Kiara nodded. She didn’t know how to comprehend how difficult it was going to be when that day arrived, when she had to let go of everything and everyone she held dear. However hard it was for her, it was going to be worse for those who had to go on without her.
“Becoming an Elder was an easy choice from that perspective.”
“You don’t have to carry that burden around with you anymore,” Kiara said.
“I still do to some extent. Nine Chosen over the course of nearly three decades was bound to take its toll. However, I can now pass that experience and wisdom onto others to help them cope. Sometimes they listen, sometimes they don’t.”
The more she talked to Master Mahmid, the more she could see how he had influenced Caleb. Whatever relationship Caleb thought the two of them had, it was clear to her that Master Mahmid cared for him more than he would ever admit aloud.
“Do you still remember all your Chosen?” she asked.
“Every detail. The situations that you are put into as Guardian and Chosen mean that, even if you are able to stay emotionally unattached, you still form an immense bond. You spend so much time with them that they become impossible to forget.”
That made sense. If she was in Caleb’s shoes, and him in hers, she knew that she would never forget him.
“What was my Dad like as a student?”
“Attentive and determined. There was a lot to pick up very quickly and he took it all in his stride. He was willing to do anything so long as it meant helping others. My only regret is that I didn’t realise that he had a family beyond his parents and his sister. I would have urged him to spend more time with your mother while he still could.”
If Master Mahmid had said that at the beginning of the conversation, Kiara would have been surprised. But now she was starting to see that there were a lot of layers to the man standing before her and he very purposefully only let people see the surface.
“I’m sorry I’m late,” Caleb banged in through the door, bringing their chat to a sudden end. It took him a moment to realise Kiara wasn’t alone. He’d clearly been in a rush because he was wearing his glasses.
“Oh, hey.” He stood up a little straighter when he saw Master Mahmid. “You didn’t call ahead?”
“It wasn’t a planned trip. I thought I would come meet Kiara for myself, seeing as you’ve been singing her praises.”
“I see that you have… Met her, I mean” Caleb said, unsure as to what had happened since Master Mahmid arrived.
“You never told me how cool he was,” Kiara said, to ease some of the tension.
“Cool?”
“You don’t have to sound so skeptical,” Master Mahmid said.
Kiara knew that he was teasing, but Caleb laughed nervously.
“We were just talking about Guardians and Chosen, a little bit about my Dad. Master Mahmid was imparting his wisdom, which was very helpful.”
“See? Nothing to be concerned about,” Master Mahmid confirmed.
This did seem to help a little. Caleb started to look a less awkward.
“Now, let’s you and I have a chat,” Master Mahmid told Caleb, gesturing for them to go back outside.
Before they did, he looked back at Kiara and offered her a hand to shake.
“I’m glad I got to meet you,” he said.
Kiara smiled as she grasped his hand. “Me too,” she said, truly meaning it.
~
Considering what happened when Caleb first became Kiara's Guardian, Ezra had been concerned. It wasn't possible for Caleb to detach himself from the people he mentored, whether he was with them for a matter of months or a couple of years. For him to have befriended his Chosen beforehand was unheard of in their order. The unprecedented situation had almost got him removed, but Ezra had used all the pull he had to make sure that didn't happen. He could see now that had paid off.
Kiara had flourished faster than anyone Ezra had ever seen come through their doors. It was their bond that allowed them to be such a good team and to help Kiara progress at such a magnificent pace. But it was also Caleb's skill as a teacher.
Ezra appreciated the fact that he had got to speak to Kiara before Caleb had arrived. It had been insightful, in more ways than one.
"So?" Caleb asked, looking up at his mentor as he waited for Ezra's judgment.
"Like father, like daughter," Ezra smiled.
"That's a good thing, right?"
"I'm not in the habit of assigning favourites, but Peter was one of the most agreeable and determined Chosen that I ever met. It seems the apple doesn't fall from the tree."
Any lingering tension faded, allowing Caleb to look pleased.
"I don't say this enough, but you're a fine teacher, Caleb. You've proven our decision to let you stay as her Guardian right."
"Thank you," Caleb said sincerely as he adjusted his glasses. "And I would never usually say this, but your approval means a lot to me."
"I know," Ezra smirked.
"You couldn't just take the compliment?"
"I saw an opportunity and I seized it. They don't come up very often with the company I usually keep."
"Hmm, yeah, the other Elders seem like a hoot," Caleb said.
"A laugh a minute," Ezra agreed.
He had missed having conversations like this with Caleb. They didn't happen much, but when they did they were always memorable. Their relationship had been particularly strained these last couple of months, hopefully all that would change.
"Now that you've convinced me that Kiara is ready, what would you have her do next?" Ezra asked him.
"I think it’s time for her first mission."
"I'm inclined to agree."
"My contact at MI6 says that she has something that could prove to be a little challenging but should go smoothly so long as we stick to her plan," Caleb said.
"The risk is yours," Ezra told him. "But I trust your judgment.”
Caleb reached up and squeezed his mentor's shoulder appreciatively.
"I guess I should go back inside and tell Kiara the good news," he said. "Want to join us for the rest of the session?"
"I'd be honoured."
Chapter Twenty
“Are you shaking?” Caleb asked.
“It’s cold outside,” Kiara said, making excuses.
“Not that cold,” he teased.
“Shut up, you’re just making me more nervous. I’ve never been to an event like this before, I don't know how to act fancy.”
“You want to know a secret?”
Kiara nodded her head.
Caleb leaned in a little closer and whispered in her ear, “Neither do I.”
Kiara laughed and linked her arm with his, smiling across at him.
Caleb was glad that he was able to put her at ease. This wasn't usually the sort of thing that they would do on a first mission as it required a little undercover work. However, when Zoe asked him if they were up for it, Caleb felt confident enough to say yes. Stealing encrypted information was a good test of Kiara’s senses, as she would have to be alert at all times. There was also only a slight chance of conflict, something he would prefer to avoid.
He gave the names that Zoe told him to use at the door. They didn't have to pose as husband and wife. There was a little too big of an age difference to believe that was true, so they stuck with friends.
“Let's go over to the bar,” he suggested, knowing that it would be a good place for Kiara to wait around while he sorted out the security.
“Free booze, me likey.”
“That is definitely the sort of low class jibber jabber that will get you thrown out of here,” he said, pretending to be patronising.
Kiara snorted loudly, then hid her face in his shoulder.
“Oh God.”
“You’ll be fine,” he promised as he guided her over to a free spot at the bar.
“I’ll try to keep those sorts of noises to a minimum.”
“Good.”
Caleb ordered them a couple of virgin
cocktails, so they could stay focused. To others it would look like they were as tipsy as everyone else.
“Now, do you remember the plan?” he asked.
Kiara took a sip from her glass, looking pleased that he had remembered her tendency towards fruity drinks.
“I wait here while you go and tap into the security system, try not to attract too much attention. That might be difficult in this dress.”
Caleb chuckled.
“When you let me know over our cool new earpieces that you're ready, I sneak upstairs to the Emerald Suite, you let me in. I plug the memory stick into the guy’s laptop, grab the information and go. You will warn me if anyone is coming my way.”
“Perfect. And what's the first rule if something goes wrong?”
“Don't panic.”
Caleb smiled. “You got this.”
“Yeah, I do. Go do your thing,” she said.
“Yes ma’am.”
Caleb squeezed her hand before slipping away into the crowd. So long as nothing went horribly wrong, they could be in and out in an hour and no one would be the wiser.
~
The confidence that Kiara had been buoyed with by Caleb’s pep talk slowly started to fade the further he moved away. This was the first time she had been all alone since they started her training. Like Hallie had told her before she left the apartment, she was allowed to be a little nervous. She would need the adrenaline to get her through this without a hitch.
Kiara decided to focus on polishing off both hers and Caleb’s drinks, so that she didn’t catch anyone’s eye. It would be better that way as she wouldn’t actively invite anyone’s attention on herself. She didn’t know how long it was going to take for Caleb to hack into the system, so she had to remain alert.
“Is this seat taken?”
“There aren’t any--” Kiara cut herself off, realising that was just a line.
When she looked up, there was a tall, suave man dressed in a very expensive suit grinning down at her. He was tan, definitely some sort of Middle Eastern influence in his heritage, but something else as well that she couldn’t place. Despite this, he spoke with a smooth American accent.
“Very funny,” she said in effort not to be flustered by him catching her off guard.
“I thought so,” he said, clearly very pleased with himself.
It seemed like the sort of self-assurance that might get tiresome after a while.
“I’m Noah,” he said, holding out a hand for her to shake.
“Kiara,” she replied, taking it and shaking firmly once.
She really wanted to tell him to buzz off, but she didn’t want to cause a fuss.
“Are you a donor or a guest?” he asked.
This was probably a way of finding out if she had someone with her that could come back at any moment and spoil his fun.
“Guest,” she said.
“Ditto,” he said, which surprised her. “My date insisted I wear this, he didn’t think jeans and loafers would fit in with this crowd.”
He. Kiara wasn’t expecting that either. She seriously had to stop assuming things. It was doing to be the death of her.
“Why aren’t you over there with him?”
“Him and his friends are talking business, I’ve never been very good at handling that side of things.”
This sounded like something that could lead into a deeper conversation if she asked the follow up question, but she didn’t have time to chit chat. She should probably try to escape.
“What does your donor do?” he asked.
“He’s a, uh… life coach.”
“Oh really? I didn’t realise life coaches made that much money.”
“They do if they’re as good as he is.”
Kiara really needed to get away before he found another way to continue the conversation. She was in the middle of concocting an excuse to escape the bar when she saw someone in the crowd who she recognised, but it wasn’t Caleb. It was a face she had only seen in pictures, but she was sure it was him.
“Excuse me, I’ve just… I’ve got to go,” she said, completely distracted.
Kiara didn’t look back in case she lost the other guy in the crowd, so she wasn’t able to see the expression on Noah’s face as she disappeared into the sea of people on the dancefloor.
She did, however, hear a faint, “See you around.”
No, she wouldn’t.
The guy she was following was fast, almost disappearing out of her sight a few times before she spotted him again. It looked like he was looking for someone too as he moved about the room, head turning left and right.
As they neared the edge of the crowd and Kiara closed the gap between them, she called out to him to try and stop him from vanishing before she could talk to him.
“Will!”
Kiara wasn’t sure how he heard her over the din that was going on around them, but he did, slowly turning his head in confusion. He had a beard now, and a lot more muscle, but it was definitely him.
It was Hallie’s brother.
~
Caleb always spent time studying the blueprints for a mission if they were available. It was good to have other escape routes if things went wrong, but it also helped him to figure out which were the best places to tap into the hotel’s systems. Hitting the security room was never a good option, not unless you had no other choice. This time his plan was to access one of the terminals in the server room and go from there. He had to take a roundabout way of reaching the room, though, so the hotel’s security didn’t figure out where he was going right away.
Cutting through the kitchen, Caleb skirted around the busy hotel staff, careful not to make eye contact so they were less likely to remember his face. Everything smelled so good, it made his stomach rumble. He should have grabbed one of the hors d’oeuvres on the way past.
Caleb left the kitchen and turned down a passageway to reach the service elevator, which needed a staff passkey. It was a good thing that Zoe had given him one earlier. He used the elevator to go up to the top floor, then made his way quickly down the corridor to the left, away from the suites, to the server room.
Using the pass on the door again, Caleb stepped inside and shut the door silently behind him. He was ready to turn around and start tapping into the nearest terminal, but when he spun on his heel, he discovered that there was someone else in there with him, and she already had access to everything.
“Who are you?” he asked, making the woman jump.
The woman was around average height for a woman, slight of build, and dressed head to toe in black. Her head whipped round to reveal her face, which was when he saw that she was Chinese and… if he wasn’t mistaken, sort of familiar to him.
She looked struck by his presence, and not because she hadn’t been expecting anyone to walk in on her hacking the hotel’s systems. Her face suggested that she was shaken, right down to her very core.
“Caleb?”
It was his turn to look taken aback.
“How do you know my name?”
The woman closed her eyes and tried to calm her shaking hands.
“This can’t be real, you’re supposed to be dead.”
“What do you mean I’m supposed to be dead? Who are you?” Caleb demanded, feeling his own nerves begin to fray with the anticipation.
The woman opened her dark eyes and looked directly at him, so the seriousness of her words couldn’t be doubted.
“I’m Diana Yu, but my married name was Lau. I am your mother.”
The silence that followed the revelation was deafening. Caleb began shaking his head without realising that he was doing it. She took a step towards him, but he also took a step back, slamming backwards into the door by accident.
“No, both my parents died,” he stammered.
“I thought the same about you and John, it’s what I was told by the Elders after you were both taken from me.”
“The Elders? Taken from you? What?”
Caleb was so bewildered by
all of this. If what she was saying was true, then there were people who he loved who had been lying to him for almost his entire life. It wasn’t something that he could easily accept.
“There was an accident. I took you on a scouting mission when I should have left you at home, but your father wasn’t around, and you begged me to let you come. I thought it would be harmless enough, but then I was spotted. We got into a chase and I crashed the car. You hit your head on the dashboard. It took me so long to get you to a healer that they thought you might not make it.”
Caleb reached up to touch the small scar under his hairline.
“Aunt Mee told me there was a car accident that killed my Mom, but I survived. That was how I got the scar.” It was supposed to have been bad luck that his Dad died so soon.
“She lied. Everyone lied.”
Everyone lied.
“What happened then?” he asked, but he could hear his voice shaking.
“I broke the order’s rules by letting you know that Guardians existed, but the accident made them and John furious. They said I was a danger to you and that I wasn’t fit to be your mother, so they locked me up for long enough to take you away. I was told that you both died in that plane crash.”
Caleb frowned.
“You’re the reason that no one can have families?”
“Everyone always places the blame on me, but they were the ones who made the decision to rip ours and everyone else’s families apart. We could have found a way to make it work, changed the rules, but they overreacted, as always,” she said, her temper starting to flare.
“You almost got me killed and you think—” he stopped mid-sentence, too upset to continue. “You know what, no, I don’t have to listen to this.”
Caleb turned to open the door, but Diana reached past him and held it shut. The expression on her face was intimidating as all hell.
“I lost you once,” she told him, her face barely an inch from his now.
“I’m not going through that again.”
~
Chosen_Book One Page 15