Blood Lines: Kallen's Tale (Witch Fairy #3.5) (21 page)

“For what you said before I started hitting you with the pillow.”

My temper is increasing by the second.  I feel it best not to say the words that are going through my mind at the moment.  When Xandra hits me with the pillow again, I grab it out of her hands and toss it across the room. 

She simply turns around to grab another one.  Just to save me from having to throw all the pillows off the balcony, I say, “Fine, I apologize.”  Her response is to hit me with another pillow.

“You are not helping my mood,” I grind out.

“That’s okay.  This is doing wonders for mine.”  She hits me again.

Okay, she is right.  I am being ridiculous.  I already know that Kegan was uninvited and unwelcome so why am I acting like this?  I grab the pillow out of her hands like I did the first one.  When she crawls across the bed to get another one, I grab her ankles and drag her back towards the edge of the bed.  She barely puts up a struggle as she is laughing too hard to put any effort into it.  I kneel over her and gently grab her wrists.  I pull them above her head and admit to myself and her why I am acting like a maniac. “I have never felt jealousy before.”  At least not to this extent, and only with her.  “I was unable to control it.”  I let go of her wrists and then run my fingers through my hair.  “I was coming to you and I heard Kegan’s voice.  I did not know who to be angrier with.”

“Kallen, I didn’t…”

I place a finger on her lips.  “Let me finish.  I listened to what was being said.  I was wrong in accusing you of anything.  You made it clear that he was unwelcome.”

She smiles.  “Finally, a real apology.”

“Yes.”

“Okay, now you have to go get the pillows you threw over there.”

My turn to smile.  “Why should I have to retrieve the objects of your assault?”

“Because you were the biggest jerk.”

I chuckle.  “I will retrieve them only if I may use one.”

“Does that mean I can finally go back to sleep?”

I do not respond as I get off the bed to retrieve the pillows.  Coming back to the bed, I say, “Move over.”

She slides over and pulls the covers up.  She lifts her head so I can put a pillow underneath it and then I lay next to her.  I put my arm around her waist and pull her close.  “I love you,” I whisper as I darken the lights in the room.  “I hate being away from you.”

“I love you, too.”  Then she adds, “Not that I want you to leave, but won’t Isla be mad?”

“I do not care.”  She must like my response because she curls up next to me and falls back to sleep.

Chapter 23

I wake up to an empty bed.  That surprises me.  Xandra is not usually such an early riser.  Deciding to go find her, I stretch my arms and back before I get up.  Xandra opens the door as if on cue saving me the trouble.  “Where did you run off to?” I ask through a yawn.

“I had to talk to Isla about something.”

She has my full attention now.  “About what?”

She walks to the bed and climbs back in.  “About how I can keep her grandson from being a jealous jerk.”

Since I have been acting like a jealous jerk I really have nothing to say to that.  Therefore, I tickle her instead.  Fortunately for me, she is very ticklish.  “Stop it,” she says through a gasping laugh.

Like that is going to happen.  I continue to tickle her for several more minutes as she laughs until she is breathless.  Finally, I listen to her pleas and let her go.  She lies on her back for a few minutes trying to breath normally again.  Looking over at me, she says, “You are so mean.”

I reach out and brush her hair from her face.  As much as I do not want to broach the topic, a thought has been nagging at me since last night.  “It is often said that Kegan and I could be twins.  His personality is more relaxed, more playful, and he tends to be much nicer than I am.”

She looks confused.  “So?”

“Here, it would never be a possibility that he could steal someone away from me because of his Cowan blood.  But with you, it is different.  You do not care about any of that.”

Now she looks more confused.  “Are you trying to convince me I should date him instead?  Because you’re not doing a very good job, if you are.”

“I am simply pointing out that I would understand if you would prefer someone with a personality closer to your own.”  That is a lie.  It would kill me.

She looks at me as if I am stupid.  “Then I wouldn’t have anyone to hit with pillows when they’re being a jerk.  Like now.”  She pulls the pillow out from under her head and attempts to hit me with it but I catch it before she can make contact.  “And being with someone just like me?  How boring is that?  It sounds like you’re giving me Kegan’s resume for the job of being my boyfriend.  If you’re ready to give up the position, I prefer to find my own candidates, thank you very much.  Being with someone who looks so much like you would serve as a constant reminder of what I lost.  Why would I want that?”

She could not have come up with better words if she had taken a week to think of them.  A smug smile finds its way to my face.  “Would you truly be heartbroken if we parted ways?”

She successfully hits me with the pillow this time because I let her.  “You don’t have to be so happy about it.”  I laugh and grab the pillow then throw it off the bed.  I do not want any distractions when I kiss her.  Which I do.  Long and hard.

I am disappointed when she pulls away after a few minutes.  “Kallen, what is this going to do to your relationship with Kegan.”

The rage I felt last night towards him is returning.  Why is she spoiling the mood by bringing this up?  “I do not have a cousin.”

She shakes her head.  “That’s not a very mature way to handle this.  You love Kegan, I know you do.  Yeah, he did something really crappy and I’d feel betrayed, too.  But we’re trapped in a giant spider web for at least a couple more days, so you’re not going to be able to avoid him.”

She is more blasé about this than I would like her to be.  “He came into your room in the middle of the night to try to seduce you.”

“Yeah, and I’m really mad about that.  But I don’t hate him.  I just think he did a really stupid thing without thinking it through.  To be honest, it probably has more to do with your competitive natures than it does me.”

“Then you do not give yourself enough credit.”

A knock on the door keeps her from responding.  Tabitha bustles into the room.  “Isla told me you were up.  Kallen, you need to scoot on out of here so Xandra can bathe.  Go on now,” she adds when I do not immediately stand up.

Reluctantly, I do get up.  I lean over and give Xandra a quick kiss and then walk towards the door.  On my way, I lean over and give Tabitha a kiss on the cheek. As I close the door behind me I hear her say to Xandra, “Up, missy.  Stop looking all moon eyed.”  That makes me chuckle to myself.

I walk down the hallway to my room and as soon as I pass Kegan’s door, it opens.  I keep walking.  I open my bedroom door and slam it closed behind me.  Childish yes but I am not ready to talk to him yet.  Stripping off my clothes, I step into my shower and let the hot water try to work the knots out of my muscles. 

When I come out of the bathroom, Kegan is sitting on my bed.  “Leave,” I say as I run a comb through my hair.

“We need to talk, cousin.”

“We did talk.  Last night.  In my girlfriend’s bedroom where you were attempting to seduce her.”

“I have no idea why I did that.”  He stands up and starts pacing.  “I am such an idiot.  For god’s sake, you know I have been in love with Alita my whole damn life.  I think that is what last night was all about.  I am so frustrated with Alita because she will not even try to overcome the obstacles for us.  She keeps telling me to find someone else.”

“And you chose my girlfriend?  So far, your explanation sucks.”

He does the hand through the hair thing I do when I am upset.  “I know.”  He stops pacing and looks up at me.  “I just wanted to make Alita jealous.”

“Again, with my girlfriend.  When exactly is this explanation going to make me not want to finish what I started last night?” 

Kegan throws himself into one of my chairs.  “I am a stupid jackass.  I betrayed your trust in a misguided attempt to make the one I love want to at least try to be with me.  Kill me now, I deserve it.”

I shake my head.  I know that he is not telling the whole truth but I think that he is lying to himself as much as he is to me.  But I do not want to continue being angry with him.  It takes too much energy that is better spent elsewhere at the moment.  “You are pathetic.  And lucky.”  He looks up at me with raised brows.  “Lucky that I believe you.  But next time you want to make Alita jealous, your eyes, hands and lips had better not go anywhere near Xandra.  I am still pissed but as I do not want to get blood all over my favorite chair, I will let you live at least until after breakfast.  I kill better on a full stomach.”

Relief washes over his face.  “Are we good then?”

I snort.  “Not at all.  Whatever the reason, you still kissed my girlfriend.  I simply agreed not to kill you.”

He rises from the chair.  “That is a start.  I will find a way to win back your trust, cousin.” 

“Good luck with that.  Go apologize to Xandra.  From a distance.”  A slight smile crawls onto his face as he makes his way to the door.

After shaving and dressing, I find Kegan and Xandra in the hall outside her room.  “Have you made your peace?”  Xandra jumps at the sound of my voice. 

Kegan nods his head.  “I believe so.”

“Then we should go to the training room.”  Kegan nods and takes off down the stairs.

Xandra looks up at me.  “I guess you’ve made your peace with him, as well?”

I pull her into a hug.  “For your sake, yes, I did.  I do not want you to think I am a jealous tyrant.”

She laughs.  “Too late, I already do.”

“Just wait until training today,” I say with a grin letting my hands drop from around her waist and taking her hand in mine as we follow Kegan down the stairs. 

I am surprised to find Grandmother in the training room when we arrive.  Dagda is leaning against the far wall and Alita is sitting quietly trying not to be noticed by him.  Kegan is also here looking as guilty and embarrassed as he should.  I notice Alita avoids looking in his direction even when he tries to engage her in conversation.  Perhaps his convoluted plan worked.  Or he ruined every chance he ever had with Alita.  It will be interesting to see how this plays out.  The only person missing from the room is Rhiannon.  She is probably too sore to join us.

To my great surprise, Xandra turns to Grandmother and says, “I don’t think it’s fair to keep this a secret.  They deserve to know.”  After giving her a long, hard stare, Grandmother finally nods her head once in agreement.

“Know what?” Dagda demands.  “Isla, are you keeping something from us?”

“Yes, she is, but only because she didn’t want anyone to panic.”  Xandra looks around the room and realizes that she did not make anyone feel better.  She tries again.  “The spider web isn’t to keep us here until I’m trained.  It’s to keep us all from blowing up tonight.”

Alita gasps and Dagda pushes off from the wall like he’s ready to kill someone.  Kegan stops looking embarrassed and guilty.  Now he looks scared. 

“Grandmother, is this true?” I demand.

Grandmother sighs.  “Yes, and we are safe from that now.”

Apparently, Xandra is done talking about this subject and has decided to move on to an even more controversial one.  “Now, about my training today.  Dagda, there’s something else you need to know.”

“There is more?”  His head already looks like it is going to explode without any more outside help.  Whatever she says next may do the job for Xenia and her followers.

“Xandra, what are you doing?” I ask.

“I’m putting all my cards on the table.  He says he wants to make up for how he was before, so, we’ll see.”

“He did?” Tabitha says in surprise.  Dagda gives her a dirty look.

“Here’s the thing.  I can’t do subtle magic.”

Dagda looks confused now.  “What does that mean?”

“It means I can call a million spiders to do my bidding, but I can’t change my own clothes without everyone else in the house ending up in the same outfit.  There was a really embarrassing bikini thing a couple of days ago.”  I do not think it was necessary for her to bring that up.

Dagda starts laughing.  The knee slapping kind of laughing.  “You can tear holes between the realms but you cannot do any of the simple magic?”

Now Xandra is annoyed.  With her hands on her hips, she says, “I can do simple magic; it just doesn’t stay simple when I do it.  You should also know that the more irritated I am, the better my control is.”

It takes a moment, but he eventually stops laughing.  “Why would you feel the need to keep this from me?”

Xandra shrugs.  “We didn’t want you to see any of my weaknesses.”

He inclines his head in understanding.  “I see.  Why did you decide to tell me?”

“Because I want to work on my offensive magic.”