Chapter 4 Heart
HEART
Nearly a week of Rin’s new life as a trainee for the Alpha Team, and she was finally getting the hang of it.
Sweat dripped from her temples and ran down her back, her shirt sticking to her skin.
"Fuck! Go lower!" Keir called, dodging her swinging leg with a hair’s breadth of space.
"I said to your left," Rin retorted.
Keir dodged another one of her kicks. "My left, not yours."
Rin rolled her eyes. She kicked out again and stumbled. Her vision swam for a moment, and she blinked hard to focus.
She lifted her shirt to wipe her face. The heat pressed in—was it warmer than usual, or just her? She fanned her face, letting her shirt fall back into place, as she padded across the mats to the small benches at the side of the training room. She dug through her bag for a water bottle.
"I need a minute," she called, sitting heavily and taking a long drink.
When she was done, she pressed the plastic to her face, seeking any coolness she could find. Her skin was flushed and sticky with sweat.
"Maybe you need more than a minute." The sound of Keir’s voice made her crack open an eyelid. He stood right in front of her, concern etched into his brow. His skin was coated with sweat like hers.
She shook her head. "I’m fine, just catching my breath."
Keir sat on the bench beside her. "Do you need a doctor?" His voice was hesitant.
"Dammit, Keir," Rin growled. "I said, I’m fine. I don’t need to be babied." She knew this was coming—ever since the episode a few days ago, while pushing to meet her training hours.
Keir had been the one to find her, passed out on the ground. She had been forced to tell him, and now, whenever her breathing so much as hitched, he looked two seconds away from a panic attack.
He needed someone else to direct all that worry toward. She wasn’t interested.
"Sorry. I’m just worried, that’s all. It’s not every day you meet someone with Nova in their heart."
At her narrowed eyes, he backed off. "Alright, message received. I won’t talk about it again. In fact, if I see you struggling for breath, passed out on the floor, I’ll even ignore you. How does that sound?"
"Dick," Rin muttered. But the word had no heat.
For all her complaining, she actually didn’t mind the man.
He had been pretty welcoming so far, helping her navigate the Alpha Team, when all the other trainees were completely radio-silent, off on missions, and when they did see her, they would scurry off.
The episode a few days ago had only made it worse.
Now, everyone knew how odd she was. How dangerous she might be.
"You know, we’re having a little party tomorrow night to celebrate the first week.
All teams are going. Jasver, a fourth year on Beta Team, will probably be there.
I hooked up with him a couple of times last year, but he hasn’t returned my calls.
I need someone to help me make him jealous," Keir prodded. "Want to come?"
Rin thought about it. She was set to see Lucien over the weekend. The last thing she’d need was to show up hungover. But…
"Okay," Rin said. "But I’m not kissing you." She stared him down, expressionless. "Don’t get any ideas."
Keir merely held a hand to his heart in feigned indignation. "I’m wounded." He stood and walked back to the mats.
She wasn’t interested. To be fair, she wondered if she would ever feel interested in anyone. She wasn’t wired for it.
Her traitorous mind recalled last night… How she had fallen asleep with her phone pressed to her ear, listening to Kit speak in that sweet, rumbly voice he only used with her.
She missed him already. And it hadn’t even been a full week.
A series of loud thumps made her look up from her daze. She found Keir standing before one of the sleek, black punching bags, pummeling it. That was what she should be doing. Not resting. She didn’t have time to take things slow anymore.
Rin huffed a breath, blowing sweat-damp strands of her white hair away from her face as she stood and headed toward the mats.
The ringing in her ears faded, but her head still felt fuzzy—too heavy to hold up. All she wanted was to clock in these training hours, get something warm to eat, take a cool shower, and fall into bed.
"Ready?" Keir asked, turning away from the punching bag and reclaiming his stance on the mats, one foot in front of the other and his hands in loose fists before his midsection.
She didn’t miss the way his eyes fell to her chest, where her white shirt stuck to her skin with sweat. Even after less than a week of knowing him, she knew it wasn’t about her specifically.
Keir flirted with anything that breathed. She wasn’t flattered.
She made a mental note to kill his watchful habits and hopes now, before they bloomed. And quickly.
A plan formed.
She knew someone else who had the same impish and energetic nature.
"About tomorrow?" Rin started. "Is it okay if I bring a friend?"
Keir’s brows furrowed. "I guess, yeah."
Rin used his moment of distraction to her advantage, quickly jabbing out with her right fist in a swift punch.
As they continued to train, she found her thoughts drifting away… To a certain blonde-haired Soul Searcher.
Rin’s heeled boots crunched over fallen leaves as she and Xara walked side by side in the dark forest. Music thumped in the distance, a steady call of cheers and clamor of voices that sounded far louder in the otherwise silent night.
The familiar tin border was just up ahead. Rin found her eyes searching in the darkness between trees, hoping to find a flash of white or the gleaming blade of a scythe.
"You’d better pay me back for this, Rin," Xara huffed. "I’d much prefer to be back at the dorms with a bottle of wine."
"I know. Me too," Rin revealed. "At least we can meet people?" Her face scrunched up as she said it. She didn’t want to meet people. But it seemed to be enough for the taller Hunter trainee, for she smiled and hooked her arm through Rin’s, tugging her along.
Rin and Xara rounded the corner of a thick grouping of trees, right on the outskirts of the border of Nova Zone 21.
For a late summer night, it was chilly. She shivered, rubbing her hands over her exposed arms. Her top was crafted of flowing dark silk that fell off her shoulders, paired with a short black skirt and her favorite calf-length heeled boots.
Great for a club—not so much the forest.
Ahead, a large warehouse loomed. The concrete sides of the building were crumbling, exposing wire and beams. The effect left the entire inside exposed.
Multi-leveled and dark grey, splashes of neon strobe lights flashed across the surface, making it appear dark and sinfully entrancing.
On each level, bodies danced and mingled, like ants from this distance.
As Rin and Xara drew nearer, the bass of the music thumped through her very bones, building her up, up, up, and making a smile break free on her red lips.
Cars were parked haphazardly on the dead grass, tailgates opened, and couples lounged under blankets with cheap plastic cups in hand.
Her eyes found a trio perched on the back of a pickup, obviously… engaged. Her cheeks warmed as she watched the girl, nestled between the two guys, throw her head back as one of them nuzzled against her neck, while the other’s arm flexed, disappearing under the blanket draped over their laps.
"What? Like you’ve never been in a sandwich like that?" Xara teased, tugging on Rin’s arm.
Rin tripped over a few large pieces of rock in the grass, teetering in her heeled boots. "Ah—n-no," she managed.
Definitely not. She hadn’t even been with one guy—let alone two. But she didn’t want to tell Xara that.
Xara nearly stopped in her tracks, but only at Rin’s insistence did they keep walking. She wanted to get away from the parked cars and roving hands. It was making something in her stomach twinge uncomfortably.
Soon, they were bathed in neon.
Blue and red and purple lights cascaded over everyone, turning even the meekest into a sinner.
It was all she had ever wanted. To disappear among the crowd. Blend in and fade away.
The only place she could ever fade blissfully was among the masses. The only time she could ever forget was when too loud music thundered in her ears and rattled her skull.
And the only place she could ever exist was when everything was too loud, and she couldn’t hear her thoughts over the telltale roar of life.
The concrete warehouse enveloped them. Their steps echoed, mingling with the other bodies crammed inside.
The inside had clearly been renovated.
The center was hollowed out, tall concrete pillars holding up the roof, and an exposed set of stairs along the far wall, stone chipped and crumbling. A crude bar was set along one wall, made of rusted bits of tin and metal. Strobing lights were fixed to the ceiling, flashing randomly.
Here, everyone was forced to be the same under the constant glow of neon.
Xara’s hand tightened on her arm. "Did you say your friend’s name was Keir?" Xara had to yell to be heard over the music.
Rin nodded, eyes wide as she leaned close to say, "He said he’d meet us by the… rise."
At least, that was what his text had said.
"What rise?" Xara looked around.
Rin scanned the space, squinting as the lights burned her eyes and played tricks on her.
Something heavy draped over Rin’s shoulders. She stiffened.
"What’s a pretty thing like you doing here alone?" a masculine voice crooned, far too close to her ear.
With the corners of her lips tipped downward, Rin turned, finding a tall man standing at her side, one arm thrown casually around her shoulder, pulling her close to him, as if they were friends.
"Can I help you?" Rin arched a brow, eyeing his arm.
"You certainly can, beautiful. Want to get a drink?"
Rin sighed and stepped out from under the man’s arm. His dark brown hair was dyed a deep blue at the tips, falling around his temples and casting shadows on his skin.