Blood of Egypt (Witch Fairy Book 8) (5 page)

Chapter 7

Kallen and I walk out onto the beach.  I give the suitcase to him and I close my eyes.  I think of the pictures of Hawaii I studied when I was homeschooled. I loved geography because I could dream about being other places than stuck on a mountain in Colorado. Reaching out, I pull back a hole in the realms and before us stretches a sea of gray, cracked rocks.  Actually, it’s a sea of dried lava.  I’m a little nervous as I step through the realm gateway.  I’ve never been here, but I’m smart enough to know that this is a dangerous area.

Up ahead there are billows of white smoke and we can hear the ocean waves as they crash against the dried lava.  I’ve read enough about volcanoes to know that that is one of the most dangerous areas other than the top of the volcano. The shelves of dried lava by the sea are unstable and often disappear under the waves. We plan to avoid those.

As we get closer to a lava viewing area, the temperature rises drastically. It’s a good thing that Kallen can change our clothes as needed.  It’s also a good thing there’s no one else around to see him do that.

After about an hour of hiking over the sharp jagged rock, I am seriously wishing that I had opened the realm gateway closer to the top. My legs are getting sore and I’m very thirsty.  We didn’t think to bring water.  So much for me planning ahead.  Looking around to see if there are any other hikers, I decide to rectify the situation.  Touching Kallen’s arm, I think about being at the top of the volcano and instantly that’s where we are.

I probably should have thought this through a little better since my husband lands on an unstable piece of rock and starts to slide towards the lava bubbling inside the volcano. Keeping a firm grip on his arm, I teleport us back to where we were. A very angry Kallen stumbles to the jagged rock.

“A little warning next time would be nice,” he says. Rising to his feet, he assesses the cuts and scrapes that are now on his hands and legs.

Feeling sheepish, I look up at him and say, “Sorry.”  My feeble apology doesn’t do much for him, so I try another approach.  I stand on my tiptoes and put my arms around his neck pulling him down to me, capture his lips with mine and kiss him deeply as I heal his wounds.  It only takes a second for his arms to be wrapped around me as he pulls me closer.  All thoughts of lava and sharp rocks have left our minds.

Ending the kiss slowly, Kallen rests his forehead against mine. “Have you had enough of volcanoes yet?” he asks.

“Yeah, I think the next time we come to Hawaii, we should do the normal tourist stuff.”

“I am not sure what that would encompass,” Kallen says.

I laugh. “Neither do I.”

Standing up straight but with his arms still around me, Kallen asks, “Where to now?”

“Let’s try our luck with the Grand Canyon,” I say.  “I promise not to drop you to the bottom.”

He looks doubtful. “At least there is water there instead of molten lava."  Ignoring him, I close my eyes and think of the pictures I’ve seen of the Grand Canyon.

Chapter 8

When I open my eyes again, we are standing on a cliff of red stone.  This time, there’s a guard rail. So at least I was thinking about safety even if I did forget about stealth. I think the little old lady and her husband standing next to us are both about to have a stroke.

“Our apologies,” Kallen says, “we did not mean to startle you.”

“Where did you come from,” the woman asks with her hand on her chest.

Boy, I really hope I can cure a heart attack or I’m going to feel very badly when she drops to the ground any second now.  Pointing behind them, I say vaguely, “Over there.”

The old gray-haired man takes his wife by the arm and leads her away from us.  I can’t say that I blame him.  I wasn’t very convincing. I look up sheepishly at Kallen again.

He laughs. “First you try to kill me, and then you startle the elderly almost to death. This vacation is not off to the best of starts.”

He’s right of course. But I’m not willing to admit that yet. Taking his hand in mine, I say, “Let’s walk around for a while.”  Being the wonderful husband he is, he lets me ignore the truth of his statement and gladly starts walking with me. I’m sure it’s only because we’re on our honeymoon though.

There are several cement walkways branching off in different directions from the overlook; we choose to follow the one that leads us to the visitor center.  There’s a large map outside the center, and we were able to find out our location, a place called Mathers Point.  We continue to walk around for a while longer, stopping every few minutes to gaze off into the distance at the beautiful multicolored rocks and the river far below.

Leaning my head on Kallen’s shoulder, I say, “Weren’t you born when this was still filled in?”  I love to tease him about the fact that he was here over three hundred years ago. Time moves differently in the Fairy realm than in this one.

“Yes, I believe I was here with the date,” he says with a grin.

I narrow my eyes up at him. “You do know it’s a long way down, don’t you?”

He chuckles and pulls me into his arms. “You know there was never any one before you.”

It’s a good thing I do know that.  “What should we do now?”  I’m not really interested in riding a burro down to the bottom of the canyon or camping anywhere around here, so the impatient me is ready to move on.

Kallen’s eyebrows raised. “Has your attention span always been this short?”

I pretend to think about it a moment before shrugging and saying, “Yeah, pretty much.”

He shakes his head. “This is our honeymoon you know; that’s supposed to include at least some romance.  Yet all you want to do is bounce from place to place.”

“I guess I’m just so giddy about being able to see whatever I want, that I want to see it all right now.”

He chuckles again.  “You are the most impatient person I have ever met.”

I sigh.  He’s right yet again.  We are supposed to be taking some time to actually enjoy ourselves.  I know!  A new location pops into my head. “We can go to a stereotypical human honeymoon spot.”

He cocks his head to the side. “Where would this be?”

“Let’s go to Niagara Falls.”

“If we go to this new place, are we going to stay there for more than an hour?”

I nod and smile mischievously. “We can even spend the night,” I purr seductively.

A big grin forms on his lips. “Then I would love to see Niagara Falls.”

Chapter 9

Again, our arrival does not go unnoticed; I teleport us into a crowd of people.  I’m just thankful that it was just into the crowd and not into an actual person. I wonder if that’s even possible.  Definitely not something I want to find out by trial and error.

Fortunately, people don’t like the unexplained.  I think they cope by making things up in their head and then convince themselves that it’s the truth.  So, the people that we jostle with our arrival look at us like we are just rude and pushed our way into the middle of the crowd hoping for a better view.  I don’t really mind and become giddy again as I hear the thundering noise from the waterfall.

We have a choice now.  We can follow the crowd that is heading towards the overlook, where we could enjoy the beautiful sight of the falls, or we can head the other way towards the hotels that surround them.  We choose to go that way.

We have to try three hotels before we find one that has a vacancy.  The room is a little pricier than I was planning on, but thankfully Dad gave me plenty of money.  We will just have to be a little more frugal at our other destinations.

There was a little commotion at the front desk because neither of us have any type of identification.  It takes me several minutes to convince the desk clerk that we both lost our wallets yet somehow still have money to pay for the room.  I think he eventually just takes pity on us, or he wants us to get out of his lobby because a line is forming behind us.  Either way, we are now heading up to our very first hotel room together.

I slide the little plastic key card into the lock and hear a click, then push the door open. In the center of the room there is a king size bed with a tacky bedspread in neutral colors, a small bathroom just inside the door and a desk and chair in the corner of the room by the window. The room may be a little Spartan for the price, but I think it’s going to suit our needs.

Moving to the window, I see that we have a lovely view of Niagara Falls from here.  But that’s not the lovely view I’m interested in at the moment.  I pull the curtains closed and turn to my gorgeous Fairy husband.  “I think seeing the sights is overrated,” I say with a smile that I hope he understands.  Considering how quickly he crosses the room and pulls me into his arms for a sensual kiss, I’m pretty sure he understands.

We don’t even make it to the bed.  Our feverish hands find paths under our clothes to places we know will drive each other crazy.  Kallen clears the desk with one arm and uses his other to set me on top of it.  His lips kiss a trail down my body and I arch my back begging for more.

Our clothes have become a hindrance.  I’m not sure which one of us finally makes them disappear altogether.  Desperate for him, I wrap my legs around Kallen’s waist and pull him to me and bring his lips back to mine.  Our bodies join as one, and Kallen drowns my cries of pleasure with his mouth securely over mine.  Our bodies rush to bring us the sensations we need from each other and soon, neither of us can keep our cries quiet any longer.  When we have milked every last drop of pleasure from one another, Kallen rests his forehead against mine as we both try to catch our breath.

“My God you are incredible.  I love you,” Kallen breathes and then kisses me again, ignoring our pressing need for oxygen.  Lifting me from the desk, our bodies still joined, he carries me to the bed.  He lays me down gently and we make love again and again.

Like most couples honeymooning here, we have already seen all that we need to of Niagara Falls and don’t leave our hotel room again until morning.

When my lazy eyes open in the morning, I’m startled to find myself in a new place. But the comforting feel of Kallen next to me carries that right away. I snuggle against him and watch as his eyes flutter open.

“Good morning,” I say with a smile, remembering the night before.

A sleepy grin forms on Kallen lips. “Yes, it is definitely going to be,” he says as he rolls his body over mine. “I find that I like Niagara Falls very much.”

After enjoying the morning in bed, the looming checkout time drags us up and to the shower.  A long hot shower, together.  When we’re all dried off and dressed, I wrap my arms around Kallen, “I never asked you, do you want to go anywhere in particular?”

“I have never given that much thought.  Wherever you are, I am happy.  We can go anywhere you want.” That earns him an extra long kiss that almost makes us miss the checkout time.

We check out of our room right on time and walk out of the hotel holding hands.  Even though the last day has been like any other honeymoon, we still have more adventures ahead.  We continue walking until we have reached a deserted area, then stop.  Looking around, we make sure no one can see us as we prepare for our next adventure.

I think about hot desert sands. I imagine us seeing the pyramids from a distance; I don’t want to land us in the middle of a crowd again.  When I open my eyes, we are in an endless sea of sand.  About a quarter of a mile in the distance there are three pyramids rising towards the sky.  I can't believe it.  I’m finally here.  I’m in Egypt!