Bloodlust (The Blood Series #1)

Chapter 34

  I'm at the Blood Manor. No matter how much I hate it I seem to find myself here quite often. Everyone else is doing something important but I'm just here being as usual completely unhelpful. Because I'm not a Blood I'm not allowed in their private library or treasure room so I'm cooped up in their basement and try not to think about all the horrible things that must have happened here. My inner Seer is on fire and I keep receiving horrible visions of this room's past. Thankfully, the images come with such force that I don't recognize anyone but it's still unsettling.

One part of their basement floor is a high-class gym. I have found my safe haven there, in the land of weightlifting, bodybuilding and fitness, oddly enough, since I'm not really an athlete. But this is the one part of the house that seems dead silent and where I probably won't run into Mr or Mrs Blood. They are freaking scary and I don't want to face them alone. It's bad enough to have to deal with them at all.

I'm laying on the leg press, doing a few rounds every so often when I get bored. I stare at the roof and for once try to see the future. We could use all the help we can get with this idiotic plan that will not only put our entire town in danger but will also possibly end us up in a place that has been described as the worst place there is. Not that I'm worried. Not even the slightest. What could possibly go wrong with a solid plan like ours?

"Thinking about becoming a bodybuilder?"

Nathan has found me. I wonder how long he had to look. The gym isn't exactly the first place I'd go look for myself and I'm guessing it wasn't his either. I entertain the thought of him going through this huge house twice before finally coming to check the gym with his very last breath.

"How's the hellish search going?" I ask without taking my eyes off the roof.

"Not great. There is an abundance of stories about Hell, about creatures that live there and then some scary bedtime stories for naughty children. But there surprisingly enough isn't a lot of information on to how to get to the perdition. It's almost as if people aren't usually trying to open the gates of Hell but to close them. Crazy, I know. We did find a book after book about keeping the gates of Hell closed. Some people seem to not like it when sixteen stories high demons run around freely in their neighborhood, on their lawns, eating their children.

"Imagine that", I mutter as I roll away from the leg press and look for something else to bury myself in. I notice a punching bag and go to it. I have no idea what I'm doing with it but what I do know is that it freaking hurts when I hit it.

Nathan grabs my wrist to stop me. "Stop, you'll only hurt yourself if you keep that up."

"But I want to do this", I say sounding like a two-year-old. I can't really tell why but I'm kind of pissed off a the moment and I would love to be able to throw some punches. Even if it's at a lifeless punching bag. I need to get all this anger and frustration out of my system and what's a better way to do that than boxing? Sure, there might have been studies that would imply that a violent physical reaction to bad news doesn't really help you cope with the pain and disappointment but hey, scientists have been proven wrong before, too.

"Then use these", he says and gets me a pair of boxing gloves. They are a bit too big but I fasten the Velcro tape very tight around my wrists so it shouldn't bother me. I start to hit the punching bag again, repeatedly, while Nathan tries to instruct me on how to hit better and hurt my hand less while doing it. Eventually he makes me take the gloves off as he twists my hand to the right angle for hitting.

Nathan turns to stand behind me and holds my arm as he shows me how to throw a right straight. I can feel my breath hitching by his touch but refuse to react to it. I still feel very iffy about it all and need time to think about things. But it's hard to remember all that when my skin is tingling at his touch. I forcefully keep my eyes on the punching bag so I'll get something done.

"Now just release it. No, don't just use the arm to deliver the punch, use your entire body, you'll get more force into it that way", he explains and puts his hands on my hips. Is he making me suffer on purpose? I want nothing more than to turn around and kiss him but I still feel weird that he invited his ex to the strategy meeting and didn't mention about it to me beforehand. Do guys not get that meeting the ex is a big deal? Is that just a girls thing to worry so much about exes and such?

I pull my arm back and enjoy hearing the loud thud when my fist connects with the punching back.

Nathan lets out a surprised sound. I guess he didn't expect me to have that much power in my punch. Well, anger can do wonders to your powers, I can tell you that much. "Easy, you don't want to break your wrist", he murmurs.

"Maybe I do", I say a little snidely. I don't mean it to but my tone sounds quite venomous, even in my own ears.

Nathan finally catches on to my bad mood or by the very least decides that it's time to address it. "Hey, are you okay?" he asks but I don't answer. He waits for a while before casting me a curious look. I know he means well but his question annoys me even further. He's always asking if I'm okay like I'm some kind of a fragile doll. It's just another reminder of how I'm not suited for his world and possibly may never be.

"Haley?" he pressures me when it gets obvious that I'm not going to answer him.

"I'm fine", I say through gritted teeth and to avoid the subject I pull away from him. I throw the boxing gloves back to the shelf I saw Nathan taking them and just breathe for a while. I pretend not to notice the concerned look he casts on my way.

After realizing that I'm not going to open up to him he seems to shake off his concerns and asks: "Do you want to keep going? We could try sparring next."

I figure it's the best way to avoid talking to him so I agree. Now he puts on the gloves and I hit his protected hands with the punches he just showed me how to throw. I try to lose myself in the movement but concentrating is even harder when I have to see his beautiful yet worried face all the time. But all in all, the sparring, it's kind of exciting. I clear my head and only focus on throwing punches just the right way. I've never been that into martial arts but this seems pretty fun, actually.

"Who's Audrey?" I finally ask after we've been moving in a circle for a few minutes.

"The Wicked Witch of the West", Nathan replies.

I narrow my eyes at his light tone. "She didn't seem that green to me", I say and throw a punch nowhere near the gloves. It's more like aimed at his head but being who he is he easily dodges it but it does earn me a surprised glance from him.

"No, but I can guarantee that her heart is black like tar. If she even has one."

"So she broke your heart?" I blurt out. Nathan raises his eye brows at me, clearly surprised at my question. I seem to have lost my ability to speak with discretion. I didn't mean to just blurt it out like that, I was going to inconspicuously pry until I knew if I was the rebound girl or not but my stupid brain decided to forget all social norms and just say what I was thinking about out loud.

Thanks a bunch, brain, I think when I stare at Nathan who stares right back at me. He's probably wondering whether some evil alien has taken over my body and made me incredibly bitchy. I know I am wondering about that. His ex being here shouldn't be so horrible. Nathan and I haven't even defined if we are a couple or not. I don't have the right to be jealous of him. I shouldn't care less if this is the first time he sees Audrey after years of pining after her. Or if this is the day he'll realize that he's still in love with her and will drop everything, including me, to carry her off to the sunset.

And of course just then Audrey's voice calls out: "Nate, I've got something."

"She's calling for you. You should probably go", I say mockingly.

The strangest smile forms on his face when he starts connecting all the dots. "Haley, are you... are you jealous?" he asks incredulously as if jealousy is completely unheard of around here. Did it really take him that long to figure out that his ex hanging around here would be kind of weird for me?

"No", I snap but that only makes his smile grow.

"Who woulda thunk it? Haley Roberts is jealous of me", he says with an amused look on his face and wraps his arms around me. I grimace at his words and struggle to break free from his grip.

"Am not", I try to deny it. Of course I'm jealous. His ex looks like a freaking Victoria's Secret Angel and she seems to know all about his world, too. And her name, Audrey? It sounds like a melody, a song with tiny bells jingling. Nathan and Audrey, they fit together. They just look right together whereas anyone can see that in our relationship Nathan is the looker. That never bothered me before but now all my old problems with insecurity seem to resurface and it's driving me crazy.

I know I shouldn't care if his ex is perfect for him. After all, they did break up so there must have been something wrong with their relationship. Unless their breakup was caused by a misunderstanding like in every romantic movie ever? What if they just can't see how perfect they are to each other and Nathan and I are just defying fate with our whatever it is that we are doing here? Oh God, what if I'm the Edgar Linton in this love story?

Nathan interrupts my thoughts that have run off like a pack of wild dogs as he smiles at me teasingly. "Are too. But you shouldn't be. I'm yours", he says confidently.

I blush to the shade of scarlet and can't think of anything to say. How is it so easy for him to just blurt out things like that? To me, it was difficult enough to admit to Andrea that I'm falling for him. And there he goes, just dropping little bomb shells like that, completely sure of himself and of me. How does he do it?

He chuckles at my bedazzlement and kisses me on my forehead. "I'll see you later, babe."