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I tuck my necklace into my workout top, not wanting it swinging around. I can never take it off. It gets in the way a lot, but that’s a price I’m very willing to pay.
I run ten miles on the treadmill at an average human speed and finally feel like myself again.
It’s hard to stop my vampire side from taking over the pace. My legs are dying to push normal boundaries. I have incredible speed, but that does nothing for my nerves.
When it’s time for self-defense, I punch the air and regulate my breathing as I go. I practice good form while doing one hundred repetitions on each side.
I cycle through every move I know, even ones that are hard to do alone.
I’m a sweaty, sore mess when I’m done, and it’s perfect.
I check the clock to see it’s five in the morning. I’ve been down here for three hours.
I have a shift at the bar today, but it’s not until much later. I have a lot of time to kill until then, and I didn’t get nearly enough sleep.
I shower before laying in bed and trying to get some rest. It takes a while to switch my brain off. It keeps flashing images of Aly bleeding, her mates holding me back, and blood everywhere. My conscience doesn’t want me to forget the horrible things I’ve done.
Trust me, I’ll never forgive myself, either.
But I have to go on, which means I need sleep. I picture my workout routine, going step-by-step through everything I accomplished.
I replace the horrifying images with ones of tedious exercise.
It’s something I’ve done a million times before. My nightmares haunt me almost every night. They don’t always wake me up in a panic. Sometimes I even sleep through the night.
But they’re always there waiting for me. Reminding me of the horrors of my life.
Seven
Griffyn
The walk back to the car is spent in silence. I’m not planning on breaking it. I’m sure Aksel is contemplating the information we got and deciding how best to use it.
Part of me wants to bother him, but I refrain myself. We didn’t get a lot from this trip, so if he can find any detail to go off of, I would be grateful.
We are almost back to the car before Felix’s stomach growls. I get the feeling. We haven’t stopped to eat all day and I am starving for actual food- I fed my incubus side plenty last night.
“Let’s get some food while we figure out our next plan,” Felix suggests.
“Fine,” Aksel concedes, like he doesn’t also need to eat.
We make it to the car, all settling into our usual seats. It’s a habit now. We never veer from the norm.
Aksel drives us around until we finally spot a restaurant.
It’s clearly a bar, but I’m sure it sells food. Maybe I’ll even be able to top up my incubus while we are here. Even if I don’t need to, I’ll never turn an opportunity down. It’s what I’m made for.
The sign above the door says, Fieldhouse. It’s clean and trendy, with wood tables, neon signs, and lots of greenery everywhere. It’s probably a hot spot for these college kids.
There’s no hostess, so we grab a table big enough for the four of us. Each of us is built with muscles, having undergone training before joining our team, but Blaze is massive. He needs enough space for two.
The waitress, a sexy redhead dressed in a skimpy black outfit, comes over. She’s showing off all her assets, though I don’t mind the view. We place our order, and it’s enough to feed ten regular people. I order a beer, and Felix and Blaze follow suit, but Aksel only gets water. He looks at us disapprovingly, but I pretend I don’t see it.
“So, mastermind, did you come up with our next lead?” I ask the dark fae.
He grinds his teeth, glaring at me. “I’m still working through the information we were given.”
“I have something,” Felix says, almost jumping up and down in his chair.
