Blood of the Phoenix: Book 17 of The Witch Fairy Series

by Bonnie Lamer

  “All of the elements,” I amend just for clarification. I don’t want her to be caught off guard when she witnesses Eliana’s other abilities. “We’re off now. You were our first stop. We have a bunch more realms to go to before we’re done.” Some that will make the greeting we received in this realm seem warm and welcoming.

  “Good luck,” Arie calls as we head for the door. She knows we are going to need it.

  14 Chapter

  Eager to avoid another confrontation with any more guards, we don’t waste time on conversation. We just concentrate on getting to the surface. In my case, I am mostly saving my breath so I can swim faster.

  When we finally reach air, Eliana asks, “Where to next?”

  I am definitely not going anywhere else wearing a wet suit. “First, we go home and change into dry clothes.” Reaching out, I open a passageway back to a familiar ocean and beach. We cross over into the Fairy realm and wade to shore. Once we are on the sand, Kallen changes us all back into the clothes we had on before. I smile up at him. “Thank you.” Our hair is dry, too. A little crusty from the sea salt, but dry. Considering we are in a time crunch, we’ll have to ignore the crust.

  “How did it go?” Dagda asks from the terrace where he has apparently been pacing impatiently while we were gone.

  “Why are you still here?” I ask. I thought he would return to the palace. He is King, after all. I’m sure he has plenty of things there to keep him busy.

  “Nice to see you, too,” Dagda drawls. Then, he explains, “I thought it best to be here to greet anyone you bring back.” Glancing over our shoulders, he asks, “Did Arie reject your plea?”

  I shake my head. “No, actually she’s coming herself since she is the only one besides Kai who can grow legs. She’ll be here after she convinces one of the Sirens to join her.”

  Dagda nods in approval. “Very efficient having her retrieve the Siren.”

  “Thanks.” No need to tell him it was an afterthought on our way out.

  “She can really grow legs?” Eliana asks.

  I nod. “It’s a special spell meant only for the Queen and her Consort.”

  Dagda interrupts our conversation, reminding us we are in a time crunch. “I have sent word to the other realms to expect you.”

  “Did you tell them why?” I ask hopefully, though I know the answer.

  “I believe that is best explained in person. We do not want to start panic in every realm prematurely,” Dagda grimaces. No, he wants to wait until I am actually there for the panic to start. I’m not seeing how this is a better plan.

  Self-pity aside, he probably does have a point, but I still hate that our little group has to be the bearer of bad news to everyone. That happens way more often than I feel it should. Oops. Guess I had a little more self-pity left in me, after all. “Fine,” I mutter.

  Changing the subject before I can change my mind, Dagda asks, “Are you off to the Giants next?”

  With a sigh, I mumble, “Unfortunately.”

  Eliana smiles. “The more you complain about them, the more curious I am to see if they are really as bad as you believe they are.”

  “Just wait. You’ll be complaining soon, too,” I promise. Eliana just laughs.

  The more I think about it, the more I want to get it over with. Holding my hands out, I explain to Eliana and Josh, “The Giants actually live in this realm. We’re going to teleport.” I should probably ask if they need a bathroom break since the toilets in the Giant realm are about the size of a hot tub back home. I almost fell in once. Thank goodness I have magic. But, I assume they would both speak up if that was the case.

  Surprised to hear the Giants reside in this realm, Josh asks, “Isn’t it weird to live with beings so big?”

  “Actually, the Giants live apart from the Fairies,” Kallen tells him. “It is safer for everyone that way.”

  “Yeah, no Fairy children get crushed, and since Giants don’t have magic, they don’t like living among the Fairies. But, they all get along well enough,” I explain, not wanting them to think it’s a prejudice thing. “It works out well for everyone.”

  “Got it,” Josh nods. He, Eliana and Kallen all touch my arms, ready to teleport now. The excited expressions on Eliana’s and Josh’s faces are definitely not mirrored on mine and Kallen’s. I try to remember far, far back to my excitement about meeting Giants for the first time. That seems like a lifetime ago.

  In a blink, we are on the southern end of the continent. Even though Dagda said he sent word, I still teleport us a little way away from the Giant villages. It’s not good to surprise Giants. They tend to react violently, and I don’t want Josh to accidently get hurt.

  “How far away are we?” Eliana asks, glancing around at the lack of a Giant village before us.

  “Just around that bend,” Kallen tells her, pointing in the right direction.

  Even though I dislike him so much, I brought us closer to Quinn’s village. Ellu, the other Chieftain, is still wary of me after watching my doppelganger kill his second-in-command. Quinn is a lot more likely to be happy to see us. Too happy if history repeats itself. I’m sure he will piss Kallen off before our visit is over despite the fact that we are married now.

  At the edge of the Giant village, we find Orwick and several of his comrades waiting for us. I smile pleasantly at the tall, blonde Giant. “Hello, Orwick. Always a pleasure.”

  Orwick grunts in response. He knows how insincere I am despite my pleasant smile. Personally, I think the guy is an ass, and he knows it. I can only imagine the labels he has for me. “Quinn is expecting you,” Orwick grumbles. He obviously wishes his boss was waiting to execute us instead of greet us cordially. Sucks for him.

  “Friendly,” Eliana mutters next to me.

  “Yeah, we have history,” I admit.

  Eliana shakes her head. “You should come to our realm more often. It seems to be the only place you make friends.” I keep my mouth closed. I don’t want to tell her about how many Witches I have pissed off there.

  Coming to my defense, Kallen tells her, “It is difficult to make friends when forcing much needed change upon other beings.” Change that may not always be my right to force upon them, even if the powers that be want me to do it. I sometimes have a hard time seeing how they justify it against the whole freewill thing.

  “I can imagine. I’m glad I don’t have your job,” Eliana says ruefully.

  “Too bad, I was going to offer it to you when we were finished with all of this,” I tease.

  “Liza would probably find a way to tear a hole in the realms to drag her back,” Josh jokes. I suspect he might be right, though. That woman is determined. Not to mention, I suspect Liza would be in big trouble with the government if she lost track of Eliana. So, she would be very motivated to find her.

  “Are you planning to stand here all day gossiping?” Orwick snipes.

  “Why, do you have some good gossip to share?” I ask sweetly.

  Orwick rises to his full height and puffs out his chest. “Be careful, Witch.”

  “Witch Fairy, thank you very much,” I remind him. Too much of a mouthful to tag Angel onto it.

  Another Giant steps forward, ready to intercept when Orwick takes a step toward me. “Who are they?” the Giant asks to draw Orwick’s attention away from my attempted murder.

  “Friends from the Cowan realm,” I tell him. Next to me, I notice Kallen’s lips press into a tight line. Obviously, that was not the right thing to say.

  Proving this, Orwick takes a menacing step toward Eliana and Josh. “We do not allow Cowans in our village,” he snarls.

  “I really wouldn’t get in her face if I were you,” I inform him.

  My warning is met with a smirk. “A puny Cowan is a threat to me?” While he is speaking, he reaches out and grabs Josh by the shirt and lifts him from the ground.

  Shaking his head, Josh says, “You misheard Xandra. I am not the threat.” He gestures toward Eliana, who is growing angrier by the second. “S
he is.”

  Orwick drops Josh to the ground and moves closer to Eliana. “Right,” he sneers. He jabs Eliana in the chest with his index finger. “You are even punier. Not much of a threat in my book.”

  With a sigh, I remind the big oaf, “I did warn you.” To Eliana, whose expression proves that Orwick’s is not the only mind with murder on it, I say, “He’s only going to let up if you show him your strength.”

  Unfortunately for Orwick, Eliana is pissed enough to do exactly that. Grabbing the Giant by the forearm before he can poke her again, Eliana whirls him around and hurls him a good twenty yards. Considering Orwick is at least five hundred pounds of pure muscle, I know I am certainly impressed. From the looks on their faces, Orwick’s friends are, as well.

  “She is no Cowan,” one of the Giants accuses.

  Shrugging, I remind him, “I said they were friends from the Cowan realm. I never claimed they were Cowans.”

  Picking himself up and brushing off the dust from the road, Orwick stalks back to us. He circles Eliana. He is embarrassed now and itching for a fight. Kallen and I pull magic just in case we need to interfere, but we keep it to ourselves for now. I know Eliana. She can handle the likes of Orwick.

  “You caught me unaware. It will not happen again,” Orwick promises as he continues to stalk his prey. Little does he know he is really the prey in this situation.

  With a wicked smile, Eliana calls down a bolt of lightning from the lone cloud in the sky. It catches Orwick in the heel and he howls in pain. Taking advantage of the distraction, Eliana grabs the Giant again. This time, she throws him twice as high and twice as far. His buddies snicker as they watch him fly through the air. Giants are not a sympathetic bunch, even to their own kind. Nor do they feel the need to come to the defense of someone who cannot hold his own in a fight. Orwick’s credibility as a tough guy is taking a real beating at the moment. Probably even more so than his body is.

  When Orwick picks himself up, it’s obvious he has a shoulder injury from landing so hard on it. The determination to prove himself to his comrades has not left his eyes, though. With a sigh, I tell him, “You know, she could do this all day without even working up a sweat. In fact, her sweat glands would consider this vacation time and not even bother to get out of bed. So, unless you want to end up with more than your fair share of broken bones, I suggest you just bring us to Quinn.”

  One of the other Giants agrees. “As entertaining as this is, Orwick, Quinn is anxiously awaiting their arrival. Come.” He turns toward the village fully expecting us to follow. Like obedient dogs. I’m tempted to throw him twenty or thirty yards. Kallen rests a staying hand on my shoulder, and I remember why we are here. I reign my annoyance in, limiting myself to just thoughts of what I want to do to the Giant, not actually doing it.

  Before following the Giant, though, I turn an assessing eye toward Orwick. I don’t trust him not to try to attack Eliana from behind. He’s never struck me as the most honorable of guys. Also, Giants like to fight dirty. “You first,” I tell him.

  Orwick stomps past us, making the ground quake slightly with his weight and anger. He gives Eliana a wide birth, which makes his buddies chuckle. Orwick does a fairly good job of ignoring them for the moment. He doesn’t punch any of them, which I am positive he wants to do, he only glowers and mutters under his breath about pay back later.

  We follow the Giants into the village. Orwick gets some strange looks over his disheveled appearance. No one dares say anything to him about it, though. Even his buddies stop giving him a hard time other than the occasional snicker. Eliana may have beaten him, but I doubt the others could take Orwick in a fight. He’s Quinn’s second-in-command for a reason.

  Eliana and Josh are in awe as we weave through the busy street. Both being agile, they easily slide in and out between the Giants without being stepped on or jostled too much. Neither gentle nor nurturing by nature, Giants are not especially careful when there are smaller people in their midst. They expect us to get out of their way. As if to prove this, Josh just misses getting slammed in the head with a Giant finger when a woman stops to point out something to her friend, even though she obviously saw him walking by her. I am impressed by Josh’s reaction time. For a non-magical person, he has skill.

  Finally, we come to Quinn’s house. I force back the bile that wants to rise in my throat at the thought of seeing the Giant again. It’s hard not to be disgusted by someone who wanted my father to force me to marry him. Little did he know at the time that my father can’t force me to do anything, even if he wanted to try. Guessing at where my thoughts have gone, Kallen reaches out and takes my hand in his and gives it a gentle squeeze. I smile up at him as we enter the house. I definitely have the right husband.

  “Princess!” an overly jolly voice booms from across the room.

  Pasting my best princess smile on my face, I try not to roll my eyes as I say, “Hello, Quinn.”

  After a nod to Kallen, Quinn’s eyes take in Josh and Eliana. Actually, his eyes flicker over Josh and zoom in on Eliana. “Who is your beautiful friend?” he asks with more interest in his voice than I care for. A quick glance at Josh tells me that he’s not caring too much for it, either.

  “She is a friend from the Cowan realm,” I tell Quinn.

  “She is no Cowan,” Orwick accuses as he stomps across the room. He really has that stomping thing down.

  Quinn looks his second-in-command over. “What the hell happened to you?”

  Gesturing toward Eliana with his thumb, one of the other Giants says, “He was tossed around like a baby doll by this one.”

  Quinn lets out a loud guffaw. “This little thing? She must be a powerful Fairy then.”

  I can understand why Quinn mistakes Eliana for a Fairy. She does have dark hair and green eyes. But, I am going to disillusion him. “She’s not a Fairy. She did it with her strength, not her magic.”

  This makes Quinn stop laughing. Narrowing his eyes, he studies Eliana more closely. After a moment, he insists, “Explain.”

  “Like Xandra, Eliana is an enigma,” Kallen says in lieu of an explanation. “But, that is not why we have come. The Phoenix is refusing to die.”

  Quinn looks at my husband as if he just sprouted a head coming out of his butt. One with googly eyes and a full beard. Quinn waves off Kallen’s words as nonsense. “What an absurd claim. Now, tell me about this young Cowan.”

  “Not a Cowan,” Orwick hisses under his breath. Quinn ignores him as he continues to ogle every inch of Eliana.

  “It’s true,” I insist, trying to drag the Giant’s eyes in my direction before Josh does something he may regret. Or Eliana decides to kill the Chieftain for being so freakin’ rude. “We need to bring a member of each race with us to meet her. Otherwise, she won’t even talk to us.”

  Finally, the truth of our words sinks in. Scowling, Quinn begins to pace the room, his curiosity about Eliana temporarily displaced. “This cannot be,” he argues again, but there is doubt in his expression now.

  “I assure you, it is true,” Kallen reiterates.

  Coming to a halt, Quinn says, “I will accompany you, if only to prove this whole thing to be an outrageous lie.”

  “We need a female,” I blurt out.

  Raising his eyebrows to his hairline, Quinn laughs again. “You expect me to trust the fate of the universe to a female?” And there is why I dislike him so much.

  “It’s really not up to you,” I inform him. “The Phoenix insists I only bring females with me.” We are not one hundred percent certain of this, but I am not going to tell Quinn that because I hate him and his misogynistic attitude.

  Also annoyed by his misogyny, Eliana insists, “We were there, it’s true.”

  This brings Quinn’s attention back to her. And peeks his curiosity again. Among other things. Things I refuse to think about. After an assessing leer, he says, “Before I decide anything, I want a demonstration of your power.”

  “No,” Eliana tells him. “I am not a circus ac
t.”

  Scowling, Quinn asks, “What is a circus and how does it act?”

  “Other beings don’t always get Cowan references,” I murmur to Eliana. I’m kind of glad someone else is feeling my pain that way. I spend a lot of time explaining my references to those around me.

  With a nod, Eliana turns back to Quinn. “What I meant is, I am not here to put on a show for you.” She quirks a brow in my direction and I nod. Quinn should understand what a show is.

  Crossing his arms over his chest, Quinn counters with, “You want me to entrust you with one of our females, yet I do not even know if you could adequately protect her.”

  I snort. Loudly. Partly in insult, but mostly to mock him. “Have you looked at your second-in-command? And you really believe that Kallen and I aren’t enough protection?” I’d be more insulted if I didn’t know that he was just trying to get Eliana to play her hand. No, wait, I’m still pretty insulted.

  Quinn narrows his eyes and ignores my question about Kallen and me, focusing all of his attention and interest on Eliana. “I was not there. I did not witness your version of events.”

  I am about to tell him that it was his own men who told him that Orwick was tossed around by Eliana, but Kallen beats me to it. “Do you doubt the word of your own warrior?” he asks without the smirk I would have had on my face asking the same question. That’s probably for the best.

  “Perhaps Orwick is not as strong as he once was,” Quinn quips with a shrug and a grin at his second-in-command.

  Orwick stiffens at the accusation. In a stilted voice, he grinds out, “Perhaps my Chieftain should test his own strength against the girl’s.”

  “Perhaps they’ll both choke on their own testosterone,” I mutter to no one in particular. Josh covers a chuckle with a cough into his hand.

  This does not go unnoticed by Quinn. “You laugh at us?” the Giant growls.

  Quinn’s sudden mood swing has both Kallen and me on high alert. Giants can be touchy beings, and they do not take insults lightly. But, it is Eliana who moves into his path as he approaches Josh. It dawns on me too late that Quinn had correctly surmised that threatening Josh would be the fastest way to get Eliana to comply with a show of strength. I open my mouth to warn her she is playing right into his hand, but it’s too late.