The thought made her pause and tilt her head. She was an immortal. That meant she was supposed to be incredibly fast now too, and strong. She hadn’t seen any evidence of that yet, but then she hadn’t done anything to test it either. Stepping into the bedroom, Holly glanced around until her gaze settled on the dresser. She crossed to it, took a corner in hand, and nearly tossed the damned thing across the room when she tried to lift the end. Seriously, she put the effort into it that she would have had to prior to being turned, when she might have managed to lift the solid oak dresser an inch or so. But instead of that, it flew up, onto its side and then crashed down onto its top.
“Oh crap,” she muttered, scrambling to quickly straighten the dresser. Once she had it upright and in position again, Holly spent a minute looking it over to be sure she hadn’t damaged it and then stepped back with relief and simply peered at the dresser.
“Wow,” she said finally. She was definitely stronger. A slow smile curved her lips. Now she just had to test speed. Turning abruptly, she headed out of the room and jogged downstairs.
Dante and Tomasso were at the kitchen table, eating again. Each had a double chocolate cake before them, a whole cake each. Really, those two had appetites that were scary. There was no sign of the groceries they’d bought, so either they’d tossed the bags straight into the pantry without unpacking them, or they’d used that super speed she was about to test.
“Have you seen Justin?” she asked, slowing as she crossed to the terrace doors.
“I think he’s in the garage looking for a basket,” Dante answered, and then frowned. “Or upstairs fetching a blanket.”
Holly bit her lip, but didn’t stop. She needed to thank him for the flowers, and explain that he should never do that again. But she didn’t really want to wait for him. Besides, she wouldn’t be long.
“Well, I’ll find him when I get back then,” she said aloud and added, “I’m just going for a jog on the beach. Be back soon.”
Both men grunted, their mouths full of cake.
Shaking her head, Holly stepped outside and pulled the door closed, then headed around the pool to the gate in the hedges. A moment later, she was crossing the lawn to the beach. Once there, she looked first one way and then the other up the beach, chose right and burst into a run.
Increased speed they’d said? Dear God, she thought as the world whizzed by. This was almost superman speed. Okay, the world wasn’t a complete blur, but it was blurring. She was definitely moving faster than mortally possible. Scary fast, in fact, she thought and put the brakes on. That’s when she figured out just how fast she was going. Instead of coming to a graceful stop, she skidded briefly and then went ass over teakettle, landing flat on her back with a thud.
Lying still for a moment, Holly quickly took inventory to see if she’d hurt anything. The answer was no. Nothing hurt but her pride, and even that wasn’t suffering much. It wasn’t like anyone was around to see. Besides, she was too busy being amazed at just how fast she could move now to worry about anything else.
“Wow,” she breathed, staring up at the darkening sky, and then she smiled. “I rock.”
The words made her laugh slightly, which made her realize that she wasn’t even out of breath, which just impressed her more. Gym had not been a part of the homeschooling James’s mom had given them. Not that Holly had minded. She’d never been the athletic sort. She was more the bookish type, but then she hadn’t had access to television in those tents they’d lived in while she was growing up. Now she loved movies, action adventures especially, with horrors and comedies tying as second favorites.
Realizing she was lying in the sand, something she wasn’t too keen on, Holly got quickly to her feet, brushed herself down and then turned to head back the way she’d come. She’d run a lot farther than she’d realized, but while she could have run back just as quickly as she’d run out, she didn’t bother. Walking back would give her the chance to think about what she was going to say to Justin. Manners had been drummed into her as she’d grown up, and those manners suggested she should thank him for the flowers. On the other hand, she was married. He shouldn’t be giving her flowers. And she shouldn’t be accepting them.
Sighing, Holly brushed the hair back from her face and tried to think what she should say to him. “Thank you for the thought, Justin. But I really can’t accept your flowers. I’m married.”
That was nice and simple and to the point. She also wouldn’t be thanking him for the actual flowers themselves, which, honestly, she didn’t really appreciate at all. She had definitely gained a serious aversion to them, it seemed. She hadn’t been joking when she’d asked if someone had died on seeing them. That had been her first thought . . . which was kind of sad, Holly acknowledged. She was only going to work at the cemetery for another . . . well, actually, she wasn’t even sure if she’d be going back once she had finished her training. It seemed a shame to let less than two weeks working at the place affect her view of flowers for the rest of her life.