See How She Fights (The Chronicles of Izzy #2)
MIchelle Graves
CHAPTER ONE
I awoke drenched in a cold sweat for what seemed the millionth time in the past month. Every night I closed my eyes with the single hope of a restful night’s sleep, only to be greeted with a foul phantom. Xavier’s visage appeared each night, bringing with it nightmares both old and new. As I lay there, staring at the ceiling, I wondered if he was really dead. I took a deep breath, trying to clear away the remains of his latest taunt.
But he was just in my head.
He couldn’t be real.
I killed him.
I looked over at Kennan, lying peacefully in the bed next to me. I pondered what I would tell him when I woke him. I had been trying to hide my nightmares from him for the past month and I knew he was beginning to suspect something was wrong.
I took in his face as he rested. His eyelashes fanned out on his cheeks, and his face was tranquil, as if there was nothing in the world to worry about. A knot formed in my stomach. I knew the moment I woke him up and told him, everything would change.
I gritted my teeth together and tried not to be angry at the universe, or whatever kept dragging me into this mess. Selfishly, I wanted things to remain the same. I longed for my life with Kennan, our wedding, and even someday a family. I wanted a future that did not include subterfuge, violence, and pain.
If I was ever going to make that future a reality, I had to stop hiding. I swallowed down the lump in my throat and pulled up my big-girl panties. It was time to face the music and find out just what the universe wanted from me. I couldn’t ignore the not-so- subtle hints of my nightmares any longer. Stupid universe, always getting in the way.
I nudged Kennan’s shoulder, trying to wake him, which caused him to sprawl more, almost making me fall off of the bed. One would think with a California King there would be plenty of room. Not with his giant self. Stupid Guardian.
Ugh, I needed coffee to deal with this.
“Kennan, wake up. I need to talk to you,” I said, trying not to giggle as he pulled me against his body and nuzzled my neck.
“Woman, you better be waking me up for a good reason. You know I don’t do mornings,” he groused. Kennan was an even worse morning person than I was.
“First of all, it’s eleven. So stop grumbling. Second, I really do need to talk to you. It’s kind of serious.” As the words left my mouth Kennan’s body grew rigid.
“What’s happened?” he asked, fully alert.
“So, I’ve sort of been having the nightmares again. I don’t know why or what they mean, but I have a bad feeling, Kennan. I feel like ‘something wicked this way comes,’ if you know what I mean.”
“How many, Izzy? How many have you had?” His voice barely masked his anger. Apparently my jokes were doing nothing to diffuse the situation.
“Three or four a week for the past two months. Originally I thought it was just some sort of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. But they just kept coming. Now I can’t seem to shake this gut-wrenching feeling that everything is about to go to hell in a hand basket. I’m not explaining it right. Ugh.” I threw myself back into the pillows, exasperated. Not only was my future about to get jacked but I couldn’t even properly explain what was going on.
“What happens in the dreams? Is it more of what happened back at the lab and the Council? More importantly, why in the hell didn’t you tell me, Izzy? I could have been helping you instead of wondering what was going on. I was starting to think you didn’t want to marry me.” He sat up in bed to stare down at me. His wickedly tattooed body beckoned me.
He still took my breath away. His dark, wavy hair was mussed from where he had slept, and he had a shadow of growth on his jaw. I loved when he left just a bit of scruff. It felt amazing against my skin.
I needed to get a hold of myself. Serious topics needed to be discussed, and here I was wanting to climb atop Kennan and ride him like some sort of rodeo bull. I shook my head to clear the thoughts away and get back on track.
“I didn’t want to worry you. I know it was stupid, so don’t give me a lecture. I was just trying to deal with it on my own and not put you through my craziness again. Besides, I was always aware that I was in the dreaming. Even the nightmares were like watered-down versions of themselves. Bah. This sucks. I just wanted to get married and have a wonderfully fluffy future with happy rainbows and a unicorn or two. Is that too much to ask? Instead I have to be the all-powerful Seer, savior of the universe. I thought that my superhero costume was finally retired.” I buried my face in the pillow, allowing my self-pity to run rampant.
“Unicorns don’t exist, Izzy. So that future is implausible,” Kennan said, causing me to glare at him for dashing my imaginary future. “Izzy, you know you have to call Isadora, right? There is a reason she gave you that number. I am pretty sure this is it.” He continued on as if I wasn’t giving him a withering glare. I needed to start practicing these faces in the mirror. I must be doing them wrong; they never seemed to produce the desired effect.
“But I don’t wanna,” I whined, gaining myself an annoyed look from Kennan. “Fine, I realize I am being petulant. I just thought that maybe, just maybe, our lives would be normal now. Besides, we have a life here, Kennan. What if she says that we have to come back to Illinois? As much as I would love to see Molly and Ian again, I really don’t want to leave here. This is our home now.”