Page 130 of Destined to Fight

Looking down, Kelly saw that Fabian held the hilt tightly. His knuckles were white and he was shaking to hold it, keeping it from cutting her throat.

The Grand Master stood and made her way down from her seat. She crossed the room in a slow, purposeful pace, her heels echoing throughout the room with each step. She didn’t stop until her face was inches from Kelly’s, which was slightly awkward because the Grand Master was at least five inches shorter.

“You stupid girl! You seem to think life is fair. Our laws are in place for the safety of both Arcane and humans, and they have maintained balance for thousands of years. How dare you question the actions of the Council! You’re lucky to have such a capable Guardian, or you’d be dead for your arrogance.” The Grand Master shook with rage and spat as she spoke. “You have one year from today’s date to successfully complete your bonding. Should you fail, your memories and powers will be stripped from you. And since you seem to think you’re so smart, a representative of my choosing will be dispatched to accompany you until that date to ensure you follow the entire Arcane law each and every day.”

Well, fuck.

Aye, see what ye did there?

Afraid she’d make it worse, Kelly kept her mouth shut.

The knife at her throat stopped shaking, and Fabian threw it to the ground.

“Miss Hart, get out of my sight. You may wait outside for the remainder of the hearing.”

As much as she wanted to argue, Kelly left the room with her back straight and her head held high.

Kade opened his mind to her completely so she could see what was going on.

Over the next three hours, the Grand Master and other officials questioned every single person in the room. Kade shared all of it, and it bored her to death for the most part.

Every once in a while, though, she wanted to run in and give her thoughts on a subject, even though she knew the person in question was perfectly capable.

The Grand Master issued fines to everyone, one million US dollars to the hired guards and two million to everyone else.

She heard the last words through Kade’s mind and saw the look of disgust on the Grand Master’s face.

“One last thing, I will order the attacks to stop for the next year while Miss Hart is training. Frankly, I am sick and tired of seeing you all here, so we’ll keep incidents to a minimum. Should she break the law, her punishment will be death.”

Seconds later, everyone filed out through the double doors, and they all left the building in silence.

None of them even spoke on the way back to the apartment, but Kelly could feel Kade’s frustration. He’d resisted their link after the hearing, so she didn’t push. She didn’t need their link to feel his frustration, though.

When they got back, Kade continued the silent treatment.

The additional guards were dismissed after Kade promised to pay each of their fines.

Tension built in the house as everyone walked around in silence.

After a couple of hours, Kelly went to the kitchen to get a snack. Call it stress eating, but nothing else had helped to clear her mind.

She felt like she’d failed them all with her big mouth, but at the same time she wished she’d said more to the Grand Master. At the end of the day, she’d managed to be a smart-ass, but she hadn’t really managed to stand up for herself or her friends.

How many times could one person swallow their pride and address someone by their holier-than-thou title in a matter of minutes? She felt so small just thinking about it.

Ginna came into the kitchen and pulled a beer from the fridge.

“Hey there, Rookie. How’s it goin’?”

“You tell me. How bad did I fuck up?”

“Ohh, on a scale of one to ten, maybe a fifteen? Could be worse, really.”

“What now, then?”

“We do what we have to, nothing changes other than the fact that things will become exponentially more difficult when we have a Council spy breathing down our necks.”

Leaning on the counter, Kelly hung her head. “I’m so sorry.”

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