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CHAPTER THIRTEEN
It didn’t surprise me that I didn’t see Carden the next day or even the day after that. He was always so quick to come when I felt alone or afraid, but since our night together, I’d felt awesome.
I felt empowered. Fierce. While extra doses of blood could be dangerous to some, to me it was like medicine. Like vitamins. Like pure…liquid…bliss. I breathed more deeply. My senses were more acute. My muscles were limber and taut. I felt like a machine. A Ferrari.
I was determined to use that strength. To hone it. To take advantage. I’d be the strongest girl on this island. I’d show Alcántara he couldn’t control me. I’d use everything this place had to offer; then I’d blow the roof off.
Which meant I had to destroy all my weaknesses. Banish all my fears. And
there was one nagging fear that lingered above all others: water.
I hadn’t known how to swim when I’d arrived, but Ronan had taken me under his wing. Taught me to float. Then to swim. Later, to surf. But I still hadn’t gotten past my fear of it, not completely. When Izzy and Aubrey had held my face in the surf, it’d all rushed back—that panic I felt underwater, feeling it whoosh up my nose and gurgle into my ears.
I was only as strong as my greatest shortcoming, and my lingering fear of water was one pretty ginormous shortcoming. I mean, we were on an island in the middle of the sea, right?
I needed to get past it once and for all.
I checked my watch as I jogged from the dining hall to the pool. I had a good hour till curfew forced me back to the room. The task I’d set for myself was simple—do some laps, then practice my breath-holding exercises. Ever since I’d learned that people could train themselves to hold their breath for fifteen minutes or longer, I’d been dying to work on it. But I’d also learned that immersion in water triggered something in the brain, meaning it did no good to practice unless you were actually underwater.
With my increased feedings with Carden, I needed to discover what else my body might be capable of. So far, my underwater record was two minutes. It wasn’t much, but it sure beat my original fifteen-second attempts.
The natatorium glowed from across the campus in the bitter darkness, its bright interior lights shooting from windows high overhead. It always amazed me to find people working out at this hour. I was never a gym rat myself, especially not after dinner. Yuck. Yawn. No thanks.
On those rare times I had needed to venture to the gym outside of class, it was like how I imagined visiting a foreign country might be—you knew these people existed, knew they had different customs from you, but still, opening that door, walking from darkness into the bright hum of fluorescent lights and the chatter of sweating kids was always a shock. I tried to avoid it as much as possible.
Heading to the pool at this hour was no different. The natatorium was a large, hollow building, and with its Olympic-sized pool, mazes of locker rooms, showers, and hot tubs, its sole purpose was aquatics-related activities. I hadn’t even made it inside before I heard those unmistakable pool sounds and stopped to take it all in. The splashes. Distant voices calling to one another, reverberating in the cavernous space.
Even from outside, the smell of chlorine hit me, eliciting strong gut reactions—fear, hate, panic. I fisted my hands, forcing myself to associate new things with the smell. Mastery. Ability. Vigor. Enjoyment.
Okay, so that last one went a little too far.
Even though I was distracted, I felt the presence behind me instantly. I smiled—it was the effect of Carden’s blood. I sensed my attacker, sensed his threat. I stood still, pretending ignorance. Innocence. All the while I watched his shadow approach. I could tell by the width of it, by the gait, that my attacker was Rob.
When he leapt for me, I was ready. I braced my feet, and as his arm wrapped around my neck, I grabbed him at his wrist and elbow and twisted. “Hey, Rob,” I said lightly. “What’s up?”
He flexed, ignoring what must’ve been sharp pain in his arm, and jutted his chin through my hair, fumbling to reach my skin. A hiss spilled across my neck, hot in the cold night air. “I’ve been waiting for this. ”
“Funny,” I said, gritting my teeth. “Me too. ” I tensed my neck—it wouldn’t do me any good to accidentally choke myself—then dug my hands into his arm and doubled over at the waist.
The flip was a simple one, textbook beginner stuff, but so, so perfect. I flipped him over my head, then landed on him, pinning him. My body splayed over his chest, and though I was light compared to him, I aimed the full force of my weight through two points: my left elbow jabbing his sternum and my right forearm crushing his throat. “Cool,” I said. “I always wondered if this martial arts stuff worked for real. ”
He darted his head side to side, trying to get air.
“Whoops. ” I gave him my brightest, my most feminine smile. “Am I hurting you?”
He was unable to speak, but his eyes narrowed to slits, glaring hard. In a quick burst of action, he kicked his feet, trying to wriggle out from under me.
“One question. ” I inched my hand up, sneaking for a grip on his collar. “Were you trying to bite me?”
He tried to buck me off.
I slid a knee to his groin, and he froze. I tsked. “You were trying to bite me. And I bet the moment I let go, you’ll try again. You won’t even pretend to negotiate. That’s the problem with you boys. You lack subtlety. ”
It was time to speak his language. If he wasn’t going to be reasonable with me, then I wouldn’t be reasonable with him. But how to send a message without actually strangling him?—which, honestly, was also under active consideration. I’d already humiliated him once when I’d slashed a giant hole in his pants.
I’d broken out in a sweat, my hands aching where they fisted his jacket collar, but still, he was unable to break free. I was stronger than before. It was time to up my game.
He thought he could bite me, but I knew what would stop him. He could patch a tear in his pants. It was time to do some damage he wouldn’t be able to hide.
