Page 102 of Destined to Fight

She scribbled more, telling Fabian they all agreed on the plan, even Siri.

Fabian shook his head slowly, visibly fighting for calm. He exhaled and squared his shoulders. “Let us go then.”

Kelly tore the sheet from the pad, then handed it back to the receptionist with the pen.

Not wanting anyone else to get ahold of the paper, she folded it and put it in the pocket of her hoodie.

They walked to the elevator again, and Kelly pressed the button this time.

When the elevator arrived and opened this time, three men were waiting for them.

Kelly did her best to calm herself as they entered. Fabian and Asmund put themselves between her and the men, and she hit the button for the ground floor.

The elevator sped down while the six of them stood frozen in the tension that permeated the small space.

Kelly was so nervous that she jumped when the ding sounded for the first floor. The doors slid open silently, and she did her best to exit without breaking into a sprint. They walked through the security checkpoint, and the men followed.

As soon as they exited the building, more people swarmed to them, all looking normal yet ruthless at the same time. They flocked around the three of them like paparazzi, coming incredibly close without actually touching.

Each step was like walking through tar as Kelly forced one foot in front of the other. The crowd just barely parted as they moved.

With all the people around them, Kelly lost her sense of direction, but Kade saved the day.

She’d been so caught up in what was happening, she hadn’t heard or felt him talking to her. The people in front of her parted, and Kade reached out, grabbing her hand. He pulled her to him fiercely, hugging her tight, then turned and headed back the way he’d come, pulling her by the hand.

In single file, the four of them made their way through the crowd and to the car.

As they drew closer to the car, the crowd became more hostile. People pushed up against her, yelling, growling, and hissing at her. They pushed Fabian back and forth between them, trying to get a reaction from him. Then, one punched Kade with a hard right hook at vampire speed.

Time froze in that moment. Kelly felt the power rise in Kade as he prepared to release a blast so strong it would knock the crowd down. She squeezed his hand as tight as she could and sent him a loud message to control his anger. If he attacked now, this was all over.

The power rose in him, building as he prepared to release it. Kelly felt it and pushed back against it, willing it back down inside of him. Her fists clenched, and her eyes squeezed shut so tightly it gave her a headache. For a moment, she thought she’d lost, but then Kade’s power dissipated, and he only released a warning jolt.

Relief washed through her. They’d avoided what would have surely been a bloodbath.

The crowd wasn’t phased in the slightest, and her group was able to keep moving forward through the sea of people, one painstaking step at a time.

By the time they made it to the car, it was like they were walking through a mob of zombies. Every person laid their hands on Kelly, grabbing her just enough to make her feel violated before they let her go. It was clear that they were trying to provoke a magical reaction, causing her to violate the Council’s terms.

Kade opened the door and shoved her into the SUV, not bothering to be nice about it. He and Fabian piled in after and slammed the door. Asmund opened the back gate and crawled in as the SUV entered the flow of traffic.

The mob pounded on the SUV as it pulled away, and the back window shattered when someone threw themselves at it.

A man held on, hanging from the back of the SUV with his arm draped over the shards of glass where the window once was. He growled ferociously and reached his other arm inside, his hand searching for purchase on anything or anyone.

A gunshot rang out inside the car, and the man disappeared from the back window as a red hole appeared in his forehead.

“Fuck!” Kelly yelled, needing an outlet for everything she was experiencing. “Fucking crazy mother fuckers!”

“I concur,” Siri said from the front seat.

Turning back, Kelly saw Asmund covered in shattered glass, but he didn’t seem to be concerned.

Connor went straight to the facts. “There were easily two thousand people there. Someone put great effort into this, and they’ve been preparing for more than two weeks. They’ve known this would happen.”

“Aye, we have a bigger problem on our hands than we thought. They’re miles ahead of us.”

Kade looked Kelly over, feeling through their link to make sure she was okay. She gave him a halfhearted smile of reassurance, but the truth was she was scared out of her mind, and Kade felt it. He tried to redirect the conversation. “Let’s wait to analyze everything until we’re back at the apartment. We’ll focus on getting there in one piece.”

---