Page 15 of Destined to Fight

“Darling, I’m so glad you accepted my call—” she started.

He cut her off immediately. “I am not yer darling, Elizabeth. What is it ye need?”

The kindness left her voice. “Leave it to you to be Mr. High and Mighty.”

“I am not—” He stopped himself before this turned into a completely pointless conversation. “Never mind, please just tell me what it is ye need.”

“I wanted to make sure you took care of last night’s situation. Do you need any help with things?”

“Not that it is any of yer concern, but yes, I am handling things.” He set the phone down, still able to hear her with it lying on the couch beside him, and rubbed his face in an effort to wake up.

“Oh wonderful, do you need me to testify? I’m sure I can make time in my schedule,” Elizabeth asked, suddenly turning the charm back on.

“That will nae be necessary, thank ye kindly,” Kade said as he tried desperately to remain cordial.

“I see.” She paused, clearly thinking of her next move. “Well then, when is the trial? I will come in your support.”

“There will nae be a trial, Elizabeth, I am handling things personally. Please dinnae concern yerself with it.”

Elizabeth lost her composure. “What do you mean, there will not be a trial?!”

Kade sat up then, bringing the phone back to his ear. He spoke through gritted teeth. “I will caution ye not to speak to me that way, for the hundredth time this year, Elizabeth. Kelly is not yer concern. Let last night’s events go.”

“What in the hell are you up to, Kade? I will report this to the Council.”

“Right, I’m sure ye will. Please do tell me how that goes, and while yer at it, I’d love to hear how much I dinnae deserve to be Jarl. Have a lovely evening, Elizabeth.”

Kade disconnected the call before she had a chance to express any more of her displeasure over everything in her life. He looked at the screen to see it was 3:00 a.m., which meant there was a high probability his phone would be ringing at least a few more times over the next couple hours. If not for the chance Fabian or Kelly would call, he would turn the damn thing off.

Clyde let out one of his famous meows from the floor.

“Right. Yer hungry. Come on, wee one.” As he made his way to the fridge, the cat followed behind with more meows. They got louder and longer as the fridge grew closer, until he was practically screaming at Kade.

“Yes, yes, all right.” He pulled a can of cat food from the fridge and grabbed a bag of blood from the lower drawer for himself. As he pulled the lid from the cat food, the four-legged creature seemed to speak through a megaphone, each meow louder than the last. Kade hurried to scoop the food from the can and set it on a plate just as Clyde pounced for it. For a thin and graceful being, Clyde ate like a complete pig.

Not bothering to be neat, Kade ripped one of the top notches from the blood bag with his teeth and proceeded to gulp it down. Over the years, cold blood had become the norm, but it never really satisfied like the fresh stuff from a vein. He paid top dollar for organic O negative because the lack of chemicals made it taste more pure, and O negative was his preference, but it just wasn’t the same. Every time he drank from a bag, he longed for the days when it was okay to drink from a human. Time and technology seemed to change everything though. No sense in wishing things were different.

As he tossed the bag in the trash, his phone vibrated again.

“Can ye just leave me alone for one night?” he said aloud, then looked at the screen. He slid the icon to answer.

“Mother,” he said, surprised, “how are ye?”

“My son, I am well now that I’ve heard your voice. How fare thee?”

“I am well, thank ye,” he said, trying to hide the stress in his voice.

“Keegan,” she said, using his old name in a gentle and loving manner, “I know when you hide things. What troubles you?”

Kade couldn’t help but confide in his mother. For over two hundred years, she had shown him nothing but patience, understanding, and love. If anyone could tell him how to go about things, it would be her.

Starting with the first night Kelly had shown up months ago, Kade explained everything to her. From having Kelly followed to her break-in at the Star Plaza to Fabian’s offer of Guardianship and everything in between. He told her of his inexplicable feelings regarding Kelly and the ridiculous way he’d handled things. It was easy to explain events, but much more difficult to tell her how he felt about them. He found himself at a loss for words when it came to telling his mother about the urge he had to protect and care for the young mage.

Calm and collected as ever, his mother responded with a slight smile in her voice, “I see. It sounds like you’ve experienced quite the adventure as of late. Fabian is watching over the girl now?”

“Aye, he is. I paid him for additional time over the forty-eight-hour trial period.”

“You were smart to do so, Son. Her abilities are already apparent, and if Fabian feels she is important, his intuition will prove to be right. It is concerning that Elizabeth has taken such interest in her, but that is an unlikely threat. Word will travel fast, though. You must persuade her to accept Fabian’s offer, and yours. Be patient but persistent.” Her tone held seriousness she did not often convey.

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