Take Courage, My Heart

Chapter Seventeen

The five weeks following the first time Leander and I had sex passed rather quickly. The days were long, but surprisingly when I really sat down and thought about it, they had passed in what felt like the blink of an eye. It turned out that when your daily routine was narrowed down to train with Leander, make out with Leander, sleep with Leander, you kind of lost track of time.

I had ended up going out with him to get myself some clothes the day following our first time together. He made sure we went out long after midnight and that we went to a vampire-friendly store so I wouldn't be overwhelmed by triggers. No workers came to greet us, no music was playing and everyone in the store was so silent it ended up quieter than any library I had ever been in. I had gotten some clothes to call my own and then we had gone back up to the penthouse with no fanfare. Going out felt weird. Even though I had been wearing earplugs and the sounds around me were all muffled, something about the world was a little too draining. Too many faces even in the dark night, too many blinding lights, too many scents, and too much noise.

As soon as we had gotten back to the penthouse, I passed out for a handful of hours, my body too overwhelmed to stay functioning. And when I woke up again, it was time to go back to the training room.

Both Leander and Ezra had made it their goal to work me to the point of exhaustion. Physically, it was not possible to become an expert in fighting in less than a month. It was impossible and both of them were aware of it, but it didn't stop them from trying to prove that fact wrong. Thankfully –according to the two of them– I adapted and learned fast.

***

It had been yet another day of training, the sun long gone and the darkness of the night covering all of Vancouver. I was lying in bed, over the comforter, with my hair still wet from the shower I had just taken. I had heard Leander walk up the stairs and approach the door, but I didn't acknowledge him much when he opened the door. I couldn't when I had just gotten to the good part of The Odyssey. He had just gotten back home!

"Get up," he said somewhat sharply and I stuttered to a stop and looked up to him. He was leaning against the door frame, looking as delicious as ever, and he appeared amused with me, so I wasn't worried about it. I raised a challenging eyebrow at him and didn't move an inch.

"How about you make me?"

His lips tugged back in a wicked grin, and he bit the corner of his mouth. "As inviting as that sounds–" he started, folding his arms before his chest, and pushing more weight against the doorframe with his shoulder, "we have a nest to hit."

"What?!" I exclaimed, dropping the book to the side, and sitting up to look at him better, all the playfulness draining out of me. "What do you mean, a nest?"

"Kei found a tiny nest. It's in the suburbs, just a house of maybe two elders. It'll be a good test for you," he said with an easy tone.

"So, I'll... okay... uhm–"

"Okay, take a deep breath. It will be the two of us and Annerose. Normally, I would take on a nest like that on my own, but because you'll tag along she will join to make sure you don't get overwhelmed," he cut my babbling off, pushing away from the doorframe, and coming to lean on the edge of the bed. The mattress dipped by either side of my legs, his palms pressing down right by my ankles.

"I just thought–" I bit my words and looked away at the suddenly heated look he was giving me. "I didn't realize we would immediately go after nests."

"Well, you could just sit this one out and have our first job be a rogue. But, where would the fun in that be?" he asked huskily, and I lowered my gaze. Why did he have to be so hot? "Go get dressed, nothing too tight or uncomfortable. You need to be able to fight in it."