Page 50 of Destined to Fight

It took all of her willpower, but Kelly turned and left the room. She needed to find answers fast, or she was going to go insane.

—

Training with Fabian flew by with more meditation and some work with the karambits.

Kade came in for a bit to help her train against a Vampire, which made things interesting. She ended up focusing more on the awkward moments between her and Kade and less on the art of self-defense. Fabian was less than pleased.

The afternoon with Ginna consisted of finishing the book on the history of Vampires before everyone got ready to leave. The book didn’t contain an ounce of information on what had happened between her and Kade, which left her feeling frustrated.

Siri and Brodric waited at the entrance of the castle to bid them farewell, and Kelly found herself hugging both of them fiercely. She had grown attached to them in just a few days, and they felt like her family.

The crew included Kade, Clyde, Ginna, Fabian, and Asmund. Kade said Asta and Connor would meet them in Dallas.

Hoping for some sliver of a clue to what was going on with Kade, Kelly asked Ginna to bring the book on mages and warlocks with them. Maybe there was something in their history that was a defense against vampires or something that caused the type of reaction he had experienced.

The flight proved uneventful, and Kelly finished the book on mage and warlock history without discovering anything useful. Okay, so she’d learned a lot about the history of her people, but none of it gave her the answers she was looking for.

Kade worked, Ginna studied books of her own, and Fabian and Asmund traded stories of battle and security details. Kelly curled up with Clyde in the back and started jotting down ideas and theories in her laptop. She skimmed through the books she’d read and noted any abnormalities that came up, but there weren’t many.

She didn’t have many ideas because she was so new to this world. The only idea she had was that her being a timekeeper had something to do with it, but that didn’t give her much to go on.

Bloodlust usually affected fairly new vampires and was tied to hunger only, just as Kade had said. It didn’t lead a vampire to crave the blood of one race over another, nor did it drive them to tear a body to shreds. It simply clouded their mind, blocking their judgment and making them drink until a person was completely drained of blood.

Neither book mentioned anything about relationships between a mage and a vampire; they only mentioned relationships between those of the same race, which struck her as strange.

There was no mention of mages or vampires causing reactions in each other, either. The only thing that came close was the chapter on the types of mages. It said that mages with an affinity to earth magic could manipulate silver against vampires, but she didn’t even know how to call her earth magic, much less use it against Kade.

In short, she had jack shit for information. Jack. Fucking. Shit.

—

The plane landed in DFW that night, putting some time back in their day, but tossing in jet lag to go with it.

As they drove to the house, Kade outlined the plans. “I’ve got to go meet with an informant. Ye all can get settled and choose yer rooms while I’m gone. I shouldnae be too long.”

Kelly couldn’t help butting in. “What information does the informant have?”

Kade raised an eyebrow at her. “What makes ye think it’s yer business?”

She gave him her best smart-ass smile. “Call it a hunch.”

“Even if it does have something to do with ye, we should leave it to discuss when I’m back.”

Men. Always trying to handle things, Kelly thought. “If it has to do with me, I’m going.”

“If ye go, that means Fabian is going too, which will just draw unnecessary attention to all of us. Not to mention, I am meeting the person in an Arcane bar, and ye will stick out like a sore thumb as a human.”

Kade looked to Fabian for support.

Fabian glanced back at him. “Do not look to me for help in your argument. I am not here to make her decisions, only to protect her.”

Kade’s hand made its way through his hair in frustration. “Can ye just trust me to take care of this?” he asked Kelly.

“I trust you, but I’m a journalist. I pick up on things, and I know how to get answers. I’m going.”

“Ye forget I have almost 300 years’ experience.”

Fabian groaned. “Just let her go. I am not in the mood to listen to the two of you bicker.”

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