by Julia Crane
The normal hooting and fist bumps from the guys that always came with the brush of death followed their arrival at base camp.
A couple of the guys had some shrapnel that would have to be removed. Hurt like hell, but left bragging rights in the form of a scar.
“Another day in paradise,” Stitch said wryly.
Rourk couldn’t help but wonder if the d’jinn had somehow been involved in the ambush. It was a bit too coincidental for his liking—because of the shadow that passed under the door.
CHAPTER 11
“So what do you want to do on your last day?” Keegan asked, letting her hair down from the towel.
“Gavin told me about a gym nearby?”
“Well, it’s not that nearby. More like forty minutes away, but sure, we could go there if you wanted. It’s pretty cool, and I haven’t been in a while.”
“Let’s do it. I’m getting lazy hanging out with you all day.”
Keegan rolled her eyes. “Whatever. You run every morning, and I’ve seen you doing push-ups at least three times a day.”
“I have to keep my skills sharp. Go get dressed. We don’t have all day.”
“Actually, we do have all day. You don’t leave till tonight, but I’ll hurry. You’ll love Mack’s, and you never know what kind of creature you’ll run into.”
Thaddeus shooed her away, and Keegan threw on a pair of black capri workout pants and a teal tank top, and covered up with a hoodie. Thaddeus was going to put her through the ringer. Truthfully, she was excited. She tended to slack a bit on her training when Rourk wasn’t there to push her past her comfort zone. Okay, maybe more than a bit.
For once the sun was shinning, and it actually looked and felt like spring. They made the forty-minute drive mostly in comfortable silence.
Keegan turned off the main road onto a narrow gravel road flanked with trees, and in the distance, they could barely make out the cabin. “There it is.” She pointed.
“I see it. Both hands on the wheel. I don’t trust your driving.” Thaddeus smirked.
A few moments later, Keegan rolled the jeep to a stop.
“It’s in the basement. Mack gave us the code so we can use it whenever we want.”
“It’s pretty cool they are Guardians.” Thaddeus said as he unclipped the seatbelt.
“Yeah, they’re all really nice, but as you can imagine, not around too much. So we’ll probably have the place to our selves.”
“Well, maybe next time I visit, they’ll be here.” Thaddeus said as he followed behind Keegan. They walked down a gently slopping hill and went behind the cabin.
“You really do need to visit more often,” Keegan scolded.
Quickly, she entered the code and the green light turned on. She pushed through the heavy steel door holding it open for her brother. “It’s pretty bare bones, but has everything you can think of.”
She watched her brother take in the large gym. Off to the left were a couple of weight lifting platforms with Olympic weights, pull-up bars, medicine balls, atlas stones, and kettle bells. To the right was a huge rock climbing wall, and the rest of the space was used for sparring.
“Wait till you see this.” Keegan’s eyes lit up, and she crossed the gym with Thaddeus close on her heels.
Another panel was set up, and Keegan once again entered a code and the door slid opened.
Thaddeus stepped through and smiled. “That’s what I’m talking about!”
Weapons, rows and rows of every sort of weapon one could think of from any era. Sending a warrior elf into a room like this was like sending a kid into a toy store and telling them they could have as much as they wanted.
Slowly, Thaddeus walked around the room, picking up swords, daggers, throwing stars, battle axes, cleavers and weapons she couldn’t identify. “Very impressive.”
Without warning Thaddeus picked up a sword and tossed it to Keegan. Her hand shot forward, and she grabbed it by the hilt.
“Nice to see you still have your reflexes.”
“Uh huh. You would have felt bad if you’d cut me by accident.”
“Bad? No. Disappointed with Rourk for not keeping up with the hours I was forced to train you, yes. Besides they are not that sharp.”
Keegan laughed. “Right… You ready, little brother?”
“Oh, yes.” He smiled and lifted another sword from the wall. He turned it side to side and ran his hand along the top. “Many great fighters held this sword.” He smiled to himself, and Keegan wondered if he was seeing the ancient warriors in his mind’s eye. “Let’s go.”
Thaddeus lead her through a short warm up, and then some basic Katas. She had grown to love Kata. It was like a dance. The fluid movements and repetitive manner were relaxing to her. It was funny, but not long ago, Keegan had hated working out, much to the chagrin of her parents. After preparing for the Great Battle at the age of sixteen, Keegan had grown to love training.
Plus it gave her something fun to do with Rourk. Hopefully, she could impress her brother today. It had been a long time since they had squared off against each other.
“Ok, now let’s do some basic kihon.” Thaddeus said, moving to one side of the gym so they had plenty of room to move across the floor utilizing different techniques. “We‘ll start with upper zone strikes, left side first. Ready?”
“Ready.”
“One. Two. Three. Four…”
With each count, Thaddeus and Keegan advanced and executed a strike from their left to the right side of an imaginary opponent. Once they had crossed the floor, Thaddeus said, “While giving ground, one. Two. Three…”
After two or three trips up and down the floor, Thaddeus would announce the next technique to practice and start counting again. They did this for fifteen minutes before taking a short break.
“Ok, one step kumite. I‘ll attack.”
Thaddeus and Keegan faced each other, weapons ready, held as if to attack each other. Thaddeus started to circle Keegan, sometimes closing the distance a bit, other times backing away to create a bigger gap between them.
With no warning, he exploded forward, attacking Keegan with an overhead strike. Keegan swiftly parried the blow and counter-attacked. Thaddeus did not try to block her blow, and Keegan stopped the blade an inch from her intended target, shouting a loud “KIAAA!” They paused, backed up away from each other, then started circling again. Thaddeus changed his tempo, strike speed, and types of strike so Keegan had to constantly be prepared for anything.
After fifteen minutes, they took another short break. “You ready for free style?”
“As ready as I‘m gonna be today.” Keegan said wearily.
They faced each other again and began to circle. Immediately, Thaddeus attacked again, his sword clanging off Keegan’s, but instead of allowing her an opportunity to counter-attack, he pressed forward with another strike, and another, and another. Keegan blocked and parried each strike, but his attacks were too fast for her to launch any counters. After a string of four strikes, Thaddeus backed up and started to circle again. Keegan took advantage of the change to launch her own attack. Thaddeus parried her blow, and before she could follow through with a second strike, Thaddeus used her momentum to counter her. Keegan barely blocked the strike.
“You need to move faster than that, sis.” Keegan focused and renewed her attack, giving Thaddeus everything she had. The air began to heat up from their effort, and Keegan found herself drenched in sweat.
Keegan pressed forward, trying to break through Thaddeus’s defenses. Not an easy task. He was even faster than she remembered. He seemed to spin around her in a blur. It took all her energy to keep his strikes at bay.
They had been sparring for quite some time, or at least it felt like a long time.
“I see you’ve been practicing.” Keegan huffed out as she deflected yet another blow with a loud clang of the swords. A bead of sweat rolled between her shoulder blades. Her breathing was labored.
Thaddeus gave her an impish grin.
&n
bsp; The grin gave her a renewed burst of energy. More than anything, she wanted to wipe it off his smug face. Keegan tightened her grip and quickened her strikes, trying to take her brother by surprise. She didn’t have a chance. He easily parried her attack. And the worst thing was, she knew he was toying with her. He could have ended it at any point, but he wanted to make her suffer.
Sibling love.
Thaddeus’s raised his arms over his head and charged, and the sword sliced through the air with a hiss. It would have been the ending blow, but Keegan used her gift and disappeared, laughing.
“Man, Keegan, you better make time to get out here more often. Your skills have dulled considerably.”
Keegan reappeared, wiping the sweat off her brow. She was worn out, and her heart was still hammering in her chest. She leaned against the wall and slid down until she sat on the floor, her legs splayed out in front of her.
“You’re almost as good as dad.” Keegan said and took a swig from her water bottle.
His face and ears turned pink. “Hardly. I still have a lot to learn.”
“Seriously, I’m super impressed. I think you’d give Rourk a run for his money.”
Thaddeus laughed. “Now I know you’re pulling my leg.”
Keegan rolled her eyes. She was trying to compliment him, and he wouldn’t even hear it. Probably best.
Their dad always said ego was a downfall in battle. You had to keep your head and never underestimate your opponent.
She had been hoping some of the Guardians would show up before they had to leave, but no such luck. After Keegan cooled down, they locked up and went home so Thaddeus could shower and get ready to return to Tennessee.
Keegan was going to miss him.
Thaddeus slung his bag over his shoulder. “I wish I could stay longer, but I’ve got school and training.”
“I’m just glad you came at all. You really need to visit more often.”
“Yeah, I know. You could always visit yourself. Mom and Dad miss you too.”
“When Rourk gets back, we’ll come for a visit. He said he’d have two weeks off. Coming home sounds like a good vacation to me.”
They walked towards the airport. Keegan hated good-byes.
“Remember, if you need anything call Gavin.”
The same words Rourk had said to her before he stepped on a plane.
She wanted to shake him and get out of him why he was being so cryptic, but it was useless and unfair of him.
She would just be extra alert in case anything did happen. It wasn’t like she couldn’t take care of herself. She had continued her training and had the gift of disappearing at will. They were all overreacting.
At least she hoped they were.
Or maybe she was reading more into their concern then was warranted. She tended to do that sometimes. She just had to trust in herself and those around her. Even if Thad had a vision, she knew altering fate was not an easy thing to do. It came with consequences. She still lived with the consequences of the dark magick. Over the years, it had gotten easier to control her temper and the pain of being apart from Rourk was almost bearable. As long as she had on her necklace. And she couldn’t even recall the last time she’d frozen anyone out of anger.
Thaddeus dropped his bag and pulled her into a tight hug. Keegan was still surprised how much broader and taller he had gotten since she’d last seen him. He was growing like a weed. Her annoying little brother was turning into a man.
“Keegan, remember everything happens for a reason.” He let go and grabbed his bag from the ground.
“What does that mean?” Keegan asked, feeling panic rising in her chest.
Thaddeus stared at her for a long moment and then, without another word, turned and walked through the gate.
Everything happens for a reason? She didn’t like the sound of that. Maybe he was reassuring himself and not her?
Keegan suddenly felt very tired and wanted to go home and crawl in bed.
CHAPTER 12
Seven Weeks Later
What in the world? Keegan rolled out of bed, and clutched her stomach. Was she coming down with the flu? Food poisoning? She hurried to the bathroom and spent the next ten minutes with her head in the toilet. Lovely way to wake up, she thought with a groan.
She stumbled to the sink, rinsed her face, and gagged on the toothpaste. Her face was paler than usual, if that was possible, and her eyes were rimmed with red. The reflection staring back at her looked like death warmed over. Not a pretty sight.
There was no way she was going to class today. Keegan slowly made her way to her room, her head pounding with each shuffle. She touched the quartz necklace around her neck. Obviously, it didn’t work for the flu. Crawling under the covers, she reached for her phone on the nightstand. The first attempt was a miss, and she knocked the book she was reading on the floor. She sighed and tried again, this time successfully.
Grasping the phone, Keegan typed M and, her mom’s phone number came up, and she pressed send. Her mother picked up on the third ring.
“Mom, I’m sick.” Keegan groaned.
“What’s wrong?”
“I don’t know. I guess I got the flu that’s going around. Can you give me a distant healing?” Her mother was an elfin healer, fourth generation. Keegan wished her power was as cool. All she could do was disappear at will. And her brother was a powerful seer. She’d gotten the short end of the stick. Her baby brother, Warrick, was already showing signs of greatness as well. Another wave of nausea washed over her.
“Moooom.” Keegan squeezed her eyes shut.
“Sure, just lie down and close your eyes. I’ll call you back when I’m done.”
“K’ay. Thanks.” Keegan clicked off the phone and settled into bed under the covers. She placed her arms at her sides, and closed her eyes. Almost immediately, she felt her body tingled with her mother’s energy. Her stomach felt hot as the energy sank into her skin. Her mom called them hot spots. If you could feel heat, that was where your body needed it the most. With her eyes closed she dozed off, and the phone vibrated on the end table startling her awake.
“Thanks, Mom. I feel better already.”
“Keegan, you don’t have the flu. You’re carrying an elfin.”
“What!??” Suddenly wide awake, Keegan pushed herself up to a sitting position, and nearly tumbled off the bed. Luckily she managed to grasp ahold of the nightstand and steady herself. “That can’t be true. I’m too young. We use protection. I’m not ready to be a mom.” The words came out in a rush and ran together. She was scrambling to process the information. Everything in her screamed no way, but she knew her mom could not be mistaken. She was pregnant.
“Well, it failed. There is a little one growing inside of you. So get used to the idea.” There was a pause on the other end. “I’m going to be a nanny. I’m too young…”
“Not helping, Mom,” Keegan cried and plopped back down on the bed.
Her mom laughed. “You’re right. I’m sorry. This is wonderful news. You and Rourk will be amazing parents. Wait till I tell your father he’s going to be a poppa. I’m going to have a word with your brother. How that boy keeps so many secrets, I’ll never know. I guess that’s why he’s a seer and we are not.”
“Yeah, some warning would have been nice.” Keegan paused, maybe that’s why he was being so strange during the visit. “Tell him I miss him.”
“He knows that. Okay, Keegan, I need to go and tell everyone. This is the biggest news our family has had in quite sometime.”
“How many weeks am I?”
“Nine weeks.”
Keegan did the math in her head. That was just about when Rourk had left for Afghanistan. She smiled, and wondered if the baby had been conceived the day he left. Her heart hurt when she thought about how much time had passed since then. But that meant he was that much closer to returning. In four weeks, she would be back in his strong arms where she belonged.
“Ok, I’m going to tell Rourk. Love you, Mom.”
“Mom?”
“Yes?”
She placed her hand on her stomach. “I’m scared. What if I’m a bad mother?”
Emerald chuckled on the other end. “You’ll be a wonderful mom. Your heart is huge, and you have Rourk. It’s not easy, but you’ll learn as you go.”
Keegan bit the inside of her lip and nodded. “Thanks, Mom. I’m sure the shock will wear off soon. ’Bye.”
“Keegan. One more thing, get some ginger and chew on it or put it in a tea. It will help with the nausea. Call Anna— she’ll know what to do.”
“Okay.” She hung up and closed her eyes, and with her minds eye thought of Rourk. At first she saw nothing, but then slowly, the darkness cleared away and she saw his face. He was in uniform and running in the dark. His face was streaked with black. His pale grey eyes looked cold and intense. He looked fierce. Like the warrior he was.
Keegan, I can’t talk. Are you okay? The words echoed in her mind.
She didn’t know if she should just spit it out or wait till they could talk. I’m okay. Come to me when you are able.
The blackness returned, and she crawled back under the blankets. She was surprised Rourk hadn’t blocked her since he was obviously working. He’d probably sensed her need to speak to him. She knew he was a warrior and that’s what he did, but she really didn’t like to think about it. The thought of losing Rourk was too much to bear. She always put it out of her mind. Seeing him running like that had made her uneasy to say the least. She almost wished he hadn’t allowed her to see even if it was just a flash.
Hopefully, she’d hear from him soon. She was anxious to tell him the news, but mostly wanted to know he was safe. Gods, how she missed him.
She held her hands over her flat belly. A baby elfin. Boy or girl?
Another wave of nausea hit her again, and Keegan covered her mouth and ran to the bathroom. So much for the healing, but at least she’d had a few moments of feeling good.
