Page 12 of Their Chosen

Later in the day, after skipping lunch, we felt we had found the location. After driving around the block a couple of times to make sure, I pulled up to the curb outside of a rundown building, which had seen better days. People were coming and going in gym clothes with bags over their shoulders.

Now, the plan was to sit and watch the people leaving. Once the compass started moving, we'd know exactly who we were looking for. After about an hour, I grew antsy. “I'm going to go inside to see if I can find her. We may get lucky, and she'll stick out. If the compass moves while I'm inside, Arryn can come get me.”

“Sure. It couldn't hurt. I'm just ready for a full night's rest, and if this helps accomplish that, I'm good with it,” Lennox replied, his eyes bouncing from the door and to the compass, his shoulders tense in anticipation. I glanced back at Arryn, who had been lucky enough to draw the first nap, before getting out of the car. I slammed the door behind me, causing Arryn to jerk upright, and smirked at him through the window. If one of us was going to suffer, then we all could.

Laughing at myself and the glower that Arryn was sending me, I turned and crossed the street during a break in traffic. I grabbed the handle to the glass door of the building we were fairly certain held our Chosen. The name of the business stoked my curiosity; Kombat Martial Arts. Music met my ears when I opened the door. Of all the noise humans called music, rock was my favorite, often telling stories or reaching a different depth of emotion while motivating me the whole song.

I wasn't versed enough in my band or music knowledge to place the song, but it was a decent one to walk with me down the short hallway. The end of the hall opened up into a small lobby with a desk and office on one side, and chairs along another side were set to face a wall of windows. From there, you could view the participants as they trained. The final wall held several trophies, belts, banners, and posters advertising MMA fights.

Now, MMA was something humans created that absolutely spoke to a part of my soul. I would have loved to spend some time learning some new combat techniques. The other guards I usually trained with wouldn't know what had hit them. I snickered to myself at my own pun, easily amused. I believed humans called them dad jokes. Whatever that meant exactly, but I knew I enjoyed the few I had happened to hear in my travels.

I turned my eyes from the trophies to the glass wall, catching several groups of people training together on different techniques. Some were punching bags, some hitting pads, some sparring in a cage, and some wrestling on the mats. They all seemed to be enjoying themselves. Continuing to glance around the room as best I could, I tried to see if anyone stood out to me as the Chosen. No one caught my eye, no pointed ears or tall, willowy figures, no subtle glowing skin, which all of us fae tended to have in varying degrees.

Huffing out a breath, I started to get frustrated. How exactly were we supposed to know beyond a doubt that we had found the right person? We knew, well, we thought we knew anyway, that the Chosen was in this building. That could only be true if the compass was still working correctly. The magic could be draining like ours and causing it to malfunction. The odds were against us on this mission, that much was for sure.

The front door opened and let in a cacophony of laughter, giggles, and gossip, followed by a gaggle of young human girls of varying heights, ages, and personalities. They played among themselves as they made their way down the hall toward the lobby. I turned at the sound of the office door opening behind me, my fae hearing picking up on the noise easily. A young woman emerged from the room, her green hair multiple shades from deep green to almost black at the top to a soft mint pastel green at the bottom. The color complimented her tan skin and honey-colored eyes. She caught my eye as I continued to stand in the lobby, her gaze seeming to catch every detail with a quick glance before she turned to the girls who were starting to huddle up before her.

“Okay, girls, why don't you go to the locker rooms to change, and then I want Elise to run you through a quick warm-up. I'll join y'all as soon as I can. And remember, today is cardio, and then we'll finish up with technique.” She made sure to make eye contact with each of them before smiling. “What are y'all waiting for? Get going!” She clapped her hands, sending the girls off in a flurry to wherever the locker rooms were.

Once they had all cleared out, she turned back to me. “Welcome to Kombat Martial Arts. How can I help you?”

Her smile was contagious, and I found myself mirroring her. This might be my chance to look around further so I could see if I missed the Chosen somewhere. “I was interested in possibly joining the gym, but I was hoping to take a look around first to get an idea of what I would be in for,” I prompted her, while flashing my boyish, innocent grin that usually worked on all the ladies, both human and Fae alike.

She smirked back at me as if on to my innocent act. “Sure. Unfortunately, I don't have a lot of time since I have a class about to start, but I can show you around and answer a few quick questions. That okay with you?”

“That sounds perfect.” At my confirmation, she pulled the office door shut behind her and waved a hand at me to follow. Walking beside her, I couldn’t help but notice how short she was, even by human standards. However, I found her pocket-sized stature adorable. My eyes glanced down at her, and I noticed that despite being so tiny, she was curvy with toned muscles that flexed under her tank top when she moved. If I only had more time, I would love to lick this tiny human from her toes to her neck. Maybe I would swing back by on my next trip.

I only half listened as she pointed out rooms and equipment on our tour. My eyes instead scanned over everyone present, searching for the Chosen. At one point, my tour guide tucked her hair behind one ear, and I found myself slightly disappointed at not finding a point. Even a slight one would have been something.

After being led all over the building, I was no closer to the Chosen than I had been before. My tour guide led me back to the lobby area, where she began her goodbyes. “So, that's the whole gym. We do offer two free classes, so you can try us out first. After that, we can discuss training fees and memberships. Do you have any questions?” She turned to look up at me.

“Just one.” I smirked at her, laying on the charm. “What's your name?”

“Oh, sorry. I thought I had mentioned that before.” Her brow furrowed as she tried to remember, but then she shrugged and laughed. “Call me Rhowyn. And yours?”

“I’m Baer.” I winked at her, and she laughed at me.

“Okay, Baer, well it was nice to meet you and I hope we see you around here again soon. If you think of any other questions, you can give us a call anytime.”

“Sounds great. I'll let you get back to your classes now.” I nodded at her like a lot of human males did in this territory and then left. As I pushed out the front door, I spotted a burger restaurant across the street and figured I would grab us all some dinner since it seemed we would be here for quite a while longer.

Chapter Seven: Rhowyn

I hugged my girls as they left for the day, my heart tugging in a million directions as I tried to tell them all goodbye, unable to give them a time frame for my return. Based on the information I had, I feared I would be gone by next week when their next training session with me was. Better to say something now than to disappear without a trace. After taking my mom's words to heart, as hard to hear as they’d been, I began making preparations for my departure. Over the last several days, I’d made arrangements to have another fighter train the girls so they would continue to have the stability they needed, spoke with the owner of the gym about needing to leave for an indefinite amount of time, and made sure to get my bills in order. There was still the matter of what would happen if my visit went longer than the few days I was counting on, but I hoped my mother might rise to the occasion for once.

Rubbing my shoulder, I watched the girls leave, trying to ignore the steadily increasing pain and discomfort that was localized over my new mark. Yesterday, it started burning, and the more I tried to push it from my mind, the more intense the pain was. My co-workers thought it was simply a new tattoo, and I hadn't bothered to correct them. How could I explain it exactly? I barely believed it myself. Only the memory of the excruciating pain and the random appearance had convinced me and that was mostly because I had experienced it. To be honest, a part of me still didn't believe it, but I figured it was better to be safe than sorry. So here I was, getting ready to walk out of the life I’d worked so hard for, leaving for gods only knew where. There were the inevitable questions from everyone when I said I was leaving, but I simply explained that my grandmother from out of town was sick and needed someone to care for her while she recovered.

I grabbed my bag and hugged the other trainers, leaving through the front door to walk to my apartment just up the road. It was a muggy evening, and the sky glowed in pinks and oranges. The hot Texas day was finally starting to cool off. Putting my headphones in, I selected my Dermot Kennedy playlist, and Better Days started playing. I turned the volume down so I could hear the ambient noise from the street, the need to always remain alert pressing on me. I'd learned my lesson the hard way about what happened to young girls who walked distractedly on the street. As hard as the lesson had been, I was one of the lucky ones. No matter how much I was tempted to get lost in my thoughts, I only ever did that in my own apartment. Somewhere that was safe for me to be alone.

I passed a sandwich shop and one of the clothes boutiques that were popular in this district. Not that I had any idea what they held; fashion had never been my forte, but the windows always held cute outfits, the mannequins more put together than I could ever hope to be. My wardrobe was always function over appearance, and since I spent most of my days in the gym, I had a large selection of yoga leggings, tank tops, and rash guards. On the rare occasions I went out, it was blue jeans, boots, and T-shirts.

Catching sight of the taco shop on the corner, I debated if my budget allowed me to grab a few burritos. I really wasn't in the mood to cook, especially not after goodbyes and packing, and desperately needed some comfort food right about now. Deciding to stop, whether it was prudent for my budget or not, I slowed my pace, noticing a car behind me going much slower than the surrounding traffic. Even though there were plenty of explanations for the vehicle’s actions, my gut was telling me otherwise.

I stopped to pretend I was window shopping at one of the boutiques. The glass reflected the street as I watched the car from my peripheral vision. Instead of continuing on, it pulled over to park. Deciding not to take my chances, I turned and jogged to the taco shop, planning to use it as a deterrent for any untoward advances. Ducking inside the shop, I jumped into line while returning greetings from the employees. Because of its location and convenience, I ate here often. Studying the menu, even though I knew it by heart, I waited for the occupants of the car to find me. Somehow, I knew they’d been following me. A simple jaunt into the restaurant wouldn’t deter whoever was looking for me, but at least here, there would be witnesses.

When it was my turn, I placed my order and took my table number. Looking around, I found a vacant table that allowed me a view of the door so I could see who was coming and going. By the time my food was served, I hadn’t seen anything that set off my internal alarm system. Deciding it had been my mind playing tricks on me, nervous about what was coming, I relaxed enough to enjoy my food all six street tacos. Okay, so after the amount of training I did, I had a very healthy appetite. Shoot me.

The jingle from the front door pulled my attention from my food, and I paused mid-bite, immediately recognizing the man I had given a tour to earlier. Since I didn’t believe in such coincidences, the only logical explanation was that he’d been following me. Despite the warnings from my brain, I was intrigued. I should have been more wary, but something about the man seemed familiar. Well, more familiar than he should have felt after only a brief introduction.

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