04 Shadow Blood - Witch Fairy (3 page)

“Really?  Out of all the things you could have said, you chose to go with that?”  Well, he doesn’t look contrite anymore.  He narrows his eyes in my direction but I continue before he can say anything.  “You tricked her and ruined her life and all you have to say is ‘how nice to see you again?’  How about an apology?”

Through gritted teeth, Dagda says to me, “I did not realize giving her a daughter as wonderful as you was something that I needed to apologize for.”

“You know damn well that’s not what Xandra is talking about,” Dad growls.

I can almost feel the words in the air that are seeping through Dagda’s pores as he struggles not to let them escape through his mouth.  After a few tense heartbeats, he finally inclines his head in Mom’s direction.  “I believe I owe you an apology for keeping my identity from you.  I will not, however, apologize for my attraction to you and your lovely body, or the fact that you bore my child.”

Wow, is it ever cold when a ghost passes through you!  I think my body temperature just dropped eighty degrees.  Is that an icicle in my hair?

Dad zooms forward and Dagda is so lucky that he doesn’t have magic.  But, I do.  In less than a single heartbeat, I’ve pulled magic and I hit Dagda so hard with it that he flies backwards through the door he recently entered, shattering it into splinters.  I don’t have time for this crap. 

Stomping outside, I stand in front of where Dagda is lying, trying to get oxygen back into his lungs.  “I’ve told you before not to talk about my mother like that.”

Rubbing the back of his head, he slowly sits up.  “Yes, I believe you have.”

Standing akimbo, I say, “My parents are dealing with the fact that their son is in
hell
right now.  This is no time for your cocky attitude or your stupid pride.  If you’re only here to cause trouble, then you need to leave.  Right now.”

I can feel Isla, Tabitha and Kallen’s eyes on me.  I’m not sure if they’re showing their support for me, or watching the show.  Probably a little of both.  Tabitha’s snicker confirms that.

Standing up, Dagda brushes sand off from his black pants and gray button down shirt.  “I’ll have you know, if anyone else did anything remotely like what you just did, I would have them stripped of magic and locked away for life.”

I shrug.  “Good thing I’m not anyone else.”  He glowers at me for second before he can hide his anger behind a blank façade.

“Believe it or not, I am here to help.”

I manage to stifle the snort forming in my nose.  Instead, I turn around and walk back inside.  He can stay or go; I don’t much care at the moment.  I hear his footsteps behind me, so he must be staying.  As soon as we’re both through the door, Isla puts it back together again.

“Now, if we are through with this foolishness?” she looks back and forth between Dagda and my parents.  “We do have two spirits who need to be returned to their bodies.”

Mom and Dad both look embarrassed.  Dagda isn’t showing any emotion.  That must be his regal expression.  Sitting back down at the counter, I say, “Okay, crystals and light.  Anything else?”

There’s a heavy silence in the room.  I guess that’s all we need.  Or at least, all anyone can think of at the moment.  I have one more suggestion.  “Shouldn’t we be dressed in black and wearing ski masks or something?  So we blend in?”  Seems logical, right?

Isla’s trying to look patient.  She doesn’t.  “The simple fact that you have a body at all will give you away.”

Coming to my defense, Kallen says, “I think she is right, Grandmother.  It cannot hurt and it quite possibly could help delay the inevitability of the Shadows discovering us.”  Without waiting for her reply, he dresses us both in black. 

I understand why he wanted to create our clothes because things tend to go terribly wrong when I do it.  (There’s a certain black bikini incident that I’m not supposed to mention again.  Ever.)  But, did he have to put me in a skintight cat suit?  The grin he’s trying to hide answers that question.  Dad gives him a raised brow but he doesn’t say anything.  I think he would have if he wasn’t so worried.  In all fairness, though, Kallen’s wearing something similar and he looks fantastic in it.  With an appreciating glance in his direction, I turn and head out to the beach so we can get going. 

Chapter 3

Gathering on the beach, we start to create a safe zone.  Apparently, these Shadows are tricky little buggers.  Those were Tabitha’s words, anyway.  Right now, she’s busy laying crystals around the sand in a circle.  She’s already given Kallen a handful to bring with us.

“All set,” she says as she stands up from placing the last crystal.

Kegan, Tabitha, Dagda and Isla line up one in front of the other with about ten feet between each of them.  Isla looks back and gives a nod to Kegan.  He creates a circle that encompasses all of us and the crystals.  I can see the tiny shimmer in the air that shows its edges, but no one else can.  Next, Tabitha makes a circle inside of Kegan’s that also encircles us all.  Hers is a little stronger than his.  Dagda’s next, then Isla and then Kallen.  If any Shadows try to get out when we go in, they won’t get very far.

I close my eyes to do my part, but Kallen turns me towards him and I open them back up.  I don’t have to wonder long why he did that.  He puts his hands on my cheeks and leans down to kiss me.  It’s a long, slow kiss that I feel all the way down to my toes.  When he finally releases my lips, he murmurs, “I love you.”

I smile.  “I love you, too.”

“Are you ready to do this?”

I nod.  “I am.”  I’m getting pretty good at this lying thing.

He nods and stands up straight.  Closing my eyes again, I reach my hand out to tear a gateway into the Shadow realm.  I only have the memory of what I saw when Aunt Barb contacted me, but I think that will be enough.  I curl my fingers as if I have a piece of paper in my hand.  With a deep breath, I start to pull. 

A hand on my wrist wrenches it down and whips me around.  “What do you think you are doing?”

My eyes fly open.  The first thing I see is a mane of silvery blonde hair surrounding a face so beautiful with its heart shaped pink lips and its ocean blue eyes, that she can only be an Angel.  The big set of white wings on her back is a pretty good clue, too.  She’s dressed in a pale pink silk gown that stops at her knees.  She looks sweet except for the firm set of her mouth and the scowl on her face.

“I asked you a question.  What do you think you are doing?”

Well, she’s a bit snarky.  “I was about to save my brother and my aunt from the Shadow world.”  I don’t bother to look around me; I know everyone else became frozen in place when she pulled me into Angel time.

“None may travel to the Shadow world.  It is forbidden.”

I roll my eyes.  “It’s not like I’m going there on vacation.  I’m just going to save them and leave.”

“You will do no such thing.”

Now I’m getting mad.  “Who are you?”

“I am Adriel.”

Wow, that helps a lot.  “Why do you care if I go into the Shadow realm?”

“Only an Angel of Death may open a gateway to the Shadow realm.”

“Why?”

Now, she’s looking at me like I’m a moron.  She has Tabbris beat hands down in the abrasive personality department.  What happened to all the nice Angels?

“If others are allowed to open the gateways, the Shadows would have too many opportunities to be liberated or escape.”

I guess that makes sense.  “Look, I’m only going to open it this one time, and we have defenses in place to prevent that.  As soon as I have my brother and aunt, I promise, I’ll forget that the realm even exists.”

Finally letting go of my wrist, she says, “I forbid it.”

“What?”

She pulls herself up to her full height, which is only about an inch or two taller than mine, and repeats, “I forbid it.”

“I heard what you said; I just don’t know how or why you would stop me.  What difference can it possibly make to you?”

“I am an Angel of Death and the Keeper of the Gateways.  No one may enter or exit without my knowledge and permission.”

My eyebrows shoot to the top of my head.  “You’re an Angel of Death?  I thought you guys wore black robes and carried scythes.”

She tilts her head to the side and gives me an impatient look.  “I have heard of you and your blood.  I was not told how ignorant you are.”

Seriously, I’m getting insulted by the Angel of Death?  My life has definitely taken a wrong turn somewhere.  “You’re right; I don’t know much about Angels.  It’s not like my grandmother (the Angel of Love and Conception) was all that forthcoming with information since during the first seventeen years of my life, I didn’t even know she existed.  I’ve met Urim twice and Tabbris and Valoel once.  They must have forgotten to give me a hierarchy chart and pictures of what to expect from all the Angels.”

“You are being disrespectful,” she says in a voice that fills my head with an overwhelming sense of fear.  “Perhaps it is time to cleanse
your
soul.  Would I find it to be pure?  Or perhaps you have been touched with darkness when you intentionally caused pain to others?”

Oh, crap.  Maybe I should tone down my attitude with the Angel of
Death
in front of me.  I don’t think she’d really take my life, Urim would probably step in then, but that soul cleansing thing sounds a little nasty.  And painful.

“I believe I will have a look,” Adriel says as if she’s reading my mind.  Her wings fold out in an intimidating show of power as she waves her hand in front of me.  Presumably to cleanse my soul.

A powerful pinch on both sides of my back tells me my own Angel wings have come back.  I see that as a good thing and a bad thing.  A bad thing because they only come when I’m really in trouble – meaning Adriel was about to do something really nasty to me.  A good thing, because they wrap around me, stopping her from doing whatever it is she’s trying to do.

Adriel lets out a frustrated growl.  “You should not have wings.  How did you get them?”

I’m tempted to say that I bought them at Wings R Us, but even if she wasn’t so pissed, she probably wouldn’t get the reference anyway.  Peeking over the tops of my white feathers, I say, “I’m part Angel.  Why shouldn’t I have wings?”

“It is impossible to only have wings sometimes.”

I roll my eyes as I let my wings loosen their hold on me.  “I know, I wasn’t supposed to be born and all that.  I was, I’m part Angel and I have part time wings.  That’s just how it is, whether it’s impossible or not.”

Folding her wings back and her arms across her chest, she glowers at me as if she’s going to dissolve me with just a look.  Um, maybe she can really do that.  Crap again.  I hope these wings are Angel of Death proof. 

“I have made my ruling and you may not enter the Shadow realm.”

“Okaaaay, that’s not an option for me.  I have to go in there.”

“No.”

Good lord, is she two?  “Is there someone else I can talk to about it?”

“No.”

“Adriel,” a soft voice says behind me.  I turn around and find an angel who could be Adriel’s big sister.  She has the same silvery blonde hair, pink lips and blue eyes.  She’s wearing a dark blue, form fitting dress that looks like it was painted on.  There’s cold steel in her eyes, though, that makes me want to take a step or two backwards, regardless of how sweet she looks. 

Adriel’s voice comes out a lot nicer than it did when she was talking to me.  “Rashnu,” she says as she bows her head.  I’m thinking this just might be her boss.  That’s great.  One more Angel to try to keep me from going.

“Adriel, I felt you preparing to take a soul’s darkness.  A soul that has not been brought before me to be judged.  Nor is the soul even free from its body.  I would like an explanation for your actions.”

Uh oh, someone’s in trouble and I don’t think it’s me.  I try to keep a smug grin in my mind and not on my face when I turn back to look at Adriel.  Oh my god, her eyes are black!  And I was scared of her before.  This time I do take a couple of steps backwards.  She looks kind of deranged with black eyes.

“She is trying to enter the Shadow realm.  As Gatekeeper, I have denied her access; for none may enter except an Angel of Death.”

Rashnu walks past me and circles Adriel, forcing her to turn herself to keep eye contact.  “You are correct; none are supposed to travel to the Shadow realm without judgment.  Which is why I am curious about two souls who are currently residing there.  These souls have living bodies and their souls are not tarnished, therefor they should not have been able to enter.  How, exactly, did they slip past the Gatekeeper?”

Now, Adriel looks mad and embarrassed.  Being called out in front of me for not doing her job must be painful considering we didn’t quite hit it off during our little discussion. 

“A new gateway was forced open.  The souls you speak of had already entered the realm when I arrived.  It then took all of my power to close the gateway before Shadows escaped.  I felt the need to keep the darkness contained outweighed the loss of two souls.”

My mouth drops open.  If my eyes could turn black, they’d look like worm holes right now.  “You knew they were there and you didn’t try to help them?
You
left
them there on purpose
?” 

Adriel shifts those nasty eyes of hers back to me, but I’m not intimidated by them anymore.  I’m too mad.  “We must all work to preserve the greater good,” she says harshly.

“Well, I have to tell you, I don’t care even the tiniest iota about the greater good at the moment.  I want my brother and my aunt back in their bodies instead of being tortured by pure evil in hell.  And since you didn’t do your job as the Gatekeeper, I should be able to go in to get them.”

“No.” 

I wonder if it tarnishes your soul to punch the Angel of Death in the mouth.  I think I’m willing to risk it.  I have my hand in a tight fist and I’m seconds away from actually doing it when Rashnu says, “That is a reasonable solution to this mess, Adriel.”

Now it’s her turn to have her jaw hit the ground.  “Rashnu, I beg your pardon, but this is far too dangerous.  Who knows what she could unleash into other realms.

“We do not sacrifice innocent souls, Adriel.  Not only will you allow her entry, you will escort her.  The Shadow realm is impossible to navigate if you are not an Angel of Death.”

“I will do no such thing,” Adriel says, aghast at the very idea.

When Adriel puffed out her wings, she looked intimidating.  When Rashnu’s wings unfurl, they are downright terrifying.  The pure white of the top feathers hid the black ones underneath.  Her eyes have become obsidian orbs.  They are the blackest thing I have ever seen.  The complete absence of color.  Her teeth have elongated and her mouth is twisted into a snarl that the meanest lion in the world could only wish to match.  She looks like a demon, not an Angel.  Without realizing it, I’m suddenly walking backwards.  And so is Adriel.