12. Chapter 12
12
K elly surprised herself and found her way back to the dining hall without getting lost or even taking a wrong turn.
The walk gave her some time to think and calm down, and she had a few questions for Virginia now that her mind was in the right place.
When she walked into the hall, Virginia was seated at the side table on the left, thoroughly enjoying her breakfast.
Kelly had too much energy, so she stood in the middle of the hall instead of sitting. She looked directly at Virginia and fired away with her questions. “Why do you think I need a Guardian?”
Virginia looked at her earnestly, unfazed by the question. “You are the first timekeeper prospect in centuries, and on top of that, you have an affinity to more than one element. There has never been a mage like you in Arcane history. You bleed power like a weak mage, but you’re not even bonded yet. If there hasn’t been an attempt to grab you, there will be, and I sure as hell don’t want to have to deal with those idiots.”
Well, she was definitely right on at least one count.
“What makes you qualified to be my mentor?”
“Look at you, coming back from your chat all grown-up and serious.” Virginia waved her index finger around in a circle gesturing toward Kelly. “Child, ain’t nobody qualified to be your mentor. As I mentioned, you are the first in history. Not many people study timekeeping, and those that do usually want to know more for the sake of control and power rather than knowledge. You and I will discover your power together.”
“How long until I become a mage?”
“How do you expect me to know? For a normal prospect with no knowledge, I’d say a couple decades before you’re ready. You’re…different. At least a decade though, I think.” She took a bite of pineapple from her plate and then held up her finger as she chewed to let Kelly know she had more to say.
When she was done, she spoke. “Let me be clear, though, I will not condone your bonding until you truly know the power you possess. Despite what you think you saw and felt tonight, magic is not pretty or fun. Magic can be deadly and entirely devastating. One twitch of a timekeeper can rewrite history as we know it. If you cross a line just a little bit, I will report you to the Council and leave.”
Fuck, she was getting in way over her head with the power to rewrite history. What choice did she have, though? Virginia had supposedly given her only a glimpse of her power. People were after her. This was it, the moment she chose her destiny.
She turned to Fabian. “I accept your offer of Guardianship.”
He stood and bowed to her, his hands at his sides. “Thank you, Warrior. It will be my honor to protect you.”
She smiled genuinely at him and then turned to Virginia. “What should I call you?”
“My name is Virginia Jobe, but you may call me Ginna.”
The name felt classic and strong, and it fit her well.
“Ginna, will you honor me by being my mentor?”
Ginna stood with a smile and walked around to her. She grasped Kelly’s hands for a moment and then pulled her into a hug. Kelly wasn’t much of a hugger, but this felt different, like a mother’s hug.
Ginna looked up at her, eyes bright with excitement and kindness. “Yes, child, I will be your mentor!”
Kelly hugged her again, almost crying with joy. She had no explanation for it, but this just felt right. She felt like it was the beginning of something great.
As she straightened from the hug, another man walked into the hall. He was short, shorter than Ginna, and plump. He wore a brightly colored rainbow robe, reminding Kelly of a beach ball.
Thankfully, Ginna saved Kelly from any embarrassment and made introductions.
“Oh, Mr. Perkins, lovely to see you here.”
He seemed surprised to see her, but maintained his composure. “Virginia,” he said, in both a greeting and a statement.
“So sorry to waste your time, old friend, but Kelly has chosen me as her mentor, so you can go about your business.”
He looked at Kelly and Kade for clarification.
“Aye, Mr. Perkins, Ginna speaks the truth. Ye will be compensated for yer travel and yer time. Please do help yerself to breakfast, too.”
The man’s eyes lit up at the mention of food. “Well, don’t mind if I do,” he declared with a bright smile, unaffected by the fact that he’d not been chosen as a mentor.
Ginna stifled a laugh and made her way back to her seat. Kelly followed her lead, sitting between Kade and Fabian again. Her pancakes were cold, but she didn’t mind much. She’d eaten better in the past couple of days than she had since she’d left home at eighteen.
That reminded her. “Kade, I need to call my dad. I haven’t posted on my blog in a few days, and I usually call him from the coffee shop every couple days just to check in. Without the call or a blog post, he will worry.”
“No problem, he is about six hours behind us here. If ye call him after yer training with Fabian, you’ll catch him in the morning.”
“I usually call him late at night, but I guess that will work. I don’t want him to think something happened to me.” Homesickness struck her suddenly but passed as soon as she acknowledged it. “What do you mean by ‘training’?”
“Ginna will train ye in mage things, and Fabian and I will train ye in self-defense.”
“Oh…great,” she replied, trying and failing to produce any hint of enthusiasm.
Kelly turned to Ginna, who was enjoying her breakfast. “So what exactly is a timekeeper? Saying I have the power to rewrite history is a bit daunting.”
Mr. Perkins perked up from his plate, stuttering, “A-a-a timekeeper? She is a timekeeper?”
“Shit,” Fabian muttered as he got up and helped the man from his seat. “Asmund, will you please show our friend out? He’ll need an adjustment to his memory.”
Asmund appeared in the entrance to the hall. “Of course.” He smiled at Mr. Perkins and took the poor man’s arm.
“I swear I will not tell a soul; you can let me be, no need to take my memories.”
Asmund just grunted at him, and the two men disappeared.
“You’re going to take his memory just for knowing?”
“Aye, but not all of it, just since he arrived here,” Kade answered.
Ginna raised her eyebrows at Kelly in surprise, then looked between Fabian and Kade. “She really knows nothing.”
Both of them nodded at her solemnly.
“Dear child, you have so much to learn about this world. Perkins mustn’t know anything about you. And ‘daunting’ doesn’t begin to cover your abilities. When it comes to time, you can stop it, bend it, rewind it, and fast-forward it. You can also travel through it and take people with you. You have the power to be the greatest heroine of all time, forgive the pun. Or you could be the greatest villain. With you, anyone could rule the world or destroy it if they see fit. Your magic is difficult to master, but when practiced correctly, it is more powerful than any other in the universe.”
Kelly’s eyes went wide. “Are there more timekeepers?”
“There was one recently, but he is dead.” Ginna shrugged as if it wasn’t a big deal. “Most are afraid of your power, and people generally exterminate what they fear. The last timekeeper was killed by a necromancer a couple hundred years ago. Necromancers are the only ones who can overpower you; they control souls, and souls are not affected by time.”
“Please tell me there aren’t any necromancers around.” That would be just what she needed.
Fabian answered, “There are a few, actually, but they have been quiet for decades. There is not much for them to do in the absence of timekeepers. Talking to and controlling the dead can only get you so far with the living. They tend to be underappreciated.”
“Ye dinnae give them enough credit, Fabian. Last I heard, there were rumors of them helping the Council to obtain information from the dead.”
Fabian huffed at that. “That could not possibly end badly,” he said sarcastically.
Ginna pulled them from their musings. “Let’s not get away from the task at hand, gentlemen. Kelly needs to get started in her training. I trust you have a place for me to stay; can someone show me to it while you introduce her to the fine art of self-defense?”
Kade laughed. “Down to business, eh? Aye, Brodric can show ye to yer room. Thank ye, Ginna. We appreciate ye agreeing to mentor Kelly.”
“The pleasure is all mine. Not to mention that salary,” she replied smartly.
Brodric came into the dining hall. “Madam, please follow me.”
Ginna stood and made her way to him. “See you soon, Rookie.” She laughed in Kelly’s direction.
“Oh, wonderful, another nickname. You all will be the death of me.”
Ginna didn’t say anything further as she followed Brodric away.
“Well then,” Fabian said, wiping his mouth with his napkin and standing up, “let us get going.”
He left the dining hall with an assumption that Kelly would follow, and she did. Fabian led her deep into the depths of the castle and down a flight of stairs to a huge dark room that had to have originally been the dungeon. One wall was covered in mirrors from floor to ceiling, two others were stone, and one was solid wood. Workout equipment was along the wall opposite the mirrors, and swords and knives adorned the other stone wall. There was more to this room than most martial arts gyms. Kelly did note that it was missing an obstacle course, though.
Kade appeared at her side, making her jump. “Where in the hell did you come from? You didn’t make a sound.”
“Vampire magic,” he said with a smile and a thicker-than-usual Scottish accent.
“Seriously? You can just appear somewhere?” she asked.
“Nae, but I can glide along without much sound.”
“Fuck, man, where do your powers end?”
“Mine are nothing compared to what ye have the potential to do, but dinnae fash, I have plenty more to show ye.” He followed his comment with a playful wink that made her roll her eyes.
Fabian cleared his throat, drawing her attention back to him. “Let us get started. This is Kade’s training room, where we will be spending a few hours a day when we are in Scotland. I expect you to stay in shape outside of our training time; this time will be focused on your self-defense and fighting skills, not on strength and cardio.”
Kelly shrugged. “Okay, I don’t mind that.”
“We will start by choosing a weapon for you. You need something to give you a competitive edge against Arcane.”
He walked over to the wall of weapons, and she followed. There was more on that wall than most museums had in their entire building. One thing in particular caught her eye, though. It looked like a curved pocket knife with a loop on the end of the handle.
“What’s that?” she asked, pointing to it.
Fabian chuckled. “Leave it to you to gravitate toward a karambit.”
“A what?”
“A karambit. It is a very old blade, and it has been used for many different things over the years. To fight with it properly requires great skill and control,” Fabian explained.
“I do like it. It looks sinister.”
Kade cut in. “Ye can’y judge a weapon by its appearance. Ye need to consider its use and abilities and also take into account its shortcomings.”
“I don’t know enough about this stuff to choose something.”
“Aye, and that is where yer Guardian comes in.”
Kade looked at Fabian expectantly.
“I do not believe there is a perfect weapon in this case. You will be fighting against people of all races with all sorts of powers. Until you are bonded, you are at a significant disadvantage.”
Kelly looked over the wall and thought out loud as she scanned the blades. “I don’t want to carry around a giant sword. It’s too cumbersome, and it’ll make me stand out. Even shorter swords seem like they’re too much. That leaves me with small knives and daggers. Why can’t I just carry a gun?”
Fabian shook his head in the slight motion he always made. “Guns are not much good against Arcane because we are all immortal. They may slow us down, but not for long; we heal too quickly for them to do much. The more arteries you can cut, the better your chance against us. We will have to get creative with weapons against mages and warlocks, as they can use their magic from a distance. Surprise will be on your side in combat. You will want to draw your enemy in and prey on their weaknesses.”
“All of that makes sense.” Her eyes wandered over the different knives and daggers, studying them. “I can throw a dagger with the best of them, but they’re not much good for slicing.”
Her gaze kept going back to the karambit, and the child in her was slightly giddy at the thought of holding one in each hand. Badass wouldn’t even begin to cover it.
Fabian made her choice for her. “You keep going back to the karambit. That will be your weapon.”
“If that’s not the right one, I’m open to others. I really don’t know anything about all of this.”
“No, you do not. But sometimes we are led to choices for unknown reasons. You cannot fight with a weapon you do not like. This decision should be yours, and from there I can train you to use it.”
“Well, it does seem to fit the needs you say I have. May I hold it?”
“Aye, go ahead,” Kade said quietly.
She reached up slowly, taking it from the wall by the handle. Her index finger fit well in the loop at the end of the handle, and she wrapped her hand around it tightly. It was light in her hand and easy to hold; it fit perfectly. The loop gave her confidence that it would not slip from her hand; she was in complete control of the blade.
“This is what I want to fight with,” she said with commitment.
Fabian nodded. “Very well, then.”
Kade studied her for a moment before speaking. “Ye said ye could throw a dagger?”
It was her turn to wink at him. She hung the karambit back up carefully, then grabbed a dagger from the wall, turned, and threw it at the wood on the wall behind them. The dagger sailed through the air and found its home directly in the center of the wall, right next to a woman’s head. She was leaning to the side, having dodged the blade.
Her eyes found Kelly’s, but she spoke to Kade. “Keegan, welcome home. I see you brought guests.”
“Aye, Mother, meet Kelly.”