"I'm surprised you're here yourself given how busy you are,” I said. "Where are your minions?"
He managed to turn his shrug into a thing of elegance. "They're all busy. I had a bit of time today and thought we could spend it together."
"You assume I want to spend time with you," I returned.
He didn't let my statement deter him. He sat up and swung his legs off the bed, standing in a graceful movement. "I suggest you put on clothes you can exercise in. I've decided to give you a little training this evening."
"I think I'm good. I have work anyways."
"Your first run isn't until one. You have a little time." He walked out of the room, leaving me to trail behind him like a lost little lamb.
"How do you know that?" I narrowed my eyes at him. "Did you call Jerry?"
Jerry was the owner of Hermes, and I had a hard time believing he would tell Liam anything. Jerry wasn't exactly the biggest fan of vampires. He only tolerated me because I was practically a newborn in vampire terms, and he owed my old captain a huge favor.
He tossed my phone over his shoulder. I caught it and looked down at it with a suspicious glance. It was unlocked, and my calendar was open. How did he unlock it? And what else had he stuck his nose into?
"Get changed, or you'll be training in what you're wearing," he called from the other room, his voice making it clear he was serious.
"I didn't bring any exercise gear," I shouted, trying one last time to get out of what was sure to be an embarrassing and painful experience.
"You've no doubt noticed by now that the room has been stocked with clothes in your size. Quit wasting time."
Yeah, and we'd be having a talk about how he'd got my sizes.
I stuck my tongue out at the door and headed for the dresser, grabbing the first pair of yoga pants I found. Pairing it with a sports bra and workout tank, I was ready in very little time. He was right; everything fit.
I appeared in the next room to find Liam standing in front of the fridge with a grimace of distaste as he held a bottle of blood up.
Seeing me, he closed the fridge and grabbed a glass from the cabinet. "Good, you listened."
"Like you gave me a choice."
"I’ve told you before. We always have a choice. It's just that some of those choices are acceptable and some not. You chose the one that allowed you to keep your dignity. This time." He slid the glass containing the blood towards me. "Since you listened, I won't force you to take blood from a live donor."
"Mighty big of you," I said in a dry voice.
He met my eyes with a serious gaze. "Make no mistake, Aileen, there will come a time when I force the issue. You need to learn how to drink blood from the source. Not only for your safety but for the safety of those around you."
I gave him my best stubborn look, the one that my mom used to get when she tried to make me eat my vegetables.
His gaze softened. "We both know it wouldn't take much for your will to break."
My look turned dirty. He was referencing the time when I'd been forced to take blood from him. One little cut on his neck and I'd latched on like a damn leech.
"I might surprise you," I said. Not the most original come back, but it was all I had.
He gave me a dark smile. "You just might." He walked around the counter. "Now, drink up. You're going to need the blood for what I have in store for you."
I grumbled but drained the glass as quickly as I could. My stomach tried to revolt against it as it oozed down my throat. My gag reflex nearly kicked in, and it was only through sheer will power that I managed to keep it down. Gone was the electric feeling of life that used to be there when I had a glass of the red stuff. Now, it was like ten-day old roadkill. It might technically have what you need, but it wasn't going to go down easy.
Liam's gaze was sympathetic. "It'll only get worse from here on out."
I set the glass down hard. "Let's go."
I didn't want to talk about my drinking habits. Not with him. Not when he was the reason I recognized the difference in the first place.
He held my gaze for a long moment but didn't fight me on it. Somehow that made me feel worse than if he had.
*
A hard blow to my stomach forced my breath out of my body. I fought the instinct to curl around the sore spot and kept my hands up, protecting my head from the follow-up fist.
"Move faster," Liam ordered, his voice so calm that just listening to it made me want to tear out all his hair—especially given the number of bruises already dotting my body. The man hit like a sledgehammer and had about as much mercy as one too. "Stop. Letting. Me. Hit. You." Each word was punctuated by a blow. One to my chest, one to my back, a kick to one thigh, a fist to the side of my head.
"I. Am. Trying." I tried dodging and received a cuff to the other side of my head for my troubles.
"Try harder," Liam barked.
It wasn't like I hadn't been trying for the last hour. He was faster. Stronger. And he wasn't afraid to use either against me. It was like trying to fight someone while standing in quicksand. My mind was willing; my body had to slog through a soupy, glop-like mess. Any benefit the blood might have afforded me had disappeared long ago. I was back to healing human-slow and feeling every one of the spots Liam targeted.
"Come on, soldier. Do something. Do anything."
I gritted my teeth and swung, knowing he wouldn't be there even as I started to move. He slid to the side, his lips turned up in that insufferable smirk he'd worn for this entire torture session. He kicked out with one leg, sending me crashing to the ground. My back protested as I hit with a hard thud. I lay there for a long moment, trying to get back my breath.
A movement out of the corner of my eye had me rolling out of range. Liam's foot landed where I'd just lain.
"Really? Kicking someone when they're down?"
He shrugged. "Your enemy won't give you time to catch your breath. Best you learn that here, where the worst you'll receive are some bruised ribs. Out there you could suffer a lot worse."
Nathan chuckled as he walked past us to the weight bench in the corner. "Don't let him kid you. He's just a perverse fuck."
We weren't the only ones using the gym in the basement. There were several moving from machine to machine. The human I met last night—I think I remember his name was Theo—was already lifting weights when Liam had forced this little training session on me. Nathan had joined us shortly after we arrived.
"You're a vampire. Use some of that speed I know you have," Liam ordered, ignoring his minion.
I was a yearling. The only speed I was capable of was the kind that allowed me to disappear after Thanksgiving with the family, so I didn't get stuck doing an entire kitchen's worth of dishes.
"Come on. Dig deep. Show me some of that stubbornness you're known for."
I'd really like to. If they ever gave me back my weapons, I'd be sure to.