You Are So Not a Fallen Angel

Chapter 18

“Where are you going?” Eli demanded as I came down the stairs.

“What are you doing here?” I snapped, peering under the hall chair for my trainers. It was before nine A.M, a time when Elijah was normally still snoring away.

“I asked first,” he pointed out.

“I’m going for a run,” I said, opening the door to the cupboard under the stairs and surveying the mess.

“Why?”

“Why not? It wasn’t illegal last time I looked.” My shoes were behind a box full of mismatched gloves. I wiped the dust of them and slipped them on, pulling the frayed laces tight.

“You haven’t been running for ages.”

“Which means I better get moving if I want to stay in shape, doesn’t it? Why’s this bothering you all of a sudden?”

He moved to block the way to the door.

“Because you’re up to something, and I want to know what it is.” He delivered his line with a smug expression on his face, as if he expected me to fall to my knees and confess all, broken by his amazing powers of deduction.

“Good luck with that.” I reached around him and pulled the door open so it hit him in the back. “I’ll see you later, brother dearest.”

I trotted down the steps and across the garden to the side gate. I hesitated, glancing left down the road that led towards the river. The river path was definitely out of the question. I turned to the right, staring at the park gates. I had run there hundreds of times over the years and nothing bad had ever happened to me, but I still couldn’t make my feet move.

“Get a grip,” I muttered, forcing my feet forwards. One of the reasons I had decided to take up running again was to be able to outrun the bad guys, should another encounter ever arise. It wouldn’t be much use if I couldn’t even get past my front gate.

I jogged up the road and past the park gates. It was the best place to go running after the park, but it would be deserted at this time. I preferred go places where I could be seen for the meanwhile. Not that there were that many people around the centre when I reached it, the people who worked having already left and the tourists having not woken up yet, but it was reassuring all the same.

I wove through the streets, not paying attention to where I was going. I hadn’t been running for weeks and it was hard to maintain a decent rhythm. I eventually slowed to a walk, the pain in my side too much to bear.

I leant against a parked car and tried to get my breath back. I wasn’t as out of shape as I’d feared but I could certainly do better. Just as I was about to set off again, a car door slammed up ahead. I looked around and saw Ivan standing next to a stopped car, his head stuck through the passenger window as if he was talking to the driver. I stayed where I was, frozen to the spot for some reason. Ivan backed away and waved as the car drove off. I stared after it, trying to make who was driving it, but it disappeared around the corner before I could see anything.

“Eliza!” I jumped and turned towards Ivan, trying to look as if I hadn’t been spying on him.

“Hi,” I said brightly, plastering a huge smile on my face.

“What are you doing out so early?” he asked, as if the running shorts and the sweat wasn’t enough to clue him in.

“I was out for a run. What about you?” I looked Ivan up and down. He had the unmistakable look of someone who had been up all night: red hooded eyes, pasty skin, dishevelled clothes and a general air of wanting to sleep for several days.