32. Chapter 32
32
K ade
Kade couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off with Kelly.
Ginna was still in the room sipping on a glass of whiskey.
“What do ye make of all this?” he asked her.
“Honestly, I’m dumbfounded. I’m angry as hell with her, but I know that’s not what you’re referring to. How in the hell was she able to stop time? She obviously wasn’t even trying to do it, and not only that, but it sounds like she managed it for a good thirty seconds at least. Something isn’t adding up.”
“Aye, something is off. The fact that she was able to use so much power that it nearly killed her doesnae make sense either. She shouldnae have access to that much without bonding.”
“Right. I’m going to reach out to a few friends and see what they can make of everything. They might have some insight. In the meantime, Eric will talk, and then we’ll be under constant assault by people wanting access to Kelly. The wards on this house won’t be enough for long. We’re going to need more people. Living smack-dab in the middle of humans won’t keep them away when they find out what she did. They’re not going to give a shit about breaking the law if they can get their hands on her.”
He ran his hand through his hair. “Aye, we’ll have to hire more guards. Among other things.”
“You know, if someone told me thirty years ago I’d be training the next timekeeper and she’d stop time before her bonding, I’d have bet them millions it wouldn’t happen. This shit is absolutely insane. Not to mention the two of you, a mage and a vampire in a relationship. Then, you add on the fact that you swap blood and have all that telepathy shit going on. All of this is completely fucked up, and if the Council ever finds out about you two, they’ll shit themselves.” She shook her head slowly in disbelief. “We’re all likely to end up in dungeons before this is over.”
“Aye, we are. Let’s just hope we can keep what’s going on between us from them.”
“Amen to that. Speaking of, you might go give her more blood before she’s too far gone. She doesn’t look good.”
He nodded and stood. “Goodnight, Ginna.”
“Night, vampire.”
After downing a couple more bags of blood, he went to his room and found Kelly fast asleep. He nudged her gently and sat down next to her, but she didn’t stir.
She slept harder than just about anyone he’d ever known, and he felt bad for waking her up.
“Wake up, lass. Just for a minute. Ye need to take more of my blood, and then ye can go back to sleep.”
“Mmhmm.”
“Kelly, wake up.” He shook her shoulder a little harder this time.
“Okay, okay.”
He’d learned she didn’t like being woken up, no matter the time of day, so he tried to make it quick. His fangs tore through his skin with ease, and he placed his wrist to her mouth. Her response to his blood was almost immediate, and she latched onto his wrist with hunger.
A part of him was concerned about the level of hunger she showed for his blood. It was similar to a young vampire in bloodlust, just dulled down to a human level.
There had to be more to what was going on between them, but he was at a loss as to where they would find answers.
Kelly continued to pull at his wrist, his blood apparently doing nothing for her appetite. If she kept up at this rate, he’d need another two bags of blood just to replenish his own energy.
When he thought she’d had enough, he gently placed his hand on her shoulder. “Lass, that’s enough. Yer going to drain me again.”
He watched her face as she fought her body and pulled away from him. She looked like it pained her to pull back.
He licked his wrist to heal it and brushed her cheek with the back of his hand before he stood.
“Sleep well, lass.”
He saw the turmoil on her face as he turned to leave the room. Their link was weak at best. He wasn’t sure if it was because he’d cut her off from his blood or because he was leaving the room.
Either way, a pang of guilt hit him. First he’d fallen for a human, and now a potential mage who seemed to be lusting after his blood. He sure knew how to pick ’em.
Leaving the room, he called out to Connor to meet him in his office.
Connor was there waiting by the time he made it down the hall.
Kade summarized his concerns regarding Kelly’s powers and the need for increased security. “I dinnae ken where to start. I’m good at business, but this is strategy and investigations.”
“I’ve got you covered, sir. Might I suggest we bring Asmund in to help with reinforcements? He knows enough people that we should be able to find enough trustworthy Arcane to come here and stand with us. Asta can also help with the organization of travel and lodging. Then, I can focus on finding out more about what is going on between the two of you. I agree, it is concerning, and I don’t think this is the first time it has happened in our history.”
“The bloodlust concerns me more than anything. That should be reserved for young vampires, but she isnae a vampire. It seems to be getting worse, too. She’s always been a bit aggressive about it, but just now I had to remind her to pull back, and she hesitated. It just doesnae seem right that she’s so drawn to it, even if she’s still recovering.”
“I share your concerns. I’ll get started on it first thing in the morning, and I will not stop until I have answers. Do I have permission to travel if needed?”
“Aye, as long as Asmund arranges for other support here.”
“I’ll go meet with him and Asta now so they can get started.”
“Thank ye, Connor.”
“Any time.”
The next morning, the house was bustling with movement at 8:00 when Kelly woke up.
Kade hadn’t been in bed all night, judging from the state of the covers, and unfamiliar voices came from the other side of the door.
Kelly tested her strength as she sat up. For the most part, she felt back to normal. She was a little tired, but that was all.
Reaching out with her mind, she found Kade and was grateful that their link was back to normal. It had become somewhat of a security blanket for her.
After she showered and dressed, she went out to see what was going on. New faces were everywhere. There had to be at least an extra fifteen people in the house, aside from the additional guards that had already been staying with them.
Everyone was talking excitedly, and Asta’s whiteboard was front and center in the living room.
No one seemed to notice when she came into the room, and she snuck past them all to make breakfast.
It seemed strange that she was still hungry after all the blood she’d had from Kade, but she chalked it up to exhaustion from using her power.
Ginna walked in as she fixed her English muffin. “Morning, Rookie.”
“Morning. What’s up with all these people?”
“I think they’re reinforcements, but I wasn’t part of the planning. You ready to get to work today? Fabian said you could skip the physical stuff and we can hit the books. He wants you to give it a few more days before you push your body.”
“Um, sure. I’ll come up to the library after I eat.”
“Sounds good.”
Ginna grabbed a banana and went back upstairs.
The rest of the week passed by without much excitement. Kelly focused on studying more with Ginna. They didn’t work on any of her abilities, which was frustrating, but she understood why.
The house was busy every day with people in and out. There wasn’t a single moment of silence with everyone adjusting and familiarizing themselves to the house rules.
By the time dinner rolled around each night, Kelly was ready to brave the outside world just for a set of noise-canceling headphones. She was barely able to think with all the noise and commotion.
Kade seemed to be keeping his distance from her, and it wasn’t helping her mental state. Their telepathy seemed to be back to normal, but when she opened her mind, she felt him trying to close his, so she pulled back. He hadn’t come to bed all week, and he simply checked in every night to see if she was okay.
The feeling she got from the house was that she was simply an asset to be protected. None of the new people seemed to care who she was, and all of her friends were busy doing their jobs and strategizing for the next steps.
Even Fabian was aloof. He’d talked about starting their training again at the end of the week, but when the end of the week came along, he had other things to do.
When Friday night arrived and dinner didn’t even happen, Kelly’d had enough. Everything she had come to love about this group of people was slowly slipping away.
Siri had even disappeared without a goodbye at some point.
Feeling the stress of it all, Kelly grabbed a pint of Ben and Jerry’s and went to her bedroom. Not Kade’s bedroom…hers. Since Siri wasn’t in town anymore, she could have her space back.
She turned on the TV and flipped to an old rom-com. Those movies always made her feel better, even if they were complete and utter bullshit.
She’d made it through about half of her pint when Kade knocked on her door.
“What?”
“Can I come in?”
“Nope. I have company, and he tastes sooooo good.” She was twenty-six, not fourteen, but who was counting?
“Come now, lass. I just want to check on ye.”
“I’m perfectly fine. Thanks for your concern.”
“Yer lying.”
“Go the fuck away, Kade.”
He sighed. “I see tonight’s the night we’re going to have that fight.”
“I didn’t say we were fighting.”
“Nae, yer just acting like it. I’m coming in.” He opened the door and closed it behind him.
Damn him for looking sexy in his jeans and button-up shirt. Why did the man have to be so drool-worthy?
Turning back to the TV, she gave him another childish jab. “I said go away.”
“I’m not going away until we get this worked out.”
“What is there to work out, Kade?”
“Let’s just go back to the night ye left and start there.”
Yep, they were really doing this. “What about it?”
“Ye called fucking Dominic to help ye distract us while ye snuck out the back, that’s what. And let me guess, he wants to take ye out in return for his little favor, does he not?”
“Yeah, he does, so what? We’ve been friends for years.”
“Aye, so ye have, but he wants to be more than friends, and I’ll be damned if he’s going to lay a hand on ye.” Kade let some power slip, and it hit her in the chest, pushing her back.
“Oh, so now you’re jealous? You don’t give a shit about how I handled things that night, you’re just mad that I called an old friend who’s good looking to help me out?”
The muscles in his jaw clenched. “I’m mad about how ye handled it, too. We’ll get there soon.”
Kelly set her ice cream down beside her. “Let’s just get to it now, shall we? Frankly, I’m pretty damn proud of my planning. And for what it’s worth, I kept it from all of you to keep you safe. You get that, right? I planned to hand myself over and give them what they wanted in exchange for everyone’s safety, not just Ginna’s. If I went with them, they’d leave all of you alone. I walked in there and laid my life down for all of you!”
“That’s the fucking problem! We’ve all lived lifetimes compared to ye, it’s our job to protect ye, and ye went and threw it all away!”
“So now I’m just a job? That’s all I am to you?” Her fingers began to spark.
“I didnae say that. Yer putting words in my mouth.”
“Then, please, tell me what I am! All of you are running around this house so focused on work that no one has an ounce of time for anything but that. You’re distancing yourself from me like I’m diseased or something, and Fabian won’t even train with me even though I’m fully back to normal. The new people treat me like I’m made of glass, and they’re all afraid to talk to me. Your mom left without a word. I don’t fucking understand what’s going on! Ever since I came back, everyone seems to think I’m a ticking time bomb.”
Kelly took a minute to breathe. Kade gave her a moment, somehow knowing not to speak just yet. He’d obviously had practice fighting with women in his almost 300 years.
“Is that what it is? Are all of you scared of what I’m going to do? Is everyone done with my drama and baggage? Are you just protecting me to win the war? And what the fuck is up with you being so goddamned overprotective? I’m not your property. You don’t get to act like you own me when you’ve hardly said a word to me all week.”
Kade looked down, then back up at Kelly.
She followed his gaze and saw a good two inches of water pooling on the floor.
“Shit!” She sent it to the bathtub, and it sloshed as it overflowed the tub before it could drain completely. Cleaning up would be fun, but she’d deal with it later.
Kade didn’t say a word about it, thankfully. His tone was a little softer this time. “Yer not just something to protect, Kelly. None of us have dealt with something like this before, and it’s a big lift for everyone. Aye, I’m mad at ye for the way ye handled that night. Had ye come to us to talk about it, we could have saved ye all the trouble of trying to rescue Ginna on yer own. It’s in the past now, though. Fabian has been working with the new people to get them trained and up to speed so they’re able to protect ye. It’s not that he doesnae want to work with ye, just that he felt some rest would be good for ye, and three people protecting ye is better than ye fighting for yerself. As for me, I came up here because I had some news for ye. It’s one of the reasons I’ve left ye alone most of the week.”
Kelly’s blood boiled. “If you say Darlene is back, it’s going to get physical.”
He gave her a half smile. “And here ye are accusing me of being jealous.”
She managed a shrug.
Kade walked over to the bed and sat next to her.
“Ye scared the shit out of me the other night. First, ye disappeared without a word, and ye didnae trust me to handle the situation but rather took it into yer own hands. Then, when we found ye nearly dead, and ye drained me almost dry through an animalistic instinct for my blood. The power ye used shouldnae be something an unbonded mage has access to, and it nearly killed ye. While ye recovered, ye continued to exhibit a sort of bloodlust for my blood, and that scared me. None of this is normal, and frankly, it’s got me stumped.”
Kade’s tone and what little emotion she felt through their closed link showed her he cared.
“How do you think I feel dealing with all of this? You’re used to Arcane shit. I’m used to being human, and now I’m stopping time and starting wars purely by chance. I don’t know how much more I can take, Kade. But I can tell you I can’t do this alone. I refuse to be kept in the dark while everyone goes about their job to protect little ol’ me.”
Taking a deep breath, she centered herself.
“Can we at least open the link back up? I feel you trying to shut me out, so I haven’t pushed it, but sometimes just knowing how you feel about things is all the reassurance I need.”
“Aye, why don’t we do that now? What I have to tell ye should probably stay between us anyway.”
Kelly opened her mind and felt him welcome her in. The feeling of joining with his mind was almost better than a giant bear hug. It just felt right.
Thank you. So what’s this news you spoke of?
Hope and excitement bled through to her.
Connor finally found the answers we’ve been looking for.