Chosen_Book One

by Rebecca Thomas

  Caleb couldn’t even begin to express how glad he was not to be going through all of this alone for once. Lily’s support as Kiara’s aunt and his friend was proving to be invaluable.

  “You’re welcome,” she smiled.

  “So helpful,” he reiterated, which made her laugh softly. “What do you think about getting her two pieces of chocolate cake?”

  “I think that’s something you’ll live to regret later when she’s hyper on sugar.”

  “I think I can cope,” he said, sounding sure of himself despite her doubts.

  “Your funeral,” she laughed.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Hallie let out a huge groan as she fell onto her bed, the metal frame creaking under the force of the fall. It had been a couple of weeks since their visit to MI6 and both she and Kiara were utterly wiped. Alastair was really putting her through her paces now that she had covered the basics, making sure that she built up the strength needed in order to be able to heal over long periods of time. This meant a lot of endurance training, which equated to Alastair being driven around on a motorbike by his carer while Hallie ran beside them for miles and miles around the countryside. Sasha sometimes kept her company, but only on shorter runs, usually when she did laps around the town. It was gruelling to say the least.

  While she knew that this would be of great help to her in the long term, she couldn’t help but feel like there was a lot of pain and no gain right now. Every night she came home aching from head to toe.

  Kiara wasn’t much better off. What happened at MI6 pushed her to do even more in order to prove herself. Because of this, they barely got any time to themselves anymore. They quite often had group dinners cooked by Lily, then when they got back to her place or Kiara’s, they just fell asleep. Hallie missed the days when they had hours and hours to play games, watch movies and just hang out in the city.

  “Do you think we can maybe stay awake for more than ten seconds tonight?” Hallie asked Kiara as her babe flopped down beside her.

  “Oh, I don’t know. I did a ridiculous amount of reps today. I’m going to start looking like a bodybuilder soon if we don’t move onto something else.”

  Hallie tried to laugh, but she was so tired that it sounded more like a gurgle.

  “Oh dear,” Kiara said, leaning over Hallie so she could look at her properly. “How far did Alastair make you run today?”

  “I lost count around mile 10, I’ve no idea how far it was after then. The only thing that stopped me from collapsing was the fact that he was following me around. I didn’t want him to see me fall down, not when I’ve been working so damn hard all week.”

  “I know. You’re doing great, I’m so proud.” Kiara kissed her on the nose.

  “Thanks, babe. I wish it was you making me jog marathons around Greater London, you’d be a lot more supportive.”

  “I probably wouldn’t make you do it in the first place.”

  “This is true. There’s not a mean bone in your body.”

  “Hmmm, not sure. Caleb might disagree with you about my elbows after I almost knocked him out earlier. It was dumb luck that I didn’t break something.”

  “Whoa. If you can kick his ass, then surely you’re ready to go out in the field?”

  “Not yet. He says he’s waiting to see what Master Mahmid thinks based on the reports that he’s been sending him.”

  Hallie sighed. “I guess I don’t blame him. He won’t want to piss the other Guardians off again because of what happened with us.”

  “Yeah,” Kiara said, but she looked a little upset that she wasn’t ready yet.

  “Don’t worry. I’m sure you’ll be out there soon enough, saving the world,” Hallie told her, managing a small grin.

  “If you believe it then it must be true,” Kiara smiled.

  Hallie twirled a strand of red hair around her finger, taking a moment to look at Kiara properly. She hadn’t realised how much her face her changed over the last month and a bit. Kiara looked so fit despite being so exhausted.

  “I’ve missed you,” Hallie said.

  “I’ve missed you too,” Kiara replied, leaning in to brush her lips against Hallie’s.

  Hallie caught Kiara’s bottom lip between both of hers, a long and slow kiss to suit their mood.

  “You know what we need?” Hallie asked.

  “If you say sex, I’m going to need to nap first.”

  “No, that would be nice, but I don’t think either of us could manage right now without snoozing all over each other. What I was going to say is that we need a night out. Lily and Caleb too. We all deserve to have some fun after all the hard work we’ve been putting in lately.”

  “I agree.”

  “Then it’s settled, we’re having a proper Friday night out this week. All we’ve got to do is convince the two old fogeys.”

  Lily wouldn’t be too hard, she figured. The woman didn’t get out much, so this could be an exciting adventure. Caleb, however… she would probably have to let Kiara take care of that one. The worst he could do was say no.

  ~

  “Where did you even find these clothes?” Caleb asked.

  Kiara could hear him struggling to pull on the jeans she had chosen for him. They had looked pretty tight, even for someone with Caleb’s stature.

  “I found the jacket, jeans and shoes buried in the back of your wardrobe, and I bought the shirt to class the whole outfit up a bit.”

  It had taken a little persuasion to get Caleb to agree to go out for the evening with them. Lily had been game, particularly when Hallie had said they could go shopping and use her Dad’s credit card. She knew that Caleb was worried about getting distracted, but she had been training so hard that giving him the big puppy dog eyes had eventually worked. It wasn’t just her that needed a break, Caleb had to need one as well.

  “I don’t even remember buying these things.”

  “Just shut up and get dressed already.”

  While Caleb did as he was told, Kiara spent a few minutes wandering around the apartment. She had never been here before today and she understood why. It wasn’t the fanciest place and he certainly hadn’t made it a home. There were some things lying about though. Plenty of books, of course. But it was the trinkets that she was drawn to, the stuff that came from his past.

  “Where is your family from again?” she asked, looking at the lantern and the bear. Obviously, his family was Asian, but she didn’t want to be rude.

  “My Dad was from Incheon, which is close to Seoul, but on the coast. Apparently, my Mom was originally from China, but my aunt doesn’t like to talk about her. She didn’t approve of her for some reason.”

  Kiara wondered why.

  “Your aunt was your Dad’s sister, right?”

  It didn’t make much sense for her to not approve of her own sister, although families could fall to pieces given the right tensions or tragedy.

  “Yeah. If my Mom has family that are still alive, I haven’t been able to find them.”

  Kiara felt a little sad for Caleb because she knew how lonely it could be to have such little family. Who knew what could have happened to him if his parents survived?

  “Do you ever go back and visit your aunt?”

  “I do when I can, but it’s hard lying to her about what I do.”

  Kiara could understand. She was lucky that Hallie had been there from the beginning and that Master Mahmid had let Caleb loop her in on everything. She couldn’t imagine lying to Hallie, it would have torn their relationship apart.

  “All right, how do I look?” Caleb asked as he opened his bedroom door.

  “Ooh, very nice,” Kiara said, grinning from ear to ear.

  She took a few steps closer, so she could straighten his collar.

  “I told you that you’d look good in the shirt. It doesn’t hide this like all your other clothes do,” she said, poking his rock-hard abs.

  “And yet it makes me feel naked. Not as naked as you though.”

  Her plunging neckl
ine made his eyebrows practically shoot off his head when he opened his front door to her earlier.

  “At least my sexy legs are covered,” she said, referring to the pleated trousers she’d purchased for herself.

  “I don’t know, I’d much rather see sexy legs than breasts.”

  They both looked at each other and ended up laughing.

  “Why are we even having this conversation?” he asked.

  “I don’t know, you were the one who used the word naked,” she said.

  “My bad.” He zipped his lips closed to show her that he was done.

  “I think we’re almost ready to head out. One last question though.”

  Kiara picked up the bear and held out one of its paws, the one with the bracelet.

  “What does this symbol mean?”

  “It’s the Chinese symbol for love.”

  “That’s sweet,” she smiled.

  “Do you want it?”

  Kiara looked taken aback. “What? No, it’s got to be from your Mum or something.”

  “It was hers, but it’s too small for me,” he said, taking the bracelet from the bear’s paw so he could undo the clasp.

  “Caleb.”

  Gently, he pulled on her hand so that her arm was extended, then reconnected the clasp. The bracelet fit perfectly; leaving enough wiggle room so that it wasn’t tight but didn’t slip.

  “I know that I train you really hard, and that we’re exhausted most of the time we spend together outside of the safe house, but you’re becoming a really good friend, as well as a skilled Chosen. I never thanked you for forgiving me for the lies, but I am now.”

  Kiara pulled Caleb into a tight hug, squeezing her eyes shut so that she wouldn’t be overwhelmed by the moment.

  “There’s nothing to forgive.”

  She felt Caleb smile against her shoulder.

  “Now, what do you say we go shake some booty on the dancefloor?”

  “If you wanted me to do that, you shouldn’t have dressed me in these jeans. I can barely move my legs, let alone my ass.”

  Kiara grabbed his hand and laughed her way out the door.

  ~

  Caleb was still fidgeting when they rocked up to the club a little later than planned. It was the damn pants. They must have been left over from college, back when he was practically skin and bone. Stupid muscles. Stupid pants.

  “Would you stop?” Kiara smacked him in the arm. “They’re here.”

  If it had just been Hallie she was referring to, then it probably wouldn’t have made a difference to his behaviour. She would have found it funny and he wouldn’t have minded. What stopped him dead in his tracks was Lily.

  Her everyday wear was always lovely, skirts and dresses, cute sweaters, flat shoes that helped make him feel tall. But she’d had the full Hallie makeover treatment in preparation for their evening out and… well...

  “Wow.”

  “You can say that again,” Kiara said as she scooched over to the ladies. “I told you that dress was going to look so cute on you!”

  It was pink lace with cream underneath, pulled in at the waist and came to stop well before her knees. Caleb was probably paying far too much attention, but they’d already covered his weakness for legs.

  “I still don’t know,” Lily said, trying to tug the hem down.

  “I’ve had to tell her to stop fussing so many times on the way over here,” Hallie said, exasperated. “I wouldn’t let you go out in public looking ridiculous.”

  “It doesn’t stop me from feeling ridiculous.”

  “I think you look beautiful.”

  They all looked round at Caleb when he spoke, Lily’s cheeks flushing a pale shade of pink.

  “You think?” she asked.

  “Without a doubt,” he smiled.

  “Oh, so you’ll take it from him?! FINE!” Hallie pretended to act like she was offended, but she was clearly enjoying herself.

  “I think we both did a fine job,” Kiara said. “Celebratory kiss!”

  Hallie couldn’t say no to a celebratory kiss.

  As the other two were busy congratulating themselves, Caleb moved in to offer Lily an arm as she didn’t look entirely steady in the heels she was wearing.

  “Shall we?” he asked.

  “Yeah,” she said, leaning into him as they made their way into the club.

  Caleb wasn’t sure what to expect as most of his nights these days involved reading at home, hanging out with the girls, or training. He didn’t go to bars and clubs unless a mission called for it or someone wanted to meet there. It appeared Lily was the same, because she ended up looking around in awe as they walked into the main bar area. It was lot more upmarket than he was expecting from the outside, which had been two metal doors to a brick building with the club’s name above the door. He hadn’t got a chance to read it, he’d been too distracted by Lily.

  The theme appeared to be opulent, with blacks, golds and reds, velvet covered seats and loungers, and a spectacular bar covered in fairy lights which twinkled through the darkness. His doubts about how the night would go started to fade and he found himself making for the bar before he even really knew where his feet were taking him.

  “What does everyone want to drink?” he asked, not having to yell too loudly.

  “SHOTS!” Hallie bellowed over everyone.

  “Shut up, we’re not starting with shots,” Kiara laughed.

  “We are if it’ll make Lily stop messing with her dress.”

  Lily quickly hid her hands behind her back and looked innocent.

  “That’s just proof!” Hallie decided, flagging down a bartender.

  “Hallie--” Caleb tried.

  “No! You get to be Mister Bossy Pants most days of the week. Tonight, I’m in control and I say two rounds of Bazookas for the four of us, if you please.”

  Caleb stared at Kiara with a look that said, ‘Help!’ but she just giggled at her girlfriend. They all knew deep down that there was nothing they could do when Hallie got something into her head. Tonight, that meant getting drunk.

  The bartender returned quickly with a tray full of brightly coloured shots. Caleb didn’t know what they were going to taste like, probably burning.

  “To us!” Hallie beamed as she lifted up her glass.

  They all followed suit, raising their drinks to each other before tossing them back. Lily almost choked.

  “Holy shit,” Caleb coughed, placing the empty glass back on the bar top.

  Hallie was completely unphased. In fact, she was bouncing up and down on the spot, totally psyched up.

  This unfortunately meant that they had to do the second in quick succession, which made Caleb’s throat feel like he was giving it an acid bath. How had he been able to cope with this sort of thing in his early 20’s? And enjoyed it?

  “To the dancefloor!” Hallie told them, wrapping an arm around Kiara’s waist so she could steer her away.

  Caleb took a step forward to follow them, but Lily caught his hand so that she could hold him back. At first, he wasn’t sure what she was doing, but then he realised that Hallie and Kiara were so hyper that they hadn’t even noticed they weren’t following.

  “Clever,” he said, looking back at her with a smirk.

  “It’ll be a little while before they realise. Shall we find somewhere a little quieter?”

  “I think I can see somewhere,” he said, linking his fingers with hers.

  There was a spot at the back that was secluded, the sofas creating a sort of barrier between the seating and the rest of the club.

  “This is better,” he said as he fell back onto one of the couches.

  Lily followed him, not letting go of his hand once she was comfortable. He didn’t move to either, because it was nice, even if he knew they couldn’t be more than friends.

  “So, I know how I got roped into this evening,” Caleb said. “How about you?”

  “The girls made it sound like so much fun, but that’s probably because they’re young an
d to them, this is a blast.”

  “I know, I feel so old. The rest of them are having the time of their lives and all I can think about is how suffocating these pants are…”

  “They are pretty clingy.”

  “Right? I might as well be wearing denim coloured tights.”

  This made Lily laugh.

  “I like the shirt though, Kiara was right thinking it would look good on you.”

  “Yeah, well, she’s allowed to be right about some things, I guess.”

  “Funny.”

  “How do you know I’m not just being a jerk?” he chuckled.

  “We talk a lot about her training sessions because she’s curious to know how she compares to her Dad, but we nearly always end up on tangents to other things. One thing she always comes back to is how much she’s enjoying herself getting to learn how to fight and to focus. I know that’s because of you.”

  Caleb didn’t know what to say.

  “I also spotted that bracelet on the way in, couldn’t have come from anyone else.”

  Sometimes he forgot how perceptive she was, even without her abilities.

  “I think she deserves to be treated like royalty, you all do. It helps that you all make it so easy,” he said, turning the compliment around.

  “Apart from when one of us is barking ‘SHOTS!’ at you from across the bar.”

  “No, even then. Royalty all the way.”

  Caleb was impressed with how long they were able to hide away from the girls, chatting amongst themselves. It took a couple of beers for Kiara to come bounding over, immediately seizing Lily’s hand.

  “You cheeky buggers! You’re supposed to be dancing!”

  “But we’re having so much fun here,” Lily protested.

  “Nope, if I don’t come back with you now then you’ll get a super drunk Hallie hunting you down instead. She’ll drag you along the floor if she has to,” Kiara said.

  “I’d like to see her try,” Caleb replied, but relented anyway.

  He was sure that Hallie’s expression, when they appeared from the crowd, would have been one of scorn if one of her favourite songs hadn’t just started blasting from the DJ booth.

  “Oh my God, this is perfect!” she jumped up and down on the spot.