Blood Lines (Witch Fairy)

by Bonnie Lamer

  “So?”

  “Here, it would never be a possibility that he could steal someone away from me because of his Cowan blood. But, with you, it’s different. You do not care about any of that.”

  “Are you trying to convince me I should date him instead? Because you’re not doing a very good job, if you are.”

  “I am simply pointing out that I would understand if you would prefer someone with a personality closer to your own.”

  “Then I wouldn’t have anyone to hit with pillows when they’re being a jerk. Like now.” I pull the pillow out from under my head but he grabs it before I can hit him with it. “And being with someone just like me? How boring is that? It sounds like you’re giving me Kegan’s resume for the job of being my boyfriend. If you’re ready to give up the position, I prefer to find my own candidates, thank you very much. Being with someone who looks so much like you would serve as a constant reminder of what I lost. Why would I want that?”

  He gets a smug grin on his face. “Would you truly be heartbroken if we parted ways?”

  I grab the pillow back and this time I hit him with it. “You don’t have to be so happy about it.” He laughs and grabs the pillow back and tosses it off the bed. Then he kisses me in a way that is sexy and sweet at the same time.

  After a few minutes, I pull away from him. “Kallen, what is this going to do to your relationship with Kegan.”

  Thunder clouds rush into his eyes. “I do not have a cousin.”

  I shake my head. “That’s not a very mature way to handle this. You love Kegan, I know you do. Yeah, he did something really crappy, and I’d feel betrayed, too. But we’re trapped in a giant spider web for at least a couple more days, so you’re not going to be able to avoid him.”

  Kallen’s mouth sets in a firm line. “He came into your room in the middle of the night to try to seduce you.”

  “Yeah, and I’m really mad about that. But I don’t hate him. I just think he did a really stupid thing without thinking it through. To be honest, it probably has more to do with your competitive natures than it does me.”

  “Then you do not give yourself enough credit.”

  A knock on the door and then it opening prevents me from responding. “Isla told me you were up. Kallen, you need to scoot on out of here so Xandra can bathe. Go on now,” Tabitha adds when he doesn’t immediately stand up.

  Reluctantly, he gets up. He leans over and gives me a quick kiss and then walks towards the door. He gives Tabitha a kiss on the cheek as he walks by. Wow, he really looks good in pajama pants and no shirt.

  “Up, missy. Stop looking all moon eyed. You need to take a bath and then come down for breakfast before your training.”

  Training. With Kegan. That won’t be awkward at all. With a sigh, I get up and trudge to my bathing room.

  Chapter 16

  I take longer in the bath than I probably should, but it feels too good to rush. Besides, I’m putting off the whole Kallen and Kegan drama as long as possible. When my skin is starting to prune, I finally get out and reluctantly go out to my bedroom. Tabitha has left some clothes for me on the bed, a simple red t-shirt and khaki shorts.

  I pull my hair back in a ponytail and skip the makeup. I don’t usually wear it and I’m not planning to start now. When I can’t put it off any longer, I stand up and walk to my bedroom door. When I open it, I’m only half surprised to see Kegan there. “What?” I ask.

  “I wanted to apologize for last night. I was completely out of line.”

  “Yes, you were.”

  “I have already apologized to Kallen.”

  “How did that go?”

  “As well as you would expect.”

  He doesn’t seem to have any more bruises other than the fingerprint one around his neck, so it had to have gone better than I expected. I’m assuming Isla was playing referee. “Kegan, look, I would like us to be friends, but you have to understand that I’m not interested in you like I am Kallen. It doesn’t matter that you look so much like him, or that you might be nicer than him sometimes. I like Kallen just like he is. He challenges me. He has faith in me and my magic, he makes me laugh and I can be myself when I’m with him. He likes me just the way I am, too. He was even willing to give up his world to stay with me in mine.”

  Kallen looks down at his feet for a moment. “I would have gladly given up anything for you.”

  Now, I’m getting annoyed. He’s not getting it. “Kegan, it’s not about that.”

  “I know.” I don’t think he does.

  “You know, you have someone who would be willing to give up everything to be with you.”

  He looks up with a frown. “What do you mean?”

  I roll my eyes. “It’s so obvious that Alita is in love with you. I’m pretty sure you like her, as well.”

  A sad smile touches his lips. “When I was younger, I did. I would never be able to get permission from my father to be with her, though. I had to let those feelings go.”

  “I see you looking at her sometimes, so I think you did a crappy job of it.”

  Something almost like a chuckle/snort comes out of him. “I seem to do that a lot.”

  He looks so sad; I want to give him a hug. I don’t. I’m pretty sure he’d take it wrong. I can’t help thinking that this is ridiculous after just a couple of days. If I’m being honest, though, Kallen and I hadn’t known each other much longer than that before we fell in love. Maybe it’s not that ridiculous.

  “Have you made your peace?” Kallen says and I jump a mile. I didn’t even hear him approach. Good thing I chose not to hug Kegan. Though, he doesn’t sound nearly as angry as I thought he would be finding me alone with Kegan again.

  Kegan nods his head. “I believe so.”

  “Then we should go to the training room.” Kallen’s voice is curt, but not hateful. Kegan just nods and walks past Kallen.

  “I guess you’ve made your peace with him, as well?”

  Kallen pulls me into a hug. “For your sake, yes, I did. I do not want you to think I am a jealous tyrant.”

  I laugh. “Too late, I already do.”

  He chuckles. “Just wait until training today.” Letting go of me, he holds my hand and leads me downstairs.

  When we walk into the training room, almost everyone is here. Even Isla. My guess, she came to keep the peace. She’s not going to like me in a minute if that’s true. I’ve been mulling this over since talking to her this morning.

  Dagda is leaning against the wall on one shoulder with his arms crossed over his chest and his legs crossed at the ankles. Alita is sitting on a piece of exercise equipment resembling a row boat, bike combination. Tabitha brought her own chair. Kegan is standing with his eyes downward on the mat just waiting. Wow, he looks like he’s going to the guillotine or something. Rhiannon is missing. She probably doesn’t want to go through another six hours like yesterday. I don’t blame her. I don’t, either.

  Turning to Isla, I say, “I don’t think it’s fair to keep this a secret. They deserve to know.” After giving me a long, hard stare, she finally nods her head once in agreement.

  “Know what?” Kagda demands. “Isla, are you keeping something from us?”

  “Yes, she is, but only because she didn’t want anyone to panic.” I don’t think that helped the tension level in the room. “The spider web isn’t to keep us here until I’m trained. It’s to keep us all from blowing up tonight.”

  Alita gasps and Dagda pushes off from the wall like he’s ready to kill someone. Kegan seems to have forgotten about the whole thing from last night. Kallen, too.

  “Grandmother, is this true?” Kallen demands.

  Isla sighs. “Yes, and we are safe from that now.”

  Before anyone else can say anything, I try to change the subject by saying, “Now, about my training today. Dagda, there’s something else you need to know.”

  “There is more?” His head already looks like it’s going to explode, without any outside help.

  “Xandra, w
hat are you doing?” Kallen asks.

  “I’m putting all my cards on the table. He says he wants to make up for how he was before, so, we’ll see.”

  “He did?” Tabitha says in surprise. Dagda gives her a dirty look.

  “Here’s the thing. I can’t do subtle magic.”

  Dagda looks confused now. “What does that mean?”

  “It means I can call a million spiders to do my bidding, but I can’t change my own clothes without everyone else in the house ending up in the same outfit. There was a really embarrassing bikini thing a couple of days ago.”

  I don’t know what I expected his reaction to be, but I didn’t expect him to bust out laughing. “You can tear holes between the realms, but you cannot do any of the simple magic?”

  I’m annoyed about him laughing at me. I put my hands on my hips and give him what I hope is a menacing look. “I can do simple magic; it just doesn’t stay simple when I do it. You should also know, the more irritated I am, the better my control is.”

  It takes a moment, but he eventually stops laughing. “Why would you feel the need to keep this from me?”

  Good question, what difference does it make? My magic is still stronger than his. “We didn’t want you to see any of my weaknesses.”

  He inclines his head in understanding. “I see. Why did you decide to tell me?”

  “Because I want to work on my offensive magic.”

  “Xandra, I know that I promised you we would, but I do not believe this is the best time,” Kallen says cautiously.

  “I must agree,” Isla says. “The point of the web being put in place is to make sure we are all safe. If your magic goes awry, it may damage the integrity of the structure.”

  I want to argue but I really can’t. “Fine,” I pout.

  Dagda looks like he’s thinking awfully hard about something. “There may be things that she could learn on a small scale.”

  That sounds hopeful. “Like what?”

  He comes closer. “From what I am hearing, you are only lacking in finesse and self-confidence.” Hey, I’m self-confident. Sort of. With some things.

  “Her magic goes awry quickly and cannot be controlled easily. She is also not accustomed to working with the purer magic in this realm,” Kallen cautions. He doesn’t look thrilled about Dagda trying to teach me anything. I can’t say that I’m gung ho about it either.

  “I understand,” Dagda says distractedly. I don’t think he’s really paying attention to Kallen. Whatever else he’s concentrating on has his mind too occupied. “Xandra, throw me to the ground.”

  Okay, I like this so far. I pull some magic, trying not to pull too much, and I push it out of me towards Dagda. He falls to the ground writhing in pain. Oh, I didn’t mean to push that much magic at him. I wonder if this counts as a Freudian slip. I pull my magic back, and it comes, thankfully, and I walk over to make sure he’s okay. Just as I’m bending down, my legs are kicked out from under me and Dagda is on top of me with a dagger in his hand. Six people have drawn magic now, but I don’t need their help. With a burst of magic, Dagda is flying backwards through the air, the dagger falling out of his hand. I don’t care if he’s okay this time.

  “Dagda, what is the meaning of this?” Isla demands as she physically holds Kallen back from going after him.

  Dagda pulls himself to a sitting position and smiles. “I wanted to test her reflexes when attacked at close range.” Yeah, sure he did.

  With hands on my hips, I ask, “Did I pass?”

  He chuckles. “With flying colors.” He stands up and brushes imaginary dirt off his clothes. “Now, I would like to show you how to handle that situation without giving away how strong you are.”

  “Why do I need to do that? And are you planning to pull another dagger on me?”

  “In combat, it is often beneficial for your enemies to underestimate you.”

  That seems reasonable. “Okay.”

  He walks towards me but stops about fifteen feet away. “Your reflexes are the same whether you are a hundred feet away from the threat or a single foot from the threat. That means you did not have to push so much magic at me the first time. If you had waited until I was closer, you could have put me out of action without everyone around seeing how much power you have.”

  “I’m following what you’re saying, but the problem is, I seem to have two settings with my magic. No magic and too much magic.”

  He smiles. “That is what we can practice.”

  “I still believe this is a bad idea,” Kallen warns. Dagda ignores him.

  “Xandra, I am going to run at you brandishing a dagger. I want you to wait as long as possible before you hit me with your offensive magic.”

  I narrow my eyes at him. “This sound like a great way to get myself ‘accidently’ killed.” I even make the bunny ears with my fingers to emphasis accidently.

  He chuckles. “I watched you repel an arrow from a crossbow shot at me from two feet away. I think you can handle this.”

  He has a point, but still. I don’t trust him at all. That’s probably why he doesn’t get more than two feet from where he’s standing before I use my magic to put him painfully on the ground. “Sorry,” I say. I don’t think I sound like I mean it.

  Dagda gets up. “Try to let me get closer this time.”

  He gets about three steps this try. That’s how it goes for the next ten minutes. I let him get closer as my confidence in my defensive magic allows me to focus more on the offensive stuff. I can’t believe that Dagda lets me keep hurting him like this. Maybe it’s some kind of weird penance or something.

  Finally, I let him get close enough to brandish the dagger before I throw him to the ground. I hold him there, trying to use as little magic as possible. I let him go after a minute.

  “Excellent,” he says, still sounding out of breath. Rising on shaky legs, he stands up. “That was the right amount of offensive magic. You did not send me across the room. You simply incapacitated me. No one around would be able to tell that you could have sent me flying through the wall if you had desired. Considering your size and youth, others would probably think that you were simply lucky in taking me down at all. You can use that to your advantage if you do not show your cards all at once. Now, I want you to use the same amount of magic you used just then while I am still over here.” He’s moved back to his original position about fifteen feet away.

  I carefully pull magic, making sure I have the same amount, and fling it at him. He goes down right where he is instead of going flying. I hold him for a minute and then release him. I can tell he’s getting tired, but he’s grinning. “Perfect,” he says. “Now, try it with Kegan.”

  I scowl. “No, I don’t want to hurt him.” Dagda’s eyebrows crawl towards his hairline as what I said sinks in. It’s okay to hurt him, but not Kegan. In my defense, Kegan only tried to kiss me, not kill me.

  “I would like to volunteer,” Kegan says.

  I sigh. “Kegan, if this is about last night…”

  “No, I agreed to help with your training. This is a way to help.”

  I shrug. “Okay, but trust me, it hurts.”

  “I am ready.”

  I pull the same amount of magic I used with Dagda and fling it in Kegan’s direction. He drops like a fly to the mat. Hmm, maybe I should have used a little less with him since he’s not as strong of a Fairy when it comes to magic.

  “Very good,” Dagda says. He turns around towards Isla. “I would like to try something different now. I will need your, Kallen’s and Tabatha’s assistance.”

  They don’t look thrilled, but they join in. Dagda arranges them so that they are crowded in front of Kegan. “Alright, Xandra, now I want you to take Kegan down again without affecting the four of us with your magic.”

  That’s going to be trickier. I’ve never had to pick an enemy out of a crowd before. I’ve always had a direct target. It takes quite a few tries before I can do it without anybody else feeling the pain of my magic. Even though Kall
en’s still annoyed with Kegan, he takes pity on him several tries in and replaces him as my guinea pig.

  This is how we spend most of the day. We stop briefly for lunch, but then we’re right back into the training room. I hate, hate, hate to admit it, but Dagda is a really good teacher. He’s patient and he’s not afraid of being in the line of fire if that helps me learn, just like Kallen. He also knows a lot of dirty tricks, on top of the more common war strategies, that I think could be helpful in desperate times. By dinnertime, I feel like I have a much better hold on my magic.

  The training has also kept us from dwelling on the fact that we might get blown up tonight. That is, until around dinnertime when a wave of ear numbing blasts starts to occur. We all start to run for the door, but Isla stops us. “We need to make sure that the entire web stays intact. I want someone on each side of the house. If you see any cracks or holes, you let the rest of us know immediately. Xandra and Kallen, you take the front of the house. Dagda, you and Tabitha take the back. Kegan, you and Alita take the west side and I will take the east.” We all murmur our agreement so we can get out of this room and discover our fate this evening.