by Bonnie Lamer
“The Witches are talking altogether again!” Zac yells. He has made a smooth transition from kidnapping victim to commentator of the action. He is my favorite person in their family at the moment. I may love Xandra, but I do not like her much right now.
We all watch the Witches’ mouths move. Xandra seems fine when they’re done. Now, Xandra is smiling as a few more words are spoken between them. In a flash, the skeleton guy is on his knees trying to pull out the last remnants of his hair. I am pretty sure he is in pain. I am beginning to enjoy the show, now. After a couple of minutes, Xandra must pull back her magic because he falls forward into the snow. He has murder in his eyes when he looks up at her.
The little rotund Witch is speaking now. What did he do again? Oh yeah, he can plant emotions. I can see now why he needs to do that to get a date. He is a horrid little man. I am starting to feel guilty that I teased Xandra for being so affected by their ugliness.
As soon as he stops speaking. Xandra’s wings spread out and then cocoon around her. I believe they have caused some sort of ricochet thing. The Witch falls to the ground and even from here we can see the drool falling from his mouth.
“Eew,” Zac says, scrunching his face in disgust. “That is so gross.”
“I agree,” his father says. The two are a matched set. Zac is going to grow up to look exactly like him.
I try not to look at the Witch drooling and crying in the snow and focus on Xandra. “Oh man,” Zac says, “He just wet his pants.” Of course my eyes have to check things out to see if that’s true. It is. I try harder to focus on Xandra.
I am starting to get the idea that Xandra is having them all take turns. First they do something, then it is her turn. She has actually found a way to fight them one at a time as she had originally said she would. I really have to learn to trust her.
The Seductress is up next. Xandra walks to her and the Witch is scared, but she holds her ground. Like that will help. I really wish I could hear what is being said.
“I think she is doing a spell,” the Angel says proudly. I think I am the only one still pissed at Xandra, now.
Whatever spell she just said was a good one. The Seductress stretches her arms wide and throws back her head. She is trying to scream, but Xandra must not have given her her voice back, because with the amount of pain it looks like she is in, we would have heard that scream.
One of the other Witches rushes to her and catches her before she falls to the ground. Another opens one of the car doors and they work together to lay the Seductress inside. I have a strong feeling her Seductress days are over. The Angel must be thinking the same thing because a satisfied smile has spread across her face.
A Witch who has tried to stay away from the action as much as possible finally steps forward. Considering her lack of bravery thus far, I am assuming she is the practioner of Sympathetic magic. That is confirmed when pulls another doll of poor quality from her coat pocket. She begins chanting something or other. When she is done, something happens that freezes all six of us to our spot. Xandra is doubled over like she is in pain, and she is walking towards the Witch. Now, all of us who can are bombarding Xandra’s wall with magic. But, it does not budge. Even in this weakened state, she is stronger than all of us combined.
Unless, of course, her state is not weakened. And she thought it would be funny to give us all heart attacks. When she reaches the Witch, she stands up and snatches the doll out of her hand. She had not been mesmerized by the spell. Nor was she in pain. I am not amused at all. I am back to being pissed at her now.
“That was funny,” Zac says. He is surprised when five sets of adult eyes look at him as if he said something crazy. He turns back towards the window and does not say anything else about it. Smart kid.
He is not quiet for long, though. “Whoa. Did you see that? Xandra can fly.” Sure enough, she uses her wings to fly over the cars, back to her original spot.
It is Xandra’s turn again. As much as I do not want to watch, I cannot help it. No matter how mad I am at her, I want to watch these Witches pay for what they have done.
She turns to the skeleton guy. He must be her next victim. He looks like he is halfway to the grave already. I wonder what she will do to him short of killing him?
We are all lined up in the window, now. The skeleton’s thin excuses for lips have curdled like old milk as he looks at Xandra. He truly is a thing of nightmares. The Witch is holding his head in his hands, now. He is obviously in pain, but he looks determined, as well. I wonder what Xandra is doing to him.
The Angel helps me out with that. “She is setting them free. All those poor souls are free, again.” She has a tear in her eye as she smiles proudly at Xandra.
I think she is right and he is not at all happy about it. He looks like he wants to rip Xandra apart with his bare hands. He turns to his comrades for help, but they are looking anywhere but at him.
Whatever Xandra just said to them has them all scared. It is their turn, but no one seems to be taking it. Xandra is wearing her impatient face on, now. That is not going to bode well for them.
Turning to her grandfather, she says something. His wife gasps at the window when a metamorphosis occurs. It is like several layers of gauze have just been removed from his eyes and he can finally see again. Even from here, we can see that his eyes are clearer, his posture has straightened. Xandra must have lifted the spell the others had him under.
Turning to his Witan, he lays into them. When he is done, his gaze returns to Xandra. I bet he is trying to suck up to her. She does not seem to be buying it. Good for her.
It appears that the Witan have decided to stand down. Which means Xandra will do them no more harm. What a shame, there is so much more that they deserve.
Xandra speaks to each of them in turn. And each one in turn is horrified when she is done. None more so than the King of them all. True to form, Xandra does not care.
Chapter 19
Xandra is shooing them away now. Literally, using her hands to make a shooing motion. The Witches are stupefied. They snap out of it when she yells at them again.
Everyone leaves except for the Witch King. Maybe she has some special torture planned for him. I know wishful thinking on my part. She does not have the heart for that.
When they have all gone, she turns towards the house. She may have been cocky and confident a minute ago, but she knows what is waiting for her behind this wall of hers. Our wrath.
Zac is not wrathful. “Xan, you have wings! That is awesome. Where’d you get them?? Can I get some, too?”
She smiles as she scoops her brother into a hug. Which he squirms out of as soon as he can. Mussing his hair, she says, “Sorry, buddy. No wings for you.” She cannot be sure of that. After all, he is part Angel.
“Ah, that sucks. You get all the cool stuff.”
Xandra wrinkles her nose at him. “Yeah, but I get all the mean people coming after me, too.”
“Uh uh, not just you. Aunt Barb and I got kidnapped today.” He says it like it’s the coolest thing in the whole world.
“Xandra, we need to talk to you,” her mother says through a jaw clutched together so tightly, if she was still corporeal, she would not have been able to push air through it to speak.
Xandra looks down at her brother. “Um, Zac, I have to talk to Mom and Dad for a few minutes. Can you go play in your room for a little while?”
He looks like he wants to argue until he sees his mother’s face. He’s a smart boy. He makes himself scarce fast.
Xandra gives a nervous giggle. “So, should I sit down or do you guys want to kill me standing up?”
“Not funny,” her father says. His arms are crossed over his chest and the expression on his face is one you never want to see on a parent’s face. A live one or a spirit one.
“Kitchen, now,” her mother mumbles almost unintelligibly.
All of them except her grandfather go into the kitchen. Xandra hangs back. Pulling her bottom lip through her teeth, she waits until
I look at her. “I’m sorry,” she mouths but an apology mouthed across a room just does not cut it. I am tempted to stay put, let her deal with her family on her own. But, I do not. Every step back through the living room to the kitchen brings back my fury.
Xandra comes into the kitchen last. Her mother is spirit pacing, and is going through the kitchen chairs, making it difficult for anyone to sit down. She stops when she sees Xandra standing in the doorway in her winged glory.
I am surprised when it is her father who speaks first. “Of all the selfish, irresponsible, egotistical, idiotic, reckless, arrogant, foolish things to do, what you did out there topped the list. And where the hell did those wings come from?!”
I am betting her father has never spoken to her like this before. He has rendered her speechless. Quite an accomplishment.
The wings are out in the open, so I do not believe there is any harm in me telling him. “They are Angel wings.”
He rears around to face me. “What are you talking about?”
I look at Xandra’s grandmother. “I am assuming since the wings are out of the bag, I am not violating my oath.” She shakes her head. “Then perhaps this is a tale for you to tell.”
After giving me a look that no Angel should be allowed to give, she goes ahead and tells the story. Of course, it is followed by shock bordering on disbelief. If Xandra did not have wings on her back, I do not think anyone would have believed her. Especially Xandra’s mother. “Angel. You’re an Angel? And now Xandra’s an Angel?”
“I – I don’t quite know what Xandra is,” she admits.
“No, not technically,” Xandra says, capturing all of our attention. She goes on to explain how she learned about whom she is and why she has wings. When I was sure that time had stopped, it had. At least a fraction of a second, as the Angels pulled her into their time and sent her back. Her story also explains why she was so determined to handle the Witches on her own. I still am not happy about it. She chose to cut me out when I could have helped her. The Angels did not force her to do that.
Now that her parents are appeased, she says, “Um, Mom, Dad, would you mind if I talked to Kallen alone for a few minutes?”
Her mother looks at me. “I think that would be a good idea.”
Without a word, I walk out of the kitchen and down the hall towards her bedroom. She follows a couple of minutes later. I am leaning against her dress with my arms crossed over my chest. She is not going to win me over as quickly as she did her parents.
“Are you trying to get me killed?” I ask after she comes in and closes the door.
“What?” She looks genuinely confused.
“I asked – are you trying to get me killed?”
“No.” She still seems ignorant of what I am talking about. Seriously?
“Your actions belie the truth in that word.”
Now, she has the nerve to get frustrated with me. “Will you please tell me what you’re talking about?”
I push away from the dresser and stand in front of her. “You do recall that I have taken a blood oath, do you not?”
“Yeah, what does that have to do with anything?” And then it hits her. “Oh.”
“It is difficult to protect a life as if it’s my own when I am locked in a house by the magic of the person I am supposed to be protecting.”
“So, even if I don’t need your help, under the oath you still have to try to protect me or you could die.” I give her a ‘glad you finally figured it out’ look. “Did I mention that I’m sorry?”
Not out loud. “No, I do not believe you have.”
Her face falls. “Do you hate me now?”
What the hell? My brows furrow together. “Is your world so black and white that I must either love you or hate you?”
“No. But you look really, really mad.”
“Then my physical form is adequately expressing my feelings.”
Looking up at me through those long black lashes, she gives me an amazing smile. “What can I do to make you not mad at me anymore?”
I absolutely should not let her get away with this. I say that over and over to myself as I scoop her into my arms, being careful of her wings, of course, and toss her lightly on the bed. She is still smiling. I am definitely going to let her get away with this.
Looking down at her, I say, “I would ask you to promise never to do it again, but I believe you to be too pig-headed to actually follow through with that.”
She laughs. “Gee, thanks.”
Stretching out on the bed next her, I cannot help touching her wings. They are beautiful. And silky soft, like her skin. “You scared me near to death when you suddenly had wings. I thought you had died.” At least, I did after her grandmother brought the idea up.
“I think everyone did. I even asked the other Angels that when I first met them.”
I shake my head. “As I said before, you certainly do keep life interesting.”
“I really am sorry. I didn’t want any of you to get hurt.”
“I know.” I do not let her say another word. I capture her lips in mine. Opening her lips for me, she lets me delve into her sweet mouth, matching my tongue stroke for stroke. Everything that has happened in the past few days is forgotten. There is nothing else in the universe besides Xandra, me and the feel of our lips meeting. I could spend centuries like this. That is a good thing, because in this realm, I will have centuries to enjoy her lips on mine.
After what seems like a lifetime, I part our lips gently. I can see my love mirrored in her green eyes. She is still smiling.
“Want to go flying?” she asks. “I want to test these wings out while I have them.”
I chuckle. “I would enjoy watching you try to manage flying.”
“Hey,” she punches me lightly in the arm. “I flew outside and I did okay.”
Standing up, I hold my hand out to her. “We shall see.”
Just as we enter the kitchen, the doorbell rings. Everyone is instantly on guard. I swear, my head must be seriously messed up because my senses are trying to tell me it is someone who could not possibly be here.
I walk to the door with Xandra, and when it opens, I know my jaw drops. I do not believe I am imagining this. That truly is my grandmother standing there, waiting to be invited in.
I find my voice again after a moment. “Grandmother?” Xandra looks up at me in surprise. Well, she can join the club. She cannot possibly be more surprised than I am at the moment.
Grandmother reaches out and pats my cheek. “Hello, my dear grandson.” Turning to Xandra, she holds out her hand. “You are Xandra. My name is Isla, Kallen’s grandmother. It is a pleasure to finally meet you.”
Xandra’s hand is shaking slightly when it meets Grandmother’s. “It’s nice to meet you, too.”
“Your wings are beautiful, may I?” Xandra, still in shock, nods. Grandmother reaches out and touches one of her feathers. Letting her hand fall back to her side, she says, “Now that you finally know your true destiny, we have a lot of work to do. Are your parents in there?” she asks pointing towards the kitchen. Xandra nods.
“You knew all along, before you sent me here, and you didn’t tell me?”
She grins. “Of course not, you needed to follow your destiny on your own. I simply gave you a little push in the right direction.” The tearful good byes, the pep talks about doing what must be done. All shams to cover up the fact that she knew she was sending me to find my true love. And all the while, she knew we would see each other again. Since I am so happy at the moment, I guess I cannot really be mad at her.
Turning back to Xandra, Grandmother says, “Now, we really must get started, we haven’t much time to prepare.”
“To prepare for what?” Xandra asks.
With a light laugh, Grandmother says matter-of-factly, “Why, to save our realms, of course.” She pats us both on the shoulder. “You two take a moment to let it all sink in. I’ll be in the kitchen with your parents and grandparents.” And then she walks past us and ou
t of sight into the kitchen.
Xandra and I look at each other for a moment. Flying has been tossed to the wayside. I have a feeling that whatever has brought Grandmother here is going to be far more interesting. So, we turn around and follow her to the kitchen.
