Located on the first floor, the gym was in aside hallway beyond the check-in desk. She hesitated outside therestaurant when she heard music coming from the club. The clubwould be closed to the public at this time of night, but Maggiesuspected the employees were hanging out, listening to music, andprobably having a couple of drinks as they cleaned the place. Shealmost went to see if she could join them but decided againstit.
She left the restaurant and empty front deskbehind as she followed signs to the gym. The lights were off whenshe located it, but when she stepped inside, they flickered to lifeoverhead. Maggie glanced over the equipment stashed in therectangular room. The concrete walls made it feel more like aprison than a gym, but at least there was a treadmill.
Maggie found the remote for the TV, turnedit on, and searched for a music station. She settled on a ninetiesalternative station, did a quick stretch, and hopped on thetreadmill. Working her way through a warm-up, her feet thudded withincreasing speed as Nirvana followed Green Day.
A sense of calm descended as her feetsettled into a comfortable rhythm, and she found herself startingto work through everything that had happened in the past two days.Much of it was beyond her control, but some of it wasn’t. Shefocused on the things she could change, or do, as she worked out aplan in her mind. The one thing she had to do was the one thing shedreaded the most, but she couldn’t put off seeing her mother for aweek or two, not even a day or two. She would get it over withtomorrow.
When Aiden appeared in the doorway, shewasn’t surprised to see him, but she didn’t acknowledge him either.He didn’t say anything before ducking out of the room again. Shecouldn’t see him anymore, but she knew he stood outside, watchingover her. She wasn’t sure if she found it charming or annoying, butshe didn’t stop running until her legs turned to rubber, sweatcoated her, and her lungs burned.
She moved through a cooldown and wipedherself with the towel when the machine came to a stop. Draping thetowel over her shoulder, she strolled over to the water bubbler,pulled a paper cup from the dispenser, and filled it.
“Are you going to be my new shadow?” sheinquired when Aiden returned to the doorway.
“You should have let me know you wereleaving.”
“I thought you were sleeping.”
“I wasn’t. It’s not safe—”
“Maybe not, but you said a Savage couldenter my room too, so it’s no safer there than it is here. Besides,I won’t be caged. For years, everyone else dictated my life, whereI would be, what I would do. I won’t allow that to happenagain.”
“I’m not trying to cage you.”
“No?” she inquired and tossed the cup intothe trash can next to the bubbler.
Aiden rested his hand against the doorframeas he sought to maintain his composure. Being near her helped tosteady him, but it also made him more uncertain. When he’d heardher leave her room, he’d believed she was fleeinghim. Thecrushing sense of relief he’d felt when she came here, and theanger that followed when he realized she’d risked herself for arun, nearly unraveled him.
This woman held his future in her hands, andshe didn’t know it. Only part vampire, she had no idea what washappening inside him or what she meant to him. She may decide toreject him, but he had to make sure she remained safe.
“I should have taken you to Ronan’s estate.He owns a large property, with a big gym, and you can move aboutfreely there. It has a lot of security.” He didn’t like the idea ofhaving her close to so many vampires, but he trusted enough of themto keep her protected if something went wrong with a fellow vamp.“We’ll get our things and go there now.”
“First off, that sounds like it’s abigcage to me. Second, no one is taking me anywhere I don’tagree to go. Third, I have no idea who Ronan is, where his placeis, or anything about it, and I was taught young to avoid goinganywhere with strangers.”
“Not with strangers, you would be going withme.”
“You’re not much more than a stranger tome,” she replied.
Aiden shoved down the twinge that statementcaused to his heart. “You’ll be safer there, and they have a muchbetter gym.”
“Treadmills aren’t much of a bribe.”
“Maggie—”
“I have alife. I know it’s indanger, I got that memo when thatthingbit me. But I havefriends, an apartment, a career. I worked hard for all of it, and Irefuse to let it go without a fight. This problem will be fixed soI can go home. I’m not going to hide out with a bunch of vampires Idon’t know. Which sounds about as fun to me as a tween concertwhere I’m the only adult and they don’t serve alcohol.”
His fangs pricked in his mouth, and his handon the doorframe—the one she couldn’t see—dug in so deep the metalbent beneath his fingers. She had to realize she couldn’t return tothat life, that she belonged to him.
If I change her, maybe she’ll feel thebond, maybe—
No!He angrily broke the thought off.She’ll have the life she chooses, even if it’s not withme.
But that didn’t mean he couldn’t try to winher. He just wasn’t sure how to go about doing that, and with theway he felt, he might only push her away from him.
“I can take you somewhere else,” he offered.“Anywhere.”
“You said you wanted to stay close to thecity.”
“The Savages have to be taken care of, but Iwill take care ofyoufirst.”
