by Bonnie Lamer
I am about to say that when light erupts from every pore of Xandra’s body. A light so painful, I feel my retinas start to burn. Immediately, I make a circle inside my circle, to protect the rest of us from whatever is happening to Xandra. Even watching through the circle, where the light can no longer hurt us, it is still too painful to look at.
“Keep your eyes closed!” her father shouts. Good advice.
“Jim, I can’t see. What’s happening?”
“Flash blindness,” he says grimness. “I can’t see, either.”
“Nor I,” the Angel says.
If the light was bright enough and pure enough to blind an Angel, it is a wicked amount of power Xandra is exuding. Her body has completely left her chair and her beautiful face is euphoric as the magic of the spell fills her, letting her do whatever she chooses. I know she has gone to her brother by the way her body slumps back into the chair. It is here, but her consciousness is not. I am absolutely positive she will make it back. The light may have subsided, but that was a symptom of her power – not the power itself.
Chapter 14
My brows slam together when it is apparent that Xandra’s consciousness has returned. She does not wake up like she has every other time. Instead, her body starts to slide to the floor. Letting the protection circle surrounding us go, I rush over to her. I catch her before she falls. Lifting her up, I bring her into the living room and lay her down gently on the couch.
Her grandmother, who is hovering over my shoulder as I smooth Xandra’s hair from her face, says, “I will get a warm cloth. Maybe that will help.”
I give her a stony glance. Yes, a washcloth is going to solve this mess. Why did I not think of that? Not able to meet my eyes, she hurries back to the kitchen to get her miraculous cure.
Pacing, I wait. As each minute passes, I become more and more worried. What has happened to her? I want to shake her or kiss her. Or both. Anything that could possibly wake her up. I do neither. I simply wait.
It has been almost an hour when the Angel brings me a cup of tea. I do nothing more than grunt a no when she holds it out to me. I do not want tea. I want Xandra to wake up. I put my hand on the Angel’s arm and pull her to the corner of the room.
“Why is she like this?”
She shakes her head. “I don’t know. Honestly. This shouldn’t be happening.”
What a poor excuse for an answer. “Whether it should be or not, it is. How do we make it stop?”
“I don’t know. In all my years, this has never happened. We knew that when we fell that our connection wouldn’t be as strong. It should be a protection circle, nothing more.”
“But she has not fallen. Therein may lay the problem.”
“No, it shouldn’t make a difference. Her blood should be weakened regardless.”
“Has there ever been such a magical mixing of blood?”
I hear a gentle rustle coming from the direction of the couch. It seems a hushed conversation that she can barely hear was the key to rousing Xandra. Turning to her, I am back by her side in two strides.
Kneeling down, I cup her cheek gently in my hand. “Do you think you could manage to go a little longer between attempts to drive us out of our minds with worry?” I attempt to smile, but my plea is too real to fake my emotions.
She is able to smile. “Sorry, I have to meet my quota. If I don’t do it at least three times a day, they’ll revoke my magic license.”
Any worry that she has been permanently brain damaged leaves my mind. Raising a brow skeptically, I ask, “And who, exactly, would give you a license to practice magic?”
“I have connections in high places. I am related to kings, you know.”
I tilt my head and laugh. “Yet you deign to be in the company of a lowly peasant such as myself. How fortunate I am.”
“I hate to interrupt,” the Angel says from behind me, “but how are you feeling, dear?”
“Other than a bit of a headache, I feel fine. How long have I been out?”
I push a strand of hair behind her ear. “Only an hour this time. Just long enough for me to reverse your wild magic,” I tease.
She groans. “What did I do this time?”
The Angel gives me a dirty look before answering. Obviously, she is not in a teasing mood. “Nothing that couldn’t be fixed.” Turning back to Xandra, she says, “The important thing is figuring out what happened to you.”
Xandra attempts to sit up. The way she puts her hand to her head tells me she is not feeling as well as she would like us to believe. “I went to Denver.”
My relief turns to anger in the amount of time it took her to say those four little words. “Did they scry for you again with a stronger spell?”
She shakes her head, but I believe it hurts her and she stops. “No, apparently, I can go without them doing that.”
My gaze returns to the Angel. I do not know why. It is not like she is going to have an answer for us.
“So, any chance you two want to tell me what you were whispering about?”
I turn my face into a blank page as fast as I can. The Angel attempts to do so, but she cannot overcome the worry on her face. Xandra glowers at the both of us. “Uh huh, that’s what I thought.”
She tries to stand. I assume she wants to storm off, but all that happens is she falls back onto the couch. I try hard not to laugh, but she looks so cute sitting there all pissed off and not able to get up. It is really hard not to.
“Perhaps you should lie down for a few more minutes,” the Angel says.
“Fine,” she pouts. “Where are Mom and Dad?”
“Your mother is looking for any sign of your Grandfather or the Witan. We figured they must be close if they scried for you again.” I tried to explain to her that I would be able to sense them, but I believe she needed to be doing something to keep from having a nervous breakdown.
“No, they were all in Denver going after Zac and Aunt Barb. How do you think they found them?”
The Angel looks guilty again. Good, she should feel guilty. After a moment, she says, “Because they do not rely entirely on their magic to find some people. They also use high tech gadgets such as phone bugs. Your grandfather planted one while he was here.”
Xandra’s face becomes a picture of rage so fierce, I actually lean back from her. “And you waited until now to bring this up? Don’t you think we should have known they did things like this before we let them listen in on our phone calls? You put Aunt Barb and Zac in danger!” She has risen from the couch and has backed her grandmother across the room to the far wall.
I follow and put my hand on Xandra’s shoulder. I do not want her to do something she will hate herself for later. “Xandra, your father has already been through this with your grandmother.” As soon as I brought Xandra into the living room, everyone began brainstorming what spell they could have used to discover Zac and his aunt. It was then that the Angel brought up the Cowan technology. Impressed as I am that there are such interesting gadgets, I began to hate her even more at that moment. That was a huge piece of information she chose to leave out. My protection circles cannot ensure no one is listening through the phone line.
Xandra’s father knows some unbelievably colorful words. I have considered writing a few of them down to be used at a later date. I am sure there will be others in this realm who will make me angry and it will be nice to be prepared. Needless to say, all of those words were aimed at the Angel. She cried. For an annoyingly long time.
Pulling Xandra back against me so that I can wrap my arms around her, I whisper calming words in her ears. I do not know if she can hear them over her grandmother’s blabbering, though.
“I am so sorry. It never even dawned on me that they would use anything other than magic. I’m afraid I’ve kept myself too ignorant of the methods they use to track errant Witches.”
Xandra will not be mollified any easier than her father. “What, exactly, have you paid attention to over the last eighteen years?”
“Ha
rdly anything,” her grandmother whispers. I almost groan out loud. Please tell me Xandra is not going to fall for this pathetic behavior.
Xandra groans out loud. Actually, it is more like a growl. A feral growl. I do not hesitate to open my arms when she starts walking away. I do not want to be on the receiving end of whatever is going through her head. A few seconds later, the bathroom door slams closed.
Chapter 15
The Angel follows her down the hall to knock on the bathroom door. “Go away,” Xandra growls. Not being completely stupid, the Angel retreats back to the kitchen.
A few minutes later, Xandra’s mother floats through the outside wall. The first words she speaks are, “Is she awake?”
I nod. “She is a bit upset at the moment. Her grandmother has told her how the Witan found her brother and aunt.”
“You did what?! Mother, how could you? You know I wanted to break that to her gently. Not bombard with it as soon as she regained consciousness. What is wrong with you?” With a scathing look in her mother’s direction, the spirit goes off in search of Xandra.
“She is in the bathroom,” I say, trying to help her out.
The Angel slumps down at the table looking miserable. “I have done everything wrong. My entire life here has been a disgrace. I never should have fallen.”
“Sorry, you do not get off the hook that easily. Falling did not make you a liar. You chose to become one.”
Taken aback by my words, she is speechless for several heartbeats. Then, she says, “We are not allowed to tell.”
“You are not supposed to have children, either. Somehow you managed that, so honesty had to have been an option. After all, they do carry your blood. Does that not make them immune to the ‘do not tell’ crap?”
I wonder if she knows that I do not give a fig that she is crying again now. Okay, it might bother me a little bit, but not much. I believe I will go back to pacing, as I have done for most of the last hour.
When Xandra comes back into the room, I ask, “How are you?” I am prepared for a torrent of emotion. What I get is a genuine smile. If my heart was not already a goner for her, this moment would have been its downfall.
“Ready for the next fight,” she says.
Her father jumps in. “How about you fill in the details of the last one before starting on the next.”
Grabbing a banana, she sits down at the table to tell us what happened. The gist of it is she projected her spirit to Denver and was able to give her aunt and brother the opportunity to escape. They are on their way here now, so they will be better protected. She also slowed down the Witan, but she is realistic enough to know that they are probably just behind them. Her grandmother, of course, can offer no answers as to why Xandra is able to do these things. I doubt she is going to be invited back for the holidays.
When she finishes her tale, Xandra looks around. “What did I do to the kitchen?” she asks.
Dammit. I probably should not have teased her about this. “You blinded us.”
Confusion is written all over her. “What are you talking about? You can all see, can’t you?”
“Yes, we can now,” I say gently, trying not to set her off. “An hour ago, it was a different story.”
She cocks her head to the side. “How on earth could I have blinded all of you?”
“It was as if your magic became pure light and we were not prepared to shield against it,” her grandmother says. Hey, this would be a great lead in to the whole ‘by the way, you are part Angel’ conversation. Does she take the opportunity? No.
“It caused flash blindness,” her father explains. “It burned our retinas. My guess would be, considering the effect on your grandmother and Kallen, the intensity was around that of a nuclear explosion. It even affected your mother and me.”
“If Kallen hadn’t immediately harnessed his magic to create another protection circle here in the kitchen, the effect could have been permanent,” her mother says softly. I guess we are all walking on eggshells now.
Instead of freaking out, Xandra surprises the hell out of me. With a broad smile, she says, “See, another reason it’s good that he stayed here.” I believe my heart just stuttered. That must be why blood is rushing to my cheeks. My god, I love her.
Her mother also surprises me. She chuckles. “Yes, I suppose it is.”
Look at that. Less than forty-eight hours and I have won her over. All it took was her daughter almost dying a few times to see what a great Fairy I am.
With a sigh, though, I wipe the smile off my face. Time for round two of who can push Xandra over the edge. “Yes, the blindness was temporary, but there’s more. Before your aunt and brother arrive, we have to let down our protection circles.”
She shakes her head a little as if trying to clear cobwebs. “What?”
“Before your aunt and brother arrive, we have to let down our protection circles,” I know she heard me, so I am a little less patient this second time.
She rolls her eyes at me. “I heard you. Why?”
“Because your circle creates a physical barrier they will not be able to cross and my protection circle sits between realms and cannot be seen from either. To them, it would appear as if the house is not here and they would not be able to find it.”
Her shoulders slump and she begins taking slow deep breaths. “Okay,” she says slowly. “What do we do if the Witan attack while the circles are down?”
Fight like hell. “Hopefully, we will be able to hold them off.”
“Hopefully. That’s comforting,” she mumbles.
“I’ve called Barb and they’re only about fifteen minutes away,” her father says. “Whatever we’re going to do, we need to hurry.”
“You guys do realize that Grandpa and the Witan could be right behind them, right? My magic that was keeping them asleep retracted when I left Aunt Barb’s apartment.”
Her grandmother nods and she is on the brink of tears again. “Yes, we’re assuming that they are.”
Standing up with admirable stoicism, Xandra asks, “What do I have to do to lower the protection circle?”
“It’s very simple. You need to mix your blood with the clay again and draw a line through the pentacle.” All that work to create a spell and it can be reversed with a finger. Angel magic is almost as inane as Witch magic, apparently.
“Let’s do it then. I don’t want Aunt Barb driving into it.”
Getting up from the table, she slips her boots on. Without bothering to grab her coat, she opens the back door and starts walking outside. Abrupt, but at least she is not giving in to the craziness around her. Her rationality is making her sexier than ever. I follow her outside after using magic to create boots for myself.
The Angel follows after getting the clay and the athame needed to break the spell. Handing the athame to her granddaughter, Xandra uses it to poke the end of her finger to get a drop of blood. She then sticks her finger in the foul stuff and stirs it. At the moment, she is sexy from afar.
With a glob of clay, she draws a line through the pentacle. And then she flies over all of our heads and lands with a thump in the snow. That looked like it hurt. And now, she is holding so much magic around her, I do not dare get close to her.
“Xandra, are you going to let that go?” I ask from the elder tree.
“I’m trying,” she says through gritted teeth. After a moment of struggling, she is no closer to getting the magic back to the earth than she was before. I bet she wishes she had worn a coat now. I would make her one, but I am afraid her magic would attack mine.
“Um, anyone have any suggestions about how I can get this magic off me?” she asks.
I am not understanding why this is so difficult. “Magic is not an elephant. It cannot sit on you and hold you down.”
Even from twenty feet away, she gives an impressive glare. “Well, apparently mine is because it won’t budge.” She looks so funny lying there in the snow that even her mother has to cover her mouth to keep from laughing out loud. “It�
�s not funny.”
Oh, it really is. “Have you tried simply returning the magic to the earth?” I know she has, but being condescending is better than laughing, right?
Apparently not. “Was I just saying that it was good you stayed? I’m seriously reconsidering that opinion at the moment.”
I chuckle. “Be that as it may, but you are the only one who can return this magic to the earth.”
“Really? Because I thought little elves came along and did it for me.” She is still glaring at us all. “Isn’t this the same magic that knocked me out cold for almost a day? What if I take it all back through me and it does the same thing again?”
Oh, that is a good point. She is key in the fore coming battle. None of us are laughing anymore.
Her grandmother adds her opinion. “It very well could be that your mind and body are refusing to process the magic for that reason.” Way to be encouraging there, thanks. Now Xandra looks even more worried.
“Mother, I’ve never heard of such a thing,” the Witch spirit admonishes gently.
The Angel shrugs. “Your daughter is an enigma, Julienne. Who is to say that it doesn’t work that way for her.”
I shake my head. They can both shut up any time now. Xandra agrees. “Hey, can we have the philosophical debate later, and right now figure out what I’m supposed to do? I think my back is getting frostbitten.”
“You are literally pinned down by your magic?” I am still having a hard time grasping the concept.
“Yes, I am literally pinned down. As in, I can’t get up. As in, there is a large amount of magic hovering over me like a giant elephant butt about to sit on me. Would you like me to paint a better picture of it or is it pretty clear now that I’m being pinned down by my magic?”
“Yes, the mental image is perfectly clear now, thank you,” I say dryly.
Her next words are cut off by the sound of tires hitting gravel. Somebody has arrived. I know from my ability to sense magical beings that we will not be lucky enough for it to be her aunt and brother.