Blood of Egypt (Witch Fairy Book 8) (14 page)

Chapter 24

For such a largely populated city, I’m not sure how we found an area this deserted.  We’ve hardly seen anyone around, if you don’t count the annoying Witches who stopped by.  It’s getting dark, so many people are probably home eating dinner, but still. 

Eliana is focused as she guides us to an alley no wider than three feet.  We walk single file for about twenty feet until she stops at the end and turns around to give us the ‘finger to the lips’ shush sign, I suppose to keep any of us from asking if we’re there yet.  She points towards a guy standing with his back to us smoking a cigarette.  He’s wearing a thobe, the long dress-like robe that many Islamic men wear, and his head is covered.  Over his shoulder, he has a gun strap with a very large gun hanging at his side.  I have no idea what kind it is, but all I really need to know is that it’s loaded.  I suspect that he can have it up and aimed in a heartbeat.  Good thing he’s not expecting a sneak attack from the alley or that may have already happened.  Which makes him a pretty terrible guard, I guess.  He should be watching every possible way to the door he’s guarding instead of being oblivious and enjoying a smoke.

The door is attached to an apartment building that’s connected to other apartment buildings.  They’re only five or six stories tall and are pretty run down.  The other side of the street is the same.  We can see lights on in different buildings and the street is empty of any other people.  I guess if armed guys on the street are common enough for this one to stand out in the open, I’d probably stay in my apartment at night, too.  That is, if I didn’t have magic.

Agent Amman taps Eliana on the shoulder and when she turns, he motions for her to follow him back through the alley.  The rest of us follow as quietly as possible.  The guy with the gun never even turns our way.  Idiot.  I hope he’s not getting paid much.

When we’re far enough away for Agent Amman to feel comfortable enough to speak in whispers, he says, “It is imperative that I make sure my wife and daughter are in there.  If I don’t, and we enter the building with guns and magic, they will be killed as soon as word is sent that we are here.”

“What do you want to do?” Josh asks.  I think we all know the answer to that already.  He’s just making the agent say it out loud. 

“I must allow them to take me.”

“If you are out of our sight, it will make it that much more difficult to protect you and your family,” Kallen says, stating what’s on all of our minds.  Boy, I am definitely not living up to my promise that we’d put more romance in our honeymoon.

“Someone has to go with you,” Eliana says.  “I’ll go.”

Agent Amman puts his hand to his temple and sighs heavily.  “I cannot bring a teenage girl with me; they would know something is wrong.”

Good point.  You never see a cop walk in with a teenage girl, or boy for that matter, in the movies.  I guess that leaves me out as well.  Hey, I wonder what movies are playing.  It’d be fun to bring Kallen to see a movie.  Focus, Xandra.

As my mind is going off on a tangent, Kallen changes his clothes, much to the surprise of Agent Amman.  He is suddenly in a suit that is almost an exact replica of the agent’s.  Damn, he looks good in a suit.  I think I’ll have him put that on later so I can take it off. Focus, focus, focus.

“Will I do?” Kallen asks.

This could work.  “He speaks fluent Arabic,” I say.  “And he uses Fairy magic, which means he doesn’t have to say spells for something to happen.”

There’s a struggle going on in Agent Amman’s mind.  Obviously, he doesn’t want to put someone he just met in danger.  Also, he knows Eliana and he trusts her.  He has no idea if he can trust Kallen.  On the other hand, if he goes in alone he’s probably going to die whether his family is here or not.  Out of all of us, Kallen looks the oldest.  It would be easy to believe he’s a young agent.

Finally, his desire to stay alive overrides his qualms.  “Do not speak to them.  I will handle the situation; you will be silent.  And do not use any magic unless absolutely necessary,” Agent Amman says gruffly.

“Wait a minute,” I say as a little detail that seems to have slipped all of our minds suddenly pops into mine.  “Why don’t you have agents waiting as back up or at least have a partner here to help you?  This doesn’t seem like the kind of thing someone like you would take on by yourself when there’s so much at risk.”

“Because he’s protecting me,” Eliana says quietly, respect for the agent shining from her eyes.  “If you involved any of your men, they’d know you were using my help, right?”

Agent Amman nods curtly.  “There are some in my agency who I do not trust with the information of your whereabouts or your activity.”  Wow.  He really is protecting her, even with his own family at risk.  That’s impressive.

“Thanks, man,” Josh says, giving Eliana’s hand a squeeze and smiling at the agent.  “I know you’re risking a lot here.”

“Perhaps it is time to do what we came here to do,” Agent Amman says gruffly, clearly uncomfortable.  He starts to walk towards the end of the alley again.

“Hey,” I say to Kallen, grabbing his arm as he starts to follow.  “I know this isn’t the honeymoon you signed up for, so you better make it back to me so we can actually take a real romantic honeymoon.  Maybe Fiji?  There’s barely anyone around and we could stay in one of those little huts over the water?”

He grins and puts his hands on my cheeks.  “Possibly.  But, this has been a fine honeymoon.  I have learned to expect the outrageous and the dangerous whenever I am in your presence.”  He leans down and kisses me lightly.  “That is half the reason I love you; you are an endless supply of excitement.  Everywhere you are.”  The last sentence spoken with a husky, sexy voice implies he’s not talking about situations like this and my cheeks start to pink.  Kallen chuckles and kisses my left one as it flushes.  “I love you,” he whispers in my ear and then he turns to follow Agent Amman. 

Chapter 25

Agent Amman has reached the end of the alley and Kallen has caught up with him.  The agent makes a small noise, enough to finally draw the guard’s attention.  There is some talking back and forth in Arabic and suddenly Kallen and Agent Amman are walking towards the guard with their hands up.  Josh taps Eliana and me on the shoulder and we follow him out of the other end of the alley, just in case the guard looks to see if there are more agents.  Honestly, I don’t think the guy’s that smart, but I guess it’s better safe than sorry.

My worry must show on my face because Eliana gives me a quick hug.  “He’ll be fine,” she says.

I try to smile.  “I know.”  I should be more confident in his abilities; he is one of the most powerful Fairies in the Fae realm,  so I’m sure he can handle himself.  But this situation is so different from any others he’s been in.  I’m going to go crazy just standing here and doing nothing.  What if he gets hurt and I’m not there to heal him?  “We have to follow them,” I say.

“We will,” Josh says.  “We just need to give them a minute to get inside and then we move in.”

My eyes widen.  “You were already planning to go inside?”

He chuckles.  He reminds me so much of Kallen.  “I wouldn’t be able to keep Eliana out there if I tried, and Agent Amman is a good man.  We have to help him.  But, hold off on the magic until it’s absolutely necessary, okay?” he asks both of us. 

Eliana and I look at each other and then back to him.  “Okay,” we both say.  We get an eye roll from Josh for the lack of conviction in our responses.

Knowing that’s as good as he’s going to get, he shakes his head and then leads us back into the alley.  When we reach the end, we discover that the guard didn’t go inside with Kallen and the agent.  He must have called someone out to get them. 

Amazingly, the guy still isn’t watching the alley.  Actually, he’s not watching much of anything, he’s sort of hunched against the door and his eyes are unfocused.  It looks like he’s on drugs or something.  Weird.  I look at Eliana and she just shrugs.  She has no idea what’s going on either.

Josh motions for us to stay put and he exits the alley.  He attempts to look casual, as if he’s from here.  Since he has bronze colored skin, black hair and some Egyptian ancestry in his family tree, he definitely looks the part.  The guard barely gives him a second look.  I think it strained the guy’s eyes too much to give him the first one.  I wonder if Kallen did something to him.

Josh walks over to the man and says something in English.  The man’s brow crinkles and then reaches into the pocket of his thobe and takes out his cigarettes.  He shakes one out with a lot of effort and hands it to Josh.  Josh takes the opportunity to grab the man’s arm, spins him around and twists the arm behind his back.  He then knocks the gun to the ground and asks the man something in his ear.  We can’t hear what he’s saying.

The man says something and then Josh looks over at Eliana and me.  He has the guy subdued, but I don’t think he wants to really hurt him, though I suspect he could.  He has some serious moves even if the guy was drugged or something. 

Reading my mind, Eliana says, “He’s a black belt in Aikido.”

That explains it.  “Impressive.  Should I help him out and put the guy to sleep?” I ask and she nods in approval.  Looking back at the man, I will him to sleep with magic and he slumps in Josh’s arms.  Josh pulls him away from the door and tries to prop him up against the building, but even in a sitting position the man keeps falling to the ground.  After a couple of tries, Josh gives up and leaves him there.  With a quick look around, he motions for us to join him.

The door to the apartment building isn’t locked.  Josh opens it easily and we follow him inside.  The entry hallway is dark, lit only with one dying light bulb on a dangling fixture that’s sure to fall out of the ceiling any minute now.  To our left and right are mailboxes and beyond them are two apartment doors.  In front of us are the most unsafe stairs I have ever seen.  They make me think there should be a condemned sign on the door.  First off, the stairs are steeper than most, with no handrail to steady yourself on the way up.  There are holes on the individual steps where it must have been attached that are filled to the brim with dirt.  There are large cracks and holes in the wood of each stair, making me think that anytime someone will put their foot right through one or more of them.  Basically, it’s a deathtrap waiting to be sprung.

“He said they’re on the fourth floor,” Josh says in a low whisper.  Of course they are.  It would be too easy to have them be in one of the two downstairs apartments. 

Gazing skeptically at the stairs as well, Eliana says, “I’ll go first.”

Josh puts a hand on her shoulder.  “No, let me go.  You and Xandra are needed a lot more than I am up there.”

Eliana’s about to argue when I butt in.  “Um, guys, I can teleport.”

An ‘oh yeah’ look lands on both their faces.  “Good plan,” Josh says with a small laugh.  “I wasn’t looking forward to a broken leg if one of those stairs gave out.”

“I better just do it landing by landing, though,” I say.  “I don’t know what could be in the hallway and I don’t want to land us in a bunch of trouble.”  Or in a wall.  I keep that last part to myself.

Eliana nods.  “Okay.”

I touch both of them and I will us to the first floor landing.  No one up here.  We walk down the narrow hall, past an apartment door to the next flight of stairs.  There’s another apartment door just before the stairs begin, but we don’t hear anything.  We can’t even tell if anyone’s home in any of these apartments.  After a quick peek to make sure we’re clear, I teleport us to the third floor.  Our luck holds out and this hall is empty, as well.

We’re not so lucky when we peek up the stairs to the fourth floor.  There are two men in jeans and black tunic style shirts with guns.  They’re a little more on the ball than the guy outside and they catch us looking up at them.  One of them starts to say something, but I take both of their voices away.  Then I imprison them in a circle of magic that’s so small, they can’t even point their guns at us.  Unfortunately, one of them is still able to pull the trigger.  Great.  I hadn’t thought about that. 

Whoever is in the apartment up there was just warned that we’re coming.  I’m so mad that I create a magical hammer and conk both guys on the head, knocking them out cold.  Only, they’re still in the magic circle, so they’re passed out standing upright.  That must look pretty strange to the two guys who come running out of one of the apartments up there.  Their fellow gunmen apparently are not their immediate concern as they move around them and charge down the stairs after us. 

“My turn,” Eliana says and a wind rushes up the stairs so fast and strong the two new gunmen are blown back, causing them to fall on their butts on the stairs and then get thumped back up them.  Ouch.  Their spines are going to be sore later.  Their guns are blown out of their hands.  To be helpful, I take their voices away to keep them from screaming while Eliana does her thing.  When the guys are back at the top of the stairs, I let the magic holding their buddies go and the two unconscious men topple, trapping these guys with their weight.  Eliana’s wind is still beating at the men, holding them in place.

When we don’t hear anyone else rushing out to save these guys, we start to climb the stairs.  I don’t want to teleport us there because we’d be sitting ducks if there is another gunman.  Trying not to make the stairs squeak too loudly, we creep up until we can see the hallway.  The apartment door at the end is guarded by another man.  He’s waiting for us and has his gun pointed in our direction.  Good choice on our part to walk.

Working in tandem, Eliana and I disarm him and disable him.  With her magical fire, she heats the handle of his gun, leaving the man no option but to drop it.  He now has what appear to be third degree burns on his hand.

Simultaneously, I pull the guy’s feet forward and up.  Just his feet.  It looks like he’s doing a high kick with both legs.  His back and head hit the floor with a loud thump and the impact pushes the air out of his lungs.  As he’s gasping for air, Josh runs over and punches the man so hard, he’s instantly unconscious.  I’m pretty sure that he also broke his jaw, but he won’t be feeling that until he wakes up and we’re long gone.  Eliana beams with pride at Josh.  He may not have magic, but he’s definitely a force to be reckoned with.

“HBA!” is shouted through the door.  I don’t speak Arabic, but I would bet that means stop or we’ll kill everyone in here.  Yeah, I got a lot out of one word I don’t understand, but it was more the tone of voice that leads me to that conclusion than the word itself.

I look at Eliana and Josh and I know they both want to go tearing in there, but they don’t want to do more harm than good and neither do I.  This sucks.  If there was only a way for us to see inside there without the door being open.  I sit and ponder this for a split second until we suddenly have to take cover behind the stairs going up to the fifth floor. Someone apparently has become inpatient and is shooting at us through the door. 

An idea trickles into my brain as I create a magic wall in front of us that will keep any stray bullets from getting too close.  In the Fairy realm, there are watchers.  They can’t leave the realm, but they can see through it into this one.  Maybe I can do something like that, too.

A spell pops into my mind and I utter it quietly, “Look past the obstacle in my way, my second sight create a passway.  Seen only by eyes of whom I choose, show us what we seek inside that room.”  Short and sweet, but effective.

A large window appears in the door and we can see into the apartment.  There is a man with a rifle pointed at the door and I get the urge to jump back so he can’t see us.  It is with a great amount of willpower that I stay rooted to my spot.  Eliana and Josh do the same, trusting that I’m not going to get them killed.  I like them so much.

Now we can focus on saving the people on the other side of that door.