04 Shadow Blood - Witch Fairy by Bonnie Lamer Page A

move on after the darkness was scraped off its exterior and had to begin again.  Most creatures live out their fated time without major deviations from the path they were born to walk.”  She starts pacing again.  “But, free will can disrupt everything.”
     
    “You mean choices people make can make their lives shorter?”  Look at me; I should be in a brain trust.
     
    She nods, but says, “Sometimes. More often than not, it is the free will of another that will cause a soul to deviate from its timeline, as it is in this instance.”
     
    “So, someone is going to attack us and someone in this house is going to die?”
     
    She stops pacing.  “I do not know how the death will come about, or who will cause it.  I only know who will die.”
     
    Something clicks in my mind.  “Are you telling me this to prepare me, or are you telling me this so I can stop it?”
     
    A small smile appears on her perfect pink lips.  “It is forbidden for me to tell a humanoid of a death that has not yet occurred.”
     
    Okay.  “Is it forbidden to tell another angel?”
     
    “No.  Angels freely speak of such things amongst each other in our realm.”
     
    This is getting tedious.  “Then, since I’m part Angel, you can tell me.”
     
    Another sigh.  “It is not that cut and dry, as you spend most of your life in a humanoid realm.”
     
    “But, I’m still part Angel.  That seems like a pretty big loophole to me.”  The plea in my voice is loud and clear.  “I think Rashnu would see it that way.”
     
    She gives a small laugh.  “Perhaps you have not spent enough time in her company.”
     
    Yeah, she’s probably right.  “Okay, maybe she doesn’t need to know?”
     
    Another laugh.  “Rashnu knows all that surrounds death.”
     
    “But, she didn’t stop you from coming, right?  Doesn’t that mean that it’s okay to tell me?”  I understand her hesitancy, but I’m going to try to weasel the information out of her any way I can.
     
    “Nasty and unpleasant , yet clever.”  She starts pacing again.  “I suppose you are right.  Rashnu must know that I am here and she has not appeared to stop me.”
     
    “Adriel, please.”  I can’t take the suspense.  I need to find out whom so I can stop it.
     
    She stops in front of me.  “The very same brother that we rescued from the Shadow realm is in danger of an unfated death.”
     
    My mouth drops open. I was expecting one of the adults.  Zac hasn’t done anything to anyone to deserve an unfated death.  She has to be mistaken.  I open my mouth to tell her that, but she holds up her hand.  “It is undeniable.  He is already in the throes of death or else I would not know of this.  Angels of Death are only dispatched when it appears death is inevitable.”
     
    Words come out of my mouth this time.  “And you’ve kept me here talking?  I have to save him.”
     
    Now she looks impatient.  “Of course you have to save him.  That is why I am here.”
     
    “But every second I’m here, it’s a second closer to his death!”  I’m practically hysterical now.
     
    “Xandra, calm yourself.”
     
    Oh, that’s exactly what a hysterical person needs to hear.  That’s like telling a person having a seizure to stop moving.  It’s just not going to happen.
     
    “Xandra, you are in Angel time.  Not even a second has passed in the Fairy realm since you have been here.”
     
    I guess I forgot that.  Taking some deep breaths that feel like they scald my lungs, I aim for calm.  My aim has always sucked.  “Then will you please put me back in my time so I can save my brother?”
     
    With what looks a lot like sympathy in her eyes, she nods her head.  Before she does whatever it is that Angels do when they pull me into their time, and put me back in my own, I say, “Adriel, I can’t thank you enough for telling me.  You’re a true friend.”
     
    I don’t miss the small smile on her face before she disappears and I