Blood of Egypt (Witch Fairy Book 8) (7 page)

Josh shakes his head and leans back on the couch.  “Xandra, I think you’re going to make my head explode.”

“I know the feeling,” Kallen says, earning him an elbow in the ribs and a dirty look from me.  “Ow.”  He rubs his ribs dramatically even though I know it didn’t really hurt him.

Changing the subject to something non-magical, I ask, “Can you recommend a good hotel?  You must want us out of your hair and we haven’t had a chance to look around yet.”  They’re being so nice; I don’t want to overstay our welcome.  I hope they want to meet up with us again, though.

Eliana shakes her head and says solemnly, “No way.”  Well, that’s not very nice.  Being as tactful as I am, I’m about to say something along those lines when she says, “You can stay here.  I know the Hatsheputs wouldn’t mind.  And it sounds like you might need some help dodging people this Archangel encourages to do you harm.”

Now I feel guilty that we came here.  I don’t want to be anyone else’s problem, or have innocent people get hurt.  Reading my mind, Kallen says, “We could not put you out like that.  You have been kind enough already.”

“Sorry, man.  When Eliana has her mind made up, it’s like trying to pull peanuts away from an elephant to change it.”  That earns him an elbow in the ribs.  I don’t think he’s faking his ‘ow’ though.  She did say she’s really strong.

“There’re a couple of guest rooms upstairs.  You can each have your own or you can share like Josh and I are.”  Her cheeks turn a little pink when she says the last part.

I laugh.  “We’re married, so we’ll stay together.  We’re here on our honeymoon.”  Other than a rising of eyebrows, neither of them comments on that.  We are pretty young to be saying those words.  It feels stranger here than it did in the Fairy realm where it was expected.

“Then that’s an even better reason why you should stay in such a beautiful place, with your very own tour guides.  And don’t worry, we’ll give you lots of privacy,” Josh says, with a knowing look.  “Let’s get you settled in.  Do you have any luggage?” Josh asks.

“No, we are able to create our clothes with magic,” Kallen explains.  “Xandra just has a few toiletries in her purse.”

Josh shakes his head.  “I guess we have a lot to learn about the two of you.  I’m looking forward to it.”

Chapter 13

“Is it rude that we accepted their invitation?” I ask Kallen.  Eliana and Josh showed us to our room so we can ‘freshen up’ and are now waiting for us downstairs.  I guess we’re going to go get coffee and try to get to know each other better. 

Kallen shrugs.  “The invitation seemed genuine.  Considering all the people who have come to stay at Grandmother’s, it seems the thing to do nowadays.”

I can’t stop the blush rising to my cheeks.  I’m glad I’m standing by the window looking out at the Nile with my back to him.  Why have people come to stay at Isla’s?  Because I invited them.  My mom and dad, Zac, Raziel and Adriel have all moved in because I wanted them close.  I even invited a soul remnant to come live with us.  But, I’m pretty sure that Isla would say something if she is unhappy with the permanent guests.

Reading my mind, Kallen comes over and wraps his arms around me and rests his chin on my head.  He pulls me close with my back against his chest.  “Grandmother has spent many lonely years in that house.  She is happier now than she has ever been.”

I snort.  “She wants to strangle Tabitha and I’ll be surprised to find Garren still alive when we get back.”

He chuckles.  “Point taken.  At this moment, she is not happy.  Overall, her mood has lightened immensely with each new resident.”

You mean she used to be crabbier?  Glad I wasn’t around for that.  “What do you think the chances are that she’ll get together with Garren?”

“I prefer not to consider my grandmother’s love life.”

I laugh.  “Fine.”

Dropping his arms to his side, Kallen says, “We should be going.  We do not want our hosts to think we have forgotten about them.”

Or think that we’re taking too long because we’re up here having sex.  And now here comes another blush.  Great.  I nod and turn around.  “Okay.”  Kallen takes my hand in his and we walk downstairs.

Eliana and Josh are waiting for us in the living room.  “Ready to go?” Eliana asks.

“Yes, we are,” Kallen says.  His voice and speech patterns always seem more formal when we’re in my realm for some reason.  Probably because he’s the only one who doesn’t use contractions.

“There may be something more interesting that we can do besides go to a café,” Josh says with a mischievous grin.

“Josh,” Eliana admonishes quietly.  “We need more time to get to know each other first.”  That moves my curiosity up a few notches.

He puts an arm around her but continues.  “Eliana is afraid you’ll think this is too pushy, but we were talking about how we know so little about your magic and you know so little about hers.  I’m hoping to rectify that while we get to know each other better.”

Kallen is instantly on alert.  “What are you suggesting?”

Eliana’s cheeks are pink now.  “He wants us to go to a remote area of the desert where I normally practice and compare our magic.”

Hmm.  That could be interesting.  I’ve often thought that someone should catalog the magical powers of different beings so I know upfront what I’m getting into if I have to stand against them.  Being ignorant has certainly not been helpful.  Not to mention I’m really curious about Eliana’s power.  “Okay,” I say with a smile.

“Xandra, this might not be wise…” Kallen starts.

“Oh come on, I know you’re just as curious as I am.”

“That may be,” he acknowledges.  “That does not change the many reasons why this is not a good idea.  What if we are seen by Cowans?  What if your magic spirals out of control and you destroy the ancient sites you have come to see?”

I glower at him for that one.  Shaking my head, I grumble, “You worry way too much.”  Turning to Josh, I ask, “Do you know a place that’s remote enough to do this?”  I can feel Kallen scowling at the back of my head.

“We do.  There’s a place Eliana and I go so she can hone her skills.”  If it’s remote enough for her powers, then it should be remote enough for mine.  Though the possibility that I will create a natural disaster large enough to level the pyramids is there, I’m sure Kallen will help make sure that doesn’t happen.  Even if he’s not very happy at the moment.

Chapter 14

When Josh said remote, he truly meant remote.  We haven’t seen signs of civilization, including roads, in over half an hour.  Yet, he keeps driving.  Good thing I can teleport just in case they decide to leave us out here.

Ten minutes later he finally stops the Land Rover in the middle of the desert.  “This is it,” he says opening his door.

To me, it looks like any other part of the desert we’ve passed.  “You come to this place over and over?  How do you find it?”

“Global GPS,” he says, tapping on a small computer screen on the dashboard.  “The closest oasis is thirty miles from here.  Not many people are going to stray that far from civilization into a desert.”

“Except us,” Eliana laughs.  “Must be the magic that makes us crazy enough to do it.”

“Magic has made me do a lot of crazy stuff lately, so I think you’re right,” I say with a smile.  I open my door and realize just how hard the air conditioning in the Land Rover has been working.  It’s just a little past noon, so the sun is high in the sky and blasting the desert with its strongest rays.  When I put my sandaled foot in the sand, I immediately jump back into the vehicle.  “Wow, that’s hot!” I exclaim, and look down to make sure my sandal isn’t melted to my foot now.

“Sorry, we should have warned you about the heat this time of day.  You’re going to want something more like this,” Eliana says, holding up her booted foot.  Taking her cue, Kallen changes both of our shoes. 

“Man, that would be a handy skill to have.  I’d never have to do laundry again,” Josh laughs.

Kallen smiles.  “There are definitely perks being a Fairy.”

“This will help, too,” Eliana says as a cool, soothing breeze grows around us.  Nothing too drastic.  Just strong enough to take the edge off.  It already looks like she has better control over her magic than I do mine.

“Who’s going first?” Josh asks.  He’s really into this.  Kallen looks like he’s been sucking on a lemon.

“I will,” I say.  I stand next to him and put my hand on his arm.  In less than a millisecond, we’re twenty feet away from where we were.

“What the hell!” he exclaims.  “How did you do that?”

“Like this,” I say and I teleport us back to where Eliana and Kallen are standing.  Kallen gives me a ‘you’re being a showoff’ look, which I of course ignore.

“Can you do that?” Eliana asks him.

Kallen shakes his head.  “Again, that is unique to Xandra.”

“Okay, my turn,” Eliana says with a smile.  She stills for a moment and I can feel her magic snaking under the sand.  I have no idea what she’s doing until a tiny water spout forms a few feet away from us.  “I’ve been practicing this.”

Kallen’s face loses the sour expression.  “That is impressive.  The water you reached had to have been quite deep,” he says.

“That is so cool!  I guess dehydration will never be a problem for you,” I tease.

Eliana laughs.  “Nope.”

“What about water from the clouds?” Kallen asks.  “Can you draw that down?”

“I can, but that’s a little harder.  This water came from an underground river or well so all the water molecules were already together.  They’re dispersed in a cloud and I have to collect them from a larger area.”

I think I get it.  “You said you have power over the earth too.  What does that mean?”

“This can be a bit tricky,” Josh says.  “It’s unpredictable here in the desert.”

“I’ll show you what he means,” Eliana says.  She concentrates on the sand in front of her and a path separates through the tiny grains until there are tidal wave-like sand walls on either side.  A low rumbling begins and the path is filled in with sand from the front and back.  I’m not quite sure what just happened.

“The sand is fluid.  While Eliana held the sand sides up, other sand still found a way back like water would.  For her to make a true path, she would have to exert a noticeable amount of energy from all sides.  She can do it but it basically creates a wild sandstorm.”

“Makes sense.”  I turn to my husband.  “Okay Kallen, it’s your turn.”  I smile at his scowl.

With a defeated sigh, he nods.  Instantly, he’s gone.  He’s replaced by a black raven that soars into the sky.  Eliana and Josh are too stunned to even gasp. 

“Fairies have animal forms,” I explain.

“Then you mean he actually did turn into a bird and fly away?  It wasn’t just our imaginations?” Josh asks.

Eliana pries her eyes away from Kallen’s black form in the sky.  “Do you turn into a bird too?”

“No, and I’m not really very good at transitioning.”  I grimace as I recall the very first time in Dagda’s house in Giant territory.  Humiliation doesn’t even begin to cover it.  “I have trouble with magic that other Fairies can perform easily.  It tends to get blown way out of proportion when I do it.”

“But you do have an animal form?” Josh asks watching Kallen’s descent towards us.

“Yes, I’m a Pegasus.”

“Really?” Eliana asks with excitement.  “You can turn into a real live Pegasus?  I thought those were myths.”

“Like Witches and Fairies?” Josh teases with a grin.  Eliana gives him a sour look.

Kallen flies behind me and takes on his Fairy shape again.  I’m about to ask why he’s hiding until I remember that he’s buck naked when he changes back.  It only takes him a second to be clothed again and he steps out in the open.

“Man,” Josh shakes his head.  “Just when I wrapped my mind around Eliana’s power, you guys come along and prove the universe is even more amazing than I thought it was.  The three of you combined could probably take on anything.”

Including Belial?  I’m not so sure about that.  When I fought him before, I had Raziel’s magic.  And I fought dirty, catching him by surprise.  I don’t know how I’m going to stop him this time.