Coexist: Keegan's Chronicles (12 page)

Emerald met up with Richard when he arrived
home and shared her frustrations with him.

“Believe it or not I also went through hell
during the three months after we met,” he said. “Thankfully, I
threw myself into my job. My friends thought I had gone crazy. I no
longer chased women and didn’t want to drink or go out.” Richard
frowned, “I’m sorry I didn’t think that far ahead. I was selfish.
My only concern was keeping our daughter safe and I knew Rourk
would protect her with his life.”

Emerald knew there were things her husband
was unable to tell her. “So what do you think we should do?” he
asked.

Taking a deep breath she said, “I think we
should allow them to be together.”

This was not what he expected her to say.
“Are you sure that is a good idea?”

“I think it is our only option. I will not
allow our daughter to be miserable because you made a mistake in
judgment.” There was the sharp tongue he’d been expecting. She
always knew just what to say to get under his skin.

“Let’s compromise,” he said. “We will allow
them to meet on her seventeenth birthday.”

She looked at him suspiciously. “That is five
months away.” He closed his eyes, thinking. The only thing he could
do was tell her the truth. “Rourk is going to be busy until then.
The great battle is going to take place on Keegan’s birthday.”

Emerald walked towards the couch and sat
down. “So soon? I thought we would have more time.”

He could sense her mind quickly going over
scenarios. She had a sharp mind which was one of the things he
found most appealing about her. She was just as dangerous as the
most experienced soldiers. He wished he could take credit for that,
but it was her father. He never got the son he wanted so the next
best thing was his tomboy of a daughter. She had all the training
that Thaddeus had and then some. Emerald’s father was fearless. He
was the worst kind of solider. When you have no fear, you don’t use
the most valuable weapon, which of course is the mind. As a result,
he was killed in battle.

“Do you remember the first time we sparred?”
Richard asked fondly.

She smiled, “Of course, you underestimated
me.”

He laughed, “You looked so innocent and tiny.
I never respected anyone more and I still feel that way. Whatever
you think is the correct thing to do, we’ll do it.”

He knew he had said the right thing when he
saw her shoulders relax.

“What does a man have to do to get fed around
here?” he said. “I don’t have much time left.”

***

Once Richard was gone, Emerald sat down to
think. She knew he was correct. She smiled. He was usually right,
but she didn’t like to let him know. She also knew he only had
Keegan’s best interest at heart and she shouldn’t be angry at him
for that. They would wait until after the battle. Rourk would have
too much on his mind and throwing Keegan into the mix would almost
be cruel. She was going to have to work hard to keep Keegan
occupied in the meantime.

Emerald picked Keegan up from school that
day, giving her a big smile as she climbed in the car. She couldn’t
help but think how beautiful her daughter was, even in her school
uniform. “So I was thinking. You know how your birthday is in five
months?”

Keegan tucked her backpack on the floorboard
between her legs and turned wide eyes to her mother. She loved her
birthday, almost as much as she loved the presents.

“We promised you when you turned 17 that we
would get you a vehicle.” Emerald saw the spark come back to
Keegan’s eyes.

“I know exactly what I want, a navy blue four
door Jeep. Of course, it will have to be lifted and have big tires.
Dad said I could only get a two door jeep, but do you think you can
convince him a four door would be better?”

Emerald smiled, “Well, they are safer.”
Keegan started bouncing up and down like she was five again. Her
daughter could drive her crazy at times, but she loved her more
than life itself. “Would you like to test drive some?”

Keegan looked over in disbelief.
“Seriously?”

They spend the rest of the day driving from
one dealership to the next looking at Jeeps and then headed for
home. Emerald knew Richard would not be home for dinner. He would
probably miss many meals over the next few months. She worried
about Thaddeus because of his age. She had to let that go. He was
born for the great battle.

Emerald called her sisters and asked if they
wanted to come over for dinner. They gladly accepted. She wondered
if they knew what was going on. Having them there would also help
keep Keegan’s mind off things. Distraction was the game plan.

Keara walked through the door first. She was
clad in long flowing pink skirt with flowers and a fitted long
sleeve t-shirt that looked great on her tall frame. Her hair was
wild and standing up all over the place.

“Nice fro, Keara,” Keegan said. She patted
the top of her wiry dark hair; it went down like a sponge.

Keara did a little dance and bopped her hair
around and snapped her fingers. She looked like someone from the
seventies.

“I love your hair Keara. If I had your hair
I’d be wearing it wild all the time, it looks awesome.” Keegan
said.

“Yeah, yeah, that’s easy for you to say. It
takes hours to get it relaxed or braided. I’d trade with you in a
second. Mom won’t let me wear it like this very often.”

“Brigid, you need to let Keara wear her hair
like this, it’s incredible. I’m so jealous.”

“Sure, Keegan as long as you come over and
deal with it, she can wear it any way she wants.”

Keara sighed and slumped down on to the
couch.

“So what’s been going on with you? How’s
school? You like any boys?” Keegan asked her as she sat down next
to her on the cushions.

“School sucks, nothing has been going on with
me, and you know I don’t like boys. I’m going to be a nun.”

“Wait until you meet your chosen; your
thoughts of becoming a nun will be out the window.”

Keara turned her eyes to her cousin, sadness
filling them. “Keegan, we don’t even know if I’ll have a chosen.
I’m not full blooded like you guys.”

“You’ll have a chosen, you’re too awesome not
to.”

Keegan had never really thought of that
issue. She knew it was hard for Keara being different from them,
but she never really thought of the consequences that came with her
being half elf.

“Let’s go play with the rest of the kids,”
Keegan said. “I think we should take them outside and you can start
a rainstorm. That way we can play in the puddles.”

Keara smiled wickedly as they headed out the
door.

Emerald and her sisters stayed in the living
room chatting away.

Kat broke the ice on what they were all
thinking about. “It’s hard to believe that The Great Battle is
going to take place in our lifetime, and we are all so deeply
involved. Life as we know it could all be over soon. Do you think
we will be able to win?”

Brigid looked away. “John says the numbers
are against us.” They all lapsed into silence. Everyone knew John
would be able to calculate the probability.

Emerald leaned back in her chair. “Fate has
been set in motion. We need to wait and see.”

Katrina looked annoyed. “How can you just sit
back all relaxed and say fate will decide? Your husband is the
leader of the light.”

This was the wrong thing to say. Glaring at
her sister, Emerald said, “You are one to talk, both of you.
Neither of you could protect yourself if needed. If anyone is
sitting back and letting things take its course, it’s you.”

Her comment struck a nerve. They had both
been envious of the time their father spent training her. Although,
at the time, neither of them had any interest.

Katrina knew enough to diffuse the situation.
“You have a valid point.”

Emerald had tried several times to get
Katrina interested. Katrina would humor her for a little while.
She’d seemed to enjoy Krav Maga. However, she lost interest after a
short time and stopped going.

Emerald had an idea. “What do you say you
guys start coming over in the evenings, and we will train together?
Keegan has been training, and now that Thaddeus is busy, she lost
her training partner.”

Brigid and Katrina glanced at each other.
Finally, Brigid shrugged her shoulder, “Sure why not? We have
nothing better to do.”

Keegan came into the room with Warrick and
Mackenna clinging to her legs and giggling. Katrina said, “You’ve
got three new training partners.”

Keegan stared at them, “What are you talking
about?”

“Your mother pointed out the fact that we
don’t have the ability to protect ourselves. We decided we would
join in on your training sessions,” Brigid said with a grin.
“Aren’t you lucky?”

Keegan smiled. “That sounds like fun.”

T
he weeks seemed to blur together for Keegan. She
went to school, trained and sometimes went out. She didn’t feel
like going out, but her mother made sure she spent time with her
friends. Her mom brought them all movie tickets, bowling passes,
and once she even got them tickets for miniature golf. Her friends
thought she had the coolest mom ever. So much for her mother not
spoiling her. Sometimes Keegan thought her mother was testing her.
Why else would she be so unnecessarily generous? Although Keegan
had to admit she’d remembered to say thank you more often. Seeing
how excited her friends got over the gifts made her realize she
probably didn’t genuinely appreciate all the things she had.

***

Emerald was tremendously impressed with the
progress her sisters had made in three months. She was even more
blown away by Keegan. She wasn’t aware of how much she’d advanced.
She was also an excellent instructor. Katrina and Brigid learned at
a fast pace because Keegan had a knack for making things seem
easy.

Keegan held the pad up for Katrina as she
worked on her foot strikes. Katrina said, “So Emerald, I think I am
ready to take you.”

Emerald grinned. “It’s about time.”

Katrina said, “I’ll grab the headgear.”

“Don’t bother,” Emerald said. “I’m a healer,
remember.”

Brigid smirked. “This I gotta see.”

Katrina walked towards the middle of the
room. She was thinking
come on Kat you can do this. You have the advantage of
knowing her next move.

Emerald thought of the song
Three Blind Mice
. She knew it
would distract Katrina, who could hear her thoughts.

Katrina turned around and Emerald yanked her
shoulder down and delivered an intensely painful knee strike to her
solar plexus. Doubling over, Katrina took an elbow to the side of
her face. Her blood splashed across the floor.

“Really sis, you didn’t think I would forget
you were a mind reader did you?” Emerald said. She stepped back
several paces to let her sister get back up.

That little bitch,
Katrina thought as she ran
towards her sister. Emerald ran towards her at the same time; one
hand slammed her chest as the other arm drove her elbow into her
throat. It happened so quickly Katrina was knocked off balance and
landed on her ass. “Are we done here?” Emerald asked.

Katrina looked up and said, “Yes, we're
done.”

Emerald reached down to help her sister up.
Katrina delivered a heel kick to the inside of her thigh. Emerald
dropped to her knee, “Very nice,” she said and then she slammed her
forehead into her sister’s head.

Kat saw stars. “Okay, okay, I’m really done
this time.”

“I have to say Katrina, I’m impressed.”

Wiping the blood off her face, Katrina said,
“Whatever! You kicked my ass.”

“Yes, but you took the lesson and used it.
The element of surprise.” Emerald smiled, “Another lesson. You
couldn’t have read my mind if you tried. I have been doing this for
so long it is a reaction, there is no thought.”

Katrina was puzzled. “Well. Why did you
sing?”

Emerald wiped her mouth after she took a swig
of water and replied, “It was actually two lessons in one. You
can’t rely on your gift, and it also distracted you. Anytime you
can distract your opponent, do it.”

Emerald looked over at Brigid, “You want a go
at it?”

Brigid glanced down at the blood on her other
sister and said, “I think I’ll pass today, maybe next time.”

Emerald asked, “Would you like me to heal
you, Katrina?”

Katrina paused briefly, “No, that’s okay.
Drew will think it’s sexy.”

They all laughed.

After her aunts left, Keegan went into her
mother’s bedroom and perched on the end of the bed. “Mom, my heart
hurts.”

Emerald’s own heart beat a little faster. She
sat next to her daughter, brushing her auburn hair away from her
face. “What do you mean?”

“I have never felt so empty before. I feel
like I’m just going through the days and they mean nothing.”
Emerald watched Keegan’s eyes fill with tears. “Can you fix
me?”

After a moment’s pause, Emerald nodded slowly
and said, “I might be able to help you, but not with a healing.
Perhaps the truth is what you need. It was Rourk that you saw at
the concert.”

Keegan was surprised to feel tears running
down her face. “I knew it was him.” Keegan frowned, “How do you
know it was him and why was he there?”

Emerald looked at her daughter and felt a
rush of sympathy. “It is a long story, but I will try to tell it
quickly. As you know, things had been set in motion long before we
were born. Your brother and your father’s roles were foretold in
prophecy. What you are not aware of is that Thaddeus had a vision
that you were to be a key player in the outcome.”

Keegan crinkled her nose, “How could I be
involved?”

Looking sternly at her daughter, she said,
“It doesn’t matter how or why, it just is.” After a break in
silence, she continued. “Your father assigned Rourk to watch over
you to keep you safe.”