Page 53 of Destined to Fight

“Keegan, it’s nice to see you, old friend. It’s been almost a decade.”

“Aye, I believe it has, Luther. Thank ye for giving us yer time tonight. Please, join us.”

The man sat next to Fabian, and the waitress appeared almost immediately. She held her hands in front of her, one over the other as if she was holding a precious orb close to her torso, except nothing was there. Swirls of white light began to form between her hands. They were barely visible at first, but they grew brighter as she worked her hands around them. The light continued to grow until it was almost too bright for Kelly to look at. Then the waitress spread her hands and sort of tossed the light at them. A faint white orb surrounded them all like a bubble. It held in place for a moment, and then faded into nothing.

Kelly was about to voice her astonishment, but Kade’s squeeze of her thigh advised her not to say a word.

“Before we get down to business, tell me, Kade, why do you feel it’s appropriate to bring a potential into my bar?”

“Someone in the Council is after her, and we’re trying to figure out who.”

Luther looked her over for a moment, and Kelly made sure to look him in the eye rather than look away, not wanting to seem weak.

Luther spoke as if she weren’t there. “How is she a potential? It’s obvious she knows nothing of this world.”

“Ye surprise me, Luther. Ye dinnae feel her power? She cannae control it yet. As for this world, she was introduced to it less than a week ago, but she’s picking things up quickly.”

Luther raised an eyebrow, unconvinced. He turned to Fabian. “What business is this of yours?”

“Nice to see you too, Luther. I am here as Kelly’s Guardian.”

That seemed to surprise the man, but he tried to hide it. Luther sat back against the booth and crossed his arms. “A vampire, a potential mage, and a Guardian fae in my bar, wanting my help. This is a new one.” He looked at Kelly then. “So you’re the one that’s causing all the gossip around here. Not quite what I expected.”

Kelly set her glass down with a bit more force than necessary. “What is that supposed to mean?”

He shrugged, dismissing her challenge. “There has been much talk of a human who broke into the last Council meeting. You should be dead or equipped with a new memory of that night. Instead, you’re sitting in my bar, and the entire community wonders why Keegan spared your life. Arcane typically do not concern themselves with the business of others, but you meddled in the business of politicians, and those filthy bastards can’t keep their mouths shut.”

Kade took control of the conversation, clearly not in the mood for games. “It sounds like ye ken who is after her then. Would ye mind sharing?”

“You know I do not share information without reason, Keegan. Nor will I give you anything that could cause the demise of another. You must tell me why this knowledge is better in your hands.”

Kade ran his hand through his hair, debating the advantage of trading information.

Fabian made the decision for him. “You are aware of my abilities, yes?” he asked Luther.

Luther gave a slight nod.

“Kelly will change our world. Many will try to stop her along the way; we have just seen the first attempt. Someone is trying to acquire her, to force her to their side. This must not happen.”

Luther brought his hand up to his chin, seemingly deep in thought. “Hunches mean nothing to me, Fabian. Why is she special?”

Fabian squared his posture as much as he could in the corner of the booth. “You must first swear that this information will not be given to another. It is simply for your own benefit, no one else’s.”

Luther shrugged again. “That’s agreeable.”

He was so nonchalant about this entire meeting that Kelly wanted to reach over and shake some excitement into him.

Fabian was apparently satisfied with that. “She is a potential timekeeper.”

Luther’s calm demeanor was gone then. He stared at Kelly like she’d grown a second head.

Fabian cleared his throat in the way he did when he was telling someone they were being an idiot.

“She’s the one,” was all Luther managed.

“Ye want to expand on that?” Kade said with clear annoyance.

Luther leaned in to the table, clasping his hands before him. “Some have talked about a potential timekeeper for years now. There are different theories, but they all have a few things in common; a human girl, raised by a human father, purposely hidden from us by the Council. A couple of decades ago, there was talk about someone from the Council being placed to raise her and watch over her, but I never heard anything more about it. I’m fairly certain Camille is the one who is after her now. She has been asking around about mercenaries for some secret task; wouldn’t even tell them who they were after or why.”

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