Free True of Blood (Witch Fairy Series) by Bonnie Lamer

take great pleasure in proving you wrong.”
     
    As the three Fairies passed their barbs back and forth, none of them were paying attention to my mother who is whispering something.  Just as Maurelle turns to face her, my mother raises her arms and something explodes from the ground and small pieces of what look like rusted nails rain down on the Fairies and everywhere they graze or puncture their skin, large bloody welts appear.  Since Maurelle and Olwyn had been closer to her, they were hit by most of the shrapnel.  Kallen, who must have been paying some attention to my mother, had tried to take cover right before the explosion and he had only been hit by a couple of stray nails.  Taking advantage of the fact that Olwyn and Maurelle have both once again been brought to their knees in pain, he flings what he has in his hand towards both of them.  A large explosion of black smoke engulfs them both and when the smoke clears, they are both gone.
     
    “Wicked!” Zac says loudly from next to me.  I had forgotten that he was watching all of this.  Probably wasn’t the most responsible thing on any of our parts to let him do that.  What if something had happened to Mom?
     
    Dad must have had the same thought because he turns to Zac and says, “Zac, why don’t you sit at the table and play with your DSI?”
     
    “Aw, Dad,” Zac whines but he trudges over to the table as if his feet are covered in lead and makes a big show of sitting down and folding his arms on the table and resting his chin on them.  I can’t help a small smile for his fine dramatics.
     
     Looking back out the window, I see Kallen sink to his knees as he holds his hand to his side.  He must have been more hurt in the explosion than he originally let on.  Ignoring Mom’s instructions to stay inside, I open the back door and run out into the snow.  I stop about five feet from him.  Mom yells at me to get away from him but I ignore her.
     
    “Kallen, are you alright?”  I can tell from the pained look on his face that he’s not but he turns a stony face towards me and through gritted teeth he says, “I am well enough.”
     
    I snort.  “Liar.”
     
    He narrows his eyes and attempts a contemptuous look at me but his eyes betray him.  Turning back towards Mom who is almost next to me now, I say, “We have to help him.”
     
    Mom shakes her head adamantly.  “This could be a ruse, Xandra.  They may have planned this so that we let our guard down.  We can’t do that.”
     
    I give her a sour look.  “So, we’re just supposed to leave him out here to suffer?  I don’t think he’s faking his injuries and he did make the other Fairies disappear.”  Looking back at Kallen, I ask, “Where did you send them, anyway?”
     
    “They have been sent back to the passage to the Fae land.  If the passage was open, they would have been thrust through it.  The best I could do was having them start from the beginning.  Their injuries will stall their return.”  All of this was said through a clenched jaw as he held his hands to his side.
     
    A line of blood began to seep through his fingers and I whirl around towards my mother.  “How can we leave him when he’s obviously hurt so badly?  Haven’t you always taught me to be compassionate?  Where is your compassion?”
     
    “Xandra…” Mom starts but I cut her off.  “No, I don’t want to hear that this could be a trick.  He’s fought those other two off twice now.  I think we need to give him the benefit of the doubt.  Please,” I add for good measure.  I’m not quite sure why I’m fighting to help someone who so obviously dislikes me but it seems like the right thing to do.
     
    Mom looks torn as she looks back and forth between Kallen and me.  Finally, she lets out a long sigh even though as a ghost she doesn’t really breathe.  “Earth, water and air combine, protect my home, protect what’s mine.  This Fairy who claims a friend to be, if there is