A look passes between them, as if they are contemplating whether to say something or not. “What is it? Get it out, now…”
“It’s just that, we believe that there is a deeper connection between all of us. I mean, there has got to be a reason that Enzo’s magic didn’t hurt you, right?” Ash says.
My eyes are drawn to Enzo and he still has a distraught look on his face. His eyes meet mine and I give him a tentative smile. “Well, it just proves that I am more badass than Enzo, doesn't it?” I ask Ash, winking at him, trying to lighten the mood in the room.
“You are a badass alright…” Ryan says, with an odd emotion glittering in his eyes.
There are questions swirling in my mind, and I need to get them out now. Suddenly there is a shrill sound and Vince leaps up and leaves the room. Everyone is alert around me looking in different directions.
“What is that sound?” I ask Lexie.
“Someone just entered the wards that I set, and Vee has gone-” She inhales sharply and whirls to face me, eyes wide. “You heard that?”
“Umm...Yeah… It is shrill. Who wouldn't hear it?” I say with a slight laugh.
“Babe, nobody else other than the five of us can hear that - or rather, should hear that. Because the others lent their powers to me for this ward. How can you hear that?” she says leaning over to me, looking in my eyes as if she would find the answers there.
“Where is my baby girl?”
Pa’s voice comes from the main room, and I all but fall with joy.
====
I run in the direction of his voice and see him standing in the middle of the room. He looks as badass as ever. Sharp face, bright brown eyes with a touch of gold, angelic jaw, dimples peeking out from his cheek as his face splits into a wide smile upon seeing me. I take in his braided raven hair that now fall close to his waist.
I cover the distance between us and jump in his open arms with all the faith that he will catch me.
My soul and everything that is me sings at being in his arms. The feeling of belonging, the warmth, the home - everything that I am feeling right now is in-fucking-explicable. I hear others walking around me but I am basking in the love of my Dad. He holds me tight, my feet dangling a feet above the ground as he clutches me close to his chest. My father. My best friend. My Dad.
“Let me meet my Gudiya now!” Baba’s voice floats to me. A gasp leaves me as I realize that I didn’t even look around Dad.
Dad laughs in my hair, and gently lowers me to the ground. He releases me after laying a soft kiss on my head.
I turn around and see Baba. He smiles, eyes brimming with tears, as mine fill too. He pulls me into his arms and I am in a fierce protective embrace. He feels solid beneath his clothes. No one can say he is over fifty years old. He has been like this since the time I first met him. He wears his hair in a ponytail tied at the nape of his neck, and sometimes in a top knot. His long robes have become a trademark Baba-ensemble for me. He must easily be six feet and three inches tall. Strong build, but a lean muscular frame. All those years exercising and training me has benefitted him well.
“How are you Gudiya?” he asks as I lean back to look at him.
“I am good Baba. And now I am fabulous at seeing you both. Thank you for coming.” I smile through my tears and he hugs me again.
“Tea or coffee Pa, Sensei?” Lexie asks, after everyone is done with the greeting.
“Tea please Lexie. Thank you,” Baba tells her and I let go of Baba and turn around.
Everyone else, other than Dad, is looking at us with weird expressions.
“What?” I ask them.
“They are just wondering how come I am so close to you.” Baba’s smiling voice tells me.
I smile too and tell them, “well, it is a story for another day, fellas. Give them tea, where is your hospitality? What are you all doing?” I turn to look at Baba and start talking again, “so how did you both arrive here so fast? Where were you? Not India I am assuming. Do not tell me that you guys can teleport! Can you? Oh my God!! That would be so awesome! But then if you could then why didn’t you guys come sooner? That is not cool, old man! And there is so much to tell you, and hear from you. But first you have to tell me everything. Each and every thing and I demand to know-”
I stop when I see Baba and Dad shaking with laughter. Confused, I turn around and see the guys, Lexie included, giving me amused looks.
“What?”
“Do your questions ever stop, babe?” Ryan asks.
I am about to answer when Dad turns to him. Everybody stiffens and Baba snickers from behind me.
“Babe? Did you just call Ada, babe?” Dad asks in a chilling voice.
I cannot stop at this and a laugh bubbles out of me.
“No, Pa. It was just a term of endearment. I didn’t mean-”
“You better never mean anything like that. None of you! You hear me?”
The guys all look at each other uneasily, when Lexie says, “Pa, someday you will have to accept someone for her, right? Wouldn't the known devils be better than unknown ones?” she says waving her hand at the guys around her.
“No man is good enough for my daughter. I will kill anyone who tries to-”
“Oh, Dad come on! He just said it as a term of endearment. He probably says this to everyone… Come on, let’s go have tea and stop this unnecessary interrogation,” I say trying to ease the tension he seems to have in his posture.
“You say this to everyone? You think my daughter is no different to the other bimbos you all have around you?”
Nobody answers. I look at Baba for help and find his eyes shining with amusement.
“Cael,” he calls out.
Dad turns around instantly and looks at Baba.
“Let the poor boys go. Let us all have some tea that Lexie makes. I promise you, any man who is man enough to show interest in her seriously, I will be right next to you verifying that man’s eligibility. Okay?” My eyes must be as wide as saucers, because all of the other eyes are as wide as saucers too.
Dad seems to think it over, then nods.
“I will hold you to it, Ba,” Dad says.
“I know. Now come on let’s have some tea. I have a feeling that we will be verifying and testing men soon enough,” Baba tells him, as he takes my hand and starts walking towards the kitchen.
“What do you mean men? Ada is a baby right now and no man should be thinking about her,” Dad grumbles.
Lexie catches my eyes as I roll them and let out an exasperated sigh.
“Dad calm down. I might be a baby for you, but I am definitely not a child!” I pout at him.
“Gudiya, you are a child. Stop arguing with your Dad,” Baba tells me and I have this sudden vision of my future where I am dying alone.
Lexie bursts out laughing at this, the boys snicker and I pout harder. That vision is looking like a harsh reality right now.
“Besides, Cael, I have a feeling that the ‘men’ are around and would be making themselves known soon,” Baba continues as we reach the kitchen.
“Okay,” Dad replies, smashing his right fist in his left palm. “I will be ready.”
Everybody winces at that. Dad is a phenomenal fighter. I mean, guuurrrrrlllll, he is The Warrior!
“The men are around you say?” Vince asks Baba. Baba gives him a mischievous look and nods. “We will be ready too. We will wreck those fuckers!” I cringe at the sound of anger in his voice.
“Okay okay everyone calm down. If I don’t find a man worthy, I will be the one wrecking them.”
Every man erupts at this except Baba, who laughs along with Lexie.
I cannot even fathom how the conversations went from happy and tea, to this!?
“Can you guys stop this circus?” I ask Lexie and Baba waving my hand at the guys and Dad. They both, of course, erupt into teary eyed laughter. One part of me is really happy to see Lexie happy and carefree like this, and another part wants to throttle Baba and her.
I throw my hand
s in the air and climb up the kitchen island. Hoping the men will hear, I say at the top of my voice, “stop it! Calm down or I will not tell you guys what Mathew told me!”
Is that a cricket I hear outside the windows?
I look around me at the statues that everyone has now become.
“Now that I have your attention, can we stop this unnecessary dick and fist measuring contest over my vagina?” Dad and Baba sputter, Lexie snorts and the guys legit blush.
Dad opens his mouth to say something but I raise my eyebrows at him and whatever he was about to say ends right there.
“Gudiya, get down. You are right. Cael, boys, enough of this. We have some serious things to discuss,” Baba says.
I get down the island, and start helping Lexie with tea, while Enzo gives them a detailed report of the day we’ve had.
Tea made, Lexie and I carry it to the table where everyone is seated, along with some snacks.
“Oh I forgot!” Dad announces, before running back to the main room.
He returns a while later with a packet of my favorite chocolate walnut cake and stick-jaw candies from my favourite bakery in the whole wide world!
My squeal of delight brings about another round of snorts and amused laughters as I tear into the cake packet and dive right in. It is the delicious goodness that I crave every single day. One bite melts into my mouth, the cake perfectly moist and decadent. I moan as I continue to eat. I hear a throat clear and I look up to find everyone looking at me, while Lexie is looking at my cake.
I clutch it to my chest and give her a narrow eyed look.
“What?” I ask them, my mouth bursting with cake.
“Aren't you going to offer?” Dad asks, gesturing around the table.
“Did you only get one packet?” I will straight-up start panicking if he says yes to that. I never share these two things. Never.
Dad pinches the bridge of his nose and shakes his head. As if I am being unreasonable. My hold on my cake and stick-jaws hardens, and my eyes become narrower.
“Well? Did you bring only one packet?” I ask him again.
I just need to be sure before I throw a tantrum.
“She will throw a tantrum, Cael. And neither of us are ready for that,” Baba tells him, and everyone looks at him suspiciously.
Dad laughs, then gets up, leaves the room and comes back with two packets each of the cake and stick-jaws. I release a breath that I wasn’t even aware I was holding.
Dad and Baba laugh at my relieved expression some more, and I give them a sheepish look.
“Guys, here. These are for the rest of us. Nobody touches her cake and stick-jaws. She doesn't share,” Dad tells everyone.
I stick out my tongue at him and continue eating.
“She isn’t like that. We shared food all the time back home, Pa,” Ash says. Gotta love him for his loyalty though.
“Oh no, she shares everything, just not these two things. These are from her favourite bakery in the world,” Baba tells them as he smooths my hair from around my face. I smile at him, probably with chocolate stuck all over my teeth and mouth, but I dont give a flying fuck.
I look down at the cake and stick-jaws and hold them tighter. These are mine. My precious.
A roar of laughter forces me to look up. At my questioning look Dad answers, “you said that out loud baby girl.” He winks and mimicks, “my precious.”
I dissolve in a fit of giggles. Being with Baba and Dad takes me back to my childhood and I feel secure, protected and cherished.
Maybe I am a baby after all.
Chapter 26
Lexie
Watching Sensei look at Ada is an experience, alright.
It is hard to reconcile the sassy girl I know, with this doll who is being doted upon by two of the biggest and baddest warriors I have ever known. I also haven't missed a single look my brothers have shot her way either. Those fools are in so deep for her, only God can save them from Sensei and Pa.
I smile at the thought of Pa and Sensei bursting my brothers’ nuts.
“Something funny?” Sensei asks me, as I am sitting right next to him.
I shake my head and focus on my cake and tea. There is no chance in hell I am talking to Sensei like Ada does. First, he will probably kill me. Second, he will never speak to me or anyone who isn't Ada the way he does with her. And third, he will most definitely kill me.
I hear a hissing sound. Sensei sputters his tea, going alert. I see that Ada is staring daggers at Enzo who has his hands raised, as if placating a wild rabid animal.
“Sorry. I did not realize that was yours,” he tells her and slowly moves his hand to the other packet of stick jaws laying next to Ada’s pack. Sensei is coiled up to get in between them both if required. I see Pa ready to pounce as well. To hold her back? Or to kill Enzo for touching her candies?
I look around and see the other guys suppressing their smirk at the sight of Enzo looking scared like he’d seen a ghost.
It is then I realize that she is fiercely protective and possessive of a few of the things that she loves. And Pa and Sensei know this. Perhaps they have experienced that protectiveness too.
However, I am finding this too funny.
Once Ada’s shoulders lowers and she gets back to her coffee and cake, the conversations get back to normal.
For as long as I remember, I have never had that sense of friendship with anybody, except my brother and his friends, who are my brothers too by extension. Because of my powers or allure, girls have never been my friend, and boys have just wanted to get in my pants. And that did make things difficult.
What has helped me is my training, my brothers, and Pa. And then Ada came into our lives a year and a half ago. I have hung out with her, had sleepovers with her, gone shopping with her. Every normal girl-friend experience with her by my side. The fact that she was the one who saved us all those months back, is a huge bonus too, and makes me think that there is more at play here than just our parents being best friends.
Also, ever since we joined Pa and Sensei, my life has revolved around finding the Kazi and Vyhdir. We are no closer to finding either. Hell, we don't even know where to look.
It is weird that in the middle of all this, I found close knit bonds with my brothers and with Ada.
“So, now that we have had fun, how about we get that magic inside of you, out? What do you say, Gudiya?” Sensei speaks.
I am blinking so hard that I think my eyes are gonna shatter. Ada looks downright bewildered. The idea of finding that you actually have magic is scary. But imagine being told that it has been inside of you forever and that only you can see it and feel it.
“What does it take Baba?” she asks in a small voice.
I watch in fascination as Sensei’s whole face transforms as he looks at Ada like he is going to protect her from everything that scares her, including her own magic.
“It takes for me to perform a ritual with Cael, and that’s it. I will never let anything hurt you Gudiya. If you don't want to, we don't have to do this. You have been living without it for so long and you have been doing wonderfully well, and will continue to do so. If you don't want to, we won't do it.”
She looks at him, with hope, fear, and questions in her eyes. But soon, she takes a deep breath and nods.
“Let’s do this. But I need all the stories and all the history as well. Why did Ma block it? What does my getting it mean? What are you all doing about the Gods and all that jazz..,” she stops for a moment then looks up sharply at Sensei. “There is something I have to tell you though.”
“What is it?” Sensei leans forward on the table, and we all mirror his action.
“It is about Mathew, and what he said.”
“You never told us what he said, why?” Vince asks, a hint of hurt in his voice.
“Oh calm down boy. She will tell you when she thinks it is best. Do not question her again,” Sensei says.
“Ba, they are a team. They will question one another. Hell, they should
. That is what will make them an effective team. Why are you scolding Vee for asking this?” Pa tells Sensei.
I swear, only Pa and Ada can speak to him like this.
“Because they need to know the time and place for everything. She just said she has to tell us about what this guy said. But his ego cannot take it that she didn't tell them before. Did it occur to him or all of them to think about where she was at the time? And if she is ready to tell now, then why interrupt? It can always be asked later on, right?” he addresses that last bit to Vince, who looks chastised beyond all reasonable doubt. “Right? I thought you were trained better than that.”
Everyone inhales sharply, as the insinuation that Pa did not train us well is clear. I look at Pa and find him smiling at Sensei. He gently shakes his head and continues looking at Sensei.
“No no not at all. I was just taken aback. That's all. A lot has happened and it just came out. It will never happen again,” Vee says, apologetically and quickly.
“That's what I thought,” Sensei says then turns to Ada, who is looking at him with a smile of her own. “So what is it that you want to tell us?”
She shakes her head, much like Pa had done.
“Okay. So Mathew kept looking at me throughout the class, and that was weird, knowing what I know now. Anyways, after the class, he bumped into me, and he slid something in my back pocket. I followed him after some time, and found some guys tackling him and hitting him. I remembered that I should not intervene in somebody else’s reality, but at that moment, one of the attackers took out a dagger. A blue tipped dagger. They were about to stab him with it, when I went to help-”
“That was foolish of you Ada,” all the guys say at once.
She rolls her eyes, then continues as if they hadn't interrupted, “I interrupted them, acted all girly and frazzled, and his attackers fled. Mathew, of course, was channeling his inner Enzo, when he told me that I shouldn't have done that. But then he gestured towards my pocket, telling me to read it. He was bleeding and I offered to bring him home and help him, anything he may need, my phone number, something. He came to me and hugged me, then said….,” and like every good storyteller, she pauses there, looking at each of us. “He said, and I quote, I will be safe, Kazi. My sword and life is yours. Thank you for saving me. I will meet you soon.”
Circle of Time: An urban fantasy (The Kazi Chronicles Book 1) Page 15
