Kelton nodded. He went on to explain what had happened, how he had been part of a rescue mission to save Cassandra from the Mortuorum and that he had escorted her home safely. He tried to explain it all as clearly as he could manage, how that it was something he would never dream of doing in his right mind and even thought to say to her that he thought Cassandra had bewitched him, but that sounded lame. It was the truth, but putting that into words didn’t sound plausible. That had been the only explanation that he and Bartholomew, their race leader and father figure to Kelton, had decided at the time.
However, Marion had the same train of thought. “Do you think that she could have used some kind of spell or magic on you?” It sounded unbelievable, but it was a lot more likely than Kelton willingly cheating on Kayleigh. He adored her too much to risk what they had together.
“I told Bartholomew what had happened straight away. I needed to speak to someone about it. The shame I felt was eating me up. He was of the opinion that she had used some kind of enchantment, but there was nothing I could do to prove it. I didn’t want to go to Kayleigh and tell her that story when I had nothing to back it up. How ridiculous does that sound? Sorry, love, but I’ve just had sex with a beautiful woman against my will because she cast a spell on me? Plus, that’s just a lame excuse. I did it. That’s on me.”
“But, if you didn’t know what you were doing…”
“That’s like saying it would have been okay if I was drunk. It’s not okay.”
“Kelton, that’s not the same thing and you know it.” Marion insisted.
“I just wanted to forget it ever happened.”
“And you did. Until she walked back into your life.”
“Yes. And she screwed me royally for a second time.” Kelton scowled.
Marion believed that there had to have been some kind of magical interference. That made more sense than Kelton willingly cheating on Kayleigh. But, either way, it happened and now they have to deal with the aftermath. It wasn’t just Kayleigh and Kelton that were being affected by this situation.
“So, do Rhian and Cala know that you are their father?” she asked.
Kelton hung his head. “I’ve no idea. I don’t think so. I’ve been dodging Cassandra’s calls. I don’t want to have to deal with that woman ever again.”
“I think you need to request a DNA test, just to be sure.” Marion advised, falling into doctor mode again.
Kelton looked up sharply. “That hasn’t even crossed my mind. Do you think she’s lying?”
“I really don’t know. Plus, that is all pretty irrelevant with regards to your relationship with Kayleigh. She knows that something happened between you and Cassandra now and nothing will change that fact. But, you do have more to think about than you and Kayleigh. If this woman lied to get you into bed, then what’s to say that she isn’t lying about the end result?”
“But, what about Kayleigh? That’s all I can think about right now.”
Marion narrowed her eyes. She was fed up of this pity-party that Kelton was hosting and it was time to pull him out of his slump. “Kelton, I’m sorry but this needs to be said. You need to man up and grow a pair! You need to know once and for all if you really are a father to those two girls. You have a lot to make up for if the test comes back positive.”
“I can’t think about that. Can’t you see? All I can think about is Kayleigh!”
Marion slammed her palms down on his desk, “She’s not here! They are! Focus on what you can do to make things right.”
“That’s the whole goddamn point, Marion! It was them turning up that drove her away in the first place!”
“You blame them for this?” she said, trying to keep her tone even.
Kelton sagged in his chair again, apparently beaten. “Not really. No. This isn’t their fault. It’s mine.”
“But, you’re saying that they’re a constant reminder of why Kayleigh’s gone?” Marion was finally getting some sense from him and they were finally getting somewhere. He was single-minded in his pursuit of Kayleigh, focusing only on getting her back that he refused to address any other problems that needed his attention.
“I guess.” He agreed reluctantly.
“It’s not their fault, you know that, right?”
“But every time I see them, it’s a jolt. It reminds me what I did and why Kayleigh isn’t here. If the mark hadn’t chosen them, they wouldn’t be here. Kayleigh would.”
“And you would still be living a lie. Haven’t you thought about telling her what happened? The truth?”
Kelton shook his head. “I couldn’t take that risk. I told you, whatever I would have said to her would have sounded wrong. I couldn’t do it.”
“You have to concentrate on this Kelton. You can’t just leave them hanging like this. I’ve tried my best to help them, but they aren’t responding to me in the way I had hoped. Obviously, the night they first came here, we all assumed that Kayleigh would take on the mentoring role for them, but now that she’s not here, what are you doing about it?” Kelton didn’t say anything so Marion continued lecturing him. It was for his own good. He had to face up to his responsibilities. “You need to remember how hard it was for Aisline when she first came to the academy. It’s a big situation for them to adjust to. And Caleb and Rees. Coming into this life is hard enough, but when you are from another race and thrown into it, I can’t imagine how hard that is. They need you, Kelton.”
“I don’t think I can. I know that sounds terrible, but when I look at them, I see Cassandra staring back at me.” He looked at her imploring, hoping that now he had told her the truth about it all that she would be able to help find a suitable solution.
“You know that you need to get things straight. I know that you want to find Kayleigh, and believe me, so do I. We’re all doing everything we can think of to locate her, but you need to face the situation in hand here. You need to contact their mother and find out all the facts. You can’t just ignore it all and hope it goes away.”
Kelton closed his eyes and nodded solemnly. He knew that it was the right thing to do, no matter how hard it was going to be. The last thing he wanted to do was to be in the same room with that woman, the woman that had ruined his life and his future, but he knew he had to.
Seeing the look of pain cross his face, Marion offered as if reading his mind, “I can be here with you when you speak to her if you’d like? I can be here in a professional capacity as well as emotional support for you.”
“Would you?” Kelton hated asking for help, but he was drowning. There was no way he wanted to face Cassandra alone. Ideally, he would have had Leigh by his side, but she wasn’t there, and it wouldn’t have been very appropriate anyway.
“Of course I will. I help with the emotional wellbeing of the trainees as well as their physical needs, so that in itself would make sense for me to be present at any meeting.”
“Thank you.” Kelton appreciated it more than she could ever know.
“I think you should speak to the other warriors.”
“And say what? I don’t want anyone knowing about this. Not yet, at least.”
Marion nodded in understanding. “I don’t mean tell them the whole story, but I think that they need to go a little easier on the girls.”
“Rhian isn’t even doing anything.”
“So don’t force her. Cala is trying, which is good and I’d encourage that. But, if they don’t want to do the training, or they want to do a lighter training, then with everything going on, I think that would be fine, don’t you?”
“I guess.” Kelton nodded glumly.
“I can talk to them about it, if that helps.”
Kelton didn’t say another word, but nodded resignedly.
Smiling at him one last time, Marion left his office and left him to his thoughts. She knew that he needed some space to come to terms with what they had discussed. There wasn’t anything more she could do for him at the moment, she’d got the truth from him and had got him thinking, that was all she could ask for
.
The warriors out on the street were constantly looking out for signs of Kayleigh, but Marion know that they would have to focus on a more accurate plan to find her. But, first things first, they had to try and sort out the mess at the academy with Kelton and the girls. It wouldn’t be easy, far from it, but they had no choice. She would have tackled the situation earlier if she had realised how deep the problems went. The girls had been at the academy for several weeks now and they’d had this hanging over their heads. Marion couldn’t think how hard this was for them. All the uncertainty and tension in the air wouldn’t do much to help their transition to trainee life.
Marion walked slowly back to her office, wondering what she could do to help. There wasn’t much. She couldn’t dive on in there and speak to the girls. That was Kelton’s job. All she could do was wait for him to make his move and take it from there.
“Are you ready for this?” Marion asked Kelton. He looked as nervous as hell, but she couldn’t blame him one little bit. This was a huge thing for him to have to deal with and it was just unfortunate that he was having to deal with Cassandra. From all she’d heard, the woman was a force to be reckoned with, and not in a good way. It was lucky that Kelton was in such a confident position and wouldn’t let himself be played by this woman.
He shook his head, not in the least bit ready. They were due to meet with Cassandra, the mother of the twins. She was due to arrive any minute and Kelton couldn’t stop pacing around his small office.
“She’ll be here soon.”
“I know.” Kelton paused to move some paperwork to the corner of his desk before resuming pacing the available space.
He was dreading this. It had been bad enough when the woman had stepped back into his life and blown everything apart. Kelton hadn’t ever wanted to set eyes on her again, yet here he was, inviting her back in. Was he just asking for more trouble?
Wiping a hand across his forehead, Kelton didn’t realise how badly he was sweating. It was almost like he had just completed a gruelling work-out, but it was just nerves. It was no wonder really, seeing as his life had been flushed down the toilet and he was about to come face to face with the woman who had caused it.
Marion didn’t speak. It was clear that Kelton was freaking out. She didn’t want to say the wrong thing and send him over the edge. She’d never seen him that way before, pacing restlessly and shaking hands. This whole situation was getting on top of him, but he needed to see this through. He had more than enough on his plate at the moment with Kayleigh missing, but this was the right thing to do. Plus, keeping active and doing something to right the situation with the twins would help keep his mind occupied. Marion was going to stand by her decision to push him into doing this, as harsh as it was for him to deal with.
She wasn’t too sure that he appreciated her meddling, though. It was obvious that he wanted to dedicate every spare second of his life to finding Kayleigh and would happily forget about the twin’s existence. In her mind, this mess wasn’t going to clear itself up and the sooner that Kelton got things sorted, the sooner he would have a clearer mind to work on finding Kayleigh. It had taken her a while to get that through his thick head, but he acknowledged that it was the right thing to do, even if it wasn’t his first choice.
Plus, Marion was thinking ahead. If they did manage to locate Kayleigh, there was no way she wanted her friend to come back to this mess. After Kelton had divulged the entire sordid story, she knew why Kayleigh had taken off in the first place. There was no way she would come back with everything still hanging up in the air. If Kelton managed to get some answers, Kayleigh’s return to the academy would go much smoother. Marion was planning for the future, whereas Kelton was stuck in a present without Kayleigh.
The office was relatively small and Kelton wasn’t the most organised person. Every available space in there was covered with piles of paperwork, laptops and weapons. Marion wasn’t sure how he managed to work in such a mess, or indeed find anything, but it seemed to work for him. She moved a pile of papers from off the chair and made room for when Ms Feelan arrived.
A knock came on the office door, making Marion jump out of her skin as she had been watching Kelton pace the small space which had been almost mesmerising, and Darius poked his head into the room. “She’s here.”
Kelton had simply told the warrior on guard at the front desk that he was expecting one of the trainee’s parents. There was no point and no need to explain anything further than that. This was all complicated enough without dragging more people into it. He would tell them what was going on when and if he found out the truth. Until then, the less people that knew about this, the better it was for all concerned.
“Thanks, Darius. Would you show her through?”
Darius nodded before closing the door once again.
“I wish I didn’t have to do this.” Kelton shook his head.
“But, you do, so let’s get this over and done with.”
“The sooner the better in my opinion. I don’t want to have to spend a second longer with this woman than necessary.”
Marion could see Kelton physically tensing up at the prospect of meeting with the woman again. He’s spoken to her about how the heartless woman had thrown the fact that he was the twin’s father out there, mindless of the consequences. The more Marion thought about it, the more she thought that Cassandra had planned that from the very beginning, going for maximum damage and affect. That sounded like the kind of thing she’d do from all Marion had heard about the woman. It was easy to understand why Kayleigh had fled like she had. She had already been in an emotional state and that kind of information would have hit her like a sledgehammer.
She had to admit that she was intrigued to meet Cassandra Feelan. Marion thought that there was much more to this situation than met the eye. It was a gut feeling. Women’s intuition. It was something she couldn’t quite put her finger on and she was hoping that by being present at this meeting, seeing the woman in the flesh would help to shed some light it.
Another knock came on the door and Kelton bristled. Fingering his throat roughly, he wanted to clear his throat, but he refused to show any outward signs of weakness or distress. He refused to let this woman see how nervous she made him.
“Come in.” he barked.
Marion had guessed that this woman would be something special, but she hadn’t banked on her being quite so glamourous and elegant. The woman moved into the room like she owned the place, commanding the room. She moved like a model, each step carefully calculated to draw attention to the seductive swing of her hips and the length of her extraordinarily long and shapely legs. No wonder Kayleigh had freaked out. Any woman in her position would have seen the potential competition in this woman and found herself lacking. Cassandra Feelan was stunning and enough to turn any man’s head.
As she glanced over at Kelton, he didn’t see in the least affected by the presence of this woman. Well, that’s not quite true. If anything his stance had gotten more hostile in the last few seconds. Marion was used to the stiff and regimented way that the warriors often adopted, especially in a formal setting, but Kelton took it to a whole new level with his frosty demeanour. It was clear that he would have rather been anywhere but in that small, confined room, but that didn’t stop the woman from smiling in a disarming manner.
Cassandra elegantly crossed the room, smiling warmly at Marion before turning to Kelton with a fond expression on her face. Marion could feel herself bristling on Kayleigh’s behalf. It was obvious that this woman had designs on Kelton, although for what purpose, Marion couldn’t say. Anyone with eyes could see the way she was trying to work him, softening him with her seductive gaze and soothing smile. Marion couldn’t help wondering if she was using the warrior mark’s appearing on her daughter’s as a way to get to Kelton?
Marion held out a hand to introduce herself formally, to try and get her attention away from Kelton. “Good evening, Ms Feelan. My name is Doctor Marion Phillippe. I’m the resident physician
for the warriors and trainees here at the Sons of Satrina academy.”
“How wonderful to meet you.” Cassandra smiled as if truly pleased to make her acquaintance. If Marion hadn’t been quite so wary of her motives, she’d have been won over by this woman. “It’s good to know that my daughters are in such good hands here.”
“Thank you.”
“I didn’t even think that they would have onsite medical staff.”
“Well, it’s necessary for the trainees and warriors.”
Cassandra nodded absentmindedly, as if she were already bored with Marion, so she closed her mouth with a frown.
Marion nodded and narrowed her eyes to study the woman. Cassandra held her gaze, as if she were used to other women assessing her. Marion couldn’t fault her looks-wise. The woman was a goddamn knock-out. But, there was something off about her eyes, a coldness that you wouldn’t notice unless you were specifically looking for it. Or perhaps that was just Marion trying to find a flaw in this perfection. Who knew?
Cassandra allowed the assessment of her to continue before nodding, turning to Kelton and tilting her head slightly. “Kelton, how are you?”
Kelton visibly froze for a moment as Cassandra extended a manicured hand toward him. The last thing he wanted to do was touch her, but unless he wanted to appear rude, he had no choice. “Very well, thank you.” He replied through gritted teeth. There was no way he could ask her in return and no longer cared about appearing rude as he wiped his hand against his trouser leg. Politeness could go out the window for all he cared. He just wanted this moment over and done with so this woman could get the hell out of his life. “Please take a seat.”
“You’re looking very well.” She said, her eyes roaming over his muscular chest.
“Um. Yes.” Kelton frowned, not wanting the conversation to head in that direction.
“Obviously, it was a bit of a shock, what happened to the girls, but it was a wonderful opportunity to see you again.”
“Ms Feelan,”
“Please, call me Cassandra. It’s not like we shouldn’t be on first name terms, is it?” She laughed, a tinkling sound that grated on his nerves.
Changing Fates: A Sons of Satrina Novel (The Sons of Satrina Book 3) Page 5