An Oath In Blood (Book #3)

Chapter 26: Destined To Die

CORVINA HAWKE

My feet pounded against the treadmill, sweat trickling from the back of my neck, disappearing into my shirt. Eyes fixed on the view from the glass floor-to-ceiling window of the gym on the fourth floor, I ran like my life depended on it. It didn't. There was no danger chasing me. There was no shadow haunting me. But I needed to tire my heart out. I needed it to calm the fuck down because it had been raging in my chest for the past week.

Warren was gone. But I could still hear his voice whenever I was alone in my room. Warren was gone. But I still looked for him in the crowd as I walked down the streets of NYC. Warren was gone. But I still thought of his hand on my waist, the proximity of his body to mine and his blue eyes boring into mine. Warren was gone. But he was still here.

And it was driving me to insanity.

My breaths came out in short bursts of air as my lungs screeched, begging for me to stop. The muscles in my legs flexed, burning with the impact of my sprint. A drop of sweat fell into my eye, making me close it, wincing at the burn it inspired. Blinking away the sweat, I opened my eyes and grabbed onto the handles of the treadmill, heaving myself up and landing on the sides.

I panted, staring at the numbers on the screen in front of me. They made no sense, my brain having shut down from the run. Or maybe it was too busy keeping my body alive after the torture I had put myself through. I had been sprinting non-stop for the past forty-five minutes. I'd broken my last record, but the thought didn't bring with it the satisfaction it usually did.

If Warren leaving wasn't bad enough, Seb had to leave for college a few days later. The only good thing was that my parents were still didn't know that he had been staying with me. Lord knew they would flip their shit if they found out.

I sighed, decreasing the speed of the treadmill to go through my cooldown. I stretched my arms over my head, relishing in the feeling of my muscles buzzing from the sprint. As I slowly got down from the high, wiping my face with my towel, I glimpsed around the gym.

I wasn't a fan of public gyms but this evening was an exception. Trish and Lily were out on a mission they had been assigned by the Big Guy and the penthouse was too quiet without the laughter and chatter of my brother. So, I had dragged my ass to the nearest gym I could find. It was in the wealthier parts of town and it showed in the shiny, advanced equipment.

The interior was a mixture of dark navy blue and black. Mirrors lined one side of the room, floor-to-ceiling windows lined the other. To my right was the dumbbell rack and the weights and behind me were an array of machines. To my left was an empty space with bars and mats for people to workout away from the crowd. There was a juice bar down the hall and a sauna right across the bar. It was a nice place but I wasn't a fan of people and hence, it didn't appease to me as much as it should have.

My attention was pulled to the treadmill beside me, breaking my trail of thoughts. A blonde woman climbed on it, dressed in a purple workout set that made her look like an ice cream. She turned her face to the front and I paused, almost tripping over my step. I recognized her. She was the woman Warren had been talking to that night at the gala. She was the woman I had dragged him away from as if I was a crazy, jealous woman.

Before I could jump off the treadmill and make a run for it, the woman's eyes met mine. She did a double-take and when her gaze settled on me the second time, it narrowed with amusement and annoyance.

"You." She spat with the intensity of a woman who had been scorched by someone. And in this case, that someone happened to be me.

"I-I am just leaving." I stammered, not finding the bravado that had seeped through my veins that night when I had told her to stay away from my date.