Page 35 of Destined to Fight

Both of them nodded at her solemnly.

“Dear child, you have so much to learn about this world. Perkins mustn’t know anything about you. And ‘daunting’ doesn’t begin to cover your abilities. When it comes to time, you can stop it, bend it, rewind it, and fast-forward it. You can also travel through it and take people with you. You have the power to be the greatest heroine of all time, forgive the pun. Or you could be the greatest villain. With you, anyone could rule the world or destroy it if they see fit. Your magic is difficult to master, but when practiced correctly, it is more powerful than any other in the universe.”

Kelly’s eyes went wide. “Are there more timekeepers?”

“There was one recently, but he is dead.” Ginna shrugged as if it wasn’t a big deal. “Most are afraid of your power, and people generally exterminate what they fear. The last timekeeper was killed by a necromancer a couple hundred years ago. Necromancers are the only ones who can overpower you; they control souls, and souls are not affected by time.”

“Please tell me there aren’t any necromancers around.” That would be just what she needed.

Fabian answered, “There are a few, actually, but they have been quiet for decades. There is not much for them to do in the absence of timekeepers. Talking to and controlling the dead can only get you so far with the living. They tend to be underappreciated.”

“Ye dinnae give them enough credit, Fabian. Last I heard, there were rumors of them helping the Council to obtain information from the dead.”

Fabian huffed at that. “That could not possibly end badly,” he said sarcastically.

Ginna pulled them from their musings. “Let’s not get away from the task at hand, gentlemen. Kelly needs to get started in her training. I trust you have a place for me to stay; can someone show me to it while you introduce her to the fine art of self-defense?”

Kade laughed. “Down to business, eh? Aye, Brodric can show ye to yer room. Thank ye, Ginna. We appreciate ye agreeing to mentor Kelly.”

“The pleasure is all mine. Not to mention that salary,” she replied smartly.

Brodric came into the dining hall. “Madam, please follow me.”

Ginna stood and made her way to him. “See you soon, Rookie.” She laughed in Kelly’s direction.

“Oh, wonderful, another nickname. You all will be the death of me.”

Ginna didn’t say anything further as she followed Brodric away.

“Well then,” Fabian said, wiping his mouth with his napkin and standing up, “let us get going.”

He left the dining hall with an assumption that Kelly would follow, and she did. Fabian led her deep into the depths of the castle and down a flight of stairs to a huge dark room that had to have originally been the dungeon. One wall was covered in mirrors from floor to ceiling, two others were stone, and one was solid wood. Workout equipment was along the wall opposite the mirrors, and swords and knives adorned the other stone wall. There was more to this room than most martial arts gyms. Kelly did note that it was missing an obstacle course, though.

Kade appeared at her side, making her jump. “Where in the hell did you come from? You didn’t make a sound.”

“Vampire magic,” he said with a smile and a thicker-than-usual Scottish accent.

“Seriously? You can just appear somewhere?” she asked.

“Nae, but I can glide along without much sound.”

“Fuck, man, where do your powers end?”

“Mine are nothing compared to what ye have the potential to do, but dinnae fash, I have plenty more to show ye.” He followed his comment with a playful wink that made her roll her eyes.

Fabian cleared his throat, drawing her attention back to him. “Let us get started. This is Kade’s training room, where we will be spending a few hours a day when we are in Scotland. I expect you to stay in shape outside of our training time; this time will be focused on your self-defense and fighting skills, not on strength and cardio.”

Kelly shrugged. “Okay, I don’t mind that.”

“We will start by choosing a weapon for you. You need something to give you a competitive edge against Arcane.”

He walked over to the wall of weapons, and she followed. There was more on that wall than most museums had in their entire building. One thing in particular caught her eye, though. It looked like a curved pocket knife with a loop on the end of the handle.

“What’s that?” she asked, pointing to it.

Fabian chuckled. “Leave it to you to gravitate toward a karambit.”

“A what?”

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