Page 37 of Destined to Fight

“Yes, yes, we’ve been through this.” She turned to Kelly again. “Come here, my dear. Let me see you.” She handed the knife to Kade and held out her hands to Kelly, welcoming her.

Kelly looked at Kade for reassurance, and he nodded to her. She took the few steps to his mother, her hands meeting those that were outstretched to her.

Kade’s mother smiled at her genuinely, with understanding and welcome. “My name is Siri. Please do not call me ma’am or any of those other stupid titles. And for the love of all things, do not reference that horrid technological voice.”

That made Kelly laugh. “Never used that technology, so no worries there.”

“Very well, then. I would welcome you, but this is Keegan’s home, not mine; I just stay here and enjoy it when he is not around.”

Kade brought his hand to his heart as if wounded. “Ye mean to tell me it is not enjoyable in my presence?”

She only smiled at him, but the smile was filled with love, not hate or spite.

Turning back to Kelly, she asked, “What of your powers, then?”

“Apparently, I am a timekeeper with a, um, something toward earth and water.”

Siri raised her eyebrows in surprise. “My, my, Keegan, you were right.”

“What do you mean?” Kelly turned to Kade. “What were you right about?”

“After ye left my hotel room in Dallas, I called my mum to talk to her about ye. I wasnae sure about ye, but I kent ye had some sort of special abilities.”

“Uh huh” was all she could manage.

“Forgive Keegan. He is not always the best at making others feel welcome or comfortable. I am happy to have you here, and I look forward to getting to know you. Why don’t we talk later when you have some time?”

Kelly hesitated but tried to hide it. “Yes, I’d love that.”

“Let Brodric know when you’re free, and he will find me for you.”

She let go of Kelly’s hands after a slight squeeze and kissed Kade on the cheek. “Nice to see you all. Fabian, you look well, as always.”

“You as well, Siri.”

She left without another word, leaving the three of them to the room.

Kelly wanted to slap Kade. “What in the ever-loving hell was that? You let me throw a knife at your mother? I know you knew she was there, and you had the chance to stop me.”

He brushed it off. “Dinnae fash, she would have dodged it even if ye had been aiming for her. She is a vampire, and yer a mortal.”

“That is not the point!”

He looked at her in confusion.

“Oh, forget it. Fabian, can we start our training for today? Kade clearly doesn’t understand the situation.”

“Of course,” Fabian replied with his usual kindness. “We will need to have training karambits made for you so you do not cut yourself. For now, we will start with meditation and some basic martial arts and self-defense tactics. You need to learn to be aware of every small thing around you. I will be around to protect you, but I should not have to warn you of a threat; you should be able to detect those on your own.”

He went to the center of the room and laid out two mats, then sat on one and gestured for her to sit on the other.

“I will leave ye to it, then,” Kade said, making his way to the door.

Fabian nodded to him as he left. Turning to Kelly, he asked, “Have you ever practiced meditation?”

“Not really, but I do breathing exercises on a pretty regular basis.”

“That is a good start. I will lead you through the first few meditations and then back off slowly from there. Different people focus on different things when they meditate; breathing is probably a good place for you to begin. As you learn more with Ginna, we will transition to magic.”

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