Running with Rogues

CHAPTER 31 - KITH AND KIN

"Eva?"

"Go to hell," I mumbled into my pillow.

A moment's silence, and then I felt the pillow beneath my head move. "Eva. Hey. You've got work in an hour."

"Then I'll get up in an hour," I told him matter-of-factly. I was determined to keep my eyes closed, because opening them meant I was awake, and that just didn't appeal.

Liam didn't give up easy. I'd give him that. He prodded me in the ribs, and then he kept prodding until I groaned. "And skip your run?"

Oh dear. There'd be no easy escape from this conversation. Relenting, I opened my eyes a crack - just far enough to glower at the sleepy, tousled boy sharing my bed. He didn't look like he was thrilled to be awake, either, so I decided to stow the grumpiness for the time being.

We were close. I could see the faint stubble on his cheeks and count every freckle on that sun-kissed skin. My head was still resting on his arm, which must have been numb at the very least, but he didn't seem to care.

"I can't go running. They're going to think it's weird," I said miserably.

I'd actually bothered to check with Hannah at the lodge, and her answer had been far from positive. Pack females didn't, as a rule, do any exercise. It shouldn't have been a big deal, but the run had been part of my morning routine for as long as I could remember. I didn't feel right when I missed it.

"If you're alone, yeah," Liam said, "but it'll be okay if I take you. Mated couples do that shit all the time. Trust me."

They ... did? Hardly daring to hope, I rolled onto my stomach and rested my weight on my elbows so I could look at him properly. "You've got to work later. You'll be tired..."

"I'll take you," he repeated steadily. "Every morning if I have to."

I made a point of avoiding his eyes because I couldn't cope when he was being nice to me. "Mm. We'll see about that. Can't have you falling asleep on duty, can we?"

He sat up in bed and reached for his pills. I'd left them on the dresser when I'd unpacked our stuff, but I'd forgotten to leave him any water, so he had to dry-swallow it. "It's cute that you're worried, Eva, but I'm fine."

He said he was fine a lot, and I'd stopped believing him when we were about twelve. I regarded him with one eyebrow cocked. "Do you swear?"

"Cross my heart and hope to die."

"Okay then. Let's go running."

***

The sun was rising over the lake, colouring it pink and yellow and every shade in between. It was five in the morning, and the only people around were the fighters heading out to patrol. We caught a ride on their ancient shuttle bus after some sweet-talking on my part.

They dropped us right at the border, and then they disappeared off into the undergrowth to start the patrol, yawning with every other breath. We watched them go with our hands stuffed into our pockets and our breaths misting in the morning air.

We were nearly standing on the bone fence. Here, it was barely more than a scattering of ribs and vertebrae. Hard to spot if it weren't for the stench of old bones and flockie piss.

I kicked at the ground beside the line, wondering why the packs thought druid customs were appropriate for the twenty-first century. There was no way humans didn't stumble across these places from time to time - it was no wonder the locals were afraid of the woods.

"Hey, Eva," Liam said. "Wanna bone?"

I turned around slowly. My eyebrows shot upwards at a rate of knots. He was crouching on the ground and holding up what looked like a deer femur, cracked and yellow with age. The grin splitting his face was full of the goofy, juvenile self-satisfaction which happened to infuriate me.