Serendipity

Chapter 13

We left the national park as the sun was starting to dip in the sky. Pete and Rick took the front seats of our car with Pete driving, while Hannah and I sat in the back.. Pete smiled as he watched us join hands. He had something on his mind and I could see a small frown creasing his brow when he looked in the rear view mirror. We were passing a small, vine covered chapel when he finally spoke what was on his mind.

"Did you mean what you said about Kelly being able to tell if Tamara has druid blood in her?"

"I did. She told me when one time when I was in Scotland, visiting Debbie and Duncan. She and Luke were visiting Debbie so I got to catch up with them for a while."

Rick turned in his seat to look at me, a question burning in his eyes. I shook my head with a laugh. Over the years, Rick and I had often joked about Luke and Kelly being a mated pair. I could tell he what he was asking me and the answer was no. "Keep dreaming Mate. Those two are friends, like you and Liz or me and Reggie." A faint wave of jealousy came through the bond and I laughed as I raised our joined hands to my lips, placing a small kiss on the back of Hannah's hand. "Reggie herself said she was just keeping me company until I found my mate. She will always be a close friend. We've been through too much for that to change, but she's not the one I want by my side for the rest of my life."

Hannah relaxed and squeezed my hand as she gave me a smile that revealed just how much her emotions were rolling around inside.. "We'll talk when we get home." I whispered softly to her before I returned my attention to Rick. "Kelly said that Catherine taught her the signs of what to look for and that she was more accurate."

Rick nodded. "Kelly really hated her teens. She had to do druid training as well as Mohiri training, but we felt it was important for her to learn how to use her druid powers as well. After she'd had a few missions out in the field after training finished, she called to thank us for making her study both. Her druid skills have helped her more times than she can count."

I nodded, remembering something that Luke had mentioned to me. Kelly's dual nature had helped them more times than he could count when they were on a team together. It was part of what made them such an unbeatable team. "Rick. I've asked Pete to put Kelly and Kieran together on the team investigating the attack on the Amazon colony. How do you think she'll take it? She hasn't shown much interest in meeting her biological father."

"All I can say is you better pray Luke is on that team. He's about the only one that can calm her when she gets riled. Even Catherine has to resort to her spells when Kelly is really angry." He laughed as he saw the expression on my face. "Just be thankful you didn't have to train her. I was glad to hand that one off to Rachel."

I groaned to myself. "Luke was bad enough. I swear he was teaching Kelly on the side. I don't think I worked as hard training anyone since Debbie. He was always pushing himself harder than any of my other students. It wasn't until I saw Kelly fight one time that I realised the similarity between her fighting style and Luke's."

"They were sparring partners so I'm not surprised." He laughed softly as we approached the driveway to the stronghold. "Remember how they were always together? I surprised them one time when they were about twelve. They were sparring and Kelly was giving as good as she got. Those two couldn't be more perfectly matched."

A muffled curse from beside me drew my attention to Hannah. She had her eyes glued to the window beside her. Pete glanced outside his window. "Shit." He pulled the car to a stop and leapt out his door before the engine had stopped running. "What the hell is that piece of shit doing here?"

Rick took a look at what was outside the car and was out of his seat in seconds. I followed close behind curious as to what would have one of the most controlled people lose his temper. All I saw was a young Mohiri man standing in front of the garage. I looked behind me, guessing that whatever it was that got Pete so riled up had something to do with Hannah. She was standing in front of the car, machete drawn and all colour gone from her face. I was hit by an almost crippling jolt of fear through our bond and felt my eyes widen as I turned to look at Pete and Rick. They had moved to stand in front of her, in a protective stance. Their arms were crossed, legs apart and had a look on their faces that would make a vampire think twice about going near them.