Page 98 of Destined to Fight

Taking another piece of fruit, Kelly nodded. Right, because it’s going to be so easy to sleep right now.

Ye can sleep anywhere. I give it five minutes before yer out.

Shit, forgot you would hear that. This is still weird.

The early morning seemed to crawl by with the appearance looming over her. Asta and Connor planned to begin rallying support after the appearance.

Fabian sat with her and discussed questions she might face. He implored her not to speak unless he gave her the signal, which was a simple nod. Of all the things they discussed, that would be the most difficult. She believed so strongly that everyone deserved to have a voice, and the fact that she couldn’t speak freely went against everything she stood for. She would try to be cautious, though. If not for herself, then for everyone else.

Fabian also made it abundantly clear that Kelly could not let the Council see even a hint of her connection to Kade. If they found out about it, they’d likely imprison both of them out of fear.

Even after Fabian’s warning, she exchanged blood with Kade while everyone else ate breakfast. Their connection was almost better than having him at her side, and she would be able to pass information on for him to review with the others before responding to questioning. It allowed her to have eleven people at her side instead of one.

The insight and information she got from Kade made the blood exchange a necessity on such an important day. Her body ached to have him inside of her, but it would have to wait. The less the Council could read from her, the better, and it was hard to hide Kade’s scent and her satisfaction after they did the hanky-panky, as Ginna would say.

Fifteen minutes before they were set to leave, there was a knock at the door. The chitchat that had filled the room went utterly silent.

Asmund slowly approached the door, and Fabian appeared at Kelly’s side.

“Who is it?” Asmund asked, in a huskier tone than normal.

Siri’s voice came from outside. “Asmund, come now, I won’t harm a fly in there. Let me in, please.”

Everyone let out a sigh of relief as Kade’s mother entered the apartment.

Siri went straight to Kelly with her arms wide and wrapped her in a hug. “Kelly, my dear, I’m so glad I made it. I’m sorry I’m late, but I wanted to be here in support.”

Kelly hugged Siri with every ounce of strength she had. Siri grunted, and she let go. “Oh, shit, I’m sorry. I, um, we have some catching up to do.”

Siri raised her eyebrows. “Indeed, we do, my dear. You need to go, though. We’ll catch up later. Kade, where is everyone staying while she’s in with the Council? In the hall?”

He shook his head. “Nae, I’ve arranged a soundproof room for us to use that’s close by. I’ll explain on the way.”

“Right, time to go everyone,” Asta announced cheerfully.

They all left the apartment and loaded into only three SUVs this time. Kade and Fabian were positive that no one would attempt anything this close to the meeting because it could be seen as interfering with official business of the Council—an act punishable by death.

Kelly, Fabian, and Asmund entered their own SUV, which was driven by one of the hired guards. The drive to the Council was fairly short, maybe thirty minutes.

As the car drove through the city, Kelly tried to catch sight of all the historical buildings they passed.

After they got off the highway—if that’s what they called it in England—the guard pulled over in front of a huge building. He got out and handed a five-pound bill to another man, who entered the car, ready to take it somewhere. There wasn’t a valet setup, and it seemed weird that someone would be parking their car, but Kelly didn’t ask questions.

As they got out, she gaped at the building in front of them. She’d stared at it when it had come into view on the drive over, but seeing it up close was something entirely different. The entrance was shaped in a sort of M, with triangles protruding from the middle. She couldn’t help but see vampire teeth where the thick white lines of the entrance came together.

When she looked up, the top of the building wasn’t visible, but from a distance it had looked like an egg standing in the middle of normal buildings.

The entrance was elegant but simple. Two tall silver pillars framed a guarded section where visitors had to provide a key card for entry.

Fabian scanned his card as they walked through the security checkpoint and nodded at the guard as they passed.

The walls looked like shiny white metal with lighting that shone from the ceiling, making Kelly feel like she was entering a spaceship that would take her to another world.

Three halls of elevators were before them. Fabian walked straight back and pressed the button on the wall to go up.

While they waited, Kelly couldn’t help but gaze around in awe. The ceilings were so high, and every aspect of the architecture showed pride and beauty.

People came and went as her group waited for the elevator. All of them were perfectly dressed and clearly focused on the day at hand.

---