by Bonnie Lamer
On top of all that, the vengeful spirits are still a problem. For this, Alita’s pregnancy hormones are a plus. She actually zapped one or two with magic, making them vanish without a vanquishing spell. We’re not certain what happened to them, if they are gone permanently or not, but her wacky magic is coming in handy to get rid of them quickly for the time being, at least. My parents are not much help in fighting off the spirits. Mom is currently busy having a nervous breakdown and Dad is busy consoling her. Not that they could do much, anyway.
“Did you really expect me to stay at the palace when it is obvious you are in the middle of a crisis?” a feminine voice demands from the doorway. Tana, dressed in her usually finery despite the late hour, is standing there with her hands on her hips and a glare on her face. She stares at each of us in turn.
“Um, I guess I didn’t expect you to,” I stutter when Dagda doesn’t speak. Clearing my head with a shake, I amend, “Of course you should be here helping.” To make my words more meaningful, I turn a glare in my biological father’s direction. I know what it’s like to feel left out and I’ll take Tana’s side on this one. Not that she will be of any more help than the rest of us, but because I’m trying to be friends with her.
Now that she is standing in front of us, though, a thought hits me. “Did you ever come across information on Pixie’s during your travels?” Tana hasn’t opened up much about the years she was missing after Dagda went to the Cowan realm and seduced my mother so I would be born. A shudder runs down my spine at the thought of him and my mother together. But, back to Tana. She got involved in some pretty dark things. And, we assume, with some pretty shady beings. She was friends with Hades, after all. More than friends. She may be a vital source of information.
“Pixie’s do not exist.” Okay, not a vital source of information.
With a grimace, Dagda says, “A truth no longer to be held.”
Yet again, the story of the evening must be retold. When we are finished explaining everything, Tana takes a seat at the counter and sighs. “I should have stayed at the palace.”
Chuckling, Dagda wraps an arm around her waist and drags her and her stool closer. “It was bad enough I had to be here. I was simply hoping to let you have one last night of peaceful sleep until this is resolved.” If it gets resolved. I have yet to hear any good suggestions toward that end goal. I should probably work on my optimism.
“What are you doing here?!” Mom demands from behind me.
Tana is on her feet in a furious heartbeat. “I am just as welcome here as you,” she growls, taking a menacing step toward my mother. It is amazing how short both of their fuses are when they are in the same room. Both Kallen and I pull magic, ready to intercede if things get too ugly.
Mom’s translucent finger is jabbing in the Fairy’s direction. “You are supposed to be watching Zac!” she shouts. “Keeping him safe from all of this!”
Instantly, Tana’s posture changes. She sort of shrinks into herself a little at the chastisement. “I...” she clears her throat. “I did not realize how serious the situation was.” She casts an accusing glance at Dagda as if her coming here is his fault. “If I had known, I would never have left his side.” Turning back to my mother, she says, “But he is safe with guards on his door and one inside his room.” So, she definitely had some idea something bad was up when she decided to come. What did she know of the situation? Knowing my father, he probably told her it was some crazy thing having to do with me and for her not to worry about it. Considering the fact that she is not still at the palace, she apparently doesn’t listen to him any better than I do. “Now that I am here, though, I may be able to help.”
Mom crosses her arms over her chest and harrumphs. I love hearing people harrumph. I don’t know why. “I guess I should have known better than to trust the safety of my son to others. Jim!” she calls over her shoulder. “We need to protect Zac ourselves.”
I roll my eyes. “Mom, don’t be ridiculous. Zac is fine.”
Dad floats into the kitchen. “What are you talking about?” His eyes slide to Tana and I hide my smile when I see him barely restrain from doing his own eye roll. I come about the tendency honestly. He suddenly understands the problem. “Xandra is right. Zac is fine right where he is. I am certain proper precautions were taken before Tana came.”
Is that a small, satisfied smile on Tana’s face? She had better be careful before she has her own vengeful spirit incident. I suspect Mom’s version of vengeance would be much worse than the mindless spirit version. She can still do some magic.
Wrapping an arm around Mom’s waist, Dad steers her from the kitchen, saying, “We don’t want to interrupt their planning with spirit attacks. Let’s go back into the living room.” To my surprise, Mom goes with him. She must have more confidence in Zac’s safety than she lets on. She’s just in panic mode.
“Perhaps we should return to the topic at hand,” Kallen suggests pointedly, not wanting conversation to lapse back to accusations and arguing.
“Dear, what do you know of vengeful spirits?” Dagda asks his wife.
With lips pursed and brow scrunched, Tana considers his question. After a moment, she admits, “I know there is a spell which can harness them.”
Dagda’s brows rise. “To what end.”
A bit of color rushes up Tana’s cheeks. “To drive someone insane.”
“You mean turning them into attack dogs, basically,” I conclude.
“With the intent of sending them after a particular being en masse,” Kallen adds.
Tana nods. “Yes.”
Shaking his head, Kallen says, “I do not believe that is what is happening here. First, there is no sign of dark magic. Alita would have reacted. I doubt pregnancy hormones are affecting her that much. Second, they seem more drawn here than having been sent here.”
I agree. “They may want to attack Adriel when they see her, but they really want to be close to Mom and Dad. More to bask in their glory than to drive them insane.”
“That may be a bit of an overstatement,” Dagda says dryly.
“I do not believe it is,” Kallen says in my defense. “It seems that in their eyes, Jim and Julienne are a wonder. A glorious vision of what they want to become.”
Too bad Mom and Dad left. This would be a real ego boosting conversation for them. Not so much for Tana. It seems to be annoying the hell out of her. “I would like to observe such a phenomenon.” From her tone, she would like to observe Mom and Dad being worshipped about as much as she would like to have a sex tape of my conception. Eew. I just grossed myself out so badly, I’m nauseated.
Our conversation is interrupted by a streak of black zooming through the kitchen. Taz is up and moving faster than I can blink in reaction. Felix is gone before his friend can catch up and Taz chases after him. “Um, I think Felix found a Pixie,” I surmise.
“I did not see anything except your Familiar,” Isla notes.
I shrug. “Maybe they’re fast.”
“Or they do not exist,” Dagda mutters.
“Still clinging to that hope? You have met me and my cloak of impending doom, right?” I ask sardonically.
Kallen wraps an arm around my shoulders. “You are not all doom and gloom. Sometimes you can be fun.” He winks at me and I blush. I have an idea where his mind is.
Clearing his throat, Dagda chides, “Such comments are not appropriate here.” It’s Kallen’s turn to blush. Good lord, he’s my husband, not my boyfriend anymore. He’s allowed to say things like that.
“Your uncle was no better when he was your age,” Tana assures Kallen with a jab to Dagda’s ribs. To her husband, she says, “Let them be in passionate love. It is such a fragile state.” Great, now everyone is uncomfortable wondering what she means by that. Hell, even Dagda is blushing now. Trouble in paradise? I hope not.
Discomfiture abounding in her eyes, Isla says, “Pixies and vengeful spirits are quite enough to fill this conversation, I believe.”
“Here, here,”
Dagda agrees.
Garren comes tearing through the kitchen toward the back hall. The same direction my Familiars went. “We think we got one!” he calls over his shoulder.
I glance up at Kallen. “Should we follow them?”
He shrugs. “They will let us know if they find it. Too many of us in the chase might make matters worse.”
Gasping and panting sounds enter the kitchen before Tabitha. “Damn Pixies. I hate them already.”
“I think the feeling will be universal,” I assure her.
She waves off the chase and stops at the counter to catch her breath. When she has enough oxygen, Tabitha explains, “It was poking around upstairs. Near your room.”
“Did you actually see it?” Isla asks.
The older Fairy shakes her head. “Not really. I saw a small, dark shape. Could have been a mouse or a rat for all I could see.”
I never thought I would prefer a house of rats to something else. Rats wouldn’t eat my magic, though. And I could use my magic to get rid of them. “Did Garren see it?” I ask. He was pretty determined when he shot through here. More determined than if he thought it was a rat, I would say.
“Damn fool took off after Felix, so I do not know what he saw. He will have a heart attack if he insists on acting like he is a young Fairy.”
Isla hides a smile. “I can assure you, he is fit enough to run through the house.” I do not want any more details than that, thank you very much.
“So, about that Pixie,” I hurry to interject before the conversation goes awry again. “Do you think it was alone?”
Tabitha opens her mouth to speak when two black forms zoom back through the room in the opposite direction they were running before. “Just one so far!” Felix shouts in response to my question. He doesn’t slow down at all. Impressive. And Pixies must be fast to keep ahead of him because Felix can really move when he wants to. So can Taz but Felix is faster. He’s in better shape due to his lower intake of bacon.
“Grandmother!” Kegan shouts from the living room.
As one, we all rise from our stools but we don’t tear out of the room. Kegan’s shout wasn’t panicked. More curious. There must be something worth seeing in the living room and we head that way at a reasonable pace instead of rushing through the rooms. It is left unsaid that we should conserve our energy when we can. We’ve all been through major crises before.
When we reach him, it is obvious why Kegan called out. “You said to let you know if any seemed to be in a trance when in Jim and Julienne’s presence.”
He’s right. Mom and Dad are against the back wall. Well, Mom is halfway through the wall in her attempt to put distance between herself and the spirit raisin in front of her. Dad’s reaction is more curiosity than fear. If Mom wasn’t holding onto him, he might move closer to the thing. The vengeful spirit is dangling motionless in the air staring at them with big, misshapen eyes that don’t quite sit in a horizontal line. One is a good inch higher than the other one. Disturbing.
Okay, Kegan let us know. What do we do now? I turn to Isla who is studying the situation with intense, probing eyes. I turn back to the spirit and put the same expression on my face. Maybe I’ll see what she is seeing. Nope. Still just a spirit dangling in the air in front of my parents. I have no clue why or what to do about it. I could stare at them all day long and probably not figure it out. Hmm, maybe I need a bit more confidence in my ability to solve a problem.
“Touch it,” Isla encourages Dad.
Dad grimaces. I think it’s more because Mom has sunk her fingernails into his arm than Isla’s words. I guess on their plane of existence, they can cause each other pain. Oh, hell. Does that mean? Just as Dad reaches a hand out, I shout, “No!” I race to put myself between him and the vengeful spirit. Just as I do, the thing wakes up from its trance and lashes out with things that are more like melted talons than fingers. I slam a wall of magic in place. Except, I don’t. No wall of magic appears between me and the demon spawn. Its talons swipe through me, leaving frozen blood cells in their wake. Behind me, Dad cries out. The spirit attacks again, but this time, magic flies at it from several directions and it is contained. I whirl around to find Dad clutching his arm. I expect to see blood oozing out from under his fingers. Then I remember he’s a ghost and he doesn’t have blood running through his veins anymore. But, he can feel pain.
Someone is saying the exorcism spell. I don’t pay attention to who. I am suddenly engulfed in Kallen’s arms. “I am so sorry. I did not know what was going on. I would have helped had I known.”
I push out of his arms. I’m not worried about me or my magic going wonky. I whirl back to Dad. “Are you okay? Did it hurt you?”
Still holding his arm, Dad frowns down at me. “It did hurt me. I mean, nothing that I can’t handle, but why would it hurt me?”
“You are due an apology from all of us, as well. I believe in our curiosity, we forgot these things are not sane,” Kallen says quietly. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Isla chafe at his words. Too bad. She put her curiosity ahead of my parents’ safety. “Despite their awe, they are still feral creatures,” Kallen continues. “Feral creatures we now know can hurt you.”
The spirits are not the only ones experiencing awe. “Your magic,” Alita says softly. “It was just gone.”
Grimacing, I nod. “I think it’s pretty obvious we have Pixies.” I glance at my biological father, “Whether we’ve seen one or not.”
Dagda nods soberly. “I must agree.” The words are wrenched unwillingly from the depths of his soul. He hates being wrong. In a different situation, I would be doing a smug, ‘told you so’ dance about now. I didn’t want him to be wrong about this, though. Desperately, I wanted Felix to be wrong.
“Can we trap them?” Tana asks me as if I’m suddenly the expert on the Pixie race. At least for once I’m not the most ignorant one in the room. In this situation, that’s not saying much. I’m only a shade more knowledgeable because of Felix. He’s the real expert. “Is there any type of bait we can use to lure them?”
I shrug. I have no clue but I’ll tell her what I do know. “Felix said they’re pretty self-sufficient. They don’t really need anything and the only thing they crave is the satisfaction of eating someone’s magic. The magic itself is secondary.”
“It may be secondary,” Kallen says, “but still part of the ultimate prize.”
I glance back at my parents. Dad has his arms wrapped around my mom and I’ve never seen either of them so scared. “Um, guys, can we worry about the Pixies later? Right now, I’d like to focus on how to keep my parents safe.”
“Of course,” Dagda nods. To the room in general, he announces, “No more holding back. If a spirit appears, it is to be exorcised.” Everyone nods.
Even Isla, though disappointment flashes in her eyes. “Agreed.”
“No.”
I whirl back toward Dad. “What?”
He shakes his head. “No. We need to learn the reason behind their sudden appearance. Otherwise, this,” he waves his hand at the spot the vengeful spirit was inhabiting a moment ago, “will continue to happen.”
Damn it, he has a point. There are still flaws in his reasoning, though. And in mine from a second ago. “Dad, maybe we should worry about the Pixies first. If our magic isn’t going to be working properly, it will be difficult to keep you safe while we study these things.”
Dad is not convinced. “Xandra, there is very little these things can do to us.”
I cock my head to the side in disbelief. “Dad, I saw it hurt you.”
“So it inflicted a moment of pain. It can do no more than that. I am still whole. I am still here able to have this conversation.”
“We cannot be certain that is true,” Kallen says. I love him so much for taking my side in this. “You are obviously somewhat corporeal on your plane of existence. You can feel pain. You could be tortured by a demented soul allowed to get too close. Risking your wellbeing is not something the rest of us are willing to do. Unti
l we are able to develop a plan and be certain we can manage any magic involved with it, we must take caution’s side.”
Clearing his throat, Dagda says, “Jim, you are the only one who can talk sense into Xandra half the time. I am not willing to jeopardize that.” I turn to glare at my biological father and find him trying not to smile.
Behind me, Dad chuckles. “When you put it that way…” He is now the recipient of my glare.
“I’m glad the two of you can bond over me,” I say dryly. I elbow my husband in the ribs, hard, to get the smirk off his face.
Sitting down on a green, overstuffed couch next to Alita, Kegan says, “Okay, exorcise at will. Got it. Now, what do we do about the Pixies? I, for one, am not prepared to go back to a world where I do not have the Witch Fairy guarding my back.”
Cocking my head, I retort, “I’ve been reduced to a title now? We’ll see who has your back in the future.”
“Children,” Isla interrupts. “Let us try to have a productive conversation for a change.” Wow, everyone’s on the snippy side of moods tonight.
Sighing, I sit on a couch across from Kegan and Alita. I am staying close to my parents for the time being. Not that I would be any better at protecting them than anyone else. That has already been determined. I’m just worried about them. Everyone else gathers around. Kallen sits next to me and we scoot over to make room for Tabitha. Tana sits in a wingback chair and Dagda sits on the arm of it. Adriel pulls a chair toward us and then gets another one for Isla. This room is huge, plenty of seats for all. We are now ready to talk. Hopefully, we figure out what to talk about.
Garren, panting like a man with a collapsing lung, labors into the room and all but faints on a couch across the room. Isla begins to rise to go to him, but he waves her off. “You…talk…I…am…fine…” If he is still this ‘fine’ in five minutes, I’m going to need to heal him before his brain is completely depleted of oxygen.
