by Bonnie Lamer
This is one of the moments where I am so glad I have magic. I’m certain I wouldn’t have gotten away with what I just said without great bodily harm, otherwise. I don’t think Quinn is used to being talked to like this. Well, too bad for him. I cross my arms over my chest and glower at him. Kallen is, too.
I’m really glad Quinn’s not saying anything, yet. I definitely do not want to hear what he’s thinking. After what seems like ages, he finally says, “You find Giant blood so disgusting, you will not even consider the possibility of a union. That does not bode well for further discussions.”
“Oh please, did you ask Dagda to marry you and then refuse to talk to him when he said no?” Good to see Giants can be just as embarrassed as me when caught in an obvious breech of logic. “You asked for me to be here and I’m here. Nothing you said last night implied that there was a condition of marriage attached.”
To my surprise, Quinn slaps the table hard with his palm and starts laughing. Giants have really odd mood swings. I grab Kallen’s hand because the slap to the table made the floor shake and I’m afraid I’m going to fall off the chair. “You are the damnedest female I have ever met. Courage, beauty, logic. Giants twice my size fear me in battle, let alone face to face in my own home. Yet, here you are, tinier than most Fairies, and you stand up to me as if I am a dog misbehaving under your feet. I believe your fearlessness makes you even more beautiful. Come, let us be friends again. Enough of these talks this morning. We are getting nowhere. You shall return for an early dinner and we will finish our discussions then.”
Wow, I wonder if he’s going through menopause or something, because his hormones are way out of whack. “Seriously? Just like that, our argument is over?”
He grins, and I hate to admit it, but he’s absolutely gorgeous when he does that. What am I thinking? I shake my head a bit to get that thought out. “Yes, just like that. I will have Orwick escort you out of the village.”
“We do not need an escort,” Kallen grinds out.
“It is not your safety I am concerned about. I fear for the Giants on the street who dare cross Xandra’s path.” He looks like he’s kidding, but I’m not sure.
I shrug. “Fine.”
“I will expect you back for dinner. Until then…” He picks up my hand in his, which makes it look like the size of a walnut, and brings it to his lips. He has to bend down pretty far so he doesn’t dislocate my shoulder. Looking into his eyes, I have to admit they’re a little mesmerizing. Especially when he’s laying on the charm like he is right now.
He holds my hand for a tad too long, so I have to pull it back. “Okay.” He lets go and I resist the urge to wipe my hand on my skirt. He’s creeping me out at the moment. And there’s a bit too much saliva on my hand where he kissed it. Eew. I’ll chalk Giant slobber up as another reason not to marry Quinn. Like I needed more reasons. I already have: I’m in love with Kallen, Quinn may not look it, but I think he’s at least a decade and a half older than me, and he’s almost twice my size. I remember seeing a picture of a basketball player who was almost eight feet tall with a girlfriend a little smaller than me. It was kind of disturbing. And I don’t want to think of the technical difficulties of intimacy. Oh man, now I have a visual in my mind that I really, really didn’t need. Eew times two hundred.
I can feel my face flush in embarrassment for the picture that just popped in my mind. For some reason, that makes Quinn smile. Oh god, I hope he can’t read minds. I think Kallen would have told me if he could. I’ll kill him if he didn’t.
Turning towards Kallen, I grab his hand and start pulling him towards the door. He doesn’t resist. When we reach the hallway, I can hear Quinn’s rumbling laughter trying to follow us to the door. I’m really starting to hate that guy.
Chapter 13
Kallen drops my hand when we leave Quinn’s house and start to follow the resigned Orwick back to the main road. I give him a quizzical look, but his face is completely blank. I try to take his hand again. He lets me, but he doesn’t really hold onto mine. Now, I scowl up at him. What’s his problem? I take my hand back and concentrate on not losing Orwick as we enter the busy street from earlier, which is twice as crowded as it was when we first arrived. Wow, Giants really are early birds.
Orwick only walks us to the edge of town. That’s okay, we didn’t really need him. Quinn was right; the Giants did give me a fairly wide berth. Good to know I’m so terrifying even Giants are afraid of me. For some reason, that doesn’t make me feel as good as I thought it would. I don’t really want to be scary. I just want to be me. Being scary is pretty useful, though.
Kallen and I don’t speak as we keep walking towards Dagda’s house. If he wasn’t being such a jerk, I’d just teleport us there. I’m so caught up in trying to figure out what he’s thinking, I run into him as he stops suddenly in front of me. “Hey,” I say, scowling at him again.
He stares off into the distance as he says, “You should have the opportunity to date other people. Otherwise, you will never be certain I am the one for you.”
Insecurity? Now? What’s bringing this on, I wonder. “Are you trying to tell me you want out of the left hand-fasting?” Great, now I’m insecure, too.
His eyes widen slightly and he finally looks at me. “No, of course not. I would marry you today if you would let me.”
Yeah, that’s not going to happen no matter how insecure either of us is. “Kallen, just tell me what’s going through your head. You obviously have a point in all this.”
He sighs and runs his hand through his hair. I start to get impatient as our heartbeats keep pumping on without him saying anything. Finally, looking at the enormous red rock behind us, he says, “I saw how you flushed when Quinn touched you. It reminded me that I am the only person you have been with.”
Boy, did he get the wrong idea from that moment. I bite my lip to keep from laughing. “You forgot about me kissing Kegan. Doesn’t that count as me being with someone else?”
He’s gone from insecure to ticked off in the blink of an eye. An amused eye on my part. “No,” he grinds out. “That does not count. You were not yourself.”
I shrug. “Oh, I thought it did. Well, I guess I’m stuck with loving you then.”
He crosses his arms over his chest. Quinn’s muscles may be big, but his body isn’t nearly as attractive as Kallen’s sleek, muscular frame. Where Quinn is a bear, Kallen is a sleek panther. “Thank you for bestowing the gift of your love so generously.”
He’s getting angrier by the minute, but I can’t help but laugh. “Kallen, lighten up. You were way off base about my reaction to Quinn.”
He doesn’t look convinced. Or less angry. “He touched you, kissed your hand, and you flushed like you do when I touch you.”
Oh. “I flush when you touch me? I didn’t know that.” I shrug. “Still, you got it all wrong.”
I think he meant to sigh in frustration, but it came out as a pretty scary growl. Yeah, panther was an apt description. I should probably clear things up before this gets too out of hand. Putting my hands on his arms, I tug until he drops them to his side; then I snuggle into him, wrapping my arms around his waist. “I didn’t flush because I was excited by his touch like I am with you. I was standing there thinking about the reasons he couldn’t even be a consideration. He has some serious mood swings and anger issues, and he’s at least twice my age. But, I flushed because I got a really bad mental image of what he and I together would be like. It was a horrifying thought, and I was embarrassed it even popped in my head. Repulsion is a better description of what I was feeling at the time, not attraction.”
Slowly, his arms come up around my waist. He cocks his head to the side. “Really. I am supposed to believe that you looked at a handsome, muscular man and you were repulsed?”
“You think he’s strong and handsome? Maybe you should marry him. You’re part of the royal family, so it would probably still serve his purpose for asking me.”
He growls and pulls me closer. “I am not
blind. And neither are you. You cannot deny that he is a handsome man.”
I scrunch up my forward. He needs to let this go. “Hey, I didn’t freak out on you when Radella was hanging out in our bedroom in a teddy. And I’m sure you would have been annoyed if I did. Why are you freaking out on me because you think some guy is hot?”
His brow lines as he ponders that. “First of all, I did not say he was hot. I am not even sure what you mean by that. And, do you really feel that is a fair comparison? You were in bed next to me at the time wearing something awfully skimpy, so it was impossible to notice anything else in the room.”
I snort. “Right. You’re just trying to get out of being a hypocrite.”
He chuckles. “Perhaps I am. I guess I will have to grow accustomed to you having a bevy of admirers wherever we go.”
“A bevy? What’s a bevy? And how old do you have to be to use a word like that.”
“Old enough to know the best way to get you to be quiet is to put my lips on yours.”
Mm, good plan. He lowers his head to mine and kisses me for several long, sensual minutes. Now, if only I could get Mom’s voice out of my head. Wait a minute. I pull back from Kallen at the same time he figures out something is wrong.
“Xandra, you have to come inside now. It’s dangerous to be off running around on your own.”
I look up at Kallen with wide eyes. “You can hear that, right?”
He nods his dumbfounded head. “Yes, I can.”
“Xandra, are you out there daydreaming about that boy again? Honey, the doctor said that’s not good for you. You need to push him out of your thoughts so you can get better.”
“It seems to be coming from that direction,” I say, pointing towards a clump of low brush. I start walking towards it.
Kallen grabs my arm. “What are you doing?”
I thought it was obvious. “I’m going to try to figure out what’s going on.”
“We do not know this area and from what Quinn said, the Daityas roam these areas looking for trouble.”
I shrug. “So. And I don’t think it’s a Giant who keeps calling me and trying to make me think I’m crazy.”
He shakes his head. “This is a bad idea.”
I purse my lips for a second. “Yeah, probably.” I start walking anyway.
As I near the small clump of brush, ready to stomp on whatever annoying little creature is trying to mess with my sanity, I hear Mom’s voice again. “Xandra, the doctors says if you don’t snap out of it, he’s going to have to sedate you. You don’t want that, do you?”
Well, no, as a matter of fact I don’t. I do want to know why the voice suddenly sounds like it’s coming from another clump of brush, though. Is whatever this is so tiny that I can’t see it move? Maybe it’s invisible. Changing direction, I power walk to the next clump of brush, determined to figure this out. What I should probably have been doing is watching where I step. Because suddenly, I’m falling through a hole in the ground that wasn’t there before. I’m so panicked, I don’t know what to do. The word mattress comes to mind a fraction of a second too late. I hit a solid dirt floor with a thump and a snap. The thump wasn’t nearly as bad as the snap, since I’m pretty sure I just broke my right femur. My head hurts, too. I put a hand to it and there’s a huge lump on the back of my head already. Looking back up, trying to avoid the falling sand from getting into my eyes, I look for Kallen. I can’t see him. I don’t even see the hole anymore. What’s going on?
A wave of intense nausea hits me, and I roll to my left side, sure I’m going to throw up. The sudden movement made my eyes blurry, and pain explodes in my brain. I’m pretty sure I have a concussion. I lay my forehead on the cool earth and try to will the strength to heal myself. Unfortunately, my mind decides losing consciousness is a better plan. I’m so screwed.
Chapter 14
“Jim, I think she’s waking up,” Mom says in a stage whisper. Why does she have to be so loud? Doesn’t she know my head is killing me?
I feel my bed sag a little and then I feel Dad’s hand on my forehead. “She still has a fever, but she feels a lot cooler than she did earlier. Xandra, can you hear me?”
I want to answer him, but my mouth is so dry, I can barely make a sound. “Water,” I whisper, not sure if they can hear me or not.
“Of course,” Mom says, and then I feel her hand under my head, tilting it up so she can give me a sip of water. It feels so good on my lips and tongue. I feel like the Saraha moved to the inside of my body. If someone poked a hole in me right now, I’m pretty sure only sand would come out, no blood.
“Xandra, I want to take a look at the bump on your head, okay?” Dad says gently, replacing Mom’s hand with his at the back of my neck. I hiss when he touches a certain spot. “I don’t like the looks of this, Julienne. There’s an awful lot of pressure here. As soon as the storm clears, I’m going to take her into Denver for an MRI. I’m not waiting for the plows.”
“Jim, that’s too dangerous.” I can hear the worry in Mom’s voice.
Denver? That seems so far away. Especially in a moving car which will make me even more nauseated than I already am. “I don’t want to go,” I rasp. Going would also mean getting out of this bed, and right now, moving is very, very bad. My head feels like a pinball table that some is trying to use with bowling balls instead of those little silver ones.
“I know, sweetheart,” Mom says, stroking my forehead. That doesn’t feel too bad. Shifting to get more comfortable, a sharp pain in my leg makes me cry out. “Xandra, you have to lie still,” Mom admonishes. “You have a broken leg and Dad doesn’t have casting material. Your leg is wrapped securely, but it’s important you stay still.”
“You have a compound fracture. Like your mom said, it’s wrapped, but we’re in the middle of one of the worst blizzards we’ve ever had. There’s no way to get you down the mountain until the storm moves on. You have an IV in your arm, and I’m pumping you full of antibiotics, but your body is having trouble fighting off an infection. The more you move your leg around, the more damage you cause, and the damaged tissue gets infected easier than healthy tissue. You have to stay still.”
I feel like I’m in one of Dad’s anatomy lessons and he’s teaching me about broken bones. Unfortunately, instead of the big anatomical charts he usually uses to teach me, he can use the damage to my body to get his point across. “What happened?” I ask.
Mom is smoothing the hair back from my forehead. “You got caught in the storm. We looked for you, but…” her voice trails off. I opened my eyes and see that she has tears in hers.
“Mom?”
“There were hikers in the woods. You got into a scuffle with them, and one of them pushed you into a tree. You tried to run from them, and you weren’t watching where you were going. You fell into the gorge. They left you there.”
I sort of remember that. I remember hitting the tree. Someone threw me into it. Someone I was running from. “Why was I out in the storm?” My throat is so sore, each word feels like rough grade sandpaper.
Dad chuckles, but I don’t hear any humor in it. “Your grandparents have a way of setting you off.”
“Jim,” Mom admonishes without much enthusiasm.
“Julienne, you know it’s true. Your father goes out of his way to antagonize her. He picks at every little thing she does. You don’t hear him talking to Zac like that. And your mother is no better, what with her head in the clouds, not paying attention to anything around her except those stupid stories she’s always trying to fill the kids’ heads with – witches, fairies, giants. All that nonsense. If she spent a little time in the real world, maybe she would stand up to him once in a while.”
“Jim, do we have to do this now? Can’t we just focus on Xandra right now?”
Dad doesn’t say anything for a minute. Then, he sits down on the bed. “I’m sorry, honey. It just scared me to death when you wouldn’t come back inside. Your mother called and called for you. I was worried…I was worried you were with th
at boy again.”
I frown but it hurts my head, so I stop. “What boy, Dad.”
His turn to frown. “Xandra, we’ve had this discussion too many times for you to play the amnesiac.”
I wish my brain agreed. We live out in the middle of nowhere, so many miles above sea level that some people can’t get enough oxygen up here. There are no boys for too many miles to count. But maybe my brain is just a little fuzzy right now. I’m pretty sure I have a concussion to go with my compound fracture. At least I can make Dad feel better. “No, Dad, I wasn’t with him.” Whoever he is. “I just got caught in the storm.”
Dad expels a long breath and puts his hand on my arm. “I’m sorry to be so hard on you about him; he just isn’t good for you.”