“I will do no such thing. I will not be bound by a treaty I did not agree to.” It’s the ornery old guy again. He makes a strong case for locking the crotchety elderly in nursing homes and never letting them out.
“In whatever country you reside, do you abide by the laws the Humans have set forth?” I ask.
Puffing up his chest, he says, “That is different.”
“How? You didn’t have anything to do with those laws yet you still abide by them. This is no different.” The old geezer huffs but he quiets down.
“If that is decided,” Adriel says, looking at the Skin Walker like it is whether he thinks so or not, “then separate. Those who follow Jadyn and Conor stand near them. Those who followed the unfortunate Andrew, gather to make your decision.”
There’s hesitancy in the crowd. Andrew’s followers are debating whether they should show themselves, wondering if it will put a target on their foreheads or something. After a long, painful few minutes, the first of them start moving together. I figure I’ll give them about five minutes to make a decision. As I wait, I am happy to see that the majority of Skin Walkers are with Jadyn and Conor. At least, they claim to be now. Who knows how they felt ten minutes ago.
As I wait impatiently, something catches my eye. Tana is standing closer to my grandfather than she had been. More disturbing than that, she is holding his hand. I look away hurriedly, but it’s too late. Kallen had already followed my eyes to the unspeakable situation. His face flushes with anger and his body starts shaking.
To my ultimate surprise, he stays put. I expected my grandfather to be laid out on the ground, writhing in pain. I raise my brow and look up at my gorgeous, irate husband. He gives a barely perceptible shake of his head, clearly indicating he has no desire to discuss the situation. If he does, I think it’ll push him over the need to do violence edge.
“Can we move this along?” Kegan asks. “I would like to go back to bed. In the future, could the two of you only have disasters happen during the day?”
“We’ll try,” I say dryly. Still, I say to the Skin Walkers, “Time’s up. Did you pick someone?”
A Skin Walker who looks to be in his late twenties steps forward. “I will represent my brethren.”
How formal he is. “Great. Is everyone else ready to go home?” No one responds, so I’ll take that as a yes. Half expecting the rush of magic I have to pull back through me to make me pass out, I still pull it back. My hold on the Skin Walkers releases. I must be getting stronger because I only stumble a bit and Kallen is able to right me with no problem.
Now to deal with the leftovers.
Chapter 28
We retreat to the house and up to the now familiar library. “Gunnar, will you please gather everyone again?” I ask.
He looks weary. “Can it not wait until morning?”
“After the night we’ve had? No, it can’t.”
Accepting that I won’t budge on this, he nods his head. “Fifteen minutes?” My turn to nod.
Aiden is assisting Kegan and Kallen with Andrew. They have his hands behind his back in zip ties and he’s seated in a chair. The magic surrounding them is more than enough to keep him from changing into something small enough to slip away.
With Kallen otherwise occupied, I have time to do something I’ve wanted to do practically since we got here. Spotting the person I’m seeking, I stride across the room and speak in a voice low enough for no one else to hear. “I would like to speak to you in private.”
Tana is startled at first, but she acquiesces. We both slip out of the library and down the hall to an empty guest room. I close the door behind us. Tana walks to the window and gazes out like I’m not even here.
“Why are you doing it?” I ask. “If you are trying to hurt Dagda, it would work better if he was here. Right now, the only one you are hurting is Kallen.”
I think she’s ignoring me. She continues to stand in front of the window, her back straight and her gaze steadfast on the stables that can be seen from here. Just as I’m about to walk over there and strangle her, she speaks. “I did not want you to know.”
“Yeah, I got that,” I say. “I’m not willing to let you keep hurting Kallen, though. If you want to be with my grandfather, then just tell him. Don’t sneak around and leave him wondering. Dagda, either.”
Tana laughs softly and finally turns to me. “You care a great deal for a Fairy who once tried to kill you.”
I shrug. “At least he stopped. I can’t say the same thing about this side of my family.” Of course I mean the Witches.
“Your grandfather does not want to kill you. He simply does not know how to stand up to those around him. A rather poor quality in a King.”
“I agree. That doesn’t explain why you are so cozy with him,” I say.
“Is that how it appears? I am being cozy with him?” Tana ruminates on that for a moment. “If so, my husband would be most displeased, would he not?”
I put my hands on my hips and glower at her. “Is that rhetorical or do you need me to respond with magic?”
Tana pushes away from the window sill she had been leaning on. “Your father has nothing to worry about. I hold no designs on your grandfather.”
I snort. “He seems to think you do.”
Tana purses her lips. “Yes, I suppose he does. Perhaps that will open him up to your idea for Fairy tourists.”
My mouth opens in surprise. “Is that why you’re leading him on?” God, I hope not.
She shakes her head and smiles. “Heavens no. I am not convinced this plan of yours is a good one.”
Maybe if I count to a zillion, I can keep myself from killing her. One, two, three…That’s as far as I get before she shocks the hell out of me. “I am healing him,” she says.
I’m flabbergasted. I’ve never been flabbergasted before. “You know he’s sick?”
She nods. “I am perceptive to such things. I knew the moment he first took my hand.”
I study Tana for a long moment. There’s still something she’s not telling me. “Why do you care if he lives or dies?”
“Quite honestly? I do not.” Funny, Tana’s as honest as I am. She pauses for a long, tedious moment before continuing. “However, if your grandfather is consumed by his illness, you and my nephew would be forced to assume your roles as Queen and King in this realm. I do not want to lose my nephew now that I finally have him back in my life, nor do I want your father, Isla or Tabitha to be hurt by your departure. If you are able to return to the Fairy realm, even if it is just for a few more years, things will be right in their hearts.”
“What about you?” I ask, too off balance to try to make sense of this. She cares what Dagda wants? Isla and Tabitha I can understand, but Dagda? “Wouldn’t getting rid of me make things right in your heart?”
Tana considers me for a moment. “I find my feelings on the subject to be torn.” There’s that lovely honesty again. “You are a constant reminder of everything dark in my life. However, that is not your fault. Most of the blame lies with me. I chose how to respond to my husband’s betrayal.”
“I’m glad you left him.” Hurt shines in her eyes and I hurry to say, “He deserved it. He deserved to feel the loss of you at the time. It’s okay to forgive him now, though, after so long. No one will think less of you if you do.”
She waves a hand in the air. “I do not care what the Fairy population thinks of me.” She’s not being a hundred percent honest, but I’ll let it go. “I have forgiven him,” she says.
I scowl in confusion. “Then why haven’t you told him?”
She shrugs in discomfort. “I do not know how to go back to him. So much has happened. It is no longer simply him who needs to be forgiven. I have much to atone for myself.”
My turn to wave a hand in the air. “You could’ve killed off half the Fairies in the realm and Dagda would still want you back. He’s a love sick fool.” Just like I am with Kallen and vice versa. I guess it’s a family trait. I don’t think Kallen would tr
y to kill off half the Fairy population, though.
“You believe that,” she says.
I nod. “You only have to see how he looks at you to know the truth.”
A knock on the door startles us both. It opens and I’m surprised to find Kegan instead of Kallen. Following my line of thought, he says, “My cousin is still busy with the Skin Walker, but he thought it prudent to make sure you are not killing his aunt.”
Tana smiles in real amusement. “As you can see, I am alive and well. Not a scratch mars my skin.” She holds her bare arms out and turns them over for him to see. She is being playful. Unbelievable.
Amused, Kegan says, “My cousin will be glad to hear it, as am I.”
“Are we finished here?” Tana asks. “There is a task I would like to return to as soon as possible.”
Kegan gives her a weird look, but I nod happily. Happily until I think about the tasks that lie ahead for me. Maybe we can switch roles and I can cure Grandpa and Tana can solve the rest of the problems here. I doubt she wants that job, either.
Chapter 29
I return to the library to find it has become a ticking time bomb. It’s deathly quiet and all the faces present are stony as they stare at each other. It’s like someone took a jar of Time to be Pissy gas and spread it all over the room. It only needs a spark to erupt into flames. This is going to go well.
“Glad to see everyone has taken the time to get to know each other better,” I say dryly, receiving several looks that contain real death threats in them. The other looks I get are simply annoyed.
I guess there are no senses of humor to be found in the room. It’s time to move on and sort things out before I get as pissy as they are. “Adriel, can you keep Andrew from changing?”
“Of course,” Adriel says as if I’ve insulted her.
“Then can you and Kegan take him down the hall to an empty guest room until it’s decided what should be done with him?”
She looks thrilled about it, but Adriel walks to Andrew and grabs his arm. “Let’s go.” She and Kegan escort them out of the room. I think he would resist if he wasn’t busy checking out Adriel’s curves. If only he knew his competition. He doesn’t stand a chance.
Next, I turn to Jadyn and Conor. “I would like to speak to the Witches alone before you meet with them. I need you to stay here and discuss with your counterpart what the key issues are between you. You can set up a time to meet with the Witches tomorrow.”
“Certainly,” Jadyn says pleasantly. She takes getting ordered around a lot better than Adriel does.
To Aiden and Gunnar, I say, “Aiden, I need you to stay here and make sure they don’t hurt each other.” I trust Jadyn and Conor, but not the other Skin Walker who is replacing Andrew as head of his faction. He might be a nice guy, but I’m not willing to take that chance. He might be just as homicidal as his friend.
“Everyone should be in the conference room,” Gunnar says. Aiden is disappointed not to come with us, but he doesn’t say anything.
Five minutes later, I am in the conference room at the head of the table. Kallen is seated next to me with Alita on his other side and the Witches fill the available chairs closest to me. Gunnar is standing near the door in military rest.
Before coming in here, I pulled my grandfather aside and explained that I am going to make some changes. If he doesn’t like them, I threatened to dethroned him and place him under the care of Louhi. He visibly shuddered at the thought. Now, he’s sitting across from Kallen with a grim expression ruling his facial muscles. Tana is seated next to him and I can feel her healing magic. So can a surprised Kallen. I haven’t had a chance yet to tell him what Tana is doing and why.
“I didn’t come here to make friends,” I begin.
“Good thing,” Sylar mutters.
Disregarding her snark, I continue, “I came here expecting to find my grandfather being taken advantage of again. I wish I could say that I was proved wrong, but I cannot. In an effort to keep this from happening while still allowing my grandfather to remain King, I am going to make some changes.”
“You hold no authority here,” Fatin says as if that’s going to make me stop and say, ‘oh yeah, I guess I’ll be going then’. He’s about to be sorely disappointed.
“I am heir to the throne and the King is facing incapacitation. That means I do have authority here. If you don’t like it, overthrow me.”
“Is that a dare?” Sylar snipes. I know she’s thinking surprising me with some dark magic spell, but a quick look in Alita’s direction reminds her why she can’t. Alita would know as soon as she started the spell.
“I am not incapacitated,” Grandpa says, his eye twitching a million miles per hour.
I roll my eyes. “End stage cancer is considered an incapacitating illness. Lucky for you, the Queen of the Fae has already begun the healing process.”
Light that has not been there suddenly shines in my Grandfather’s eyes. I put a hand up. “Don’t get too excited, it’s not a cure. Consider it Fairy chemotherapy. I will take over healing you, which will get rid of the cancer cells that are growing right now.” At least, that’s what I assume Tana was doing during her healing sessions with him. I can do it faster than she can. “That does not mean they won’t come back.” The light in his eyes dims again.
“Why bother then?” Sylar asks. Gee, I wonder who in the room is rooting for the grim reaper instead of the King? “You do not care about him, why would you heal him?”
Good question. “Honestly? Because I’m not ready to come back here to live and there is no way the Witches can be left in the hands of someone like you. I have a lot on my to do list before I can make such a commitment. So, my grandfather needs to remain King.”
Sylar’s mouth forms a nasty little smile. “Indeed.”
I scrunch up my nose at her. “Sorry to burst your bubble, but you’re not going to be here to see how things turn out.”
Sylar’s face drains of the teeny, tiny amount of blood she had in it. “How dare you! I worked hard for my position.”
I roll my eyes. “Yeah, yeah, I don’t care. I believe you got to where you are by lying, cheating and stealing so you can take your pity party somewhere else.”
“I will be happy to help you pack,” Kallen says, not sounding the least bit friendly.
“You are kicking me out on the street?” Sylar screeches.
“Yes. You are no longer a member of the Witan and you are no longer welcome here,” I tell her and a feeling of happiness flows through me at the thought of getting rid of her.
“Xandra,” Grandpa says shortly. “You cannot…”
“Grandpa, shut up. It’s been a long night and I don’t need any more crap from you. The only reason you’re still going to be King is because I’m going to let you. Besides, you don’t even like Sylar.” Grandpa’s cheeks stain red and he can’t meet Sylar’s furious eyes.
Malevolent delight on my face, I turn to Fatin. “You were spared last time because I thought your skill was needed. Now, I don’t care if it is. You’re out, too.”
“Xandra, Fatin has been a longtime friend,” Grandpa protests.
“Yes, and that’s why you have a twitchy eye. It’s distracting by the way. Can you cover it up?”
“Beren and Divina,” I turn to the couple. Beren must finally believe Divina isn’t the one who tried to kill him because they’re holding hands. Were they a couple the first time I met them? I don’t remember. “You two are basically harmless. I think you go along with the flow regardless of which direction it takes you, but it’s not a crime to not be able to form your own opinion. You will remain in the Witan but you have two weeks to find your own place.”
“Two weeks?!” Divina exclaims.
I’m going to consider that rhetorical. “Glinda, I don’t like Ekstasis magic but I do like you. Please don’t prove me to be an idiot on the subject. If your husband wants to continue his employment, I think the two of you should move to the guest house where my grandmother lived. If
not, then you can find your own place as well.”
Glinda actually looks pleased with the idea. “We will move to the guest house.”
“Wonderful. Mohana,” I say slowly. “I’m not sure about you. You can keep your position for the time being, but you also have two weeks to find a new place to live.” I’m dying to ask Kallen what she did when they were alone together because he avoids being near her like she’s a spitting camel or something, but I haven’t had the chance. I’m sure that’s better for her in this situation.
Blood of the Exiled (Witch Fairy Book 10) Page 21
