The Brotherhood: Kara: Introducing Kara (part 4)
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Kara looked at Lucas. She couldn’t quite gather the energy to smile back at him. Just standing up was taking more energy than she had. With one arm wrapped around herself she looked at Conrad and then at Mim, wondering what was going to happen. Conrad was staring around the kitchen, which hadn’t changed at all since the last time he’d seen it, while Mim was staring at the table.
“A hot chocolate would be nice,” Conrad replied, when he finally looked at Lucas. “Mim, what do you want?”
Mim jumped. “Hot chocolate sounds good,” she said quietly, keeping her eyes locked on the table.
Slowly, Kara made her way over to Mim and wrapped an arm around her. “It’s okay, Mim.”
She shook her head. “No, it’s not, Kara. I don’t think it ever will be.” A tear trickled down her cheek. “They should never have brought me back.”
“If I’d had a choice in the matter they wouldn’t have, but your brother made the decision without talking to me.” Kara sighed. “I’m sorry, Mim.” She looked at Conrad. “How do you feel?”
Conrad shrugged. “Confused, mostly. You’re different.”
“I aged.”
“It’s weird.”
“It’ll be even weirder when you age.”
“What?” Lucas asked.
Kara nodded without looking at Lucas. “I have no idea what is actually going to happen because I didn’t stop to ask, but according to Gareth, the necromancer who brought Conrad and Mim back from the dead, he can choose an age for them.” She shrugged. “This is madness.”
“That’s what happens when children have powers.” Lucas placed a mug in front of Mim. “We have no idea how to cope with them and it makes us grow up weird.” He put another mug in front of Conrad. “I dread to think what’s happening in the other houses.”
“I try not to think about them.” Kara looked at Lucas, trying not to let the weirdness of them working together get to her too much. “What are we going to say to everyone?”
“We tell them the truth. It’s the easiest thing to do.” Lucas shrugged. “I think the real problem is Daniel. Do you think he really plans on taking control of the house?”
“I don’t know. It’s possible the whole thing was just a distraction so we didn’t realise what was happening in the garden, not that he really needed one.” Kara glanced out of the window. “Daniel knows how to shapeshift.” She looked back at Lucas. “He either has more than four natural powers or he learnt how to do it, and I’m not sure which. He told me he learnt it, but I’ve never heard of someone learning other powers, so I just… Either way it’s terrifying.”
“You have to talk to him.”
Kara shook her head. “If I talk to him I’ll probably end up hitting him.”
“We need to know, Kara. Right now knowledge is more important that your feelings.”
“I agree that we need to know, but I don’t think we need to know right now. There are other more important things to deal with.”
Lucas raised an eyebrow. “Having no leader puts us at a disadvantage. If he’s not going to take over then someone needs to.”
“Which is obviously going to be you.”
“For now, at least.” He shook his head. “I know you don’t like me. You’ve made that pretty clear, but right now we need to work together. We need to know what Daniel is doing and whether he really has managed to learn how to use powers that aren’t naturally his.”
“Why don’t you go talk to him?”
“Daniel likes you. It will be much easier for you to get him to talk than it will be for me.”
“Up until the point I attempt to remove his head. I don’t think he’ll like me much after that.”
“For once you’re just going to have to control your emotions. You have every right to be angry with him, but it’s not helping.”
“What exactly do you expect me to do, Lucas? I can’t just switch my emotions on and off. I’m furious with Daniel and it’s not just going to go away because you want me to talk to him about his plans for the future.”
Lucas reached out and touched Kara’s hand. “I get it. Really, I do. I’m not exactly happy about what’s happened, but we can’t do anything to change it. Please, go and talk to him. Do it for Conrad and Miriam.”
Kara snatched her hand away. “Wonderful emotional blackmail there.”
Growling under her breath she opened the kitchen door and stalked out into the garden, because she knew that if she stayed in the kitchen with Lucas then she’d blow up at him. She didn’t want to talk to Daniel either, so she headed for where Conrad and Mim had been buried. It wasn’t until she was a few steps away that she realised someone was already there. Tears welled up in her eyes as she turned to walk away.
“Don’t go,” Daniel said, as he grabbed hold of her shoulder.
“Let me go.”
He tightened his grip. “Why are you angry with me?”
“You should never have brought back Mim and Conrad. It was a stupid idea.”
“I did it for you.” He pulled Kara closer to him and wrapped an arm around her waist. “You missed them.”
“Missing someone isn’t a reason to bring them back from the dead.”
“Don’t be mad at me. I never thought it might not be what you wanted.” Daniel pressed a kiss to her neck. “I thought it would make you happy.”
Kara tried to pull free of his grip, but he always had been physically stronger than her. “Can you send them back?”
“That’s not possible.”
“What are you planning on doing now?”
“Staying here, with you and my sister.”
“Daniel, I told you that I don’t want to be with you and I meant it.” She shook her head. “Are you planning to stay here as the leader of this house?”
“Maybe. I don’t know. It seemed like a good idea earlier, but I don’t know if I want to be tied to a house. Being able to move around is important for me.”
“Shall I take that as a no, then?”
“Who would be taking on the leadership?”
“Lucas.”
There was a moment of silence. “I changed my mind. I’m taking over the house.” Daniel tightened his grip on Kara. “You may trust him, but I don’t. He looks at you like…” He shuddered. “I’ll need your help.”
“Daniel…”
“Obviously my friends will be coming with me, so we’ll need several rooms.”
“Are you sure it’s a good idea?”
“Yes, it’s a brilliant idea. I can teach others how to learn interesting powers.”
“That isn’t a good idea. People have enough difficulty coping with the powers they have, so I really don’t suggest you do that.”
“Why don’t we leave it up to them to make up their own minds, Kara? I know you’re just being protective but anyone over sixteen in the house should be given the choice.”
“Fine, whatever, just don’t say I didn’t warn you when it goes wrong.” Breathing deeply, Kara turned to face him. “How did you learn to shapeshift?”
“It’s been a long time since you were this close to me,” Daniel said, smiling.
“Focus, Daniel.”
“I’ll teach you first, if that’s what you want. I’m sure there are some powers that you’ve always wanted to have.”
“Not really.” Kara had always wanted to be normal, but she had never been given that choice. “I need to know now how you did it.”
Daniel shook his head. “We have other things to do now, beautiful. How are Miriam and Conrad?”
“They were fine when I left them.”
“Are they with Lucas?”
“Does it really matter who they’re with as long as they’re with someone?”
“Kara, answer the question.”
“Yes, they’re with Lucas.”
“Come on then.”
Kara tried not to breathe a sigh of relief when Daniel freed her from his grip. Moments later he took hold of her hand and started walking towards the kitchen door. She had no real choice but to follow him, even though she didn’t want to. If it wasn’t for Conrad and Mim she would have left the house for good. Having them there meant she had no choice. She had to stay, which would change totally under Daniel’s control, because she had to look after them. They hadn’t been given a choice either.
“You need to think about what you’re going to do before you get in there,” Kara said, trying to slow him down a bit.
“I know what I’m going to do.”
“Walking in and announcing you the new leader of the house is not a good idea.”
“Why not?” He opened the door to the kitchen. “That’s what I am.”
Daniel stepped into the room. Kara managed to pull her hand free as she followed him, making the most of his distraction. She quickly put both hands into her pocket and used her arm to close the door, so he wouldn’t be able to steal either of them, before looking around the kitchen. Lucas was stood next to the oven, assessing Daniel closely. When Lucas turned his attention to her she shook her head, knowing exactly what he was thinking, because he would never be able to win in a fight against Daniel. If he couldn’t win against her then there was no chance.
Conrad and Mim were still sat at the table. Mim glanced over at her, seeming a bit more herself than before. Again Kara wished she was telepathic so she could talk to Mim. It would be nice to know what she was thinking. Sighing, Kara looked at Conrad. He was staring at her intently, obviously waiting for her to look at him.
‘Are you okay?’
‘Don’t ask me questions I don’t know how to answer. When did you become telepathic?’
He smiled at her. ‘I think it’s a bonus power for being brought back from the dead.’
‘Really?’
‘Well, I definitely didn’t have it before I died.” He shrugged. ‘Did I have all four powers?’
‘I don’t know. Bloody hell, Conrad, it was a long time ago.’
‘Check the books for me later.’
“If you two are going to talk I would appreciate it if you’d talk out loud,” Daniel said, making Kara jump. “It’s rude to talk mind-to-mind when there are other people around.”
Kara raised an eyebrow. “Conrad was just checking on me. It’s what friends do.”
“I would still prefer it if you’d talk out loud.” An arm wrapped around her waist. “I am your leader.”
“Really?” Lucas asked, sounding almost amused.
“Yes, really. Kara said she’ll help me.”
‘I didn’t. He told me that I’m going to help him,’ Kara said to Conrad.
“As long as I know what’s happening, it’s all good.” Lucas shrugged. “With Tristan gone we need a leader.”
“You aren’t going to fight me.”
“I have better things to do with my time.”
“Like fight Kara?” The arm tightened around her and she rolled her eyes. “I did see what was happening before I arrived.”
“That was just a little disagreement,” Lucas lied smoothly. “It happens here.”
‘What did happen?’ Conrad asked.
‘A failure to talk first and fight later.’
‘Kara…’
‘I know, okay. You always were the diplomatic one.’
“If you touch her again then you answer to me,” Daniel growled.
“That’s going to make training difficult,” Lucas replied, lying more smoothly than Kara could. “She’s the only person I can fight in training.”
All Kara could do was stare at Lucas. ‘Brilliant. Now I need to steal the record books before Daniel can look at them,’ she muttered, somehow managing to project a sigh.
‘He’s already taken them. Don’t worry, we planned this out.’
‘Thanks for the warning.’
‘You were keeping Daniel busy.’
‘Next time, can I be let into the plan rather than just a part of it?’
‘Maybe.’ Conrad’s mind voice sounded smug. ‘I’m not just going to let that moron take over my house.’
‘Someone’s possessive.’
‘It was always my house, Kara. You and I both know that.’
‘Are you stronger that Lucas?’
‘We’re going to find out when I’m older.’
Kara turned her attention back to the conversation Daniel and Lucas were having. “She’s my girlfriend, okay? If I want to say that she can’t take part in training any more then that’s up to me.”
“Actually, Daniel, it’s up to me,” Kara said. “Even if I was your girlfriend I wouldn’t let you stop me from training. If I don’t train then I’m useless.” She shook her head. “I am going to train as normal.”
“Kara…”
She could hear the warning note in his voice and that made her think about what she was going to say. “I know you’re just trying to protect me, but I don’t need it. I’ve been looking after myself for a long time and I can’t let anyone make me weak.” She forced her to look at him. “Just trust me.”
“You’re going to get hurt.”
Conrad laughed. “Kara won’t get hurt. She’s one of the best fighters I know.”
“You’ve been dead for a long time,” Daniel said.
“That doesn’t change Kara.”
‘Where did you find this one?’ Conrad’s voice was full of scorn. ‘Does he know you at all?’
‘I don’t know.’
“Daniel, I’ve fought you before.” Kara shrugged. “You weren’t worried about hurting me.”
“That was different.”
“How?”
“I wasn’t in love with you then.”
‘He’s not in love with you now. That’s not a feeling I can describe in words, but it’s sure as hell not love, lust, or anything like either of them. It’s black and nasty.’
Mirrored from K. A. Webb Writing.