Blood of Egypt (Witch Fairy Book 8) (22 page)

Chapter 36

“You are certainly an impressive team,” Tabbris says when she appears next to me, watching the horror movie playing out in the living room.

“Have you come to strip him of his wings?” I ask hopefully.

She shakes her head.  “Unfortunately, Belial is cunning.  Creating illusions and encouraging humans to lower their inhibitions and behave the way they have always dreamed does not truly violate free will.  All beings have it within them to stand against such things.”

“Then why did you come?”

“Because Belial has stepped too close to the line considering he has been warned twice and he must be punished.”

“What will happen to him?” I ask, letting go of the magic attacking Belial.  Eliana does the same.

“He will stand before a tribunal and be stripped of some of his power for a period of time,” she says and I notice a distinct lilt in her voice which is unusual for her.  She’s going to enjoy this I bet.  Belial is definitely not the most popular Angel around.  As if reading my mind, she says, “Rashnu is waiting to give the final judgment in the matter.  It has already been decided that he will not be allowed to seek vengeance for any actions taken here or in the past.”  That’s great to hear.  Wish they would have decided that a little earlier, though. 

Tabbris turns to Eliana.  “It is a pleasure to meet one who has been chosen as protector of this realm by the ancient gods.  Few can walk among our kind without harm and to do so while defending one of our kind makes you even more extraordinary.  You are welcome to call upon us if ever a need arises.”

“Thank you,” Eliana whispers.  She’s in Angel awe at the moment like I used to be when I first met the Angels.

Tabbris is not one for lengthy chats.  “We will take our leave now,” she says, walking to Belial.  Without a look back to say good bye, she touches Belial’s already healing skin and they are gone.  The absence of Angel light is a surprise to both mine and Eliana’s retinas. 

With them gone, my attention immediately focuses on Kallen.  I rush to him at the same time Eliana asks, “Where is Josh?”

“I brought him to the gazebo,” Kallen says with a grimace.  I don’t think Josh was the only one to end up with broken bones.  My husband is leaning against the wall and holding his left arm in place.  He pulled Josh out of here with a broken arm.  Yeah, I definitely love him.  “He will be in a great deal of pain if he awakens before being healed,” he adds.

Eliana is out of the room before he even finishes that sentence leaving me to focus on Kallen.  I touch him gingerly, trying to determine his injuries.  “My arm is broken and my left ankle may be as well,” he tells me to save time and get to the healing part faster.  And he’s blind but he doesn’t feel the need to speak the obvious. 

As I begin healing him, I ask, “What about Josh?”

“He hit the wall first and sustained greater injury than me,” he says through gritted teeth.  I wish healing didn’t hurt.  “His leg is fractured in several places and his tibia has broken skin.  He lost consciousness immediately upon impact.”  Well that’s good.  He didn’t have to feel the pain of the compound fracture.  Poor guy.  Though I’m sure Eliana will have him as good as new momentarily.

About the same time I finish healing Kallen, Eliana and Josh come back into the room.  Josh looks a little shell shocked, but other than that he looks fine.  Eliana looks great compared to what she looked like an hour ago.  Her skin has color and her fever has obviously broken.  She comes right over to me and pulls me into a hug.

“Does this mean you don’t regret meeting me?” I ask as I hug her back.

She laughs.  “I don’t regret meeting you at all.”  She steps back and looks around the nearly destroyed house.  “Though next time you visit, we may need to stay somewhere a little more durable.”

She’s trying to make light of it but I see the pain in her eyes as she takes in the destruction around us.  I look to Kallen and he gives me a slight nod.  Hooking my arm around Eliana’s, I say, “Let’s go outside for a few minutes to catch our breath and then we’ll figure out the house.”  She lets me lead her out of the room and out of the house.

Chapter 37

We’ve been sitting in the gazebo for about twenty minutes when an extremely fatigued Kallen comes out to join us.  I raise my brows in question and again he gives me a slight nod.  Standing up, I say, “Are you ready to see what can be salvaged?”

“No,” Eliana says with a sigh, “but I suppose we must.”  She and Josh stand up and the four of us make our way back to the house.

When we’re inside, both Eliana and Josh’s mouths drop open.  They are now standing in the living spinning slowly around trying to take in what has happened.  I can’t help but grin.  “Surprise,” I say.

“What happened?  How did it happen?” Eliana asks.

“My gorgeous husband is able to do reversal magic.”

“What’s that?” Josh asks.  “I mean, I can see what the end result is but how?”

Kallen shrugs.  “It is a gift not bestowed upon many but,” he wraps his arm around me and pulls me close, “with a wife like mine it is a handy skill to have.”  I give him a sour look and he chuckles, kissing my forehead.  I lean into him and snuggle closer.  I’m too happy to have made it through yet another death defying situation to be bothered by his teasing.

“Everything is back the way it was,” Eliana says, still taking it in.  “The artifacts, the floor, the windows, everything.”

Starting to feel uncomfortable with the wonderment his magic has inspired, Kallen says, “Unfortunately, reversal magic takes its toll.  I hope you will not think it rude if I retire for the evening.”

Eliana shakes her head and smiles.  “Not at all.”  Looking at Josh with both love and lust in her eyes, she says, “I think we will be turning in as well.”  The grin on Josh’s face as he pulls her into his arms tells me that he sees those things in her eyes as well.

After saying goodnight, Kallen and I retreat to our bedroom.  We immediately head for the shower.  We still have Nile muck on us even though it feel like an eternity since we were there.  After a nice, hot shower we crawl into bed. 

“You are all worn out from doing your reversal thing?” I ask.

“Absolutely drained,” he says moving his naked body closer to mine.  “I do not believe I can stay awake another moment,” he adds as he moves his body above mine.

“Me too,” I purr.  “I think I might fall asleep any second.”  He’s nuzzling my neck now and I stroke his back with my eager hands.

“Good, maybe if we go right to sleep we can start our honeymoon all over again tomorrow,” he says against my lips as his body nestles into mine. 

Wrapping my legs around him, I say, “I really hate to procrastinate like that.  Maybe we should start now.”  And we do.

Chapter 38

“Are you enjoying yourself?” my husband asks.

“More than you can possibly know,” I say against his lips as he kisses me.

“Even though the sights are so limited?” he asks, pulling me into his arms.

“Who needs sights when we can spend all day doing this?”  I prove my point by running my lips along his jaw, nibbling and licking my way to the spot on his neck that drives him crazy.

“I am glad you see it that way,” he gasps as I find the right spot.

We spent two more days in Egypt to make sure that Eliana was handling the binding well.  Josh was grateful to have us there in case anything happened to her because of it.  But after no relapses into a feverish state, we all felt comfortable with Kallen and me taking our leave with promises to visit often.  But not before pulling out a world atlas and finding a remote desert island.

We have been here two weeks now and we may never go home since we can’t seem to keep our hands off from each other long enough to even talk about it.  Kallen has kept a circle around us so no one can find us even if they try.  We have a simple hut that we built by hand instead of magic and we spend our days making love, eating and sleeping, in that order.  We packed about a month’s worth of food before we left Egypt so we’re good for a while yet.

We have finally managed to do it.  Kallen and I are finally on a real honeymoon.