try to pull gently, I really do.  But I’m not used to this purer stuff.  Magic rushes into me, filling me, and then explodes out of me before I even have a chance to try to control it.  Though, I’m pretty sure it did what I wanted it to do.  I can tell I’m in different clothes.  There’s a cool breeze from the ocean that’s caressing my newly exposed skin.

A hearty laugh from behind me has my eyes flying open.  Did I get it wrong?  Am I naked or something?  Looking in the mirror, I smile as I see the perfect black bikini I had been imagining.  And then Tabitha moves out from behind me.  She’s wearing the same bikini.  And she’s still laughing.

“Oh, my dear, I see Isla was not exaggerating.  Neither about your need for delicacy nor about the power you wield.  This is priceless.”

I’m glad she’s amused.  It takes the sting out of getting it wrong on my first try.  I can already tell I’m going to appreciate Tabitha the most during this whole experience.  I’m about to tell her that when the door to my room whips inward and slams hard against the wall because of the great amount of force used to open it.  Kallen’s back.  And, he’s in a black bikini.  Just like the one I have on.  And, he looks really mad about it.

I have to put both hands over my mouth not to laugh.  Even then, it’s nearly impossible to avoid it.  Especially with the very amused Tabitha pointing and laughing as she doubles over shaking her head.  I think I’ve just made her entire year.

Close on Kallen’s angry heels is Kegan.  Also in a black bikini.  The funny thing is – they both have such muscular bodies that it doesn’t look half bad on them.  I think I’ll keep that opinion to myself, though.  Kegan doesn’t look angry, at least.  He just looks very, very confused.  With a frown, he asks Tabitha, “Is this some strange punishment for our sword fight from earlier?  We were in the process of making reparations.”

Tabitha would answer him, if only she could stop laughing long enough to pull in enough oxygen to form words.  She’s wiping tears from her eyes now, and all she can manage in response to Kegan’s question is a shake of her head.

“Tabitha did not do this,” Kallen growls.

Kegan looks at him like he’s crazy.  “If not Tabitha, then whom?  Whoever did this obviously wields a great deal more magic than most, but I am assuming it was not you.”

“No, it was not him.  Nor was it me or Tabitha.  It was Xandra.”  Isla strides into the room in her new black bikini.  For a grandma, she’s in really great shape.  “Apparently, your first lesson in subtle magic has gone slightly awry,” she says to me.

“Slightly awry?” Tabitha manages and then is lost to laughter again.

“I’m so sorry,” I say, mostly to Kallen.  “I swear, I didn’t do it on purpose.”

“Of course you did not,” Isla says.  She follows my gaze to Kallen and gives him a stern look.  Turning back to me, she says, “Now, we will need you to reverse this.”

“I’m not sure I can.”

The stricken look on my face seems to elicit pity from Kegan.  “Grandmother, perhaps you or Kallen could assist in the process if Xandra needs time to rest after using so much magic?”  I’m not the least bit tired, but I’ll go with that idea if it gets me out of trying to undo what I did and making things worse.

Isla gives him a tight smile.  “If I was able to reverse this, I would not be strolling around the house in a black bikini.  I suspect, neither would Kallen.”

The pity is gone from Kegan’s eyes as he looks back at me in shock.  “You can create magic that Isla cannot reverse?”  I shrug uncomfortably.  I didn’t know that either until she said it.  There are so many things on my ‘I didn’t know I could do that’ list that it would probably rival the novel War and Peace for length. 

“Tabitha, if your mirth subsides sometime soon, we would all appreciate your assistance in guiding Xandra’s reversal magic.”

“Of course,” Tabitha says, still wiping tears from her eyes and gasping for oxygen between words.  With a last look at Kallen and Kegan, she shakes her head and turns around.  She grins at me in the mirror for a second and then her hands are back on my temples.  I can still feel her shaking with laughter, but the second her hands touch me, I am instantly calm.  “Alright, dear, I need you to focus now.  Though, I must admit that I have not had such fun in a very long time.”

“Tabitha, if we could move this along, I have a meeting at the palace in an hour.”  Impatience seeps out of every one of Isla’s words.

“Fine, fine.  Xandra, this is very simple.  All you need to do is imagine the bathing wear disappearing from everyone but you.  Return us all to our previous state of dress.”

Sounds easy enough.  Pulling magic again, I try to control it better than last time.  It doesn’t work.  It shoots out of me like there’s a rocket launcher in my head.  And, apparently, something has gone awry again if Tabitha’s merriment is any indication of what I’ve done.  She has suddenly broken out into loud, raucous laughter again.  I don’t even want to open my eyes.  I really don’t.  But I do.

Okay, maybe my imaginings of their previous state of dress didn’t quite hit the mark.  I was apparently, probably way in the back of my mind, imagining the images of Fairies from my books on magic back home.  Not real Fairies.  Because I don’t remember any of them wearing giant fig leafs before this debacle began.  But, they are now.  “Oops,” is all I can manage.

Kegan looks almost as amused as Tabitha now as he looks down at his fig leaf loin cloth.  I have to admit, he looks almost as good in his as Kallen does.  Isla looks like she’s trying to be patient but the look is quickly coming apart at the seams.  Kallen still looks mad.

“Perhaps it would be easier for you to simply imagine us sky-clad.  Then we will attire ourselves as we see fit,” Isla says.

I nod in embarrassment and close my eyes again.  This time, I imagine them all naked, and I can feel the blood rushing to my cheeks in a wild blush of color.  When I tentatively open my eyes this time, they are all sky-clad.

Isla inclines her head in acknowledgement of me finally getting it right.  Immediately, she is back in the dress she had been wearing earlier.  Without a word, she turns on her heels and walks out.

Chapter 7

Tabitha and Kallen are not far behind in getting dressed. But Kegan doesn’t seem to be in a hurry.  I avert my eyes the best I can, trying not to show how much it bothers me. This is their realm, after all.  Kallen has told me that being sky-clad is not unusual for Fairies.

Maybe that’s not true, because Kallen slaps Kegan on the chest.  “Clothes,” he growls.

Kegan’s eyes swing from my embarrassed face, to Kallen’s angry one.  There’s a glint in his eyes and for a moment, I think he’s going to ignore Kallen’s demand.  With a final grin in my direction, he dons a pair of shorts.  He leaves his muscular chest that definitely rivals Kallen’s deliciously bare.  I still try to avert my eyes and I’m pretty sure Kallen notices because he narrows his eyes at me. 

I have no idea what to say, so I go with the obvious.  “Um, do you guys want to go swimming now?”

“I will leave you young ones to your day,” Tabitha says.  “Xandra, we will try again later, and next time, we will try to find something to do that will not get Kallen’s feathers ruffled as they are now.”  She gives him a pointed look and then laughs again as she shakes her head.  I’m pretty sure she’s imagining him in the bikini again because her shoulders are shaking as she walks out the door.

“I am still up for it.  Perhaps you and I can go on ahead and give my dear cousin here time to recover his temper.  Though, that may take days.  His tempers are quite persistent.”  I’m tempted to say I know, but that wouldn’t be a good idea.

“Do you want to go?” I ask Kallen. 

“Yes.”  Wow, I didn’t know it was possible to speak through a jaw clenched so tightly that it might as well be wired shut.

Putting my hands on my hips, I say, “I already said I was sorry; so could you please stop being a jerk about it?  It’s not like I actually hurt you this time.”

Kegan has another laugh/cough moment before he says, “An injury to a man’s pride is sometimes more painful than an injury to his body.  Shall we go now and let Kallen follow when he is ready?”

Well, at least Kallen’s anger has shifted.  He’s not glowering at
me
anymore.  “I believe it would be more pleasant for Xandra to swim with the man she loves, not his cousin.”

Not if he keeps being such a jerk, I grumble to myself. 

“Well said,” Kegan grins.  Oh, crap.  Apparently, I said it out loud.  I really have to stop doing that.

“Look, I’m going swimming.  If either of you want to come with me, fine.  If not, that’s fine, too.”

Kegan’s face sobers.  “It is not safe to swim alone in the ocean.  You do need to have someone with you.”

I shrug.  “Right now, I’m willing to risk it.”  Turning my back on them both, I walk out of my bedroom.  In the hall, I turn right hoping that I’m going in the right direction.  This house is huge, and if I end up getting lost, it will seriously diminish the effect of my dramatic exit.

Fortunately, I find my way through the house and make it out to the beach with only one wrong turn.  As I step out onto the warm sand, the tension of the last few minutes slowly recedes and I can savor the feeling of the warm morning sun as I walk down to the water.  I hear footsteps behind me, but I don’t bother to turn around to see who it is. 

I don’t have to wonder for long.  Suddenly, my feet are no longer touching the sand as I’m thrown over Kallen’s shoulder and he sets off at a run towards the water.  “Kallen, what are you doing?” I shout over the noise of the waves.

“Exacting my revenge,” he says and the next thing I know, I’m flying through the air and then quickly submerging into the ocean.  I don’t even have time to close my eyes.

Rising to the surface, sputtering to get the water out of my nose and eyes, I glare at Kallen and his smug smile.  He’s only waist deep in the water and he has his arms crossed over his now bare chest.  “You’re going to pay for that,” I tell him, but he doesn’t look worried.

“I believe you are too small to throw me in the water,” he gloats.

Fine, then I’ll bring the water to him.  Quickly pulling magic, I douse him with a tidal wave at least twice as tall as he is.  Now it’s his turn to come out of the water sputtering.  He doesn’t look mad anymore but I still think I’m in trouble.  The situation definitely calls for a hasty retreat.

Instead of dousing me with a tidal wave in return, he uses his greater strength in his leg muscles to catch up with me, grabs me by the waist, and drags us both under water.  I probably wouldn’t have gulped in half the water that I did if I hadn’t been laughing so hard.  Breaking out of his hold, I push up to the surface but I only have a second to catch a breath before I find myself being swung over his shoulder again.

“Put me down,” I laugh, gently pounding my fists against his back.

“Certainly,” he says and I find myself underwater again.

Before I have a chance to push up, Kallen is in front of me and he pulls me close, firmly planting his lips on mine.  I wrap my arms around his neck as he brings us to the surface.  Wrapping my legs around his waist, I deepen the kiss, which elicits a groan from low in his throat, and he crushes my body even tighter against his.

“Are you trying to drown her or seduce her?” a familiar voice calls over the waves.

“Ignore him,” Kallen says against my lips.  “He will go away eventually.”

I can’t help a giggle.  “That’s not very nice.”

He shrugs.  “I never claimed to be nice.”

“True, but it would still be rude to ignore him.”

“Go away!” Kallen calls to Kegan.  To me, he says, “There, I am not ignoring him.  Happy?”

I swat at his shoulder.  “You’re terrible.  Stop acting jealous of your cousin.”

He gives me a sour look.  “And I suppose you would have no problem with a beautiful cousin of yours joining us?”

“I don’t have any cousins,” I grin.

That earns me another dunking into the warm salt water.  I come up laughing and wiping the water out of my eyes.  “Will you please stop doing that?”

“Doubtful.” 

I try glaring at him but I’m having too much fun to pull it off.  Instead, I turn to Kegan and say in my sweetest voice, “Come on in, the water’s great.”  And then I’m being dragged under water again.  At least this time I was ready for him and my mouth and eyes are closed. 

Instead of rising to the surface right away, I hold my breath and swim away from Kallen.  I’m not a strong swimmer, but I get at least twenty feet before I have to come up for air.  What I didn’t realize, is that I was swimming towards Kegan.  I come up for air about five feet away from him.

“I believe you were right, it may have been safer for you to swim alone,” he says with a wicked grin.  “Come to me for protection?”

Awkward.  “Um, actually, I thought I was going in the opposite direction.”  By this time, Kallen has swum over to me.  He comes up behind me and wraps his arms around my waist in what is unmistakable as a possessive move.  I’m not sure if I should be flattered or annoyed.  So, I decide to be both.

Moving out of Kallen’s arms, I say to both of them, “I’m starved.  We didn’t have breakfast back home; do you think we could have brunch?”

In the corner of Kallen’s eyes, I can see his irritation at me pulling away from him, but he’s recovering quickly.  “Of course, we can see if Tabitha will let us raid the kitchen.”

“Yes, I could use some food myself.”  Obviously, Kegan is going to be our shadow for the day.  I can’t help but wonder if Isla put him up to it to make sure Kallen and I behave.  I don’t know why else he would stick around with Kallen being so rude.

“Great, let’s go.”  I start wading towards the shore and my mind is barely able to think,
wow, the sun must be behind a cloud
, before something wet, heavy and black hits me.  I’m knocked underwater and several areas on my calves and thighs feel as if they have been pierced by something sharp and extremely painful.  I feel my back hit the sandy floor of the ocean and whatever is on top of me holds me there.  I struggle against it, but it’s too smooth and slippery, and I can’t seem to find the edges of it.

I start to panic before I remember I’m a magical being.  Pulling magic from deep below the ocean floor, I push it upwards towards whatever is on top of me.  In a rush of water, it explodes off from me as my magic turns the water around me into a rising whirlpool that bursts upwards at what looks like a million miles an hour, removing both the object and the water from on top of me.  I’m lying in a little circle of sand that should be covered by the ocean, but it’s not anymore.

My lungs painfully fill with oxygen as I gasp for air.  When I am finally able to stand up in my unnaturally cleared spot of the ocean, I see what attacked me swirling inside the whirlpool that is now several feet above my head.  I’m pretty sure it’s a stingray.  Urged on as more magic spills from my angry mind, the swirling water looks like a tornado that hasn’t decided to touch ground yet.  The large black thing keeps swirling inside of it.  A black thing that pierced my body several times.  Did I mention how much that hurt?  And that I’m bleeding?  Which explains my anger as I thrust my magic forward and the whirlpool spits out what it has and with a loud thud, the stingray lands on the sandy beach.  And then it’s a naked woman.  She looks like she’s only a couple of years older than me, and I have no idea who she is or why she would attack me.  Well, except for the fact that half the Fairies here want me dead.

My legs are burning, my eyes are stinging, and I’m pissed.  Not a great combination for someone who’s really powerful, because all I want to do right now, is to send her floundering back to the sea.  As a human, not whatever the hell she was in the water.  In fact, I think I will.  She can easily change back into whatever she was, right?

“Xandra,” Kallen says from about twenty feet away.  “She’s not the one you should be angry with.”

Whirling around, I direct my anger towards him.  “She attacked me, tried to drown me and made me bleed.  Why, exactly, shouldn’t I be mad at her?” I ask.  “Who is she?  A friend of yours?”  He had better say no.

“She is a girl who had the misfortune of growing up with a cruel sister.”

“That clears things right up, thanks.”  Was that sarcasm?  How unusual for me.

“Xandra,” Kegan says from his shorter distance from me, “truly, she is but a child who has been led astray by a sister who feels scorned.  Let her go, please.” 

There’s a lot of feeling in his voice.  So much so that it makes me look again at the girl on the beach.  Apparently, she’s important to both of them.  Turning to Kegan, I say, “Tell me who she is.”

“She is Xeniaa’s sister.”

Because again, that clears things right up for me.  I glare at Kallen as I say, “Who is Xeniaa?”

Kallen looks kind of sheepish but Kegan looks amazed.  “You do not know who Xeniaa is?”