44. Keeping Your Promise to the Hot Guy
44
Keeping Your Promise to the Hot Guy
You
You gulp, glancing out of the corner of your eye at Ziros where he just keeps doing push-ups.
The back of his shirt is drenched with sweat, clinging to the muscle of his shoulders. Has he really been at it for six hours?!
That’s not even humanly possible.
Is it?
Right, well actually that probably makes sense, considering Ziros isn’t human. Come to think of it.
But still. He’s been at it a long time.
Like, a really long time.
And…why?
Would it be presumptuous for you to think maybe it’s because he was worried about you? Maybe he was so upset by your capture that he had to do something to distract himself, and that’s why he’s been doing push-ups for six hours nonstop.
Surely that can’t be it.
Can it?
But gosh, that would actually be kinda romantic.
You glance at Ziros again, half-expecting him to turn toward you and smirk. Maybe to tease you.
To do anything to wash that silly thought out of your mind.
But he just keeps going as if he hasn’t even noticed you woke up.
Alrighty then…
“Well?” Elena asks, as if she thinks maybe you forgot her question.
You take a deep breath, blowing it out slowly.
“Yes,” you say at last. “Please show me. After all…” You glance at Ziros again. “I did make him a promise. And I don’t intend to go back on my word.”
Elena smiles. “Of course the Chosen One would be so honorable. Though as he is a demigod, and a notoriously wild one at that, perhaps it would be safer if you kept him under your command.”
You swear you see a muscle in his neck twitch at the word ‘command’, but maybe that’s just your imagination.
It’s probably just a spasm from working out for such an insanely long time.
That’s got to be it.
Because if he was conscious, not in some sort of weird trance, there’s absolutely no way he wouldn’t have just…stopped.
Right?
Like, surely he would have at least turned around to make sure you were okay now that you’re awake again after being knocked unconscious by a monster attack.
But nope.
He just keeps going and going.
You look back at Elena. “A promise is a promise, so please show me.”
“Very well indeed,” she says, getting up with a groan, shaking her head at Ziros. “My knees sure aren’t what they used to be. Ah, to be immortal. Must be nice.”
You laugh nervously, glancing at Ziros, but he still doesn’t look your way.
Is it really okay to leave him doing push-ups like this?
Is he…stuck or something?
But the old sorceress Elena beckons for you to follow her. “This way, child. Let’s go for a walk, shall we?”
“A walk?” You glance out the dark window. “ Now? ”
“You want to know how to set him free, do you not?”
You gulp, glancing back at Ziros again.
At his sculpted arms and tense shoulders, and the push-ups he just keeps doing. Up, down. Up, down. He’s like a machine.
A very handsome machine.
It’s transfixing, watching his muscles move.
Behind you, Elena clears her throat from the other side of the door.
“Right, coming!” you call, hurrying after her.
Eli moves to follow, but Elena holds out her hand to stop him.
“You stay here, boy. Make sure that beast doesn’t try anything funny.”
“ Me ?” He asks, folding his arms. “You serious, Gram? My powers haven’t even awakened yet! What exactly do you expect me to do?”
His grandmother just shrugs. “I’m sure if it comes to that, you’ll figure something out.”
Poor Eli.
With a last glance back from Elena to her now-glowering grandson, you hurry after her down the hall and to the stairs.
She’s surprisingly fast for a woman of her age.
You practically have to jog to keep up.
Or maybe you’re just exceptionally worn-out.
You feel heavy.
Like there’s a lead weight holding you down.
Elena shuts the door after you, giving you an appraising look as you step out into the yellow glow of her front porch light.
With a low chuckle, she says, “You look like you’ve awoken from the dead, dearie.”
“And I feel like it,” you say with a groan.
“You’re young. You’ll recover quick,” she says, starting down the steps.
It’s cool and clear out, a moonlit, high desert night under a star-speckled sky.
Cold enough to make you wish you had a jacket as you follow her down the creaking boardwalk along the dirt street.
It still feels like you’ve gone back in time. Like a horse-drawn wagon or a woman in a hoop skirt might pop out at any moment.
To add to the Old West vibe, there’s even a stray tumbleweed rustling in the breeze where it’s lodged itself against the side of a building.
Well, how about that.
Very Old West indeed.
If only Ziros were out here with you.
Maybe it was a bad idea to follow her.
You shiver as you glance down the darkened streets, lit only by the moon and a few glowing windows. Everyone else in town must already have gone to bed.
But the old woman just keeps walking.
What if this is a trap?
Would Ziros wake from his workout trance in time to save you?
You pat your pocket, glad to find the familiar shape of the sword, now tiny again, in its equally tiny sheath.
It feels like just moments ago that you were fighting a skaddler here, a tornado threatening to tear you apart.
Will they really be okay here after you leave?
Despite being kidnapped, you don’t wish them any ill-will.
Maybe her grandson’s powers will awaken, and he can take care of the town.
That’d be nice.
Then they won’t need you. And you won’t have to feel bad for leaving them.
Finally, at the edge of town, Elena stops.
“Now then,” she says, glancing around like she’s making sure no one is nearby to overhear.
And you can’t help but think she’s about to say something very scandalous.
Maybe she is.
Because she leans in and whispers, “Listen closely, Chosen One. This is what you’re going to do—”
Ziros
As soon as I hear the front door shut, I collapse to the floor, every damn muscle in my body burning.
I could have gone on forever in that damn void.
So why is it here , in the regular world, I can’t?
The air was so much more oppressive there, so much heavier. Every movement felt like lifting a thousand tons.
But here, where things should be easy—I’m weak.
Is it because I nearly died? Or is it because I’m tied to her . To my human.
The longer we’re linked, the less powerful I feel.
I’m sure I just need blood. Now that I’ve tasted her blood, I’ll never be able to get enough.
Maybe that’s it.
That’s gotta be it.
Or what if…
What if I’m becoming human?
Ha!
Nah.
No way.
That can’t be.
Can it?
I mutter a curse, rolling onto my back.
My aching back.
And stare straight up into the glowering eyes of that damn kid. I forgot all about him. Forgot he was even here.
Eli.
That’s what he’s called.
He glares down at me in his dark sweatshirt, arms folded. And I sit up with a groan, cracking my neck.
“What’s your problem, kid?”
“You’re the one with the problem,” he says, continuing to glare like the broody teenager he clearly is. “You’re a coward.”
“Damn it, kid.” I stand up, rolling my shoulders until a little of the aching subsides. “You wanna fight? Is that it?”
He just laughs.
And I don’t want a fight. Not with a kid like this.
I feel old. Tired.
Older than I have in all the millennia I’ve existed.
And I can’t say I like this feeling.
I want to go back to being strong.
To being free.
Though…
As soon as I think that, a pang of loss twists deep inside. It’s that same damn lonely ache that’s tormented me as long as I can remember.
The ache that says I’ll always end up alone.
That I shouldn’t let myself get too attached.
Eli watches me as I move to the window, and I wonder if he knows I’m trying to see where that old bat is taking my human.
I hate how protective I feel.
I hate how much I care.
I shouldn’t.
But I do.
“Just tell her how you feel,” he says, and I don’t know if it’s the damn candor this kid has, or if it’s because he’s the last person I expected to pick up on anything.
Not something like this.
I cough as I turn around, trying to hide my surprise.
“Don’t know what you mean, kid.”
“ Liar .” He leans against the door, blocking me from leaving. Not that he’d be able to stop me. “You know exactly what I mean.”
I’ve gotta hand it to him.
The kid’s got a mean stare.
“Oh, yeah?” I lean back on the far wall, matching his glare. “Care to elaborate?”
“Yep.” He smirks, and he almost looks a little evil when he says, “It’s obvious: You’re in love with her.”