by Bonnie Lamer
Eyes wide in astonishment and fear, the Pixie backs as far away as the cage will let it and says, “Now you, you are scary.” Amen to that.
Dagda places a worried hand on his wife’s shoulder. “Tana, are you still with us?”
It takes her a moment to respond. Eventually, she shakes her head as if to clear it and rises to her feet. “For now,” she replies in that same deceptively soft voice. I’m still not sure if it is for show or if she is truly stuck in an insanity loop. For the first time in a long time, I fear she may kill us all in our sleep tonight. Thankfully, I don’t think any of us are going to get any sleep so we don’t need to be too concerned.
“Are you ready to tell us what we want to know?” Dagda asks. He has a tight grip on Tana’s hand as if his hold will keep her from leaping off the crazy cliff again. Personally, I’m not worried about her leaping. I think she is already hanging over the edge by one tiny hangnail. One sudden move by anyone in the room and the skin will tear and she will be gone. He should probably hold on tighter.
The Pixie slumps against the bars of its cage. “I told you, no one sent us.”
There is that tic at the corner of its mouth again. It’s lying. “Yes, you just happened to luck upon a passageway to our realm when none of your species even knew you could leave your realm,” I sneer in disbelief.
The Pixie puffs up her chest. “I can’t help it if the rest of my race are ignorant jackasses,” she croons.
Okay, no race loyalty in that cage. “You don’t like other members of your species?” Adriel already mentioned this, but I want to hear it from this one’s mouth.
It shrugs. “Don’t have any use for them.”
“Except your mate,” Kallen interjects.
“If he gets himself caught, I don’t.” No loyalty for anyone in that cage, apparently.
Hmm, no tic at the corner of her mouth and she’s looking right at me. She’s telling the truth. I shake my head. “One minute you are terrified we are going to hurt him and now you couldn’t care less.” I could never feel that fickly about Kallen. They are evil little creatures. A new thought hits me. “What do you know about the vengeful spirits? Did the same person who sent you send them?”
The Pixie snickers. “I know it’s fun to watch you all run around like crazed chickens when they appear.”
“You didn’t answer my question,” I push, ignoring her mocking us.
“I’m not here to answer your questions.”
Okay. “What are you here to do, then?”
A grin spreads across her face. “Eat your magic.”
“On whose orders?” I demand, growing angry.
“What do you have to eat around here? I’m starving. Magic is tasty but not very filling.” She is actually holding her tummy as if she is starving. I’m not fooled. She is far from skin and bones.
“The only one around here who cooks worth a damn is me and I’m not feeding you a thing until you tell us what we want to know,” Tabitha informs her. A couple of Fairies in the room bristle against the insult toward their cooking, but no one corrects her. Deep down, we all know it’s true.
“Perhaps your Familiar can watch the creature while we adjourn to the kitchen,” Isla says to me. It’s not really a request. Obviously, she feels this conversation is going nowhere. Which, it is.
I glance down at Felix and he nods. “Okay.” Turning, I say, “Mom, Dad, Adriel, you guys join us.” If more vengeful spirits attack, I prefer to be out of the magic eating range of the Pixie. Which puts yet another question in my mind. Why do I always have more questions than answers? I guess everyone does. “Felix, how close does a Pixie need to be to eat magic?”
“The other Xandra figured it to be about thirty feet.”
“The kitchen will be far enough,” Kallen says in response to my questioning look.
“Unless my mate is in there,” the Pixie cackles. She does have a point but it’s a chance we need to take.
We all follow Isla into the kitchen and find seats at the large island counter. Plopping down on a stool, I sigh. “Anyone else tired of this day?”
“I am,” Kallen says, wrapping an arm around my waist and pulling my stool closer to his. In my ear, he whispers, “We were so close to bed just an hour ago.”
“It’s only been an hour?” It feels like a century. And a half.
“I fear we will not learn much from the creature,” Isla announces to the room. Pretty sure we all figured that out on our own. Me, snarky?
“Maybe we should let the Tasmanian devil eat him,” Kegan suggests.
“Her,” Alita corrects.
“I’m still not convinced,” Kegan informs her. Me, either.
“You should assist the other Familiar,” Isla says to Garren.
Garren narrows his eyes. “If I did not know better, I would think you are trying to give me a heart attack.”
“Xandra can always heal you,” Kallen assures him. Garren’s expression is not of reassurance. It’s more annoyance, both toward Kallen and his wife.
I sigh loudly. “There must be a better way. All we have been doing all night is spinning our wheels.”
“Xandra is correct. We need help,” Dagda agrees. He turns to Naja, who remained on guard in the kitchen when the rest of us ran to the living room. I believe she feels uncomfortable running freely through the High Chancellor’s house. Isla is scarier than Dagda when she is mad. “We know what they look like now. I want several teams in place. Have one prepped on the appearance, capture and containment of Pixies. Then find them. I do not want the team to come back empty handed. We know there is at the very least one Pixie still running free and there are most likely several others despite the Pixie’s assurances there are not. Check around here, check the village. Have a couple more teams check around the palace and go door to door in the village to determine if there have been incidents of decreased magic, spells gone awry or sightings of vengeful spirits. Do not cause panic. I do not want the word Pixie to leave anyone’s mouth outside of this house. I do not want it leaked that the spirits are seeking Xandra’s parents or that they are attacking Adriel. Understood?” That was nice of him to consider. No sense in adding to the list of resentments toward me and my family.
Naja nods. “Yes, Sire.” She turns to the door and with a hand on the knob, she hesitates. Over her shoulder, she says, “I will do my best, but you know word will still spread.”
Dagda’s turn to sigh. “Yes, I know.”
The fact that Pixies exist is too juicy of a secret for everyone to keep. I cringe at the panic that may ensue. On top of that, my family is the reason vengeful spirits are running amok? There is still a small group of Fairies who actively campaign for me not to be in line for the throne for the simple reason that I bring chaos and disaster with me wherever I go. Some days more than others I sympathize with their cause. This is one of the days I wholeheartedly agree with them.
On the other hand, I have promised transparency. As the last few months have been disaster free, until today, I have been helping Dagda with his days where he sits in his throne room and anyone in the realm can bring an issue to him. That means I have been studying Fairy laws and trying to get a feel for the social issues prevalent today. One of the biggest issues, of course, is me. Some Fairies love me. I like those Fairies. The ones who don’t have varying reasons, but one of the biggest underlying factors I’ve found is that they don’t understand me. They don’t know why I was created, what I’m supposed to do, or why they are stuck with me. I can’t do a whole lot about that last one, but I have been trying to be more open about who, and what, I am. “We need to tell them,” I insist.
Naja stops in the doorway. “Princess, we should learn more ourselves before we make this common knowledge.”
“I agree,” Kallen says. “I understand what you are saying, but transparency and gathering the facts are both important. We cannot be transparent about what we do not understand. Let us first discover all we can and then share the information. Too little
information can cause more harm than good.”
Grimacing, I acquiesce. “I suppose.” I know this is going to bite me in the ass, though.
Rising from his stool, Dagda is done with the conversation. He nods to Naja, signaling she should be on her way. The head of his security takes her leave. To the rest of us, he says, “We should try to get some rest. Isla, I assume one of the guest rooms is open to us?”
Isla nods. “Of course.” She looks to Tabitha. “Which should they use?”
Tabitha waves a hand as if she doesn’t care. “Whichever. They are all made up.” Tabitha is a perfectionist when it comes to housekeeping, of course they are all made up.
“We will continue our shift with Adriel, Jim and Julienne, but I think we should move upstairs,” Kegan says. Away from the Pixie. Good plan.
“Agreed,” Isla nods. To Kallen and me, she repeats her sentiment from earlier. “You two should get some sleep.” Again, the emphasis on sleep.
Ignoring his grandmother and her implications, Kallen’s eyes are on Alita, not her or me. The night is obviously starting to wear on the other Fairy. She is developing dark circles under her eyes and her posture is slouched. “Are you certain you should continue watch?” he asks, more to her than Kegan.
Alita straightens on her stool and nods. “For once, I can be almost as useful as the rest of you in a crisis. I am going to pull my weight.”
“You do more than most of the guards at the palace,” Tana says softly. “You keep dark magic from being a threat on a daily basis. You have nothing to prove.” Wow, I never knew Tana appreciated her so much.
Alita blushes deeply. “Thank you. I will be fine tonight, though.”
Rubbing her back proudly, Kegan still says, “But, maybe you should get some rest…”
Alita’s finger is in his face in an impressive about face of pregnancy hormones. Gone is the shy, quiet Fairy. Back is the annoyed with her husband Fairy. “Shut it,” she growls in a tone that indicates he is two seconds from being force fed his own testicles if he doesn’t. He shuts it and drops his hand back to his side just to be safe. He doesn’t want to lose it in a pregnancy induced magical amputation.
Okay, we should all back off before she has another hormonal magic accident. My husband agrees. Taking my hand, Kallen asks, “Shall we?”
I nod but turn to Alita. Hormonal magic be damned, I do not want anything to harm her or the baby. “You are to wake us if anything happens. Do not try to handle too much on your own. The baby comes first.”
She nods reluctantly because she knows I am right. As I am most of time. Wow, I can’t even think that without snorting in my mind. “I will,” Alita promises.
Kegan stands and holds his hand out to his wife. “The second floor sitting room is comfortable. I will give you a backrub while we wait for the next attack.”
I nudge Kallen with my shoulder. “Do I get a back rub?”
A wicked grin forms on his face. “I will rub anything you let me.”
“Please, do not let us keep you,” Dagda remarks dryly. Kallen snickers as he steers me from the room.
6 Chapter
“Perhaps this time, we will have more than five minutes alone,” Kallen says as he closes, and locks, the bedroom door.
I give him my best innocent smile. “But your grandmother said we should go right to sleep.”
Pulling me into his arms, my gorgeous husband purrs, “Fortunately, the only two people who get to decide what we do in the privacy of our bedroom are you and me.”
I snake my arms around his neck. “Excellent point.” I stand on my tip toes so I can kiss him deeply.
He presses me closer and groans as his arousal grows between us. After a long kiss that makes me forget everything, including my own name, he swings me into his arms and carries me to the bed. Placing me on it gently, he joins me. “I want to take our time, to make love to you all night…”
I hear the ‘but’ in his words. “But, the next crisis could come in two hours or in two minutes.” I pull him to me and magic away his clothes. Inviting him to make the most of the short time we probably have tonight. Some nights are for slow and sweet. Some nights are for passion that is fast and fiery. This is one of those nights. My clothes are gone in an instant and we are both more than ready to make love.
A short time later, we both lay panting in each other’s arms. Kallen tucks a strand of black hair behind my ear and whispers, “I will treasure you always.”
I smile up at him. “Even if I am rendered powerless because of an infestation of Pixies?”
He chuckles. “Even then.” He considers for a moment. “It might actually be nice to find myself in a dominant position in our relationship.”
My turn to laugh. “There are plenty of things you do better than me and you are certainly stronger physically.”
With a wicked gleam in his eyes, he replies, “You do not seem to have any problem whatsoever being dominant physically.”
Good point. I curl my fingers in his hair and pull him closer to test the theory. “Shut up and kiss me.” He does.
Pulling back after a moment, he says, “See, I am but your humble slave.”
I shake my head. “Nothing but equals here.”
He nods and kisses my nose. “Agreed.” He adds with that same glint in his eyes from a moment ago. “Most of the time. At the moment, I’m okay with you being dominant.” We continue to tease each other until we are once again making love. This time, slow and sweet. I will never, ever get enough of him.
We even manage a few hours of sleep before being rudely awakened by a pounding on the door. “I hate you. You are no longer my cousin,” Kallen calls through the wood. He proceeds to put a pillow over his head in an attempt to avoid hearing the next set of pounding.
“My father is on his way. He is pissed and I could use the support,” Kegan calls back.
That has both Kallen and me jumping out of bed. We know what Kegan’s father is like. Kallen dresses each of us in jeans and t-shirts before throwing open the door to his beleaguered cousin. “What is he pissed about?”
Kegan crosses his arms over his well-muscled chest and leans his tired body against the door frame. “Dagda’s idea of keeping the current crisis a secret did not work. Everyone knows. At least, all the high ranking officials know. My father sent word that he is coming to retrieve his future grandson for safe keeping.”
I shake my head in disgust. “His future grandson? Not his current daughter-in-law?”
“I am but a vessel,” Alita snaps, coming down the hall. “How dare he? He will get a piece of my mind when he gets here.” Probably a piece of the baby’s magic, as well.
I admit, I’m impressed. She has always been cowed by Kegan’s father. “Go you,” I encourage. Even Kegan seems impressed, though it will only cause more stress for him when his wife and father go at it.
On the other hand, it might be safer for the baby to be out of harm’s way. After all, we still don’t know what could happen if the Pixies eat too much of the baby’s magic. Could it affect his or her ability to wield magic after birth? Doesn’t seem likely, but should it be risked? Kallen is the first one brave enough to mention it. “Are you certain you would rather not get away from the craziness for the baby’s sake?”
Alita looks so much like she is going to punch him in the face, Kallen actually takes a step back. Kegan hides a snicker with a cough. He takes his own step back when Alita turns her furious gaze on him. “I am so sick of the two of you treating me like a delicate flower. All our lives you have been doing it. I finally get a chance to do something worthwhile and you want to shove me off into a semi-prison to percolate and spit out a baby! I am her mother and I have a better idea than you what is right for her!” Her voice is rising and magic is flooding the hallway. It has a decidedly violent slant to it.
“Whoa!” I interject before my husband ends up with several broken ribs and maybe a broken nose considering how Alita is looking at him. “Let’s save this for Kegan’
s dad.” I step forward and loop my arm through her tense one. “Let’s go downstairs. Kallen and I have had to redecorate our room too many times already after magic has destroyed it.”
Guilt washes over Alita’s face. “Sorry, sometimes my hormones are hard to control.”
I shake my head as we descend the stairs. “Oh, I don’t necessarily want you to control them. Kegan’s dad is a prick and deserves whatever you throw at him. I was just serious about our room not getting in the crossfire.”
Alita manages a giggle. “You are a good friend.”
“Yes, quite,” a voice drawls from the bottom of the stairs. “Always filling her head with such encouraging thoughts.”
I groan aloud. I know that voice. It sounds like Kegan and Kallen, just older. How does he always manage to show up at the exact moment I am saying something disparaging about him? Well, I guess I never really have nice things to say about him. Or to him. Giving Kegan’s father my sweetest smile, I say, “If you were nicer to your daughter-in-law, maybe she wouldn’t need me to fill her head with such thoughts.”
Angry, green eyes meet mine. Kegan’s father opens his mouth to chastise me further, when Kallen speaks over him. “Uncle, good morning. I smell coffee and I know how much you enjoy a good cup. Have you had breakfast yet?” He is so much better with the niceties than I am. Then again, he wasn’t raised in the mountains with limited outside contact. Of course my social skills were affected. Okay, I can only blame some of it on that. Mostly, I just don’t like the guy.
“I am not here for food,” Kegan’s father insists. “I am here to protect my grandchild.”
I snort. “Yes, because you are so much stronger than the rest of us.”