Chapter 7
Chapter Seven
I’ve finished for the day. I only did one eight-hour shift at the café, so I’m practically bouncing down the street. I have energy left to spare, hence the bouncing. With all this extra time on my hands, I hit the gym hard.
I find it hard to work out alone. I’m really missing my expensive fight training. It’s been hard to stop something that has been a huge part of my life since before I can remember.
But as Grandad’s illness got worse, our priorities changed. He couldn’t work, and I had to step up to the plate and pay the bills.
Then there was his funeral to pay for.
After the whole homeless thing kicked in, the expensive one-to-one training became a thing of my past, a lost dream. I guess there have to be sacrifices.
So I settle for the gym classes that are included in my membership on top of doing my normal workout.
Today I did an aerobic boxing class. I can’t help my grin.
The aggression and the grunts going on in that room…
I will never see humans the same. Those ladies are scary.
Talk about secret assassins—I’d rather spar with a shifter.
I’m surprised the combination of punching and dance actually makes me lighter on my feet.
So I’m going to add a few more dance classes to my fitness regime.
I’ll try anything to keep my muscles toned and my body fit.
Working every hour of the day isn’t the same as working out.
I need to keep my body in tip-top shape as I don’t know when I will need it to get out of a hairy situation.
As I head for home, I enjoy the sun on my face.
I’m sure I don’t get enough of it. As a born vampire—well, half vampire—hell, any vampire—we aren’t allergic to sunlight like some films will have you believe.
I pass the park, which isn’t at all creepy during the day.
I take in the surrounding people, humans and creatures, all enjoying the pleasant weather.
There’s a group of kids, teenagers probably around my age, messing around near the trees by the lake.
They laugh, scream and tussle. I half-heartedly smile at their antics.
What would it be like to have that kind of life, that kind of freedom?
Spending time at the park with your mates, without a care, and the only thing you have to do is get home in time for dinner.
I had friends once. I growl and look away.
I don’t like the jealous feeling that spills into my blood like poison.
My friends—I wrinkle my nose with disgust. They’re long gone now; they didn’t want to hang about when I suddenly became so serious.
People are so finicky. The closest friend that I have now is my boss, Tilly, and wow, that’s kind of sad.
I wasn’t intended for an easy life, and that’s okay. I shrug. I’d be bored to tears anyway. My steps continue, less bouncy and more like a shuffle, until the words “Let’s set it on fire next” float on the soft breeze.
Without thinking—perhaps ’cause I’m nosy—I step away from the road and head into the park towards the direction of the lake. The grass crunches underneath my trainers, and I carefully step around some wild daisies. When I get closer to the group, I count nine boys.
My eyes narrow. What I see makes me break into a run.
Having vamp eyesight is a blessing and a curse.
I wish I could unsee what those boys are doing, but I allow my growing horror to morph into a more useful anger.
I’ve been good for so long I need to let off some steam.
I barge my way through the group, putting a bit of power into it as I shoulder check two of them and they go flying.
I’m not messing around. I stick my leg between another lad’s legs and hook his ankle.
I make sure to dig my boot into his Achilles tendon.
He falls to the ground with a surprised wail.
I grab the knife from another boy’s hand, and with a snap of my wrist, I throw the blade at his feet. It lands hard, piercing his trainer. He also drops to the ground, and with a scream that could wake the dead, he rolls around, clutching his foot in agony.
I growl at the other boys who are still on their feet. They must see something in my expression as a couple of them bolt. Two of the boys scrape themselves up off the ground and watch me warily. I turn away, giving them my back as I take in the tree.
“My name is Tru. They won’t hurt you anymore.
” I keep my voice gentle. “Do you want me to call anyone? Ring the fae guild?” I ask even as I nervously swallow.
I hate the idea of getting a guild involved, but this time it’s not my decision.
Yeah, it is the last thing I want to do, but this isn’t about me.
It’s about the pixie.
The pixie that’s taped to the tree with duct tape shakes her head. The tip of one of her pointed ears narrowly misses the blade of a knife as she moves. I guesstimate she is around six inches tall.
Silver tears run from her large sapphire-blue eyes and sparkle against her cheeks. My heart drops to my feet. Something in my soul recognises her pain.
The knives embedded in the tree surrounding her tell me everything I need to know.
One of them is so close it has ripped her trousers, exposing her sapphire-blue skin, and another has caught strands of her dark blue hair.
The livid part of me swells to bursting.
They’ve been using her for target practice—the evil shits.
I remember the words, Let’s set it on fire next. I feel sick. What would have happened to her if I hadn’t come over? Oh God. This is why I keep away from people.
My back is towards the reprobates, but my senses are on high alert, so I hear him approach.
The ground crunches underneath his heavy footsteps, easily giving him away.
He smells of sweat and something rancid.
I wrinkle my nose and tug one of the blades—the one with strands of the pixie’s hair—out of the tree. I turn my head and glare at him.
The blond boy is slightly older than his friends, and his attitude screams ringleader. His build is heavyset, but he’s at least three—I narrow my eyes—maybe four inches shorter than me.
“Come any closer and I’ll kill you,” I snarl.
I don’t look away from him as I flip the knife in my hand. It spins in the air, doing four rotations before I deftly catch it. The balance is off. His eyes widen a fraction, but of course he ignores his instincts and my warning and takes a swaggering step towards me.
The guy is an idiot.
I frown, and my head jerkily tilts to the side.
Huh. He’s also made a liar out of me. I should follow through with my threat of killing him…
but my words were chosen wrongly. I can’t kill him.
Unfortunately, the park is too busy and I wouldn’t get away with it.
Next time I’ll have to be a little bit more careful with the words that I say.
No, I won’t be killing him today.
Even if he does deserve it. Unconcerned, I turn back to the tree.
The way he moves tells me everything that I need to know.
He’s heavy on his feet, untrained, human.
I keep him within my peripheral vision in case he does something else stupid, and I use the shit knife to carefully slice through the tape.
“What are you gonna do? There’s nine of us,” he says boldly.
I smirk. “I think you need a recount.” I nod back at his group of friends. He follows my eyes.
“Five of us,” he splutters. “And you’re one girl. I think we should have some fun with you as well. Always wanted to do a giant.” He finishes with a lick of his lips, and his hands dip towards his belt. Wow, he really is a filthy little beast.
I place myself between the thug—the now-wannabe rapist—and the pixie. “Am I supposed to be frightened? You aren’t the predator here.”
The guy with the knife in his foot takes that moment to wail, and I can’t help my low chuckle.
The blond human kid does a full-body shudder and steps back when he takes in my face, and he looks down at his friend who is rolling around on the ground.
I don’t think he expected me to laugh at him.
He’s so used to people being frightened of him I unnerve him.
“Ooh, I wouldn’t pull the knife out just yet if I were you,” I say helpfully to blade runner. My cheeks hurt as my lips tug into a crazy, bright smile. “I might have nicked something important. You don’t want to bleed out.”
I turn my attention to the other boys. “So is that what you are? Bullies and rapists?” Two guys flinch, so I aim my next words at them.
“You got a mum? Sister?” I raise my eyebrows.
“Girlfriend? How would you like your friend here casually saying that he’s going to rape them?
” I bare my teeth. “What do you think, shall we go grab them? Tie them to this here tree, listen to them cry and scream while your mate here throws knives at them? Or unzips his pants? Does that sound fun to you?”
They can’t meet my eyes.
“She’s not human, so it doesn’t matter,” the blond kid says.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” I shake my head and let my disgust show on my face.
“You trust him, a guy like that, to have your back? What’s going to happen when they find out what you’ve done?
Torturing a pixie? Do you think they’re going to be proud of you?
If I were you, I’d put him down. I’d put him down before he puts you down. ”
I turn back to the pixie and drop my voice for her ears only. I’m conscious of the need to ask her for permission. She’s already been through a traumatic experience, and I don’t want to add to it. “I’m going to cut the final piece of tape. When I do, is it okay to hold you?” She nods.
“Okay.”