Blood Lines: Kallen's Tale (Witch Fairy #3.5) (14 page)

Chapter 15 

With a grin on my face, I say, “If you are looking for respect for your authority, or as her biological father, you will not find it within Xandra.  She is here to protect her realm and no other reason.  She is strong, determined and moody.  You have passed on your strongest genes to her.”

“Kallen,” Grandmother reproaches with a smile.  “As true as that may be, you are not helping the situation.”

“No, you are not,” Dagda growls but I can see in his eyes that he knows I am right.  He also is not having me placed under arrest for speaking to him as I always have.  His displayed disdain for me earlier may have been more superficial than I thought.

Grandmother stands.  “Kallen and I will take our leave before Xandra decides to take her anger out on your guards.  She is not known for her self-control.”  She looks at Dagda pointedly.  His lips form into a grim line and nods once in dismissal as if Grandmother was actually waiting for his approval instead of implying that he passed on another gene to her.

We find Xandra waiting with the carriage.  There was no carnage to wade through so no one must have attempted to get in her way.  Smart.  Grandmother is silent as she gets into the carriage and for the ride home.  I am usually good at reading her but her face is completely blank.

When we arrive back at the house, Grandmother walks briskly into the kitchen.  “Tabitha, will you please ready the pink room.  We will be having company soon.”  Pink room?  That has to be one of the most uncomfortable rooms in the house.  Dagda will not be happy.  That makes me smile.

Tabitha looks at her in surprise when Grandmother grabs the edge of the counter and takes a deep breath.  “And who might this company be?”

“I expect Dagda to be here within the hour.”

“You want me to ready a room for that piece of…”

“Tabatha,” Grandmother warns.  Her knuckles are turning white.

“Grandmother…” I begin to defend Xandra but she holds up a hand.  Then she motions for the two of us to sit down. 

Taking another deep breath, she stands up straight and faces Xandra.  “I am impressed that you thought this plan out more thoroughly than I imagined.”  She has to be crazy if she thinks Xandra thought about this more than a second before she said it.  I am not going to bring that up, though.  “But in the future, I would appreciate it if you did not blindside me with a new plan after we leave the house.”  If it had been me that had done it, I would have been in a lot more trouble than a quiet scolding.

“I’m sorry,” Xandra says.  She does look sorry.  She is well aware of the fact that her mouth gets her into a disproportionable amount of trouble than other’s mouths do.

Grandmother almost smiles.  “Not as sorry as you will feel when you have spent time under this roof with that loathsome man.”  There has been no love lost between the two since he went crazy over his daughter and her blood.

“Maybe he won’t come.”

She snorts.  Grandmother never snorts.  “Dagda is an ass, but he is not stupid.” 

I have a hard time not grinning.  I believe I would get a smack in the back of the head from Grandmother.  Maybe I will just stand here and block Tabitha’s access to the back of Xandra’s head.  She has that look in her eyes that she gets right before she smacks me.

“Tabitha, please,” Grandmother says quietly.  The worried look on her face is enough for Tabitha to nod tersely and walk out of the kitchen.  Presumably, to get the pink room ready for Dagda.

Turning towards us again, Grandmother says to me, “Please call Kegan and let him know that his presence is required immediately.  Also, tell him to get permission from his mother to stay here for an indefinite period of time.  I would also appreciate it if he will stop by Alita’s and ask her to accompany him here.”  Now I do grin.  I get to burn off some of my pent up tension by sending Kallen an extra-long, meaning extra-painful, message.

To Xandra, she says, “Your training will be fine-tuned to accommodate the new circumstances.  It would be unwise to let Dagda know how little control you have over your magic.  He will try to find a way to use that against you.  I had originally hoped that you were farther along in your training.  When I discovered you were not, I was intending to have you spend part of your time at the palace and part of your time here, training out of Dagda’s sight.  But, that is no longer possible.  Therefore, the fine tuning of your magic, and the offensive magic, will have to wait.  You will need to focus on your self-defense using both magic and your body.”

She shifts towards me again.  “You and Tabitha will assist her with whatever she needs.  You will clothe her, do her hair, anything that requires a delicacy she does not possess.”

I nod but I am confused.  “Dagda will be able to sense my magic.  He will know Xandra is not doing it herself.”

“Of course, that is why we will tell him that you are so love struck with Xandra that you cannot help but doting on her.  From what I have seen, you should be able to provide enough evidence to prove that is the case.”  I could deny it.  It would be a lie.  I do not miss the smug smile on Xandra’s face at the moment.

Grandmother turns back to Xandra and she has a determined look on her face.  Uh oh.  “You will inform Dagda that you are planning to be hand-fasted with Kallen.”

“But…” She sputters trying to protest but Grandmother holds a hand up to stop her.  That is good.  I do not think I wanted to hear her reasoning.

“That will be the only plausible excuse for me to allow Kallen to devote so much time to you.  Courting is quite different here than it is in your realm.  You two have already had freedoms that could be considered a promise of hand-fasting.  That does not mean that you will actually be hand-fasted.  Providing your behavior is appropriate under the freedom you will be given,” she gives us both hard looks, “there will be no ceremony.”

Xandra looks terrified.  Not exactly complimentary towards me.  “What if he asks why we are waiting?”

“We will inform him that we are waiting for this mess to be cleaned up.  It would not be fair to tarnish your hand-fasting with this nasty business surrounding him.” 

Xandra takes a deep breath.  Then another one before she says, “Okay.” 

My god, she sounds like she was just told her parents died.  Again.  Having to admit that the thought of a hand-fasting right now is a little terrifying, I decide to tease her instead of being insulted.  “My lovely bride to be, I can hardly wait until the ceremony.”  I grin at her and she gives me a dirty look.  “What a tortured soul you are, being forced to pretend you love me.”

My stool begins to rock underneath me.  I try to grab the counter in time to keep my balance, but to no avail.  The stool goes flying and I find myself hitting the floor.  To make matters worse, Grandmother is as amused as Xandra. 

I have to get revenge now.  Xandra realizes that because she starts running in her long, pretty dress.  I could catch her in the house but I decide to wait until she is outside.  Then I make my move and grab her before she can get to the beach.  I sling her over my shoulder as she laughs and beats on my back again.

“Kallen, I’m fully dressed.  I’ll drown if you throw me in the water.”

I say the first thing that pops into my mind.  Words and image.  “Then perhaps I should make you sky-clad before I toss you into the sea.”

“You wouldn’t dare.”  She sounds worried.

“You are sure of that?”

She starts pounding a little harder on my back now.  “Let me down.  I’m sorry I tipped your stool over.” 

Am I hearing things?  Did she actually apologize to me?  I let her slide off my shoulder but not onto the sand yet.  With arched brows, I say, “Can you repeat that?”

“What, let me down?” she teases.

I start to put her on my shoulder again but she winds her arms around my neck.  “Okay, okay, I’m sorry.”

I grin in satisfaction.  “You say the words so infrequently.  Perhaps you should say it again, so I can savor it.”

Instead, she kisses me.  Hard, deep and passionately.  I groan as my whole body reacts.  I pull her closer wishing that she did not have this slippery dress on.  When she wraps her legs around my waist to keep from sliding, I am about to explode.  Does she have any idea what she is doing to me?  I do not care about anything else at the moment.  All I want to do is carry her back into the house, walk up the stairs to her bedroom and lay her down on the bed and make love to her.  All day.  And all night.  The way she is moving her body against mine may get things started sooner than I would like but I would not have her stop if my life depended on it.  With a deep moan, I hold her even tighter. 

Ouch.  Damn it all.  I rip my lips from Xandra and set her abruptly on the ground.  I feel badly about that.  But not as badly as I want to make Kegan feel at the moment.  A splat on my chest makes me even madder.  A slingshot appears in my hand and it takes only a second to aim.  He tries to jump over the terrace wall to escape but I get him in the shoulder.  He takes off around the house and I follow.

If he wants to play this game then I am going to play it.  I use my magic to retrieve one of my special concoctions.  He rounds the corner that will lead him back to the beach just as I have what I need.  Good, there will be an audience for his downfall.  I take aim as I am running and right after he passes Xandra and Alita, who has somehow joined her in the last minute, I let the slingshot go.  An audible splat and green goo spreads all over Kegan as he falls face first into the sand with the impact.

Xandra wrinkles her nose.  “Please tell me that isn’t snot.”

Walking to her side, I say, “It is a combination of seaweed, squid ink and snail slime.”  I laugh at the face she makes.  “And it is quite difficult to get off.  Even with magic.”

“You actually collected snail slime to make a disgusting weapon?” she asks horrified at the thought.

I grin because it is so worth it to see Kegan covered in green slime.  “You never know when snail slime will be needed.  I like to keep some on hand for just these occasions.”

Kegan has picked himself up and he is trying to get his shirt off without letting any of the goo touch his skin.  His voice muffled because his head is covered, he says, “You are a bloody bastard.  I will repay you for this.”

I laugh because I know he is telling the truth but I do not care at the moment.  “I am sure you will, cousin.”

Xandra and Alita are trying not to laugh as Kegan continues to struggle with his shirt.  They are having little success.  Finally, Alita takes pity on him and decides to help him out.  I knew she would cave long before Xandra. 

With his shirt finally off, Kegan runs his hands through his hair to make sure it’s goo free.  “I thought you had used all of that up.”

Nope.  I have three more hidden inside the house.  “That is what I wanted you to believe.”

We’re saved from hearing Kegan’s reply when Tabitha’s voice calls out from the terrace.  “Our company has arrived.  You lot need to make yourselves presentable and then meet Grandmother in the east parlor in twenty minutes.  And Kegan, if you bring that shirt anywhere near this house, you will be scrubbing the entire place from top to bottom with your toothbrush.”  Considering how hard it was to get out of the furniture and carpeting last time, I believe she means it.  Kegan lets the magic holding his shirt go and the green slime plops onto the sand.  Xandra wrinkles her nose at it.  It does look nasty lying there.