See How She Fights (The Chronicles of Izzy #2)(3)

“But Kennan,” I sighed into his back, “we have things here. What about my garden? It will die without me.” He laughed and the vibration was a comfort to my weary soul.

He turned around to look at me. His eyes full of laughter. “Izzy, your garden is already dead. I think it will do better without your constant attention. It is the brownest plot of land I have ever seen in my life. In fact, I think the local nursery has put your picture up with a ban on any future purchases. You are a plant murderer, my love.”

I smacked his arm and moved over to pour myself a huge cup of coffee. I needed liquid reinforcements. I glared at him the entire time I fixed it. Not that he was fazed. He just went back to cooking and ignored my angry glances.

“I am not that bad,” I mumbled as I plopped down in my chair.

“It doesn’t make me love you any less. It just means that I will have to do all of the gardening when the end of the world comes. Otherwise, we may starve,” he snickered as he brought the bacon and eggs to the table.

Some days I wondered why I loved him so much. He really was a giant pain in my rear. On top of that, he never let me get away with anything. In all of my romance novels, the men fawned over their women, giving them whatever they pleased. Granted, I probably wouldn’t love him as much if he did that.

I looked out the window at the brown plot of land in question. Stupid garden. It wasn’t even my fault. I grew up in the city where there were no wide open spaces to grow things. How was I supposed to have picked up that life skill? I wasn’t hundreds of years old like Kennan, the ridiculous old man.

We finished breakfast in companionable silence. Kennan seemed to be trying to form a plan to protect me from my own stupidity, while I was trying to form a plan to get out of my inevitable future. Maybe I had a long lost twin out there that I could pawn off the fate of the world on. After everything I had seen, it was highly plausible.

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CHAPTER TWO




We finished up breakfast, and I headed upstairs to get dressed and make a call. At least there was some good to come out of the whole situation. I would get to see Molly and Ian. They had become two of my best friends. In fact, they were the ones that kept me relatively sane during my time at the lab and the council. It wasn’t an easy feat. I pulled on a pair of shorts and a t-shirt and picked up the phone. I couldn’t wait to see the rest of my family.

“Hello?” Molly’s voice sounded sleepy. I looked at the clock again and knew that it was late enough in the morning that she should be awake.

“Hey, Molly. It’s Izzy. Did I wake you up?”

“What? No. Well, okay. Yeah, you woke me up. But it is cool. What’s going on? Are there some wedding plans we have forgotten? I thought my dress appointment wasn’t until next week,” she mumbled sleepily.

“The wedding is postponed indefinitely,” I said.

“WHAT? What did that low-down, good-for-nothing bastard do to you, Izzy? I will come down there and beat the crap out of him myself. There is nowhere he can hide!” Molly was fully awake now.

“No, it is nothing like that. We are fine. Kennan is still as perfect as ever” I paused for a moment trying to collect myself. “Something bad is coming. I keep having nightmares, so I finally called Isadora this morning, and she requested that we come to the Council. By requested, I mean demanded. So, I was wondering if we could come and crash with you guys in Chicago for a day before we head up there. We’re going to leave here today, from the looks of Kennan shoving everything into bags right now,” I sighed in Kennan’s direction.

Kennan was in the middle of imitating a tornado swirling through our bedroom. He shoved everything he could find that we might need into two suitcases. I was surprised he hadn’t packed scuba gear. After the way he had prepared for our last unexpected jaunt, it wouldn’t shock me. The last time we had made a trip like this, I had been kidnapped and forced to wear hiking clothes that I had not purchased for myself. I shook my head at him and tuned back into what Molly was saying.

“That’s fine. Just, you know, expect some changes to the house,” she said hesitantly.

“Molly, it is your house. You know you can do whatever you want to it,” I said, confused. Why was she concerned that I would be upset?

“Yeah, well. When you get here you will understand why I made the changes. If Ian was not my Guardian I would have killed him already. Just so you know. Well, enough of that. Will we see you guys tonight or in the morning?”

“Probably in the morning. It is too long of a drive to get there by tonight. Even if we drive all night, we will just get there in the morning. Plus, she said we had until the end of the week to get there. So, I’m voting for taking all of the time we can. I’m not ready to be thrown back in the fray just yet. I was getting comfortable in my domestic bliss. Bah, okay enough whining. We will see you guys tomorrow morning sometime. Love you, babe.”

“Love you too, girl. Call me when you are close so that I can wake up his crankiness,” Molly said before hanging up.

I got up and headed over to peer into my suitcase while Kennan kept shoving in more stuff. There was all manner of clothing, from workout clothes to hiking apparel. I wasn’t sure where we would be hiking in Illinois around the Council. Considering that it was surrounded by nothing but cornfields and pastures. They seemed like terrible choices for a hiking expedition. I looked up at Kennan with a raised brow.