Read See How She Fights Online
Authors: MIchelle Graves
See How She Fights
SEE HOW SHE FIGHTS
Book Two:
The Chronicles of Izzy
Michelle Graves
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See How She Fights
Book Two: The
Chronicles of Izzy
Published by Michelle
Graves
Copyright © 2013 by
Michelle Graves
All rights reserved
Cover Art:
Syd Gill/Syd Gill Designs
Cover Photo: Hot Damn
Designs and Big Stock.com
Edited by: Neeley
Bratcher Editing
All rights reserved.
Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of
this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval
system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without prior written permission of both
the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.
This is a work of
fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media and incidents are either the
product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. The author
acknowledges the trademark status and trademark owners of various products
referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission.
The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or
sponsored by the trademark owners.
Published in the United States of America
This book is available in ebook format.
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Acknowledgements
First and foremost, my husband, I
love you to the ends of the Earth! Forever and for always. Thanks for putting
up with my mood swings and irrational attachments to fictitious characters. And
of course, for all of your amazingly brilliant ideas. (Even if I don’t listen
to them).
To Regina, you my dear woman are
irreplaceable. I love you times infinity!
To Charissa, thanks for the
millions of phone minutes and keeping me sane.
To Wendy, FATE brought us together
and I am eternally grateful for that.
To Ali, words will never be enough
to tell you what you meant to me. I love you so much.
To Shawn and Dianne, my favorite
bloggers, thank you. From the bottom of my heart! Ya’ll are just AMAZEBALLS!
To Michelle’s Mafia, thanks for all
of the laughs and the amazing support you have given me from the start. I love
you all immensely.
To Neeley, thank you for keeping me
from sounding like a moron and correcting my many grammatical mistakes! (And
for making me smile on a daily basis. I love your face!)
To Syd, your cover brilliance is
beyond compare! <3 I love you so hard.
And to all of the people reading
this book, thank you for making something I did on a whim turn into something
real. I love you all more than I will ever be able to express. Thank you for
taking your precious time to read the stories in my noggin! Ya’ll rock my
socks!
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
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I awoke drenched in a cold sweat
for what seemed the millionth time in the past month. Every night I closed my
eyes with the single hope of a restful night’s sleep, only to be greeted with a
foul phantom. Xavier’s visage appeared each night, bringing with it nightmares
both old and new. As I lay there, staring at the ceiling, I wondered if he was
really dead. I took a deep breath, trying to clear away the remains of his
latest taunt.
But he was just in my head.
He couldn’t be real.
I killed him.
I looked over at Kennan, lying
peacefully in the bed next to me. I pondered what I would tell him when I woke
him. I had been trying to hide my nightmares from him for the past month and I
knew he was beginning to suspect something was wrong.
I took in his face as he rested.
His eyelashes fanned out on his cheeks, and his face was tranquil, as if there
was nothing in the world to worry about. A knot formed in my stomach. I knew
the moment I woke him up and told him, everything would change.
I gritted my teeth together and
tried not to be angry at the universe, or whatever kept dragging me into this
mess. Selfishly, I wanted things to remain the same. I longed for my life with
Kennan, our wedding, and even someday a family. I wanted a future that did not
include subterfuge, violence, and pain.
If I was ever going to make that
future a reality, I had to stop hiding. I swallowed down the lump in my throat
and pulled up my big-girl panties. It was time to face the music and find out
just what the universe wanted from me. I couldn’t ignore the not-so- subtle
hints of my nightmares any longer. Stupid universe, always getting in the way.
I nudged Kennan’s shoulder, trying
to wake him, which caused him to sprawl more, almost making me fall off of the
bed. One would think with a California King there would be plenty of room. Not
with his giant self. Stupid Guardian.
Ugh, I needed coffee to deal with
this.
“Kennan, wake up. I need to talk to
you,” I said, trying not to giggle as he pulled me against his body and nuzzled
my neck.
“Woman, you better be waking me up
for a good reason. You know I don’t do mornings,” he groused. Kennan was an
even worse morning person than I was.
“First of all, it’s eleven. So stop
grumbling. Second, I really do need to talk to you. It’s kind of serious.” As
the words left my mouth Kennan’s body grew rigid.
“What’s happened?” he asked, fully
alert.
“So, I’ve sort of been having the
nightmares again. I don’t know why or what they mean, but I have a bad feeling,
Kennan. I feel like ‘something wicked this way comes,’ if you know what I
mean.”
“How many, Izzy? How many have you
had?” His voice barely masked his anger. Apparently my jokes were doing nothing
to diffuse the situation.
“Three or four a week for the past
two months. Originally I thought it was just some sort of Post-Traumatic Stress
Disorder. But they just kept coming. Now I can’t seem to shake this
gut-wrenching feeling that everything is about to go to hell in a hand basket.
I’m not explaining it right. Ugh.” I threw myself back into the pillows,
exasperated. Not only was my future about to get jacked but I couldn’t even
properly explain what was going on.
“What happens in the dreams? Is it
more of what happened back at the lab and the Council? More importantly, why in
the hell didn’t you tell me, Izzy? I could have been helping you instead of wondering
what was going on. I was starting to think you didn’t want to marry me.” He sat
up in bed to stare down at me. His wickedly tattooed body beckoned me.
He still took my breath away. His
dark, wavy hair was mussed from where he had slept, and he had a shadow of
growth on his jaw. I loved when he left just a bit of scruff. It felt amazing
against my skin.
I needed to get a hold of myself.
Serious topics needed to be discussed, and here I was wanting to climb atop
Kennan and ride him like some sort of rodeo bull. I shook my head to clear the
thoughts away and get back on track.
“I didn’t want to worry you. I know
it was stupid, so don’t give me a lecture. I was just trying to deal with it on
my own and not put you through my craziness again. Besides, I was always aware
that I was in the dreaming. Even the nightmares were like watered-down versions
of themselves. Bah. This sucks. I just wanted to get married and have a
wonderfully fluffy future with happy rainbows and a unicorn or two. Is that too
much to ask? Instead I have to be the all-powerful Seer, savior of the
universe. I thought that my superhero costume was finally retired.” I buried my
face in the pillow, allowing my self-pity to run rampant.
“Unicorns don’t exist, Izzy. So
that future is implausible,” Kennan said, causing me to glare at him for
dashing my imaginary future. “Izzy, you know you have to call Isadora, right?
There is a reason she gave you that number. I am pretty sure this is it.” He
continued on as if I wasn’t giving him a withering glare. I needed to start
practicing these faces in the mirror. I must be doing them wrong; they never
seemed to produce the desired effect.
“But I don’t wanna,” I whined,
gaining myself an annoyed look from Kennan. “Fine, I realize I am being
petulant. I just thought that maybe, just maybe, our lives would be normal now.
Besides, we have a life here, Kennan. What if she says that we have to come
back to Illinois? As much as I would love to see Molly and Ian again, I really
don’t want to leave here. This is our home now.”
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.”
“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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