Reborn Deceit

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Rose

Can we talk?

Rose set her cell phone down on her lap, staring down at the screen and waiting for a reply. It was Friday afternoon so more than likely Carter was working. But, he would be taking lunch break soon. That was the mantra that chanted through her head for the next few minutes.

Her phone buzzed in her lap, a text from Carter flashing across the screen. Anxiety built up in her as she clicked on the message.

Sure. Park in an hour?

Rose smiled at her phone, grateful that no one was around to see her look like a complete idiot.

See you then!

Carter was giving her a second chance. She couldn't screw this up.

Rose quickly realized that she was not going to be able to sit around her apartment for an hour without going crazy. So she decided to do something that she never thought she would ever do. She put on a pair of leggings and tank top, tied up her sneakers, and slipped her phone into the exercise arm band that Mira had gifted her. In a desperate attempt to burn off her unwanted energy, Rose exited her apartment and decided to go for a run.

Rose was quickly beginning to surprise herself. Damian hadn't lied when he said her stamina would build quickly. In just a week she was running an hour and a half and she didn't collapse to the ground when she was finished. And now she found herself going for a run, willingly, on her day off from training.

Rose pushed herself, planning out a route that would take an hour to run, and would end at the park where she was to meet Carter. After thirty minutes at her fast pace, her legs burned and sweat coated her whole body, despite the early November air floating around her.

November. She had known Mira, Damian, Felix, and Caius for a month, and in that month they had turned her life on its end. And Damian...

Rose shook herself from her thoughts. She couldn't think about him now.

Pushing herself even harder, Rose focused only on the burning in her legs and chest, and the music blaring from her headphones. She was nearly done with her run. She had just rounded the last corner and the park had come into view, when a body stepped into her path.

Stumbling to a halt, Rose nearly tripped over her own feet and fell on the concrete. Finding her footing just in time to avoid a face dive into the sidewalk, she was about to curse the soul who dare ruin her run and nearly kill her, when her eyes landed on a pair of black eyes. The little air she had left from her sprint left her lungs in one big breath.

"Hello again, Princess."

Rose ignored his nickname as she stared at Luca. He had a lit cigarette between his pointer and middle fingers, and she wondered why someone would ever start that nasty habit. She might have understood if he was a Demon and used the smoke to cover the scent of evil and darkness. But he wasn't. At least not yet.

That was another thing Rose had asked Mira about. Why did that Demon she encountered smell so bad? And why did it walk weird and act like it was on the verge of death? Mira said it was a simple side effect of choosing evil over good. While at first the dark magic gave a measure of power that was above all else, eventually the extra magic, and usually the overuse of that magic, quickly deteriorated the being. The scent, the weakness, and the overall deterioration, increased with magic use. The more power a Demon harnessed, the worse they got.