See How She Fights (The Chronicles of Izzy #2)(9)

“Slow down. Let me think for a second, Molly,” I said, trying to get my stomach to settle. I would never get used to the nausea the visions induced. Each time I was left unbalanced, as if I was struck by a terrible case of vertigo.

I sat with my head between my knees, trying to make sense of what I had just seen. I couldn’t understand who the woman was. If she were a Seer like me, then why would she willingly help Xavier? What was she to him, other than his right hand? Why had he suffered her attentions with only a bare trace of disgust? Xavier was not one to tolerate anything. So whoever she was, she must be important. She must be powerful. I pulled myself up.

“We need to go, and now,” I said, standing up and heading down the street. I didn’t wait to see if she followed. I needed to see Kennan. I needed his help to make sense of what I had just seen. Xavier was his brother, surely he would know what it all meant.

“But what just happened? Izzy, wait up!” Molly yelled as she sprinted toward me.

“I will tell you when we get to the house. I don’t have time.”

I knew the events had to have happened long ago, that the vision wasn’t something that could be stopped, but it didn’t change the sense of urgency it had induced. I knew undoubtedly that the meeting I had just witnessed was the first piece of a much larger puzzle. Whatever was coming, whatever new, horrible thing we were about to face, it all started with that woman. Whoever she was, she was the catalyst that had set this newest nightmare into motion.

**********

By the time we reached the house Molly was out of breath.

“Jesus, woman, have you been training for the Olympics or something?” she wheezed.

“No, but I have been running with Kennan. So, it is pretty much the same thing. You should start training,” I said with a smirk.

As soon as we got in the door, Kennan folded me into his arms. He had a worried expression etched over his brows.

“What took you so long? I was about to come and find you,” he said as he buried his face in my hair. I barely had enough room to breathe.

“I almost had to sit on him, Izzy. Seriously, what did take you guys so long? You were gone for almost two hours,” Ian said with a similar look of concern. I always forgot how long the visions lasted.

“Izzy had a vision,” Molly wheezed. She was still having trouble catching her breath.

“Are you okay, Molly?” Ian asked as he moved towards her. He wore an expression so serious it made me want to laugh. Whatever Ian might have done to Molly, I knew in that moment he cared more deeply for her than she realized.

“Fine, we need to train it seems.” She plopped down on the floor with her knees bent trying to catch her breath.

“The vision, what happened?” Kennan asked with the same authoritative tone he had used in the cabin those many months ago. His face had gone all serious Guardian again.

“It was of the past. I was in the Badlands and Xavier was there. It was some sort of meeting. Why they met there I am not sure, but that’s beside the point. There was a woman but I could not make out any of her features. She was, or perhaps is, important to Xavier. I have never seen him tolerate much of anything but he seemed to accept her affections even though they disgusted him. She seemed like she was completely in love with him. I can’t be sure, but I think whatever is going on now all leads back to her. My biggest fear is that Xavier was right, whatever is coming is far worse than anything he has done to us.”

I looked up to find Kennan taking in everything I’d just said. He seemed to be trying to make sense of Xavier’s actions much as I had.

“Why did they meet there, of all places?” I was genuinely curious. It seemed a very out of the way place to plan a clandestine meeting.

“There are certain places on this Earth that are protected. Places that are harder to get a read on by Seers and Guardians alike. Most of them are sources of great power. The Badlands just happens to be one of them. You said she seemed like she was in love with him. Did you recognize her from the lab? Do you remember anything else about her?” Kennan asked with concern etched in his brow.

I looked over to find Ian rubbing Molly’s back as she finally slowed her breathing. She elbowed him in the stomach causing him to topple over. The two of them needed some couples therapy.

“I told you everything I know. Well, she did say something about getting the Seers to bring in to the lab. So I know she helped him set up the operation in Chicago. That is all I remember. She was surrounded by a weird haze. It makes no sense, but deep down I know that whatever is coming is going to suck, and big time.”

Kennan released me and moved down the hall to make some calls. He had mentioned something about calling in reinforcements. I was not even sure what that meant. I looked at Molly sitting on the floor holding on to her bag of hair dye.

“Right, well, let’s get your hair fixed. We might be heading to the Council sooner than we thought.” I reached out to help Molly to her feet.

We made our way upstairs where I helped Molly get her hair covered in the dye. If we were going to fight, at least she would look good doing it. By the time we finished, she looked as good as new. The dark color suited her. It made her eyes stand out in stark contrast to the rest of her features.

“Not bad, what do you think?” I asked.

“I kind of like it. I may just keep it this color for a while. The change is nice,” she said thoughtfully, running her fingers through her waves.