Take Courage, My Heart

Chapter Twenty-Eight

With the first hint of sunlight came a knock on our door. We had relocated to bed hours ago but were still naked under the covers. Leander's hands were all over me, trailing all sorts of patterns on my back as I occasionally dozed off.

Ezra popped his head in as soon as Leander called out to him and I looked up from over my shoulder.

"Frankie will be here in a few hours. I figured we could train until then," he said and Leander stretched himself against me.

"Yeah, you two go ahead. I'll join you in a little bit," Leander replied, nudging me upright.

I waited for Ezra to get out before I got up and went to quickly shower. I would soon get sweaty again, but I'd rather not spar with Ezra while covered in sweat and sex. When I exited the en suite bathroom, Leander was already gone. I didn't think about it too much, instead getting dressed in sportswear and going down and outside to the open yard between the cabin and the lake.

Ezra already had his hands wrapped and he was warming up and stretching his muscles as I wrapped my own hands. It had taken a few tries but at this point, I could wrap myself almost as good as when Annerose did it.

"Have you heard from Annerose yet?" I asked Ezra.

"She sent a text when she reached Rapid City, but her phone either died or shut off since. I'm not worried about her, she can handle herself," he replied standing upright and smiling at me.

I wasn't worried either per se. This was Annerose. She could more than just handle herself. But if Nadia was closer to Vincent as we had previously thought we could have sent her up against multiple elders. Even if she didn't engage with them, the chances of getting spotted and captured or killed were present.

"The vampire who turned you is four hundred years old?" I asked instead of pressing on about Annerose. She would contact us whenever she was able to.

"Yeah, she's been lowkey for centuries now. Her name and looks are somewhat of a legend among vampires. Everyone knows about her."

"She's not a fighter though. How did she get her reputation?" I asked finishing up with my hands and starting to stretch my muscles.

"She's well-liked because she helps guide a lot of young vamps and she's fucking hot and quite successful. Her partners tend to be vampires but she doesn't discriminate based on gender," he answered, huffing out with amusement and shaking his head. "If Leander hadn't found Keisuke, then Frankie would have. She's always going around searching areas with lots of vampires or areas close to destroyed nests, looking for new vampires to help."

"Do you think she will help find the auction?" I hummed while popping my neck once.

Ezra clicked his tongue and exhaled. He looked uncertain. Worried. I came to the realization that he hadn't told Frankie what we wanted her help with.

"Acting as an interested party for the auction might ruin her reputation... She's not the human-saving good guy Leander makes himself out to be. She doesn't give a shit about humans. So, there won't be any suspicions about her being a threat to the auction. But aligning yourself with vampires like that... I don't know how willing she will be. Especially now that we can't send her in with Leander," he explained.

The whole world knew who Leander was now. What his name was. What he looked like. If he went with Frankie, her cover would immediately get blown. And if she went alone she would be in danger.

"We'll talk about it later, with her and Leander and Kei. Let's start."

***

Some hours later I was showering, once again. I had taken a shot of blood before coming up here to heal a broken bone that I had broken while fighting with Ezra. I had been more at fault than him, throwing my entire weight on that arm when he pushed me back and then breaking it.