See How She Fights (The Chronicles of Izzy #2)(4)

“What? I like to be prepared. I don’t know how long we will be gone. I am not even sure where we will be going. Don’t judge me, woman!” Kennan threw a balled up pair of socks at me before he went back to shoving more in the bags. I laughed and headed into the bathroom to finish getting myself ready.

When I was finally put together, I took my bag of toiletries and put them in my suitcase. I briefly looked through what was packed to make sure my favorite sweater was there. I had a feeling I would need my security blanket in the days to come. I double checked everything once more and zipped up the infernal bag. I so did not want to be doing this. Ugh. I was headed toward the stairs with my bag in tow when Kennan intercepted. My knight in shining armor.

“Allow me, my dear,” he said with a gallant bow. I wanted to fight, women’s independence and all that. But honestly, the thing was too heavy for me to carry. I’d always thought I packed too much crap when I went somewhere. It paled in comparison to what Kennan could shove into a suitcase. Sheesh.

I followed him down to the car, staring back at my sad, dead garden. Kennan was right; I really couldn’t grow anything to save my life. I sighed as I hauled myself into Kennan’s old, beat-up SUV. The muggy heat inside felt like I had stepped straight into a sauna. Luckily it was cooler in Illinois this time of year. I sat with the door open, waiting for Kennan to load his suitcase so that we could leave.

As I waited, I pondered everything that I was leaving behind, the sense of security that had surrounded me the past months, the plans for my future, all to be left right alongside the dead garden. The symbolism was a bit much for me. I really needed to start looking ahead and not back. There was a reason Isadora had called me in.

“Ready?” Kennan asked as he reached over and grabbed my hand. I looked back at the old farmhouse once more before closing my door.

“Ready as I’ll ever be. Where are we stopping tonight?” I asked as I looked up into his eyes.

“How about Nashville? I hear they have an accurate replica of the Parthenon. I would like to see it. I wonder if their statue of Athena is a close facsimile.”

I just nodded in agreement. Sometimes I forgot how old he was. He had told me he had seen the Roman Empire rise and fall but that he was older than even that. I couldn’t imagine living for that long. It seemed like it would get boring after a while. I was dreading having to live to be three hundred. That seemed unnatural.

“Hey, Kennan, why can’t we get a new car?” I asked, looking around the old beat up SUV.

“Because this girl is reliable and she has character. Don’t you hurt her feelings, Red. I may just have to leave you on the side of the road,” he said, giving me one of his lopsided smiles.

“It isn’t like you don’t have the money to get a decent vehicle,” I mumbled. Comfortable seats and a newer stereo system would be nice.

“I heard that. If we survive whatever mayhem is coming our way, I will let you pick out our next vehicle. Not that you will be able to drive it,” he finished, dashing my other hopes.

“I drove up in Washington and was just fine. When are you going to lift this ridiculous no driving ban?” I groused.

“When you stop having visions that could end up getting both of us killed,” he said with a raised brow.

I knew that logically it made sense for me not to drive. It would be terribly difficult to fill out an insurance claim for an accident caused by a vision. Cause of accident: Magically transported to a different disaster in my head. I was pretty sure even full coverage didn’t cover that. I sighed and settled into the seat for the long drive.

At least on this trip I would get to see the countryside. Our last cross country jaunt I was drugged and bound for half of the trip. I wondered where this new adventure would be taking us. If only I could control my visions, maybe then I could conjure up some information. This whole flying blind thing was for the birds. Not that those metaphors make much sense together.

“Izzy, what are you thinking about?” Kennan pulled me from my mindless rambling.

“I was mixing metaphors poorly again. Flying blind is for the birds,” I giggled. It really was a funny thing to envision. A bunch of blind birds flying into one another.

“You are ridiculous. So, are you going to tell me what Isadora said other than ‘get your butts up here’?”

“She got on me for not calling sooner about the nightmares. I know, you don’t have to say I told you so. She also said you need to block my noggin for tonight. No dreams for me. I am to be well rested when I arrive. I have a feeling I’m not going to like what she says in our meeting. This whole thing is making me feel icky,” I said, trying to shake it off.

“Icky? What are you a kindergartner? Do I have cooties?” Kennan snickered.

“You do, in fact, have cooties. I just happen to like your particular type of cootie! Icky is just the best word I could come up with. You want to paper rock scissors to see who has radio control?” I challenged. Being a Seer had some advantages. I had figured out how to predict what his moves would be and I won almost every time. I couldn’t let him know the truth or the jig would be up.

“Fine. With one stipulation, if you win, none of your depressing slow music. It is a long drive and you woke me up early.”

“Eleven, Kennan. I woke you up at eleven. In no world is that early. How did you survive your early years when you had to be up with the sun?”