by Bonnie Lamer
Midar hisses behind me. “You little minx, what are you doing to him?”
I turn towards Midar just as he’s reaching out towards me. The light surges and he’s on his knees in a flash like Louhi. I have to get out of here. I’m getting way too freaked out by these guys. My eyelids slam together and in less than a heartbeat, I’m back in my own room kneeling in the middle of the floor. My breath is coming in harsh wheezes and there’s sweat on my brow, but I’m safe and my mind is still intact.
“Xandra, are you alright?” Kallen asks through the door.
It takes me a second to catch my breath so I can answer him. “Yes,” I finally manage.
Something in my voice must have clued him in. He opens the door, takes one look at me and rushes into the room, kneeling in front of me with his hands on my shoulders. “What happened?”
“I met,” my breathing is still too heavy to get more than one or two words out at a time. “Louhi.” Breath. “And Midar.” Am I having a panic attack?
Putting both his hands on my cheeks, he lifts my face to look at him. “Are you alright? Did they harm you?”
I shake my head as my breathing begins to normalize. “No. But they scared the crap out of me. They’re horrible looking!”
To my surprise, he leans back so he’s sitting and his shoulders start moving with laughter. “They are horrible looking? You fight two Pooka warriors without flinching, but you are frightened by two old men because you do not like how they look?”
“You didn’t see them,” I pout knowing I sound ridiculous. “I’m going to have nightmares about them. Louhi especially.”
This, of course, makes him laugh harder. “Then it is lucky for me that I did not see them. I would hate to have us both cowering in our sleep.”
I glare at him, seriously considering pushing him over. “It’s not funny.”
“I disagree. I am quite amused.”
That’s it. I use the palms of my hands against his shoulders to push him backwards. What I didn’t count on was him grabbing my arms and pulling me with him so I end up sprawled on top of him. “Mm, much better,” he says with a grin to my glowering face.
“I take it you’ve used up your nice and sweet allotment for the day?”
His eyes sparkle up at me. “I believe I may have even dipped into tomorrow’s share.”
“You’re a jerk.”
“You do like to point that out.” I let out a small yelp when he rolls us over in a flash and I’m suddenly underneath him. He looks down at me with a smug grin. “Funny how you seem to like me anyway.”
“Isn’t it? I must have been dropped on my head when I was a baby.”
With a good natured laugh, he leans down and gives me a quick kiss before standing up and holding his hand out to me. I take it and let him pull me to my feet. “Now, I believe you should tell me a little bit more about these scary fellows you met.”
I groan. I think there’s more teasing coming my way. But they were horrible! “Grandpa told them that I’m connected to the protection spell and if they scry for me, I come. Like a dog.”
The teasing grin on his face has melted into concern. “That is unfortunate. Have you tried simply not going to where the spell wants to take you?”
I roll my eyes. “No, because I’m a complete moron.” All I get is an eyebrow raise on that. “If I don’t go, then as long as they keep scrying for me, I feel like I’m being struck by lightning.”
“That does sound unpleasant.”
“No, really, it’s great. I’m actually starting to like it.”
This time he narrows his eyes at me. “Being facetious is not helping.”
No, but it makes me feel better. Unfortunately, he’s right, though. “What can we do?”
“We need to figure out a way to counteract that effect. Or channel it somewhere else.”
That sounds painful for me. “How would we do that?”
A cunning smile creeps onto his lips. “Perhaps the rope of light you mentioned is for that purpose.”
“Huh?”
“Perhaps you are meant to channel your pain through that rope of light. It’s not meant to draw you out, but to punish whoever is trying to call you.”
I frown at the thought. “So I have to intentionally torture these people?” I don’t mind giving them a little pain, but I’m not psychotic. Torturing people was not in my list of things I wanted to do when I grew up.
He gives me an assessing look. After a moment, he asks, “Did you think that you would be able to get through this without intentionally hurting anyone?”
Yes. At least not torturing anyone. “No, I guess not.”
“And are they not intentionally causing you harm?”
“I guess.”
Those words barely leave my mouth when I’m zapped to my knees. Talk about perfect timing. If I have to try to channel the pain through whoever is calling me, I hope it’s Midar. I really didn’t like him.
Kallen kneels in front of me as I’m trying to breathe through the pain. “Xandra, focus. Pull on your magic and use it to force the pain outward through the light. But you need to keep your mind here.”
Yeah, easy for him to say. He’s not the one being French fried from the inside out. Regardless, I nod and I focus on pulling magic from the earth. As it starts to fill me, the pain lessens and I finally close my eyes.
I’m right back in the hotel room with the two scariest men I’ve ever met. And they both have malicious little grins on their faces. And they look hungry. Are they planning to eat me for dinner? It wouldn’t surprise me if their taste ran towards cannibalism. Maybe that’s what made them so crazy in the first place.
Enough of that, I have to focus. I look down at the light that is attached to me and both of them. My magic takes over at this point. It recognizes a threat and immediately goes on the offense. The rope of light begins to glow brighter and hotter and within seconds, Midar and Louhi’s simpering grins have contorted into twisted, pain filled sneers. But I feel great. Not an ounce of pain left in me.
Both men are on their knees holding their heads. Louhi looks up and growls, “You will not hold us like this for long. We have defenses against your kind of magic.”
My brows crawl up to my hairline. “Then why would you call me – twice – without using them? And to think, you’re part of Grandpa’s brain trust. I let you off the first time without any real pain, and this time I’m going to let you off with a warning. If you call me again, I will not be so nice. Leave me and my family alone. I don’t want to hurt you and I’m not going to do anything with my power that you wouldn’t like. Leave. Me. Alone.”
With a final push of my magic through the light, I pull it back. Midar has a shadow in his eyes that looks an awful lot like fear. But Louhi simply looks more determined. And angry. Guess I’ll have to wait and see how that plays out but I’m not staying here a second longer. I close my eyes and don’t open them until I hear Kallen’s voice and feel his hands on my shoulders. A look of relief washes over his face.
“Xandra, are you alright?”
Opening my eyes slowly, I smile. “Yes.”
“Was it the same two men?”
I nod. “Yeah, Louhi and Midar. And yes, they’re still just as horrible looking.”
That causes him to chuckle. “I assume you were successful in channeling the pain?”
“Yup, and they didn’t like it at all. Midar was scared, but I think I just made Louhi really mad. He said they have protection against ‘my kind of magic.’ Whatever that means.”
“I am sure he meant Fairy magic.”
Oh, that makes sense. “Could they really have things that would make them immune to Fairy magic?”
He shakes his head. “No. They may have talismans or amulets that will temporarily fend off Fairy magic, but nothing that would protect them indefinitely.”
That’s good. I’d hate to have to rely on only my Witch magic. Who knows what collateral damage that could cause?
Kallen gets
to his feet and holds his hand out to me. “Come.”
“You know I hate it when you treat me like a dog.”
He looks confused and I roll my eyes. “When you tell me to come. You’re as bad as those guys.”
Now he looks angry. Maybe I went a little far comparing him to Midar and Louhi, but I’m on edge myself. “Am I supposed to beg you on humbled knee? Perhaps I should prostrate myself in front of you? Would that be better?” Before I can say the cutting retort that is parked on my tongue, he snaps, “We should find the others and tell them what you have been able to do.” And then he walks out the door and down the hall.
Geez, he sure is sensitive. Or I seriously owe him an apology. Yeah, probably that. With heavy feet, I follow him out into the hall towards the kitchen.
Mom and Grandma are back inside. Mom’s face is grim. “Xandra, there you are. I was just discussing with your father and grandmother how changed your grandfather is. It’s as if he’s not even the same man he was when I was growing up.” She shakes her head. “I don’t know who this man is. He’s become a monster.”
She turns to Grandma. “You tried to tell me, but I didn’t believe you.”
“He has slowly morphed into this shell of a man. It’s been a long time since I could stand to be in his presence.”
“Is he under a spell?” I ask.
Grandma looks startled. “Sveargith is too strong to be influenced in such a way.”
I shrug. “Unless his defenses were down. Maybe losing both you and Mom was enough for someone to sneak in and put him under a spell. It could happen, couldn’t it?” I don’t know that I believe it, but maybe it’ll make them feel better to think that’s the case.
Mom’s big blue eyes are full of hope. “Yes, if he was depressed enough, that may have given someone an in. Don’t you think, Mother?”
Grandma still looks doubtful. “Why would someone do that?”
“Power, love, money. Aren’t those the usual things people are after when they do things like that?”
Dad pipes up from where he’s standing next to Mom. “But why not just take over. Why keep him in place at all?”
“Perhaps whoever is exerting control over him is not powerful enough to hold the throne on their own,” Kallen says.
“And needs my father’s strength in order to rule over the realm.”
“So, Grandpa’s like a puppet, then?”
Kallen nods. “It is a distinct possibility if the changes in him have been as dramatic as your mother and grandmother claim.”
“Is it just as likely that he’s become a bitter old man because both his daughter and his wife left him?” Okay, I know I started this conversation, but we should look at all the options.
Kallen is giving me a weird look for my backpedaling but Grandma speaks up before he has a chance. “It could be. But being under a spell would better account for his radical behavior changes over the years. I guess I have been too close to the situation. I’ve wondered if the Witan had too much power over the years, but it didn’t dawn on me that they might actually be controlling Sveargith.”
“They could do that?” I ask in a small voice.
Kallen nods. “Yes, even the most powerful Witch can be spelled if his or her psychic defenses are low enough.”
That’s what I’m afraid of. I don’t want Grandpa to be under a spell because that means that I just might be vulnerable as well. As soon as someone in my family is threatened, or Kallen, my psychic defenses will come tumbling down. Kallen’s pretty smart. He seems to catch on to my fear and despite his annoyance from a few minutes ago, he comes to stand by my side and slips my hand in his.
He gives my hand a little squeeze. “If your grandfather is under a spell, it was probably years in the making. The influence so subtle, he would not even know it is there.”
That is not comforting at all. “Which means he’s not struggling against it. He just accepts it as the person he’s become? He doesn’t think there’s anything wrong with him.”
“From what your grandmother says, these Witches are very good at planting emotions and controlling others. It is not a stretch to guess that they can be subtle when the situation requires it.”
“Indeed.” Grandma looks contemplative. Can this idea really have just dawned on her? Seriously, she’s been near him all these years. As if reading my thoughts, she says, “I should have paid better attention to the changes Sveargith underwent. I was so focused on his part in chasing my daughter away, I lost sight of everything else around me.”
“Where is Grandpa now?”
“He left. But, I’m sure he’ll be back soon.”
Yeah, I’m sure he will be.
Chapter 12
I think if I put one more necklace around my neck with an amulet or talisman on it, I’m not going to be able to stand up from my chair. I have to be wearing at least fifty pounds of the things made of rocks, silver, amber, leather and who knows what else. Mom and Grandma have been going crazy for the last three hours making them in preparation for Grandpa and the Witan coming back with lots of tricks up their sleeves. I still can’t keep track of what all these things do; I’m just taking their word for it that I actually need them all. There’s one that smells particularly foul, though. Kallen’s been keeping his distance since I put that one on. I’m tempted to slip off to the bathroom and accidently flush it down the toilet. Mom’s pretty focused on other things right now, maybe she wouldn’t notice.
Dad and Kallen are still taking turns patrolling the outside of the house. Dad has strict orders from Mom not to leave the area of the protection circles, though. She’s afraid that Fatin will actually try to exorcise him.
Louhi and Midar must have warned the others not to scry for me because I haven’t felt their pull since sending my pain through the light to those two. None of us find it particularly comforting, though. It probably just means that they’re thinking of worse things to do to me. My overactive imagination has been running through possible scenarios, and none of them turn out well for me. I’m not as certain as I was yesterday morning that I can stand up to these people and win. They fight too dirty. Thank goodness I don’t have to do it alone.
I’m in the middle of a day dream where Grandpa creates a fire bomb out of thin air so when Kallen’s hand touches my shoulder, I practically jump off my chair. Without even consciously thinking about it, I’m flooded with magic, which makes everyone in the room pause in what they’re doing except Dad. He’s oblivious. Kallen takes several steps back and holds his hands up in front of him as an ‘I come in peace’ gesture. Color rushes to my cheeks as I try to keep the magic under control. Several deep breaths later, I’ve almost let it all go.
Mom reaches across the table and touches my hand with her cold one. “You’ll be fine. Your grandmother and Kallen and I won’t let anything happen to you.” Mom’s always been perceptive when it came to me and Zac. But then again, even the least perceptive person in the world could figure out that I’m worried about dying in the next day or two.
The sudden ringing of the phone almost causes the same reaction as Kallen’s touch. Magic starts flooding into me again. At this rate, the biggest danger to all of us is going to be me.
Looks are exchanged around the room as we all hesitate, not wanting to take the call. After the sixth ring, I can’t take it anymore and I answer it. We might as well get this over with. “Hello.”
“Xandra, is your mom or dad around?” It’s Aunt Barb.
“We’re here, Barb. What’s going on?” Dad asks from his position next to Mom where he’s been watching in fascination as Mom works her spells.
“I just got the strangest phone call. A Dr. Louis just called. He said he was an old friend of yours from medical school and he was hoping to drop by while he was in Denver.”
Any color Mom or Dad had has left them. I take it Dad didn’t go to school with a Dr. Louis. Or a Dr. Louhi, maybe. “Barb,” Mom says with a voice that’s shakier than I care to hear, “you need to take Zac
and get out of there as soon as possible. Get in your car and drive. Right now.” Now it’s my turn to lose all my color. They’ve found Aunt Barb and Zac.
“Julienne, what’s wrong? What’s going on?”
“How did they know?” I ask Mom, who at the moment, looks like someone poked a hole in her sanity balloon and all the air is leaking out. I don’t know if she’s going to be able to hold it together much longer. Maybe now’s not the best time to ask her questions. “Um, Aunt Barb, you should do what Mom’s asking. We can explain later. Just go.”