Page 85 of Destined to Fight

While she didn’t catch him off guard, he was happy that she’d thought outside the box and tried something new.

He wiped the water from his face and smiled at her. “I think that is enough for today.”

“Finally.”

“If the past few days have taught you anything, it should be that you must always be ready for a fight, and you cannot let other things cloud your mind. This morning was a good opportunity for you to reflect on those lessons. You did well.”

“Really?” She’d barely maintained her sanity.

“Yes, you are improving, and you brought your power into the mix.” There was pride in his voice.

“Thanks.” She didn’t know what else to say.

—

After lunch they all gathered in the living room to go over their findings. The room was buzzing with excitement, and everyone was eager to find answers to the numerous puzzles in front of them.

Asta even brought in a rolling whiteboard to take notes on.

“Right, well, I’ll start then,” Asta said as she began writing on the board. “I talked to my mum, and the story she used to tell was an old folktale, passed down for centuries. She didn’t remember her grandma or her mum mentioning anything about the vampire’s eyes, but she did confirm they had special powers that only manifested when the two of them were together. Her guess was the tale is at least 1500 years old.”

Ginna gave their findings next. “Kade and I didn’t find too much. You bloodsuckers are a secretive bunch, and you’re ridiculously full of yourselves. Anyway, most of the history books tell about vampires and mages having to work at getting along. They certainly haven’t worked together much outside of the Council. The further back we went in time, the more the separation of the two races was mentioned. There seemed to be a fear of the two joining ranks. The Council never put any laws into force to keep the two separated, but the master vampires often threatened death to those who got close to mages.”

Asta scribbled more on the white board under the header Vampires. When she was done there, she wrote another header, Mages.

“Kelly, what did you and Fabian find?”

“Well, as far as mage history, it was about the same as vampires. There was a stigma around vampires and any close relationships with them. The further back in time, the more any dealings with them were frowned upon. I did find one story about a forbidden friendship with a vampire back around the year 400. It seemed to be just that though—a story. It was a love story. The vampire’s mother found out and reported them to the Council, and they were forbidden from seeing one another. When they disobeyed, they were killed. There wasn’t any mention of powers in it; the moral seemed to be to stay away from vampires.”

Asta finished her notes and kept them moving forward. “How about the history of the Katz family, then?”

“Connor was right,” Fabian began. “The family traces back to 1300 BC I could not pinpoint their exact origin, but I would be willing to bet they were one of the three original mage families. They did their best to stay out of the Council and kept to themselves. There have been a few timekeepers with the Katz name, but the most recent is twelve generations back. I could not trace Kelly’s mom directly, but with the family remaining so small, the chances of her being a direct descendant of that timekeeper are very high.”

More writing on the board. “Connor, I left you for last. I know you have something good.” The redhead beamed with excitement.

Connor cocked a smile at Asta, seemingly entertained by her joy over the situation.

“I don’t think it’s that good, but it’s interesting. Mary Evans’s name made her nearly impossible to trace, but the photo helped. She is not a member of the Council, and I couldn’t find anything linking her to them directly. What I did find is that she is related to a member of the Council. Mary Evans is Camille’s niece through her sister’s side. No one has seen her in years, and I have a feeling that is Camille’s doing. She’s got her niece stashed away somewhere safe.”

“Well, that confirms Luther’s idea that Camille is the one who’s after ye now. Why would she wait so long, though, if she had access to ye for eighteen years? It doesnae make sense.”

“She and I weren’t close when I was growing up. She tried to get me to do things with her, but I was too much of a tomboy to follow her lead. My dad never gave us much girl time, not that I wanted it. Looking back, I think he knew something was up, especially after what he said the other night. Maybe he was too protective and her plan just didn’t work out? By the time she divorced him, she was at the end of her rope. I think she was losing it at the end there, and she’d decided she hated both of us.”

“Sounds like she lost sight of the mission,” Asmund observed.

Nods followed.

“All right, then, my last piece of the puzzle is Kade and Kelly. You two are having strange reactions to each other. Bloodlust on both sides, Kade’s eyes, Kelly’s telepathy, and the strange attraction between a mage and a vampire. Am I missing anything there?”

Kelly and Kade shook their heads.

“History books are suggesting something happened between mages and vampires a couple thousand years back, and whatever it was scared the shit out of both races enough for them to purposely separate themselves. The folktale from my family supports this theory, especially since it hints at a special bond and extraordinary powers between a mage and a vampire. It seems possible that there is some old bond between some mages and vampires that has manifested in the two of you.”

Asta paused for dramatic effect. “I’m confident in saying we’ve confirmed that Camille is behind all of this, so now we know who to target to eliminate the threat.”

Fabian gave his slight shake of the head. “I am afraid it will not be that easy. We cannot simply eliminate a Council member. The only way to stop her is to obtain proof she is behind it all.”

“But we have it. Eric is working for her, right? There has to be a way to prove he is. Plus, the information about Mary,” Kelly said.

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