See How She Fights (The Chronicles of Izzy #2)(2)
I was beginning to resign myself to my reality. I needed to call her. I just didn’t want to. Besides, she had probably already seen everything that was coming.
“Call her,” Kennan said, getting up from the bed. He walked over to the dresser and grabbed his phone tossing it back at me, sparing me a hard glance before turning to leave the room. I stared daggers at his back. Okay, so they were probably more like toothpicks. I didn’t have the angry face down quite yet.
Why did I love his bossy, Guardian self again?
I stared down at the phone, waiting for it to magically disappear. I wanted to remain in my happy bubble of existence, evenif the bubble was a figment of my imagination. I swallowed deeply, surrendering myself to my fate. If I was being completely honest with myself, I knew it wasn’t over. When we’d left the Council months ago, I’d had the feeling that it had all been the beginning of something more. Why did I have to have such a heavy conscience? I breathed in and out for good measure before finally pressing “send” on the phone. It only rang once before Isadora answered.
“What took you so long?” Isadora asked smoothly. She never ceased to creep me out with her all-knowing self. I hoped that I would not be that way when I was her age. I had about a hundred and twenty years to worry about that yet.
“I was practicing my repression and avoidance techniques,” I said snarkily.
“How did those work out for you last time, my dear?” she asked without a hint of emotion.
“Fine, okay, I should have called sooner. I get it. Moving on. The nightmares are back. Which you obviously know since you are getting on me for not reaching out sooner,” I said, rubbing my hand down my face, a gesture I had picked up from Kennan. He did it whenever he was exasperated, which I was becoming.
“No need to be snippy, young lady. I did not, in fact, know about the nightmares. I just knew that you were stressed about something. I kept seeing you looking fretful and upset. I knew you needed to reach out, but I also knew that you would do so in your own time. So, here we are. Tell me everything.” She paused patiently, waiting for me to spill the beans.
“The nightmares started up about two months ago. I thought all was well and then out of nowhere they showed up again. The common denominator in every last one is Xavier. He shows up at the end, telling me that it is not over. He keeps telling me that there is more to come. In this last one he told me, ‘I was nothing compared to what is to come.’ Then I wake up and question my sanity. I feel like something is coming, something bad. I haven’t seen anything but I can’t deny what my gut is telling me,” I finished, hoping she understood the jumble of an explanation that I had just spit out.
“Well, this is certainly not good. Do you have any idea if he is still alive or not?”
“No. That is the part that scares me the most. I thought that he was finished. I thought I had watched him die. It wasn’t until I watched that surveillance video at the Council that I began to doubt it. I am not sure what to believe where Xavier is concerned.”
“I have been seeing some things lately. Things that are quite disturbing. I really don’t want to discuss this over the phone. Do you think that you and your dear Guardian might be persuaded to come back to the Council? I really would like to clear this all up with you in person, my dear.” Isadora might have posed it as a question, but I knew that it was more an order than a request. My fears brought to life; we were going back to Illinois.
“Let me get things arranged with Kennan and I will call you when we are on our way,” I grumbled, knowing good and well there was no use in fighting it.
“That would be lovely, dear. We will set up a room for you. I’ll expect to see you by week’s end. Until then, stay safe. Oh, and have Kennan block your dreams. You’ll need to be well rested when you arrive.” Isadora hung up the phone before I could even sputter a quick goodbye.
I sat there staring at the accursed thing. In that brief conversation my whole future had shifted. It looked like the wedding was on hold, and my life was back to being a jumbled mess of chaos. I yelled out and threw the phone on the bed. I furiously put on my robe and headed downstairs. I knew it was silly for me to be so upset, but ever since this Seer business started, I’d felt like my life was not my own. I thought that once we brought down Xavier all would be well. I knew deep down that it wasn’t true, but I had disillusioned myself for so long that I had started to believe the lie.
I looked in the kitchen and found Kennan cooking breakfast. I walked up behind him, wrapping my arms as far around him as I could manage. His butt hit my stomach and my face barely reached the middle of his back. He was my anchor in this world of confusion. I knew that I needed to start telling him when the bad stuff happened. The last time I tried to do it on my own he had almost been killed. I needed to suck it up and just admit that I had a role to play. The life I longed to build had to be put to rest for the greater good, at least for the time being. It didn’t mean I had to be happy about it though. I buried my face in Kennan’s back and breathed in deeply.
“What did she say?” his voice vibrated against my ear.
“She says we have to be in Illinois by the end of the week.” I sounded drawn, even to my own ears.
“Well, we need to make arrangements then. After breakfast I will call some of the other Guardians and let them know to be on alert. If what you said earlier is right, then we need to be prepared for whatever is coming.”