That’s how Kallen finds me, sitting completely still on a stump and staring aimlessly off into the distance. I guess I must have been crying because he kneels down in front of me and uses his thumb to wipe a tear from my cheek. “If I could make all of this go away, I would,” he says softly. I nod and try to not to cry harder. He gathers me in his arms and just holds me for a long time while I shed tears of anger, sorrow, determination, helplessness and hope.
When I finally don’t have another tear to shed, I pull back away from him. “Thank you,” I say quietly and seeming to understand that I need space now, he busies himself with making a fire.
There’s a carcass of a skinned rabbit sitting in the snow next to him. God help me, I’m going to have to eat that if I have any intention of building my strength back up. But I already feel like retching in the snow. My meat isn’t supposed to have eyes or ears or a little tiny rabbit tongue hanging out of its mouth. “Next time, will you please leave the head in the woods?”
Kallen smiles and nods. “Of course.”
Chapter 13
“Are we in a circle?” I ask as I battle a mouthful of rabbit down my throat and esophagus. It’s trying really hard to come back up.
Kallen shakes his head. “Now that I know you can handle yourself, there is no need right now. When we find a place to rest our heads tonight, I will put one up so we can sleep peacefully.”
I snort. “That’s not likely to happen. Do you think I’ll be able to make things appear and disappear like you can?”
Kallen nods. “Of course, as soon as you learn to draw only a small amount of magic instead of filling yourself to the brim you will be able to make anything you want appear.”
“But you said the Cowan Fairies can’t do that.”
“You are not a Cowan Fairy. You are a Fairy who is very powerful. The only thing you lack is control.” It doesn’t escape my notice that he said Fairy instead of Witch Fairy. Suck up.
“How long has it been since there was a Witch Fairy besides me.” Hey, I’m proud to be my mother’s daughter. I’m not going to forget that I’m half Witch just because Kallen seems to want to forget that.
“There has not been one in my lifetime. My understanding is that it has been thousands of years because the Witches and the Fae had a mutual agreement not to create one.”
“Thousands of years? My mom was the first Witch to get pregnant by a Fairy in thousands of years?” Way to go, Mom. Bring me into the world when no one else has wanted to bring someone like me into the world for millennia. My self-esteem is hanging by a thread now.
“I do not know if that is true, but yes, you are the first child of such a union to be born in thousands of years.”
“Why am I so awful to have around?” He raises his eyebrows and I sigh and shake my head. “You know what I mean. Not today, I mean in the cosmic order of things.”
“The prophecy says: A Witch’s child of Fae is born when spirits of the realms are torn. Into the world destruction she brings while children cry and angels sing. None may survive the vengeance of she, and immortal her soul is to be to remedy the world of its natural discord.”
I can’t believe this. “Really. You are just now telling me that there is a prophecy? Really? Are you kidding me?”
He has the decency to look embarrassed and he’s suddenly fascinated by his rabbit leg. “It did not seem important to tell you.”
“There’s a prophecy that says I’m going to bring destruction to the world while watching children cry and you don’t think it’s important to tell me that? What is wrong with you?”
Still not lifting his eyes to mine, he says, “After I met you, the prophecy did not seem to ring true so there seemed no reason to dwell on it any longer.”
My mouth hangs open as I try to figure out how to respond to that. Do I get angry because he kept yet another secret from me or am I supposed to be pleased because I don’t seem like the kind of person who could destroy the world? Or is that simply his way of saying I’m not powerful enough to fulfill the prophecy and if he is saying that should I be insulted or should I be glad that I’m not? Okay, there is no good way to respond to that. So I don’t.
“Are you considered young or old in your realm?”
Kallen looks up at me surprised that I completely changed the subject. “I am very young for the Fae.”
“Are Fairies immortal?”
He shakes his head. “No, but it is not unusual for a Fairy to live for thousands of years.”
“Hmm, I wonder how long I’ll live since I’m half Witch. Guess I’ll just have to wait and see since I’m such an enigma, huh?”
“It would seem so.” Kallen has a slight frown on his face as he looks warily at me like he expects this conversation to be some sort of ruse to start an argument. I just don’t have it in me to argue with him any more today, though.
I force the last bite of rabbit down my throat. And no, it doesn’t taste like chicken. Standing up, I say, “We should probably get going.”
Kallen cocks his head. “Get going towards where, your home?”
I sigh a sigh that comes all the way up from my toes. “No. How long do you think Maurelle and Olwyn will be out?”
Kallen actually chuckles as he stands up. “Considering the amount of magic you pushed through them, I would assume for several hours yet.”
“Okay, then let’s try to put some more distance between us and them.” I turn around and start walking again in the opposite direction from where we left the Fairies. I still don’t know if we’re moving closer to or farther away from house.
We walk a long time in silence which I don’t mind at all. It starts snowing hard again and our range of vision becomes greatly diminished not to mention I am once again in a situation where even my eyeballs are cold. I really hope we find someplace to get out of this weather soon. Though I don’t know what good it will do us since we don’t have any dry clothes or a sleeping bag to keep us warm. Maybe Kallen can use his magic to make me a blanket. And a separate blanket for him.
After another hour, the wind picks up and it’s like trying to walk against a wind machine. We have to keep our heads down and squint to shield our eyes. “I think I see a place!” Kallen yells over the wind. Thank god.
The place he finds is similar to where we had slept the first night. It’s almost like a very shallow cave but not quite that big. But it is situated in a way that will protect us from the wind. The relief of stepping into it and not having the wind trying to push me over is a little disorienting. Kind of like getting off a ride at an amusement park and not being able to walk straight because you’re still dizzy. Because of that, I stumble and fall against Kallen. He catches me and keeps me from falling on the hard rock.
As soon as I have my balance back, I step away from him. We are definitely not going to be sharing a sleeping bag tonight. Funny, whenever I’d had daydreams about being on a deserted island or somewhere similar with a guy as gorgeous as Kallen, I assumed that I’d want to snuggle up with him. But here I am with a guy who looks like he could be an underwear model and the idea of being attracted to him is almost ludicrous. Well, if I’m going to be perfectly honest with myself, and at this point in my life that seems like a very good idea because then at least one person in the world would be being honest with me, I am attracted to him. Physically. But that’s not enough to compensate for his ego and his prejudices.
I sit down on the cold rock and curl myself into as tight of a ball as I can to try to preserve my body heat. “Any chance you could make me a blanket?” I ask Kallen with shivering teeth.
He sits down next to me. “Fairy magic is tricky with things like that. In order for a Fairy to create something such as clothes, it must be physically touching him or her at all times. As soon as the Fairy is no longer touching it, it disappears.”
“How convenient you haven’t explained that to me before,” I say dryly. I can tough out the cold, I decide.
“It is not a matter of convenience; we simply have not talk
ed about the finer points of Fairy magic because you are still working on garnering control over the basics.” He moves so he’s sitting closer to me so that his leg is touching mine. I shift so none of my body is touching his.
“So, when are you going to teach me Witch magic?” I ask and Kallen looks at me aghast.
“Why on earth would you want to waste time with spells and incantations when your Fae magic is so strong? You need only think of something and draw on the earth for it to be there.”
I make a face at him. “So, I’m supposed to just forget that I’m half Witch because it makes you more comfortable, huh?”
He starts to say something but he stops before any words come out of his mouth. He clears his throat and tries again. “I can see how you would want to learn about both areas of magic with your shared heritage, I was simply surprised that you would want to move past the Fae magic so quickly and begin your knowledge of the Witches.”
“Why can’t I learn both at the same time?”
“As they are conflicting styles of magic, it would probably become quite confusing to try to master both at the same time. But,” and here his face becomes blank, “I would be perfectly willing to discontinue our work on controlling your Fae magic and beginning instruction on your Witch magic.”
“How diplomatically put. Did it cause you any physical pain saying that?” He looks at me sharply preparing for an attack until he sees the teasing glint in my eye.
He leans back against the rock face and closes his eyes. “Some.”
I laugh. I really do have to give him credit for trying to put his prejudices aside. After all, he has been conditioned to believe them for over three hundred years. I’m having trouble letting go of some of my beliefs and I’ve only had them for seventeen years. Another thought pops out of my mouth before my brain has a chance to stop it. “Why would someone as old as you want to kiss someone as young as me?”
I’m not sure what reaction I expected but I certainly didn’t expect him to keep his eyes closed and smile as he says, “Because you are the most beautiful Fairy I have ever met.”
“You mean Witch Fairy. You know, you could be my great great great great great great great great great great great great great grandfather in human years.”
He still doesn’t open his eyes but his smile does get bigger. “Then it is fortunate that I am not human. Time moves differently in the Fae realm. My age is comparable to yours if assessed in human years.” Opening just one eye to look at me, he asks, “Are you cold enough to share a blanket with me yet?”
“Maybe I should try to make my own blanket.”
Both of his eyes pop open now to look at me. “I would rather not be buried by another avalanche at the moment, if that is alright with you.”
“I wonder if my magic is that hard to control or if you are simply a terrible teacher. Which do you think it is?”
He closes his eyes again. “I am positive it is not the latter.”
“How can you be so sure? Have you taught a lot of people how to use their magic?”
He nods. “Yes, I have. I am considered one of the best at it and families often request for me to help in their children’s training.” Shoot, I wasn’t expecting that answer.
“Do you teach Cowan Fairies or do you only teach full-blooded Fairies?”
Kallen frowns. “You are quite feisty this evening. And the answer is no, I do not teach Cowan Fairies but not because I will not, it is because I cannot. It would be similar to you trying to teach someone how to build a bridge but they speak a different language than you and have different tools that you have never used before.”
“Hmm, I don’t know how to build a bridge so that’s a bad analogy.”
He laughs. “So it would seem.” A warm wool blanket appears over him and he stretches his legs out and wraps himself up in it.
“That’s not nice,” I complain.
He looks at me and shrugs. “I should not have to be cold because you do not want to share a blanket with me.”
I hold out for another long five minutes but it’s too cold to continue being stubborn. “Fine,” I grumble and I lift up a corner of the blanket and pull it over me. The next thing I know, Kallen has slipped an arm behind my back and grabs my waist on both sides and lifts me up and settles me between his legs. “Hey!”
“It is a better use of body heat to sit like this.” He wraps his arms around my waist and leans back against the rock again.
I hate to admit it but he’s right; it is warmer this way. I grumble about it for a couple of minutes, which he ignores, and I finally relax and settle back into him. We sit like that for a long time without saying anything until we both fall asleep.
Chapter 14
I wake up stiff and cold the next morning. Kallen’s arms are still wrapped tightly around me even in his sleep. I wonder if that’s because he’s cold or he just wants to be that close to me. I’m sure it’s the former. Regardless of how he has started acting, I doubt that it’s possible he could have put all of his prejudice aside about me being half Witch in just a few days. But on the other hand, if he’s stuck in this realm forever I am the only female who is part Fairy except Maurelle. I guess that would make me the lesser of two evils. Gee, that’s romantic.
Now I’m super annoyed that he has his arms around me. So annoyed that I am sure to elbow him in the stomach as I wrestle my way out of his grasp. He wakes up with a loud, “Humph,” and I glare at him. His eyebrows draw together in confusion as he looks at me with sleepy eyes as I stand up and move away from him.
Looking down at him, I ask, “Do you have a plan or are we just going to hide out in the mountains forever? Because this is getting really old.”
Kallen takes his time answering me as he rubs his hands against his face to try to wake up. He stands up and stretches his full height with his arms above him and I really, really hate the fact that he looks so good doing it. Finally turning to me, he says with a grin, “I rather enjoy the mountain air.”
I growl in frustration and turn around and start walking. “Where are you going,” he asks.
“Not that it’s any of your business but I have to pee.” I keep walking and if he tries to follow me, I’m going to drown him in my magic. Five minutes later when I return to the place where we had slept, my bladder feels better but I’m not any less crabby. I stand akimbo in front of Kallen who is leaning with his back against the rock. “What’s your plan?”
“We need to bind Maurelle and Olwyn’s magic so they are of no threat to you or your family.”
I look at him like he’s an idiot. Which he is. “Why didn’t you do that yesterday when they were lying unconscious on the ground? It seems like that would have been the perfect time.”
Now he looks at me like I’m an idiot. Which I’m not. “If it was that simple I would have done so. But it takes two powerful Fairies to perform the ritual to bind Fairy magic.”
“Are you saying that I’m not a powerful Fairy?”
“It is not your power that is lacking; it is still your control. Binding Fairy magic is a delicate process and delicate is not a word that I can use to describe your magic.” He cocks his head and raises his brows. “Unless you do not care if we kill them instead of binding their magic as you almost did yesterday.”
I feel my face blanche. “I what?”
Kallen sighs and pushes himself away from the wall. He puts both hands on my shoulders and looks down at me with something that almost mimics sympathy. “If I had not let my magic go and drawn most of your magic inside of me, you would have killed Maurelle and Olwyn. If I had been a less powerful Fairy as most are, you would have killed me. I have never met a Fairy who could send out so much raw magic and force it into others as you can. It is both fascinating and frightening to behold.”
I step back away from him and he drops his hands to his sides. “Why are you saying this? Are you trying to scare me into staying in the mountains with you?”
A small smile touches his lips. “As much
as I am growing to enjoy your company, with several obvious momentary exceptions of course, I am not trying to scare you to keep you in the mountains with me. I rather dislike the cold myself and would have chosen a much more temperate climate if that was the case. I am trying to make you understand that until you learn to control your magic, you are a dangerous Fairy to be around. I am assuming that no matter how badly you want to leave my company and go home, you do not want to add murder into your repertoire of skills.”
I have to be whiter than the snow by now. I believe all of the blood has left the upper half of my body as I take in his words. I almost killed three people yesterday without even knowing what I was doing. “Maybe I should stop doing Fairy magic and only do Witch magic.”
Kallen looks at me sadly and shakes his head. “Again, it is not that simple. Your mother explained about a Witch’s mana as they choose to call it coming from the earth. Magic is magic, Xandra. It all comes from the same place whether you draw it into you using spells and incantations or you are able to draw it simply by calling to it. As I wanted to explain last night but I did not think that you were of the frame of mind to hear it, the amount of magic you pull could cause a spell to go awry or become a hundred times more powerful than you meant it to be.”
True of Blood (Witch Fairy Series) Page 16