Page 119 of Destined to Fight

“I’ve got you covered, sir. Might I suggest we bring Asmund in to help with reinforcements? He knows enough people that we should be able to find enough trustworthy Arcane to come here and stand with us. Asta can also help with the organization of travel and lodging. Then, I can focus on finding out more about what is going on between the two of you. I agree, it is concerning, and I don’t think this is the first time it has happened in our history.”

“The bloodlust concerns me more than anything. That should be reserved for young vampires, but she isnae a vampire. It seems to be getting worse, too. She’s always been a bit aggressive about it, but just now I had to remind her to pull back, and she hesitated. It just doesnae seem right that she’s so drawn to it, even if she’s still recovering.”

“I share your concerns. I’ll get started on it first thing in the morning, and I will not stop until I have answers. Do I have permission to travel if needed?”

“Aye, as long as Asmund arranges for other support here.”

“I’ll go meet with him and Asta now so they can get started.”

“Thank ye, Connor.”

“Any time.”

The next morning, the house was bustling with movement at 8:00 when Kelly woke up.

Kade hadn’t been in bed all night, judging from the state of the covers, and unfamiliar voices came from the other side of the door.

Kelly tested her strength as she sat up. For the most part, she felt back to normal. She was a little tired, but that was all.

Reaching out with her mind, she found Kade and was grateful that their link was back to normal. It had become somewhat of a security blanket for her.

After she showered and dressed, she went out to see what was going on. New faces were everywhere. There had to be at least an extra fifteen people in the house, aside from the additional guards that had already been staying with them.

Everyone was talking excitedly, and Asta’s whiteboard was front and center in the living room.

No one seemed to notice when she came into the room, and she snuck past them all to make breakfast.

It seemed strange that she was still hungry after all the blood she’d had from Kade, but she chalked it up to exhaustion from using her power.

Ginna walked in as she fixed her English muffin. “Morning, Rookie.”

“Morning. What’s up with all these people?”

“I think they’re reinforcements, but I wasn’t part of the planning. You ready to get to work today? Fabian said you could skip the physical stuff and we can hit the books. He wants you to give it a few more days before you push your body.”

“Um, sure. I’ll come up to the library after I eat.”

“Sounds good.”

Ginna grabbed a banana and went back upstairs.

The rest of the week passed by without much excitement. Kelly focused on studying more with Ginna. They didn’t work on any of her abilities, which was frustrating, but she understood why.

The house was busy every day with people in and out. There wasn’t a single moment of silence with everyone adjusting and familiarizing themselves to the house rules.

By the time dinner rolled around each night, Kelly was ready to brave the outside world just for a set of noise-canceling headphones. She was barely able to think with all the noise and commotion.

Kade seemed to be keeping his distance from her, and it wasn’t helping her mental state. Their telepathy seemed to be back to normal, but when she opened her mind, she felt him trying to close his, so she pulled back. He hadn’t come to bed all week, and he simply checked in every night to see if she was okay.

The feeling she got from the house was that she was simply an asset to be protected. None of the new people seemed to care who she was, and all of her friends were busy doing their jobs and strategizing for the next steps.

Even Fabian was aloof. He’d talked about starting their training again at the end of the week, but when the end of the week came along, he had other things to do.

When Friday night arrived and dinner didn’t even happen, Kelly’d had enough. Everything she had come to love about this group of people was slowly slipping away.

Siri had even disappeared without a goodbye at some point.

Feeling the stress of it all, Kelly grabbed a pint of Ben and Jerry’s and went to her bedroom. Not Kade’s bedroom…hers. Since Siri wasn’t in town anymore, she could have her space back.

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