AllFreeNovel
Share Us
one in this whole humanity thing. A sort of reminder that this too shall pass.
I tore out a sheet of notebook paper and hastily copied the runes on a piece of scratch paper before tucking the rubbing back in its hiding place. I had to know what those symbols said, and now, just a few weeks into my Old Norse Dialects class, I finally had the tools to translate. Besides, there was nothing like a project to take my mind off my troubles.
Master Dagursson had taught us the runic letters, and they actually weren’t too hard to get the hang of. It was what Old Norse was written in before it was Latinized, and there weren’t that many runes anyhow. As for the Norse itself, though German was my expertise, the two languages shared some links, and my grasp of basic grammar was improving.
It took me just a half hour to get it.
I worked it through, finally, slowly reading, “Vampíru drottinn Sonja. ” I deflated. “Goddammit. ” The thing translated to “Sonja, ruled by vampires. ” Well, of course she was. Because if there was a Sonja, that poor girl was ruled by the vamps, that was for certain.
I kicked back in my chair, for the moment putting aside the annoyance of it all to let it blow my mind. There’d been some girl on this island, as many as a thousand years ago, named Sonja. She’d maybe been like me, tucking her body into that same niche on that same cliffside, probably hiding from vampires just as I had. She’d been ruled by vampires. Just like I was. It was nuts.
I felt a connection across the ages. What’d happened to her? Had boys also turned against her? Mocked and tormented her?
Had Sonja been forced to kill her best friend, too?
Enough. My own drama made me sick, and this stupid translation was no longer helping one bit. I slammed the dictionary shut. Enough wallowing.
I had to get out of there. Feeling bummed wouldn’t help anything. It was time to hit the gym.
It was an impulse I never usually had. Seriously, never. But my interaction with the guys had thrown me. I’d been feeling so strong. But pitted against those big almost-vampires, being physically overwhelmed, trapped and held, it was a rude reminder of how weak I really was. I’d work out till my muscles burned. Till I was too tired to wallow.
But when I entered the gym, I almost spun and walked right back out.
Ronan had beat me there. What was with him lurking everywhere all of a sudden? I wanted to leave, but there was no turning back. The place was empty, and he’d spotted me the moment the metal door screeched open. His head swung up, those haunted eyes meeting mine.
I gave him a tight nod.
He gave me a tight nod back. Well, as good as one could nod while on the mat doing—what was he doing?—alternating one-armed push-ups?
Wow.
He stood, mopped his face. Approached. His navy blue T-shirt was almost black with sweat—it clung to a particularly muscular bit of his chest, to a muscle in his upper arm.
My eyes shot to his. His gaze didn’t budge from mine, and though there wasn’t warmth there, it wasn’t cold either. It was like he was waiting. Questioning.
Did he think I’d come to the gym looking for him?
Had I come looking for him? He was always here, after all.
No. I hadn’t come for Ronan or any guy. I’d come to work out. To get strong.
Though, now that we were both here, I knew what I had to do. When I’d last seen him, I’d casually chatted about Carden-this and Carden-that, when I knew how he felt about vampires…. Or were his strong feelings reserved for my vampire in particular? Either way, I owed him an apology.
I realized neither of us had spoken and it was about to get weird, so I slung my coat and bag onto the bleachers and said, “Hey. ”
“Hey,” he said back.
Uncomfortable silence.
I looked around the gym, hoping for a distraction. Maybe some jerky Trainee would come and interrupt us. Or another Initiate would come bitch at us about something. But, aside from a Guidon I’d seen go into the locker room, there was nobody.
I girded myself. “Look, I’m sorry about…you know…”
Wait. What was I sorry for? For talking about one of the few residents of this godforsaken island who actually cared about me? Why was I supposed to apologize, exactly?
Before I could go too far down that path, he surprised me. “It’s I who should be sorry. ”
I gave him a startled look. “It is?”
