Page 81 of Destined to Fight

“Sounds good. We’ll leave in fifteen,” Kade announced.

Kelly hadn’t realized everyone was done. She must have been lost inside her head longer than she realized.

Fifteen minutes later, the five of them were on their way to the Arcane library. Her dad had confirmed he was bringing the picture over within the hour for Connor, and Asta was already on the phone with her mom.

Fabian handed Kelly a belt. “Put this on. It is meant to sit high on your waist, above your jeans or leggings. It is custom made for your karambits and fits both of them snugly. You need to carry them on you any time you leave the house.”

She nodded and secured the belt above her leggings, under her sweatshirt. He handed her karambits over, and she carefully fitted them in the belt. They mounted in the small of her back so that she could fit her pinkies in the finger loops and pull them out easily.

The library was beautiful. The walls were filled with gleaming shelves from floor to ceiling. A neat row of tables lined the center of the long room.

Kelly wanted to set up camp and get lost, just—forget about the world and bury herself in books and utter silence. She was certain you could hear a pin drop in there.

Kade and Ginna went to the section on vampire history while Kelly and Fabian combed through mage history and Arcane genealogy.

Hours passed as they combed through book after book. The sun set outside at one point and Kelly vaguely noted the change from natural to artificial light.

At one point, she whispered to Fabian, asking when the library closed. He told her it never closed and went back to work, so she happily did the same.

They ended up leaving shortly after midnight. Everyone was excited about what they’d found, but they all agreed to wait until the entire group was together to share everything.

The SUV was cozy on the way home, with Kade and Asmund up front and Kelly, Ginna, and Fabian in the back seat. Ginna was recalling times when she’d played jokes on human men in the sixties to make them believe they were being haunted by ghosts. Everyone was rolling with laughter when Asmund shouted two words.

“Oh shit!”

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Aman stood directly in their lane of travel, no less than twenty feet away. They were on the tollway, traveling 65 mph, and there was no way Asmund could swerve or brake in time to avoid him.

Everything moved in slow motion from that moment.

Fabian wrapped himself around Kelly with inhuman speed.

Kelly lost control of the safeguards on her mind, and Kade’s thoughts came pouring in.

How did they track us? How many are there? Vampires, they look Russian. Fabian has Kelly. I have to be the first line of defense. How the fuck did this happen?

Then it did happen. The SUV slammed into the man standing in the middle of the road. Looking back, Kelly would realize the way he stood revealed he was bracing himself for the impact, but in the moment, nothing made sense.

The man stayed stationary as the SUV impacted him and then flipped forward, landing on its roof and sliding to a stop in the middle of the tollway.

Before the car stopped skidding on the highway, Fabian was working to get her out. He ripped the seatbelt with his hands, punched out the window, and squeezed out before he helped her. Kade was there, guarding them as Kelly crawled out. Ginna and Asmund were there too, their backs to Kelly, weapons ready at their sides.

A deep chuckle met Kelly’s ears and sent chills through her body, all the way into the marrow of her bones.

Fucking Russians. Kade’s thought came through. Her first reaction was to block it, then she realized there was a benefit to hearing his thoughts right now and left the channel clear.

“I can hear you, Kade,” she whispered. Everyone could hear her, but she hoped he understood her meaning.

Tap yer foot if ye can hear this.

She did as he asked.

Fuck the rules, this asshole already broke them. Do what ye can to defend yerself, powers included. We have to disable the master vampires to the point they cannae fly. When that’s done, I can fly ye home.

“Kazimir, fancy seeing ye here. Yer far from home, aren’t ye?”

The chuckle came again. “Ahh, Keegan, you always did underestimate the ambition of your enemies. One would travel the universe to gain what you so fiercely protect.”

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