Chosen

The smell of roast beef and onions permeated the air two hours later where she’d fallen asleep across the bed listening to music with her ear buds in. Her father woke her up banging on the door.

  She pulled it open and slanted him a sleepy glance.

  “Don’t you look bright and bushytailed.” One side of his mouth lifted in a half smile. “Time for dinner, kiddo.”

  Jael followed her dad to the kitchen and took her seat at the dinner table. She felt a little awkward after her outburst earlier, but no one seemed to give it a second thought. Seth had turned his chair around the proper way but now leaned back on the rear legs, causing her mom to tighten her lips and release heavy exaggerated sighs of irritation every time she looked his way.

  Her father bowed his head and waited, giving them all a chance to get into a reverent frame of mind before he said the blessing on the food. Seth dropped the front legs of his chair to the floor and everyone bowed their head.

  Her father ended with a hearty “Amen, ” and lifted the roast beef platter.

  “So, what are you doing here, Uncle Seth? It’s been what…six months since you visited?” Jael took a scoop of mashed potatoes and passed the serving bowl along.

  He met her gaze and wriggled his eyebrows up and down. “Seven, but who’s counting?”

  “Seth was in China again,” her father said, handing her the rolls. He picked up his fork and pointed it at his brother. “He was training with a small group of monks in the art of Shaolin Kung Fu, but after seeing you wipe the dirt with him, I think maybe he needs a refresher course.”

  She laughed at her uncle’s look of chagrin. “Sorry, Uncle Seth. There’s a big difference between learning the moves and employing the moves. Maybe with a little more practice…” She took a bite of roast beef.

  “After all I do for you,” he said shaking his head, “and I get no respect.”

  “For me?”

  “Why do you think I go to all those strange places and stay for months on end? Not for the food, that’s for sure.” He waved a hand at the table. “Those monks never eat this good.”

  Jael met her father’s eyes. “You mean Seth has been bringing back fighting techniques for me to learn since I was little? Why don’t I remember this?”

  He shrugged. “We didn’t talk about it. Seth taught me the different martial arts and I passed them along to you. It’s best to have one teacher and he couldn’t travel and be here for you as well. So I had to be father and teacher. I know you didn’t always appreciate my dual role in your life, pushing you to be tough and aggressive, when most fathers would be taking their daughters to ballet class or piano lessons. But it had to be done.” His eyes glistened in the overhead kitchen light. “And I’m proud of what you’ve accomplished.”

  She looked down at her plate, biting her lip. It was hard to stay angry with her father when he looked at her like that. They sparred on a regular basis, verbally as well as physically, and it had always been sort of fun, but when she learned there was a greater purpose behind it all, a destiny that she must accept whether she liked it or not – the fun seeped out and left only duty. A duty she was having a difficult time getting her mind around. Vampire slaying. She poured gravy on her potatoes and took a big bite.

  When she looked up her mom was watching her from across the table. Her smile was soft and knowing. “It’s all right, Jael. We’re all afraid,” she said. “It’s how you handle the fear that’s important.”

  “That’s true,” Seth said with a bob of his head. He stuffed another bite of meat in his mouth and chewed around his words. “She needs to confront a real vamp before she gets thrown into the den of vipers.”

  “What are you suggesting?” her mother asked, worry in her voice.

  “An experiment. To be sure she’s ready.” He turned and met Jael’s eyes. “How do you feel about graveyards at midnight?”

  “Not my favorite hangout.”

  “That’s good, because you seldom find a vamp hanging out at the cemetery. They may be the living dead but they go where the nightlife is. They suck blood, not dust.”

  “Wow, sounds like a catchy bumper sticker.”

  He laughed. “I’ll have one printed up for you.”

  Her father set down his fork and knife and pushed his plate back to make room for his elbows on the table. He leaned forward. “How soon do you propose we put Jael through this experiment?” he asked.

  Seth scratched thoughtfully at his cheek and glanced up at the teapot-shaped clock on the wall. “How about tonight?”

  Jael felt a small shift at her center, a tightening, a quiver. Fear? Excitement? She wasn’t quite sure. But she knew there was going to be a heart staked tonight.

  Chapter 7

  Valley of indecision