He chuckled.
Looking down the shore into the distance, she tried to sound casual as she asked, “What about the more exotic Elder Races creatures, like the Djinn? What’s their kill spot?”
The laughter died from his face. “They don’t have one, not physically, anyway. If you ever run the risk of tangling with a Djinn, you run away. I run away. I’ve heard of them being killed before, but that’s a rare, dangerous event. It calls for a coordinated attack from a team of creatures who are far more Powerful than either you or I.”
The darkness of disappointment overtook the sun’s bright light. Her shoulders sagged. “That’s what I thought.”
When they got back to the gym, they worked through the details of a new schedule that started later in the morning, took into account the time she would be spending with Xavier in the evenings and incorporated more time on the gun range, and introduced archery. Then Raoul sent her off for an afternoon run.
She let herself out the main gates and started down the road, which was striped with intense sunlight and dark shadows thrown by the surrounding, towering redwoods. Watching her feet as she ran, she stepped in light, then darkness, then light again.
Her thoughts followed a similar pattern.
Light: Malphas hasn’t found me yet. Maybe he won’t. He doesn’t know how humans think, or how we can behave.
Dark: You know that’s a lie. It’s just a matter of time. He got to Eathan, didn’t he?
Light: Eathan wasn’t trying to hide, and I am. I’m virtually living off the grid here. I don’t go anywhere, or use my bank accounts. I haven’t given my Social Security number to anybody, I never do anything meaningful on the Internet or use similar passcodes, and I never let myself develop any kind of search pattern that has anything to do with Las Vegas, or gambling, or Djinn.
Dark: Stop trying to fool yourself, and plan for it to happen. He’ll find you, and when he does, he might do more than just kill you. He might hurt people on the estate, just for sheltering you.
She slowed to a stop, staring blankly down the deserted road.
Turning in a semicircle, she looked back the way she had come. The estate had disappeared, and cool forest surrounded her. Because of how the road curved, she couldn’t see more than a hundred yards in either direction.
Her answers weren’t down either stretch of road, anyway. She already knew what she needed to do.
After a moment, she resumed her jog, but at a slower pace. After all, she didn’t need to push herself. It didn’t matter how fast or how far she ran now. When a half hour was up, she turned and made her way back to the estate. She keyed in the code that would open the gates and stepped back onto the grounds. As the gates swung closed behind her, she walked at a sedate pace back to the attendants’ house.
She could just see the corner of the ballroom, and it was as beautiful from the outside as it was from within. Now that she knew she had to leave, she could spare herself another evening spent in Xavier’s company, but surprisingly, that idea didn’t hold any appeal.
For a few fleeting moments last night, she had felt as if she winged weightlessly over the floor. Xavier’s hold had been both assured and gentle. As soon as she had relaxed and trusted it, he swept her along in the dance and the world turned around them.
She forgot about her clumsy feet, or that she was in hiding. She forgot he was supposed to be a repulsive monster. She didn’t feel a single bruise or aching muscle.
All she felt, all she heard was the music. All she saw was the slow widening of his smile that lit his intent gaze and turned his intelligent, naturally reflective expression into something much more keen and transcendent.
She really wanted to find out if they could achieve ninety seconds like that one more time.
After staying for six weeks, she thought, a few more hours won’t hurt.
I can leave in the morning.
That evening, for dinner the attendants had Spanish paella, with rabbit, chorizo sausage, shrimp, clams, mussels and calamari, and for dessert, they had a simple, delicious homemade ice cream. All five of the other trainees—Marc, Jeremy, Aaron, Scott and Brian—were absent, and nobody mentioned where they had gone, but everyone else was present and ate a hearty meal.
Tess sat beside Angelica at one end of the farm-style table. As was her usual habit, she kept her attention on her food while she listened to everyone else talk. This time, instead of focusing on how the conversation seemed almost deliberately innocuous, she noticed instead the teasing banter and genuine warmth.