by Bonnie Lamer
Holding up a hand, Dagda growls. “I am fine. Focus your energy on finding my wife.”
I shake my head. “I need your help if I’m going to do that. We have a lot of work to do, and you being injured will make you useless.”
“Work,” he scoffs. “We have no idea what work we need to do to bring her back.”
“Speak for yourself,” I mutter, moving within touching range. Despite his grumbling, when I kneel down next to him, he lets me heal his leg. I don’t get a chance to check him for other injuries. As soon as he can walk, he is on his feet and striding toward the house.
Kallen comes to me and offers his hand to help me up. “He is angrier with himself than anyone else,” he says softly.
I nod. “I know. I still can’t believe we lost her to them, though.”
His lips pressed into a grim line, Kallen agrees. “Neither can I.” Wrapping his arms around me, he says with all the faith in the universe, “We will get her back.”
I smile up at my adoring and sexy husband. “We will, and I know how.”
He studies my face trying to determine if I am being optimistic, or if I truly have a plan. “Do tell,” he says.
I shake my head. “I don’t think I should say the plan out loud.” I glance around. “Who knows who could be listening.” After all, the others were watching us on Demon television earlier. The Demons could be watching us all the time.
Kallen nods in understanding. “Very well.” He turns to his grandmother and Garren who are rising from the driveway. Garren is still a little weak so he is leaning on Isla as they begin to walk to the house. “Let me help you,” Kallen calls.
His arms drop from me and he hurries to help his step-grandfather into the house. I follow the three of them in. Clutching the feather in my pocket, I begin to make a mental list of the things I will need to bring about the destruction of the Demons. They are going to regret ever coming up against me and my family.
28 Chapter
As I enter the house, Grandma’s little pep talk plays through my mind again. I thought it strange at the time that someone who helped orchestrate my birth would forget which blood lines I had running through my veins. My grandfather is a Witch from a long line of Witches. She is an Angel. My biological father is a Fairy. There is not a drop of Cowan blood in my veins. But, apparently, the recipe she gave me calls for Cowan blood. I guess her little speech turned out to be one hell of a pep talk after all. Unfortunately, I can’t say this out loud. No one else even knows I spoke to her.
Before anyone can say anything, I hold a hand up. “I need a few minutes to think, please.”
“Is there anything we should be doing while you are thinking?” Kallen asks pointedly. He is the only one who knows I already have a plan formulating.
“We do not have time for this, we need to do something,” Dagda growls.
I turn and give him a pointed look. “I know,” I growl right back.
Kallen steps in. “Uncle, perhaps we should continue researching. You know Xandra works best when left to her own devices.” He also gives the Fairy a pointed look.
Dagda is really freaking dense today. I blame it on the fact that his possessed wife was just kidnapped by Demons. I imagine all of his brain power is leached onto that fact and that fact alone. “I am not going to sit here reading books! We will travel to the hell dimension and rescue Tana!” He stalks toward me. “You will teleport us there.”
Placing my hands on my hips, I stand my ground as he approaches. “Listen, I need a minute and you are going to give me one. Even if that means I put you in a magical cage.”
“Dagda,” Isla says sharply and his head whips in her direction. It’s a good thing she’s not a delicate flower, otherwise she would wilt under the evil glare he is shooting her way. “Trust her.” That’s all she says. Trust her.
I turn my own shocked eyes in her direction. She knows I’m up to something. Hmm. Am I that transparent? I really hope not. Otherwise, we’ll have a Demon infestation problem before I’m ready for them.
Dagda opens his mouth to say something when Kallen and Kegan move as one. They each grab an arm and forcefully push him down onto a stool. He is so shocked he doesn’t even lash out with magic or fists. “What the hell do you think you are doing?” he demands.
“Saving you from yourself. And saving Tana,” Kallen says evenly. “If we could save her with brute force, we would have done so outside. Now, we need a plan. A plan your daughter will make as soon as you leave her be.” There is so much steel in his voice, I expect a fully formed skyscraper to spring from his mouth.
It works. Dagda is still pissed and impatient, but he doesn’t say another word to me. He doesn’t pick up a book, either, but that’s okay. I doubt there’s anything in any of these books that would be particularly useful anyway.
Still, the Demons don’t know that I know that. I turn to everyone else. “You should keep reading,” I tell them. Reluctantly, several books are opened and perused. They all seem to know it’s a waste of time, but they are keeping up appearances to give me time. Wow, my family knows me well.
Okay, now that I don’t have a crazed father breathing down my neck, I can focus once again on Grandma’s speech. First, though, I marvel at how skillfully she came to me and presented me with the information I need. Did she do it on her own, or was she given permission? I really hope it’s the latter. I don’t want Grandma to lose her wings over this.
I begin my mental checklist. I need a tarnished feather from my own set of wings. Fortunately, I still have them on my back. I reach over and grab one of the feathers that turned black because of a previous action on my part. “Stupid black feathers,” I complain and yank it out. “Ow! If I had known it was going to hurt that much, I would have left it there.” That was for the benefit of any watching Demons. It did hurt a surprising amount, though. I really hope another one grows in its place. Not that you can tell I’m missing a feather, but it still seems wrong to tear out an Angel feather.
Which reminds me of the feather in my pocket. I’m going to leave it there for now. Grandma must have slipped me one of her feathers when she gave me a hug. The feather of a full blooded Angel, another ingredient on her list. She didn’t come out and say that I needed the feather, but her speech about my true blooded friends and their wings and the fact she slipped it in my pocket is enough for me to figure this out all on my own. I’m smart that way.
Now for the blood. I need the blood of a Cowan. I apparently also need the blood of a Witch, a Fairy and an Angel. Those I can supply myself. Lucky for me, a Cowan happened to walk into the room not that long ago. I could go upstairs and get the blood from Dad, or even Zac, but I don’t want to raise any more suspicion than necessary. But, how to go about it? I can’t ask for it. I guess I get creative.
Hmm, creative bloodletting. I could juggle knives and claim it helps me think better. Nope. Much more likely to hurt myself than others in that scenario. I could trip and knock Alita’s mother off her stool and hope she bleeds somewhere before healing her. No, too risky that she might not bleed and then she’d be spooked and avoid being near me. I could simply ask everyone for a blood sample ‘just in case’. Then they would ask ‘just in case what’ and I’m really bad at coming up with excuses for my stupid behavior.
“You okay over there? You look like you’re considering a bowel movement. Or is that really your thinking face?” Taz snarks.
I glower in his direction when a thought hits me. “What’s the matter, been too long without bacon? How about I have someone find you a piece?” I ask in a deceptively sympathetic tone.
Taz is instantly suspicious. “You never offer me food.”
“It’s a new world,” I say with a saccharine smile. Turning to Alita’s mother, I ask, “Would you mind looking in the fridge? Tabitha keeps some bacon strips for when Taz is feeling faint from weight loss if he hasn’t eaten in an hour or so.”
Tabitha glares at me. “I do not overfeed your mongrel.” Moving from her s
pot, she says with a sniff, “But I will get him a snack since you knocked him unconscious earlier. He probably needs the sustenance.”
I refrain from snorting. Taz could go weeks living on his fat stores before he needed sustenance. “No, I need you to be doing research. Alita’s mom should get it.” Tabitha gives me a funny look, but she stops walking.
Alita’s mom glances back and forth between us. “Should I get the bacon?”
“Yes, please,” I say with a polite smile. Then, I turn to Taz. “No biting,” I warn. “You know how to take things gently from someone’s hand.”
To my great surprise, Taz doesn’t argue. He just stares at me a minute, trying to figure out what my game is. I know he’s figured it out when he grumbles, “Bite one lousy person and you never live it down.” In truth, he’s only bitten bad guys. Never someone who is feeding him. He would never, ever risk that person not feeding him again.
Alita’s mother finds the bacon and walks uncertainly toward Taz. She stops several feet away and looks back at me. “Does he really bite?” she asks.
I wave a hand like it’s a stupid question. “Of course not,” I assure her.
Tabitha is actually offended for Taz. “He is gentle as a lamb when it comes to food,” she insists, glaring at me for giving the impression otherwise.
Alita’s mother moves closer to my Familiar and dangles the bacon over him. After a minute, she realizes he’s not a dog and isn’t going to jump for it. She opens her fingers to drop it in front of him. Realizing it’s now or never, Taz lunges. I have never seen him get so much air in a leap without attacking a bad guy. Then again, that’s the only time he leaps, or exercises in general. Which makes this leap so impressive for such a fat little thing. Wow. Before the bacon slice even leaves her fingers, he has latched onto it. And her index finger. Ouch. Taz and I are definitely going to have to make that up to her. There is blood spurting from her finger. I think he may have cut through an artery with one of his incisors. Blood is going everywhere. I will have plenty of blood to choose from.
There are gasps around the room. “Has the thing gone rabid?” Dagda demands.
On the floor, Taz spits the bacon out of his mouth. “I can’t believe she got her blood on my bacon,” he moans. “I can’t eat that.” Next to him, Felix snickers.
“Oh no!” I cry in mock alarm. “Let me heal that for you.” I rush to Alita’s mother’s side and grab her hand. I still have the feather I pulled from my wing in my hand and it just happens to get soaked with blood. Oops. Before the woman bleeds out on the kitchen floor, though, I hurry up and heal her. As I’m doing this, I try hard to ignore the glare I am getting from her daughter. Alita may know I am up to something, but she is not pleased this something involved me instructing my Familiar to viciously attack her mother.
As for Taz, he is trying really hard to get the woman’s blood off his tongue. He has now resorted to licking the floor to wipe it off. Considering the fact that Tasmanian devils are the trash can of the forest and will eat dead carcasses, this seems strange to me. “Being a little dramatic, aren’t you?” I ask out of the side of my mouth.
“Have you ever tasted blood tainted with Demon blood?” he snaps, now wiping his tongue with the bottom of his dirty paw.
“Nope,” I say probably more cheerily than necessary. The reply I get is too rude to repeat.
“Will you please get on with your thinking?” Dagda snarls.
“So sorry I had to keep Alita’s mom from bleeding out,” I grumble.
“It was not such a dire wound,” the woman points out. But, she has moved to the other side of the room, as far from Taz as possible.
Okay, I have the feathers and the Cowan blood. Now, I need my own blood. I glance around the kitchen trying to devise an accident of my own. Though, at this point, I could probably convince Taz to bite me. He’s pretty pissed about the Demon blood thing. How was I supposed to know it would leave such a bad taste in his mouth? I am far from being a Demonologist.
Moving to my side, Kallen asks softly, “Is there anything I can help with as you ponder the weight of the universe?”
Can he? I do get the feeling I am running out of time. The Demons will probably attack again soon, so I should speed things along. I consider the plan forming in my mind. After a moment, I smile up at him. “In about thirty seconds, you can hold your cousin back.”
“What?!” Kegan’s head swings back and forth between Kallen and me. “What do you mean, hold me back?”
Instead of answering him, I teleport across the room. Laying my hand on Alita’s mother’s arm, I teleport to her daughter. Alita is holding Keelan in her arms and her eyes open wide in alarm when we are suddenly by her side. I don’t give her a chance to react other than that. I reach out and touch her and teleport the four of us away. The last thing I hear is Kegan’s anguished cry as he watches his family disappear.
I block the sound out and focus on what I am doing. Usually when I teleport, I have a specific destination in mind. This time, I have no idea where I am going. As the magic takes hold, I concentrate on Keelan instead. He is the map. He will lead us where we need to go and I push my magic toward him, using sheer force of will to make him our guide. I just hope my dear friends will forgive me for what I am about to do with their son.
29 Chapter
I expected hell to be hot. After all, the Demons walk around with charred flesh all the time. Of course it’s going to be hot. I did not expect it to be so hot my own flesh would begin to sear. I turn frightened eyes to my kidnapping victims, fearing I have already put Keelan in too much danger. To my utter surprise, the trio has hardly broken a sweat. Must be the Demon blood flowing through their veins making them less susceptible. After all, it’s probably taken millennia for the Demons to look as bad as they do.
We are in a dark tunnel. At least, I think it’s a tunnel. I reach my arms out and I feel walls on either side. Then a frightening thought hits me. What if we are in a box? I frantically throw my arms in different directions and am greatly relieved when I do not find more walls.
“Xandra, what have you done?” Alita asks, a mixture of fear, disappointment and ‘I am going to rip you apart with my bare hands if anything happens to my son’ in her voice. And I was worried giving birth would send her back to being shy, timid Alita. If anything, it has made her fiercer. That’s good. She’s going to need that strength.
“Made a bloody mess of things, it seems,” a voice says from my ankle. Taz and Felix latched onto me before we left. I’m still trying to figure out how they did it. I wasn’t planning to bring them. But, they were waiting for me when I teleported to Alita’s side and I couldn’t shake them before I teleported away. They are fast and strong little suckers when they want to be.
Before I can open my mouth to respond, the tunnel begins to light up. It is not a bright light. More of a dull, bluish light. But, it’s enough for us to see by. Which is why I am able to see Alita almost drop her son. Both her mother and I reach out, placing our arms under hers in case she loses her grip altogether.
“What is happening to him?” Alita demands.
“He is showing us the way,” I say simply. “He’s the dark beacon.”
“Otherwise known as a freak of nature,” Taz mutters. I ignore him per usual.
Felix does not. “Shut it,” he growls. I expect Taz to argue, but I think being in a Demon tunnel in hell has taken some of the fight out of him. Or, he’s simply conserving his energy. I really hope it’s option number two.
“Beacons lead Fairies to them, not the other way around,” Alita points out.
I wave her off. “Semantics.” Sobering, I add, “It is his destiny to bring Demons into the light, even if he has to bring the light to them.”
“Xandra, I don’t know what you are up to, but send my mother home. Now,” Alita demands in a voice that brooks no argument.
Unfortunately, I need to argue. “I can’t. She is as necessary a part of this as Keelan is.”
I can just
make out Alita’s eyes narrowing in the dark tunnel. “So, you will use my son after all.”
Guilt washes over me. I want to tell her to trust me, that things will be fine. If only I could say the words in a way that would sound like I meant them. Right now, I am taking the biggest gamble of my life. Of all of our lives. So, the only word I say is, “Yes.”
“I will never forgive you if any harm comes to him.”
“I know,” I nod. I won’t forgive myself. I assume she can see that in my eyes until I remember how dark it is in here. I open my mouth to say the words aloud, but again, I remember where I am. Who knows who could be listening. So, instead, I say, “This is the only way to save everyone.”
Before she can argue more, I reach out and take Keelan from her. It happens so fast and I take her so unaware, Alita isn’t able to stop me. She does reach out to try to take him back, but she is rebuffed by the wall of magic I put up around myself and the baby. From the betrayal and devastation sitting in my friend’s eyes, I know in my heart that may be a term I will not be able to describe her with in the future. Moral desolation, I have arrived.
I begin walking and the others follow. Taz and Felix are outside of my magic but they are close on my heals. If there wasn’t a magical barrier between us, I would be tripping over them they are so close to me. I take two steps in one direction before I notice the light emanating from Keelan dims. I turn and walk the other way. The more steps I take, the brighter he glows. Not him, exactly. It is more like he has an aura around him. A blue, glowing aura.
There are several twists and turns in the tunnel, and several times we are given the choice of taking different routes. It doesn’t take me long to figure out this is not simply a tunnel, but a labyrinth. If we didn’t have Keelan here to guide us, we would have been lost at the first choice of tunnels. I have a terrible sense of direction and get turned around easily. Plus, I have no idea where we are trying to go.
Behind me, Alita and her mother are walking hand in hand. I kind of expected tears and panic from her mom. After all, she is a Cowan and doesn’t possess even a hint of magic and she is in a Demon lair. But, she is walking with clear eyes and a sense of purpose. She will fight to the last to protect her daughter and grandchild if need be. I personally hope it doesn’t come to that, but I applaud her courage.