Page 18 of Destined to Fight

“Oh, do shut up,” the woman said in a suddenly Russian accent and kept dragging her toward the back of the locker room.

Kelly struggled and tried to fight back, but it was no use. The woman had an ironclad grip on her arm and dragged her along as if she was a teddy bear.

A loud crash sounded from the locker room door, and Fabian rushed in. His sword was at the woman’s throat before Kelly could process his movements.

“Let her go, or I will disconnect your head from your precious body.”

Kelly couldn’t help but giggle at his use of words.

Fabian gave her a scolding glance before turning back to the woman, whose hand loosened on Kelly’s arm. His sword remained at the woman’s throat after her hand dropped to her side.

“Who sent you?” he asked, menace in his voice.

She laughed at him then, an evil laugh unlike anything Kelly had ever heard.

“I will not ask again.”

“I will not tell you. You may as well kill me here and get it over with.”

“Very well then.” Fabian swiftly swung his blade, and the woman’s head rolled to the floor, soon followed by her body collapsing with a wet thump.

Kelly gasped; she couldn’t scream or move. Fabian turned to her, setting his sword on the bench beside them. He took her face in his hands and forced her to look at him. “We must go.” He gave her a moment to respond and when she didn’t, he raised his voice. “Kelly, we must go, now! Kade is outside the locker room. We will leave with him and Asmund. You must act as if nothing happened here when we exit this room. Do you understand?”

She nodded shakily, unable to find words.

Fabian grabbed her gym bag and placed the strap over her shoulder. He grabbed his sword and used her gym towel to wipe the blade before sheathing it behind his back and tossing the towel. Then he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and led her from the locker room.

As the door opened, Fabian’s demeanor changed from urgent to casual. His body relaxed, and he acted as if Kelly was his girlfriend.

“Hey Kade, ready to go? It is about time we hit the clubs.”

Kade took his lead as if this had been the plan all along. “Let’s do it.” He stood, following the two of them from the gym like it was a normal evening.

Kelly looked around to see if anyone was watching.

“Eyes ahead and smile,” Fabian whispered out of the corner of his mouth.

Kelly did her best to follow his directions, thankful Dom didn’t seem to be on the floor right now. The last thing she wanted was to run into him.

The fire alarm suddenly sounded in the building, making Kelly jump. She guessed it was a diversion so no one would see the woman in the locker room.

They exited the gym, and Asmund fell into step beside them. The lights to the Yukon flashed as it unlocked. They walked to the car, and Fabian opened the door for Kelly. After she climbed in, he nudged her across to the other side as he crawled in beside her and shut the door. Asmund and Kade got into the front, and the SUV pulled from the parking space.

As the vehicle headed away from the gym and the newly headless woman, Kelly shook, trying to maintain her sanity.

Fabian and Kade acted like they’d handled situations like this many times before.

Fabian was on the phone asking for a cleaning service in the women’s locker room and giving someone the location of the gym. He disconnected the call without even a goodbye.

Kade turned back to face Kelly after giving instructions to Asmund to go back to his hotel. “Are ye all right?”

She laughed. “That’s a really stupid question, Kade.”

He flashed his crooked smile at her. “Aye, I suppose it is, apologies. This isn’y how I imagined the evening going, I can tell ye that much. We’re going back to my hotel to collect Clyde and my things, and we’re leaving the country. I dinnae want to hear any complaints. Yer going with us. If ye want to come back after we figure some things out, I’ll bring ye back, but for now yer going.”

Her mouth hung open of its own accord until she noticed and closed it, her teeth audibly clicking. “But I…”

He cut her off. “But nothing, Kelly. Less than twenty-four hours after a few Arcane learn of ye, and they’re already trying to take ye. I will nae argue with ye on this. Yer going.”

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