Chapter 13
Chapter thirteen
Annalise
“Mattey. Psst Mattey. Mattey, WAKE UP!”
UGH, my morning running alarm went off two minutes ago, but I can't turn it off because I am currently trapped in the arms and legs of my ogre of a best friend. Did I mention he sleeps like the dead?
I try—again—to free my arms. If I could just get one loose, I could reach my phone to at least turn the alarm off, but his grip is like a steel vise. My life is apparently destined to end in a cuddle-related accident with my best friend.
Out of options, I carefully headbutt him in the chest like a giraffe.
“It's too early to get up, Lee,” he whines. “Don't let the terrorists win.”
“Oh my gods, you’re the terrorist!” I laugh. “My phone is screaming at me, and I’m going to lose my running streak because you’re a human straitjacket!”
He snorts into my hair. “You’re welcome. Premium comfort package. No refunds.”
“Mattey, I swear—if you don’t let me go in the next ten seconds, I’m biting you.”
One of his eyes cracks open. “Kinky threats before coffee? Dangerous game, Lee.”
I let out an exaggerated groan. “Grooossss. I hate you.”
“Nah, you love me,” he mutters before finally rolling over and letting me up.
I grab my phone and turn off the alarm, four missed snoozes, and glare at him while I pull my hair into a ponytail and walk into the bathroom to change.
“Want me to come with you this morning?” He calls out.
“Thanks, but I think I need a solo run, if that’s ok?”
If he responded, I don’t hear it over the running water, and by the time I come out, he’s quiet again. For a second, I think he’s fallen back asleep, but then his voice comes, low and serious this time.
“Hey, Lee?”
I pause, hand on the doorknob. “Yeah?”
“Don’t let what happened last night mess with your head, okay? You’re incredible, and anyone who doesn’t take the time to see that doesn’t deserve you.”
The words hit harder than I expected. I swallow the lump in my throat and turn so he can’t see my face.
“Yeah,” I say, forcing a light laugh. “You’re only saying sweet things, so I don’t kick you out of my bed.”
“Obviously,” he says, and I can hear the smile in his voice. “Go on, my little badass. Run it all out. I’ll text Sasha, and we’ll pick up breakfast and coffee and meet you back here.”
“Deal.”
I shut the door behind me, the chill of the hallway wrapping around me like a reminder that the world outside this room isn’t as safe as it feels when I’m with him.
But that’s the thing about Mattey, he’s always made me feel like I can take on anything in my path, even when I’m not sure I want to.
The brisk morning air bites at my skin and shocks my lungs the second I step outside.
The sky’s already turning that soft gray-blue of almost-dawn since I got out a little later than normal, but the courtyard lamps still hum faintly behind me as I turn on my running headlamp and decide to take the path I did last week in reverse so I can avoid running through the courtyard when everyone else is headed to breakfast.
The first few steps are rougher than normal—my body’s awake, but my head isn’t in it yet. The rhythm of my shoes against the pavement fills the silence, and for a while, it’s just that. My heartbeat. My breath.
But it doesn’t take long for my brain to go into overdrive.
Lucas. Aiden.
Their names slip in like poison. I can almost hear the whispering and the laughter from last night. And that makes me remember my dad’s cruel laugh when he’d finally break me and make me cry.
My stomach tightens, and for half a second, I consider turning around and crawling back into bed, pretending the world doesn’t exist.
But I shake my head, trying to force the negative thoughts away, and pick up my pace.
They’re trying to steal too much from me, my peace, my confidence, my damn reputation. But I will not be the girl I was in South Hollow. I’m going to do the same thing I always do—make myself be okay until I really can be.
They don’t get to take anything from me.
They don’t get to win.
And they sure as hell don’t get to consume another minute of my favorite part of the gods damned day. My runs are for me, and I refuse to let them ruin this one.
I stop, pull out my phone and headphones, and hit play on “Flowers” by Miley Cyrus because we don’t need stupid men.
Right as the tempo picks up, the trail starts to climb, winding up toward the Vanguard building, the world around me stretches open with possibilities.
The air smells faintly of dew and pine and a distant tang of smoke, because somewhere beyond those hills, the dragons await.
Just thinking about it sends a shiver down my spine with anticipation. What if, eight months from now, one of them could be mine? Bonded. Unbreakable. Connected in a way people spew on about legends and write whole damn songs about.
That’s it. It’s decided.
No rumors, whispers, or opinions of people I don’t give a flying shit about can get in the way of me making a future for myself. I won’t let it. Whether it is with dragons or on the front lines, I deserve more, and I’m going to fight to have everything.
I push harder, lungs burning now, but embracing the confidence my runner's high is giving me. The sun is starting to peek over the horizon, the first streaks of gold cutting across the academy rooftops and glinting off the spires of the east tower. I let myself smile.
Today’s not about Lucas or Aiden or any of the people who’ve decided they know who I am.
Today’s about me.
And the dragons.
When I get back to the barracks, my lungs are on fire from pushing myself so hard, but the fire inside me has shifted from anxiety to something lighter and stronger: determination. I tuck my headphones back into my pocket and climb the stairs to my room.