Blood of the Exiled (Witch Fairy Book 10) (19 page)

Grandpa leans his paunch forward until he can rest his elbows on the table and puts his face in his hands.
 
He rubs his wrinkled skin with great force.
 
Maybe he thinks if he can rub hard enough, he can erase me from his life.
 
He won’t get that lucky.

Finally, he lifts dull, tired and now twitching eyes to me.
 
“Xandra, what is it that you want from me?”

Good question.
 
I want his eyelid to stop going crazy because it’s really annoying to watch.
 
I want him to have a stronger mind.
 
I want him to stop associating with evil Witches.
 
I want him to disappear so I don’t ever have to worry about him again.
 
Deep, deep down, I want him to act like a grandfather should.
 
I know that’s not going to happen, so I try not to want it too much.
 
Maybe I could put him and his Witan under a sleeping spell that’ll last for eternity.
 
Then I can go home and not have to think about any of them ever again.
 
Knowing none of that is going to happen, I say, “I came to make sure you’re okay.
 
I came to see if your weak mind is once again being controlled.”
 
That came out meaner than I had intended.
 
I find I don’t care.

With a slight shake of his head, he says, “You are as willful and stubborn as your mother.”
 
There is almost a smile behind those words.
 
Almost.
 
There is a scowl behind his next ones.
 
“It is difficult enough controlling the world of magic.
 
I don’t need your bad behavior getting in the way.”

“Are you in control?” Kallen asks.
 
His question doesn’t sound mean or accusatory, more matter-of-fact.

Grandpa’s head lifts and his eyes flash with anger.
 
They’re on his tongue, the words to put Kallen in his place for asking such a question, but the words stay right there.
 
He doesn’t let them go any further.
 
Pushing back his chair, every bit of his age showing in his slow movements, he says, “I suppose that is for you to decide.”
 
With as much pride as a King can muster in his tightie-whities, Grandpa leaves the room.

Jadyn stands.
 
“I will instruct the staff to bring the rest of your dinner to the library upstairs.
 
I am sure your friends are still hungry.”
 
Her voice is pleasant and her demeanor calm.
 
“Is there anything else you need this evening?”

“A cure for asinine Witches,” I mutter under my breath.

Amused, she says, “I am afraid we are fresh out of those.
 
Perhaps I can find one online.”
 

I give her a weak smile.
 
“I’ve looked already.”
 
Kallen and I
stand,
ready to get out of this room.
 
“So, no, we’re good.
 
Thanks.”
 
Jadyn nods and leaves, presumably to have our dinner brought upstairs.

Kallen and I make our way to the library without passing any of the Witches or staff.
 
They seem to have scattered for the night.
 
Thank god.
 
If I see one more before dawn, I don’t think I’ll be able to control my desire to kill one of them.

Kallen must have sent Kegan a message that food would be served in the library because he and Alita are there and Kegan growls at Kallen when we walk in, his usual response to Kallen’s mental messages.
 
I’m surprised to find Tana here as well.
 
She has her feet curled up under her on a chair and a book in her hands, so I don’t think she was drawn here for the rest of her dinner.
 
I think she was just relaxing.
 
I assume Adriel is too pissed to come eat, or Kallen was too afraid to send her a message.
 
I’ll ask the person bringing food to let her know because I’m not sure which room is hers.

The food is not far behind us.
 
The aroma of orange chicken and rice fills the room and the five of us dig in.
 
We eat in an amicable silence for a while, enjoying the food.

Breaking the silence, Alita says between bites, “Your grandfather is a lot to take in.”
 

“That’s a weird way of saying ‘your grandfather’s a complete ass’,” I mumble around a mouthful of chicken.

Laughing, Alita says, “I suppose it is.”

“Aunt Tana,” Kallen begins.
 
He has been quietly studying her for the last several minutes.
 
“You do not seem to mind the company of Xandra’s grandfather.”
 
That is the sharpest tone I have heard him use with his aunt, even when she was psycho.

Without looking up from her book, Tana makes a humming sound.
 
“Mmm.”

Kallen tries again.
 
“Are you trying to get him to trust you so you can figure out what he has in store for us?”
 

This time, Tana doesn’t bother to respond at all.
 
I take another bite of chicken to distract me from walking to her chair and strangling her.
 
I still may after I swallow.

Beside me on the small settee, Kallen clears his throat and scowls deeply.
 
I guess he’s annoyed by Tana as well.
 
But then Kegan and Alita also find that their throats need to be cleared, as does Tana.
 
Coughing is next.
 
All four of them begin to cough like their lungs are trying to escape.

“What is up with you guys?”
 
I give a nervous look to the food, wondering if the Witch chef did poison it.
 
Crap.

I start to feel it.
 
A tickle in the back of my throat, just the barest trace of discomfort forming.
 
I clear my throat and swallow hard.
 
The feeling abates a little.
 
The other four in the room don’t get the same relief from their throat clearing and coughing.
 
Alita has fallen to the floor and Kegan drops next to her, wanting to help her up but finding he can’t lift his body from the floor either.
 
Tana has the same problem.
 
Her book has hit the floor and her body follows after.
 
I start for them when Kallen slides off the settee, coughing so hard that his face is practically purple.

“Kallen, what is it?
 
What is going on?”

“They are dying of iron poisoning,” Adriel says throwing the door open so hard it hits the wall as she rushes into the room.
 
Taz dashes in front of her.

Iron poisoning?
 
“From the food?”
I ask stupidly, laying my hands on Kallen to heal him.
 
Taz has attached himself to my pant leg and he’s trying to drag me out.
 
I guess saving me is his job as my Familiar.
 
“Taz, stop it!
 
I have to heal Kallen.”

“That is not going to do any good, the iron has been turned to dust and is floating in the air,” Adriel says.
 
She is putting her arm around Alita and lifting her from the floor.
 
“We need to get them outside.”

My mind is having a hard time processing her words.
 
“In the air?”
 

Taz has ripped a hole in my jeans now but I continue to ignore him.
 
Panting hard, he finally
lets
go.
 
“What is wrong with you?
 
Are you a moron?!
 
There is iron floating everywhere and you need to get out of here!”

Adriel has Alita on her feet now.
 
Agreeing with Taz, she says, “Can we talk about it outside?
 
Grab Tana and teleport us out!
 
We’ll come back for the other two.”
 
Um, Kallen is higher on my priority list than Tana.
 

I need to get my head together.
 
If the iron is coming through the ventilation system, then all the way through the house the Fairies would continue to breathe it in.
 
If I teleport us all outside, that won’t solve the problem and who knows how long it would be until we could come back in.
 
How long does it take iron dust to dissipate from the air?
 
Adriel’s plan would also take valuable time away from healing the Fairies.
 
That’s not the answer.
 
I need to get rid of the iron dust.
 

Closing my eyes, I concentrate, sending my magic out into the room, finding the air ducts.
 
I snap them closed.
 
Next, I utter the spell that is flooding into my mind.
 
“
Upon our breath, elements combine, bringing pain and stealing time.
 
Poison of old, serving as our enemy’s knife, snuffing out the spark of life.
 
Molecules floating, motes we cannot see, become solid again, hear this plea from me.
 
As you once were,
be
again, take the form you once had been.”

I feel the pull of the spell as the iron begins to bind together.
 
It is not long before tiny pellets of iron begin to drop from the air, as soon as they are too heavy to remain floating.
 
Which means that Kallen, Kegan, Alita and Tana are not only breathing it in, they are now having it rain down on them, burning any bare flesh.
 
Damn it!
 
I need to think these things through better.

“Are you insane?!
 
Those things hurt
!,
” Taz cries, seeking cover under the settee.
 
His fat little butt won’t fit, though.
 
Too much bacon.

Relaxing a tiny bit, Adriel lays Alita on the closest chair and begins to brush the iron off everyone.
 
“You can heal them now.”
 
She adds, “You need to hurry, they are dying.”
 
As if I can’t tell that on my own.

My god, what am I going to do?
 
How can I heal all four of them before the iron takes at least one of them away from me?
 
An idea formulates in my mind.
 
Putting my hands under Kallen’s armpits, I use all my strength to pull him closer to Alita.
 
“Help
me,
drag Kegan and Tana over here.”

Adriel grabs Kegan and begins to heft him over.
 
Once he is close enough, I grab his hand and lay it on Alita’s outstretched foot.
 
Neither of them
are
conscious anymore.
 
Next, I arrange Kallen so he is close to Alita.
 
He is still conscious, but barely.
 
He can’t focus on me and he is obviously in great pain.
 
Now, Adriel and I move to Tana and drag her to the rest of them, making sure she is touching Kallen.
 

“Taz, I need you to be my conduit.
 
Get between Tana and
Kegan,
make sure you’re touching them both on their skin, not their clothes.”

“What?!”
Taz yelps.
 
“When did I become a chew toy for your magic?”

“When my husband and friends became in danger of dying.
 
Do it!”
 

Mumbling things about me that I’m positive I don’t want to hear, Taz moves into place.
 
Louder, he says, “Do try not to kill me.”

With Taz in place, I move to Alita’s side.
 
I need to be closest to her as she is the weakest link, not having the magic or the brawn the guys do to help protect her.
 
I lay my hand on her and Kallen who, honestly, I would save above all, and I release my magic through them.
 
I flood their bodies with it and Alita bucks up, almost flying from the chair.
 
I increase my hold on her and then I push my magic harder and farther.
 
Even Kallen’s body is vibrating with the amount of magic I’m forcing through him.
 
My magic collects the iron poisoning their blood, and then moves out of them and into Kegan and Tana through a weird sort of magical osmosis where their skin is touching.
 
Taz is gritting his teeth as the magic begins to pass back and forth within him only to be pushed back into the Fairies.
 
He is keeping it from, for lack of a better word, fading as it moves from body to body.
 
Being my familiar, he keeps my magic strong as it moves away from me.
 
Meanwhile, the room has finally stopped raining iron.

It takes several minutes to rid their blood of all of it and it is a painful experience for all as I tear it from their lungs and out through their mouths.
 
I can’t just dissolve it inside of them and make the iron disappear.
 
The laws of mass and matter make that impossible.
 
I can only move it from one place to another.
 
Once the iron leaves them, it combines as the other had by direction of my spell, landing in small clumps on the floor.
 

My heart jumps when Alita takes in a long, deep and raspy breath.
 
Kallen and Kegan follow soon after, then Tana.
 
Their breathing slowly regulates and their ashen skin begins to infuse with color again as clean blood flows through their veins.
 
They’re safe.