Page 139 of Sorrow & Strangers

“Okay, good. Another one.”

Rafe struggles through another one and then another until his claws retract, and his eyes flash back to blue. When he’s back in control, I shove my drop of darkness down with the rest of it. The moment it is contained, the overwhelming claustrophobic feeling sets in again.

“Fuck,” Rafe pants, and slumps to the side, worn out from the effort of keeping his instincts in check.

“You did so well.” I help him lie down, pleased that he barely reacts when his back brushes against the sheets. “Sleep now. We’ll do more tomorrow.”

Rafe is already asleep. I consider going back to bed too, but it’s already 5:00 a.m., so I decide to get dressed and go to the gym. Back in my room, I pull off my top, and I am a little alarmed at how much blood is soaked into it. Now that I am aware of it, I can feel the dried blood on my skin, the sticky residue making me itch. Shuddering, I prick my finger and draw a rune above my bandage to keep it clean and dry before taking a quick shower.

I feel much better after my shower, and after pulling on my gym clothes, I skip down the stairs and out into the predawn. As I walk, I let my mind wander. I think about how my hangover stole my whole day yesterday, but now I’m feeling refreshed and ready to take on my training day. I know I need to refocus on my classes, but I am not sure how to do so when Rafe needs me. Tonight I’ll make a plan. I’ll find a way to balance everything. My grades are still good, but I miss the passion I once had for learning in an academic setting. Maybe it’s not that I have lost it, but that, at the moment, I’m constantly learning. Every free moment I have is spent in some type of training. It’s just that it’s mostly physical.

Max is doing his own workout when I arrive. Not wanting to interrupt, I walk to the other side of the mats to do some warm-up stretches, but the moment Max notices me, he moves closer to work out beside me.

“How’s Rafe?” he asks, wiping the sweat from his face with a towel.

I bend in the middle, touching my toes. “He’s okay.”

“How’s his aggression?” he asks, and my eyes trail to the bandage on my forearm. I stretch to the left and pull my sleeve down a little, trying to hide it, but it’s no use. All I manage to do is draw his attention to it. “Bad, I see,” he says, his voice tight with concern. I straighten, but I don’t look at him. “I’m going to clear the gym tomorrow morning. Be here at five.” I glance at him. “Bring him in?”

I frown and look around. We’re the only ones here anyway, but I appreciate his caution. This also might be the outlet Rafe needs. I wonder if he’s healed enough to do any sort of workout, but I am sure that in the appropriate environment with a trained professional would be the safest. For as long as I’ve known Max, he’s worked at the gym, and while I don’t know his exact qualifications, I know he’s good at what he does. I have no idea how he keeps up with his job here and his studies.

“I’ll try,” I say, knowing the most challenging part will be convincing Rafe to come to the gym.

Max rolls his eyes. “You’re a doer, not a trier.”

My lips twitch. “Fine. I’ll do it.”

Max winks at me and picks up an absurdly heavy dumbbell to continue his workout.

We work out in silence for a while until Max stows his weight back on the rack and looks at me. “Ready?” he asks.

I nod and follow him into the sparring room.

Max tosses me my sai, and I’m starting to anticipate it. Every time they fly at my head, I am a little more ready to catch them.

“I want to work on something new today. Up for it?”

I nod and spin the sai, getting used to having them in my hands again. Max swings his broadsword, and then he closes his eyes. His muscles start to ripple, and I stare in horrified amazement as I watch his body grow. I’ve seen him lean into his berserker, but I’ve never seen it like this. When he opens his eyes, they’re green, not brown. My hands tighten on my sai, my instincts registering a new threat even as I gape up at him.

“Better get running,” he says, a guttural edge rumbling around his voice, and his grin is far more menacing than his usual warm smile.

“Running?” I ask, blinking owlishly.

A rune flickers on Max’s skin, and a blur of energy flies from him. Shocked, I watch as it soars toward me. It looks like a shockingly green lightning bolt, and I barely manage to dodge it in time, the power just grazing my arm.

Max growls as he sends another bolt, but this one seems to track me, and I have to tuck into a roll to avoid it hitting me. Over the next thirty minutes, he fires those green bolts at me again and again. I manage to evade all of them except the last one, which hits me in the side, the force of it slamming me back against the wall. I gasp on impact, but then frown when I bounce slightly against it. It appears to be padded, but I am pretty sure it wasn’t before . . .

“Good dodging. Got to be ready for the unexpected,” Max says, rolling his massive shoulders. His body starts to shrink, though he still towers over me even in his human form. He shakes out his limbs as if settling back into his own skin.

I roll my eyes and walk to the wall to put my sai away.

“Giving up already?” he asks, smirking.

“I have more training today.”

Max arches a brow. “You’re cheating on me? I’m hurt.”

I flip him off. “The headmaster insisted, so I can’t push myself too much today.” No fucking way am I going to mention the training with my stalker. The stalker who stitched my arm back together with thread imbued with his own blood, whose power still flickers inside me when I think of him. Was it intentional? To get me to think of him more?