See How She Fights (The Chronicles of Izzy #2)(44)

“I swear it. I do learn from my mistakes, you know?” I smiled up at him. I needed to lighten his mood. I didn’t want him to leave with such a heavy heart. “I love you, big guy. Now, go get us an army to save the day.” I kissed him quickly before turning away. I moved toward the table. I needed to separate myself from him or I would never be able to let him go. This would be the first time since the lab incident that we had been apart.

“I will return as quickly as I can.” Kennan left and with him went a huge chunk of my heart. I’d been so wrapped up in everything going on since we’d come here that I hadn’t taken the time to think about us. Aberto was right, I loved that man more than I even knew. He was my world.

“So, what have you found so far, Eleanor?” I had to clear my throat a few times to get it out. Tears threatened to break the dam in my eyes. Conall stood up and wrapped his arms around me. I needed to be strong but sometimes it was harder than others.

“He will return, Izzy. There is no danger out there for him right now. No one is seeking him. Have faith,” Conall said, pulling away to hold me at arms-length. He stood staring down at me with his one good eye.

“I do. I just miss him. I know it’s lame. He left five seconds ago.” I shook my head. “I’m alright; I just need something to do to take my mind off of everything. Give me a project.”

“Not a day has gone by that I have not missed Cait, so believe me I understand. If you would like the distraction, perhaps you could take notes for Eleanor. I fear my hand might break from the use,” Conall said, flexing his hand.

“That sounds perfect. What do you need me to do, Eleanor?” I asked, sliding into the chair.

“What…hmmm…oh, yes.” She was befuzzled. I wondered how long she’d been going on like this. “If you could jot down the information on this page, that would be wonderful. Oh, and this chart.” She started piling stuff in front of me. I looked up at Conall with widened eyes to which he laughed.

“I told you. Broken hand.” He flexed his hand in my direction. I stared down at my own and began writing. We stayed that way for some time when Molly came into the room.

“Can I help?” She was staring at the floor.

“Are you sure you want to?” I did not want her to be put in the middle of this any more than she already was.

“Yes, if you will have me. I need to do something to stop what she is doing. She chose him over me, Izzy. Xavier, a man that has never given her a second thought.” Molly’s eyes glistened with the tears she refused to shed.

“Can I ask you something? I don’t want to offend you with it, so you can say no.”

“Why do you always do that, Izzy? Just spit the question out already.” She moved toward the table and took the seat across from me.

“Is Xavier your dad?”

What? Stranger things have happened.

“Thank God, no. My dad died when I was young. He was a normal human so he did not have the same lifespan as us Seers. But mom loved him. I think when he died, something in her cracked. She was never the same. Then Xavier came along, promising her a grand future, and she latched on with all her might. I’m kind of an anomaly. Everyone thought I would be born normal but I ended a Seer like my mom.” She looked down at her hands as if she wished she could take back the last statement.

“You don’t have to do this. We can do it without you, Molly.” I reached across the table and grabbed her hand in mine. I wished for the thousandth time that it wasn’t her mom behind this madness.

“I have to do something, Izzy. I am going crazy cooped up in that room. So please, just let me help.”

“Alright, if you’re sure? Eleanor needs this chart copied.” I handed her one of the papers from my pile. I wondered why we needed to copy it down when we had the information right in front of us.

“Because, my dear, sometimes writing it down can bring new things to light.”

Egad! I hated when old Seers did that whole reading-your-mind thing. It was unnerving.

“Sorry, I forget to block when I am distracted.” She continued frenetically searching the pages of the book she had in her lap hardly sparing me another glance.

“Where did you get those?” Molly asked, nodding toward my arms.

“Aberto came and did them. Speaking of Aberto, do you know what an Old One is?” Maybe I could get some answers while I worked.

“It is not her place to say,” Conall piped in.

“Sheesh, what’s with all of the secrecy?” I wondered if I was the only Seer on the planet that did not know what he was.

“Honestly, Izzy, I don’t know what an Old One is anyway. Only Guardians are given that information. It is one of those need-to-know type things they think we don’t need to know.” Molly rolled her eyes and went back to transcribing the paper in front of her.

“Will I ever find out what he is?” I mumbled to myself.

“Unless he tells you himself, you will not.” Conall lowered himself into the seat next to me, taking up writing once more.

“You people and your secrets are infuriating,” I growled.

“They serve their purpose,” he said with a raised brow.

Stupid Guardian.

I huffed at him and went back to writing. If I wasn’t going to get any answers about mister man-of-mystery then I would just go back to solving our current issue.