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He passed me a pristine new box. I lifted the lid and gazed upon the pair of brand new running shoes. They were purple, with little green accents, and probably worth more than any item of clothing I had in my closet.
“Did you steal these?” I asked. His sudden generosity still felt questionable.
“No. Do you have any idea how much money a mercenary makes?” He snapped. I guess he had me there.
“Put them on, and let’s go. I don’t want to hear any complaining.”
“Rycon, I’m grateful for this gift, but I promised Jeremy I wouldn’t leave the house. I can't go for a run. Can’t we just do laps in the backyard?”
The shifter shook his head. “You can’t run on spring grass. That shit is so soft you’re going to break an ankle. We’re going for a run out front. I promise I won't let anyone abduct you. Ask your dad for permission if you need to, I'll wait. But you are running today, with or without his blessing.” I thought about it. One lap around the block wouldn’t hurt. I would talk to Jeremy about it when he got home. I figured it was better to ask forgiveness than permission.
“What if we get ambushed? Conrad isn't here, I don’t have any control…” Rycon pulled out his gun and spun it in the palm of his hand before sliding it back into his waistband.
“What is lesson number three Raven?” He asked, his golden eyes crinkling.
“Bullets are faster than magick,” I sighed, and we were off.
I felt like I knew what I was doing when we set off. Cool. Calm. Collected. It didn’t feel cool for long. We barely made it to the end of my street before I was gasping for air.
“Don’t stop. Push through.” Rycon shouted back to me, in an infuriatingly steady voice.
“Can’t...I… Can’t need...holy…STOP - “I slowed my gait to a stop, resting my hands on my knees and panted. We had barely made it a block. God, I was embarrassed.
“Gods Kitten, you should be embarrassed.” He said, echoing my thoughts. Well, that pretty much killed any warm feelings I had towards the new shoes. “Your cardio is shit.” He continued.
“No,” gasp, “Shit,” gasp, “Sherlock.”
“Hmm, yes, so witty. The 90’s called, and they want your poorly executed joke back. Try and keep up.” He took off at a very respectable, very normal human pace that I could barely match. By the time we made it around the block and back to my house I was more than winded. I was in pain.
“You’re lucky you have a high metabolism. You would be a massive tub of lard otherwise.” Rycon commented casually as he rolled into the kitchen to pour some waters. He was right. Where had my inflated ego come from at school? How had I destroyed everyone in Phys ed?
“Probably because you were pissed off,” Rycon responded to my unspoken thoughts. He didn’t bother taking a sip of his water as he handed me a glass. He wasn’t even winded. “It’s an adrenaline thing, grandmas have lifted cars to save their grandchildren when under stress. It probably affects you more considering your daemon blood.” I nodded as I chugged back the water.
“Anyway, you need to run every day. I could hear your heartbeat as you...ran.” He said it as if whatever I was doing couldn't be considered actual running. “Sounded like a wet balloon trying to inflate. Not great.” He finished, in his usual cocky way. “Go sit down, the magick folk will be here soon. I told them to bring food.”
I frowned. He had talked to Meredith and Conrad? He invited them over? He told them to bring food? What was going on with him? He hadn’t been kidding though. I’m not sure why I was shocked that Meredith was a good cook. They had taken my house arrest seriously and brought bacon, eggs, cheese and butter.
“Don’t want to use up all of Clair’s groceries.” Meredith said as she set up camp in the kitchen. I curled awkwardly into the couch, not quite knowing how to respond to this obvious act of kindness. I wished quietly to myself that Clair could have been here. She would have known what to say and would have had everyone laughing. Conrad flopped down on the couch across from me.
“Wi spoke tuh Kieran. He’s coming from England. Should be here tomorrow.”
I nodded. Rycon stiffened from where he was sprawled a few feet away at the kitchen table, but he said nothing.
“Should we eat outside?” Meredith asked from the kitchen.
“Godsdamnit woman, you’re burning the eggs.” Rycon snapped and got up from his place at the table to help. I almost laughed. Meredith made eye contact with me and shrugged. Who would have known? Rycon in the kitchen. He took over and shooed Meredith away with a wave of his hand.
Conrad, Meredith and myself piled out into the backyard to set up the seating area for lunch while Rycon flipped eggs in the kitchen. As Conrad and I stuffed cushions into the wireframes of patio furniture, Meredith seemed to stop to gawk at Clair’s garden.
“Raven...wow.” She gasped, looking over the work Clair and I had done the night before.
“Yeah, Clair loves gardening.” I said forcing a cushion into its chair.
Meredith just pursed her lips before turning to pour waters from the plastic jug Clair kept filled with chunks of cucumber for just such an occasion. Rycon came out with a platter stacked with bacon, eggs and toast. We all sat together in the sun.
It was strange, this feeling. To have friends, to be happy. The fist around my heart clenched tightly as if to remind me that it wouldn’t last.
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