Blood of Destiny (Witch Fairy #6)

by Lamer, Bonnie

  We walk for about five minutes to a spot as snowy as the one we left. Raziel stops and closes his eyes. Lifting his arms up, he mutters something under his breath.

  I gasp when I see the air separate like a curtain; similar to how it looks when I travel between realms. Except his curtain doesn’t go to another realm, it goes to a cave of sorts. A fancy cave with carpeting, furniture and a roaring fire in a pit. For a cave, it looks pretty darn comfortable. Where were the caves like this when Kallen and I were in the mountains?

  Raziel walks forward and I follow. As soon as I am past the curtain, it closes again. I turn around and I am amazed that I can see outside clearly. It’s like being in a magic circle, but Raziel shouldn’t be able to walk in and out of it at will. It would break the magic holding it together.

  “How did you do that?” I ask in awe.

  Raziel shrugs. “I bear the burden of knowledge.”

  I scrunch my face up into a frown. “How is knowledge a burden?”

  There’s that sad smile again. “It is possible to know too much, Xandra.”

  Um, how did he know my name? As if reading my thoughts, he says, “As I said, I was expecting you.” Now, that’s just creepy.

  “Who are you?” I ask again.

  The look he gives me tells me that he knows I’m asking for more than his name. He tilts his head and sighs. “Even I am bound by the rules of fate, Xandra. You will know all when it is time. Not a moment sooner.”

  Wow. Confused to mad in a split second. I’m good. “That’s a lousy answer. Do you guys have meetings about how to best upset people?”

  He chuckles and I think there is actual amusement in it. “By people, I assume you mean yourself.”

  Okay, maybe that comment was a little self-centered. But still. “You said that we had things to discuss. I’m here in your little man cave instead of going right back to the Fairy realm and now you’re refusing to tell me anything.”

  He shakes his head slightly. “Not anything, only certain things. There are things that everyone must discover for themselves.”

  “If you’re going to keep talking in riddles, I’m going to take a nap on your couch until you’re ready to go.” To prove my point, I walk to the couch and flop down.

  “You will need to make a choice.”

  I am not going to ask him what choice. I am going to sit here and ignore him until he tells me on his own. “What choice.” Great plan. Glad it worked so well.

  “You will have the chance to change your destiny.”

  I don’t believe him. “I thought that wasn’t possible?”

  Sad smile again. That’s getting kind of old even if I am becoming more and more drawn to him every minute I’m here. “It is very rare indeed. But you are an enigma, Xandra. You have been instilled with the power of the ages. You represent the culmination of the most powerful of each race whose blood you have running through your veins. You will have the choice to make your life perfect.”

  “Perfect?” Um, that sounds kind of cool. I’m not seeing the downside to this, so why does he still look sad?

  “Perfection is a white horse in a dark storm that has come to bring you home before you get wet. The problem is a dark horse in a dark storm could bring you home just as easily.”

  I didn’t understand that at all. I’m thinking he doesn’t have a lot of friends because he must have way too much time on his hands to be able to come up with this crap. “Great. Got it. Can we go now?”

  With a sigh, he turns slowly around in a circle taking in the sights of his cave. I try to wait patiently, but he’s taking so long. Good lord, it’s just a cave. My foot starts tapping on the brown carpeted rock floor. Finally, after a good five minutes he turns to me and says, “I am ready to leave behind the one place I feel at peace.”

  Great. Angel guilt. They are so good at it. I guess they’ve had a long time to practice it. “I promise, where I live is a lot more comfortable. And warmer.”

  He smiles that pathetically sad smile again. Okay, that was surly. Maybe I should work on being a bit more sympathetic than impatient. Nah. I want to go home. I don’t like the feelings that are being stirred up inside me right now and I want to get away from him as soon as possible. “In this realm, there is no one besides myself and these giant lizards who demand nothing of me. They do not seek my knowledge, nor do they care about their fates. Their brains are too small to worry about such things.”

  This guy is so weird. I’d ask what he’s the Angel of but I’m afraid he’ll take forever to answer. “I’m sorry you have to leave the only place you can find peace.” That almost sounded sympathetic. Still a little too heavy on the impatience, though. I’ll have to work on that recipe.

  “Thank you,” he says even though I’m sure he knows I was only trying to be polite. “We may go now.”

  Finally, I stand up and close my eyes preparing to open a gateway. His hand on my arm stops me and a tingling rush travels up to my shoulder. I open my eyes to find him looking at me with freaky pale green eyes. “Remember, perfection goes against the grain of the grand design. Please choose wisely.” His eyes are so intense I want to take a few steps back from him. “I want to tell you more, Xandra, believe me, I do. But I am finding that being in your presence is harder than I thought it would be. I am afraid of pushing you in a direction not of your choosing.”

  I sigh. “That’s okay. I get that a lot.” Stupid Angels and their morality. It’s time to go.

  Chapter 16

  I open a gateway and there, sitting on the terrace steps, is Kallen. He has his elbows on his knees and his hands are dangling between his legs. He doesn’t look mad, but he doesn’t look happy, either. Gingerly, I step through the gateway and Raziel follows me.

  “Hi,” I say tentatively. He looks up but he doesn’t respond. “Um, this is Raziel, the last Fallen Angel.” Kallen gives him a slight nod but still doesn’t say anything.

  “Raziel, wonderful to see you,” Ray says, coming out of the house. “Care for a walk down the beach?”

  Raziel looks thrilled at the prospect. Actually, not really. He may be less pleased about that than Kallen is with me. For some reason, it’s like he doesn’t want to leave me alone with him. What is his deal? Turning his head from me to Kallen and then Ray, he reluctantly nods. I wait until he and Ray are out of hearing distance before I sit down next to Kallen on the steps. “So, you’re pretty mad at me, huh?”

  He shakes his head once. “No, I am not mad at you.”

  “I didn’t go alone on purpose.” He doesn’t respond. “I’m sorry I made you worry.”

  “I was not worried. You are more than capable of taking care of yourself.”

  “Then why are you sitting here looking like you’re mad or worried?”

  He bends his head forward and runs his hands through his hair. Sitting up straight again, he stares out to the ocean and says, “We are not partners, Xandra. I like to pretend that we are, but we are not. You do things your way, when you want to do them, and the rest of us be damned.” Uh oh, where’s he going with this? “Is this what our marriage will be like?”

  “Kallen, honestly, I didn’t go without you on purpose. I swear.” He knows how stupid I can be when it comes to magic. Why doesn’t he believe that?

  Stretching his left leg out, he pulls something out of the pocket of his jeans. “Do you want to know why Grandmother wanted to talk to Kegan and me?”

  “To talk you out of marrying me?” I say, only half joking.

  The tiniest little curves upward happen at the sides of his mouth. You almost need a microscope to see them. “Grandmother has not once suggested we not marry.” Looking at me for the first time, he opens his hand to show me what he has. “She gave Kegan and me family rings to give to you and Alita. Kegan has Grandmother’s ring and this was my mother’s.”

  Well, now I feel really crappy for how I acted before. “I’m sorry.”

  “I know.”

  “You do?”

  He nods. “You ar
e always sorry when these things happen, Xandra. I just wish they would stop happening so often.”

  “Well, yeah, me too. Do you think I like constantly making mistakes with my magic? I want to be able to control it just as much as you want me to. And we are partners. I was miserable that you weren’t with me when I was retrieving Raziel. I almost got eaten by a pterodactyl.”

  His eyebrows move up slowly. “A pterodactyl?” I don’t think he believes me.

  “Yes. Raziel called it Polly.”

  He chuckles. I think it’s more of an ‘at me’ thing. Shaking his head, he says, “Seriously, this Fallen Angel had a pet pterodactyl? You do know that they had brains the size of peas, right? They did not have the ability to create social bonds.”

  “Which is probably why it wanted to eat me.”

  He laughs. “Good point.” He tilts his head and really looks at me for the first time. “Nice outerwear.”

  I stick my tongue out at him. “Thanks. If you would have been with me, I wouldn’t have winded up wearing them. Or the other two layers that I managed to get rid of.”

  He shakes his head. “I never thought that I would end up being the royal tailor.”

  I put my hand on his cheek. “No, you are only my tailor because I would be really jealous if you were dressing someone else. You’re my tailor, my lover, my best friend and the person I want to be my partner forever.”

  He gives me the first real smile since I got back. “Then I should probably give you this ring.”

  He takes my hand in his, but I pull it back. Then I wrap his fingers around the ring in his other hand. “No, I don’t want it right now. I want to wait.” His face turns into a scowl bordering on glare so I put my hands on his cheeks and rush to say, “I’m not saying that I don’t want to be engaged or married to you. It’s just that this is a very special ring. It was your mother’s and that means a lot to me. So, when you give it to me it should be special too. It shouldn’t be sitting on the terrace steps after a sort of argument. Please give it to me when you are happy with me, not frustrated or unsure. Give it to me when you are in the mood to share something so special. Do you understand what I mean?”

  The frown lines smooth out and he smiles again. “I understand.” He leans forward and kisses me at the same time he removes the awful outerwear that I’m wearing.

  “Thank you,” I mutter against his lips.

  “Ah, peace at last,” that voice I have grown to hate says from behind me.

  I pull my lips from Kallen’s frozen ones and turn so I can see Ambriel. Unfortunately, the sun is setting behind him so I can’t really see his face. He doesn’t move, even when I have to use my hand as a visor and squint to see him. “You do watch us, don’t you?”

  If I could see his face I bet it would be haughty. “And here I thought I was being considerate waiting for you to finish your conversation.”

  I try counting ten sheep before I respond. Are the sheep necessary since I’m not going to sleep anytime soon? Yes. It gave me something else to think about for a moment besides killing him. “I have your Angels. What do you want me to do with them?”

  “You speak of them as if they are old shoes. Have you no respect for your elders?”

  I sigh. “Ambriel, stop being such a jerk. I don’t want to get into an argument with you about this. Will you please just answer my question?”

  He begins to pace in front of me so he alternates between blocking the sun and letting it burn my retinas. “You will keep them here for the time being. Then, when instructed to do so, you will teleport them to the destination the artifact gives you. Without your wings.”

  “Wait a minute, that’s two favors. Keeping them here counts as a favor. And how did you know that I can teleport without wings?”

  I’m glad I can’t see his face at the moment because I’m sure he’s giving me an evil look. I can tell that from his voice when he says, “We have had this discussion. Finding and keeping them here was one favor. The second favor will be teleporting them to a designated location.”

  He’s such a jerk. “Fine, whatever. Now, tell me how you knew that I can teleport without wings? Do all the Angels know that?”

  I can barely see him shake his head. “It is not necessary for you to know how I gained that knowledge. The answer to your second question is no. It is a well-kept secret that you teleport in such a manner.”

  My creep-o-meter is starting to go off. Okay, it’s been going off since I first met this guy, but now it’s ringing so loudly I’m pretty sure I’m going to go deaf. “What have you gotten me into?”

  I’m pretty sure he’s smiling now. Why won’t the guy move out of the direction of the sun? “All will be revealed in due time. There is no reason for you to know now.”

  A thought hits me. “Can you guys pick up on anything I do without my wings?”

  Angels can’t lie to other Angels though I know he wants to. “No,” he grinds out. I think he had to chisel a gap between his tightly clenched teeth for the word to make it through. I don’t think he likes the fact that I can do something he can’t.

  That is such great news. With a swoop of magic, I pick him up and throw him out into the ocean. I figure if he tells on me to anyone, it’ll be his word against mine. He comes up sputtering about fifty feet from shore. He is so mad, I almost regret my actions. Then I think again about what an ass he’s been and I grin. He totally deserved it.

  When he’s close enough for me to hear him, he growls, “Have you had your mortal fun now?”

  It’s hard to take him seriously when green seaweed is hanging from his white suit, and his normally slicked back hair is now plastered down to his head in different directions because of the sea water. Not a good look for him. “Actually, there are about a hundred more things I would like to do to you before I truly start to have fun. But I’m good for now.”

  The moment he steps onto the sandy shore, his clothes are dry and his hair is in its usual slicked back style again. He missed a patch of seaweed on his shoulder, but I’m not going to point it out. “You are childish beyond measure.”

  I shrug. “And you’re annoying beyond measure. I guess that makes us even.”

  He gives a good glare but I’ve seen better on my mom’s and Isla’s faces, so I’m not even phased. “You will be hearing from me.”

  “I’ll be waiting with my heart aflutter for the next time you grace me with your presence.” He’s muttering some pretty nasty words under his breath. “Hey, are Angels allowed to talk like that? If so, then we need to update our dictionaries with a new definition of Angel like behavior.”

  Guess he’s done talking for the moment because he leaves without another word. And he calls me rude. At least I was willing to finish our conversation. I turn around to watch as Kallen falls forward because I am no longer there kissing him. At least he catches himself before his face hits the terrace steps. “Sorry,” I say with a ‘not really my fault’ look on my face.

  “Perhaps in the future you could put something soft in your place before I break a tooth, or my nose?”

  I bite my bottom lip trying to decide if he’s kidding or not. “How about a giant marshmallow?” He looks at me like I’m crazy. Oh yeah, they don’t have processed food here. “Never mind, bad joke when you don’t know what a marshmallow is.”

  Standing up, he walks towards me. I smile up at him as he wraps his arms around my waist. “You will always keep things interesting,” he says and then he kisses me. A long, lovely kiss that makes me forget about Ambriel for the moment.

  “If you two lovebirds are through, you should come on inside. Alita is here and she needs some sense talked into her,” Tabitha says from the terrace door.

  Uh oh. Knowing Alita she’s probably trying to back out of the engagement because Kegan’s dad is such a jerk. I step out of Kallen’s embrace and put my hand in his. “What’s going on?” I ask.

  “Is she being stubborn over Uncle’s opinion?” Kallen asks. Apparently we’re on the same wavelen
gth here.

  Tabitha nods her head in frustration. “Of course she is.”

  Kallen and I follow Tabitha into the house. We walk through the large living room to get to the kitchen where we find Alita softly crying and Kegan looking mad as hell. He looks even madder when Tabitha smacks him in the back of the head. “Did you make this girl cry?” she asks in a way that says he’s going to be smacked again if he says yes.

  “No, he did not,” Alita says, wiping at her tears. “I am doing a fine job by myself.”

  I walk over to her and put an arm around her shoulders. She’s taller than me so it’s a little bit awkward, but I manage. “Will you please stop letting his idiotic, pigheaded father make you feel badly. His prejudices make him a person you shouldn’t even care about. If you’d like, I’ll go talk to him and tell him to either accept you or go to hell.”