Page 22

Chapter twenty-two

Raegan

Three short beeps jump the treadmill from walking to jogging, and I hurry to adjust to the speed.

“How’s that?” Dane checks in with me, his amber gaze scrutinizing me for a sign that it’s too much.

It’s been two days since I overdid it with my gift, and Aiden finally gave me the green light to get back to training.

Dane and Kellan both argued for me to take another day off, but thankfully, Aiden and Jack sided with me.

We don’t have time to waste.

Charles is coming for us whether we’re ready or not.

“Slow,” I tell him, even though my tied hair swings like a pendulum behind me with every step.

“I can go faster.”

Dane leans on his arms on the front of the equipment, releasing a small huff.

“It’s not a race, babe. Running the fastest on this thing isn’t what’s going to give you the endurance Jack’s talking about. Slow and steady.”

“I don’t think he meant this slow, either. It’s more work holding myself back right now than if I were to jog at a normal speed.”

He laughs softly and shakes his head, shifting himself upright.

“ One higher, then. Let’s see how you do with that for some time before we make any more adjustments.”

The machine beeps when he increases the speed for me, and I correct my pace to match.

It’s just past a relaxed jog for me, which is exactly what I want.

If I’m not pushing myself at least a little, then I don’t feel like I’m doing it right.

Dane waits for my quick nod that I’m okay before he pats the bar.

“I’ll be back. Everyone else is showing up now, so I need to get them set up.”

I wave him off and focus back on my screen which shows how far I’ve gone and my current speed.

I’m itching to increase it now that Dane’s not here.

According to Jackson, he thinks my gift has jumped in strength after what happened during the GE agent…

cleanup. Before I try using my gift to that degree again, I’m under strict orders to build up my strength and stamina.

Dane’s keeping track of my current baseline and will be sending the end-of-day and start-of-day numbers to Jackson for review.

I’m not to test out the full strength of my gift until he says I’m ready.

With nothing else to do, my mind wanders to the news Aiden had shared with us over breakfast. He’d had cameras and motion sensors installed at Old Red to keep an eye on things since the last time we’d been there and were ambushed by Gordon and GE goons.

Last night, he got an alert and found Vera snooping around.

Considering the cuffs are with us, I can’t imagine what else she might have returned there for.

She didn't take anything we could see, but she disappeared into the room she’d stayed in where there wasn’t a camera. Maybe she forgot something ?

Her look of shock and confusion when Dane dove between her and the knives flashes to mind. Did she retreat because of it? Or had she already accomplished what she came here to do? Does that moment have anything to do with her returning to Old Red? She’d given me the cuffs back, too. Why?

I can’t figure her out. First, she wants to kill me and get Dane. But then she helped us by giving me the cuffs, she’s had multiple opportunities to kill me and didn’t, and she called the GE agents back from the attack on the Guild. She could have grabbed Dane and tried to escape, but she poked him with something instead. Unless that was the attack and we have yet to see what it’ll do.

I’m happy to report that I don’t touch any settings before Dane returns to check on me. He drops me to a walk and sets a timer for fifteen minutes. “We’ll bring you back to a jog when the timer goes off.”

Frowning, I take a sip of water and screw the cap back on. “How do you know so much about all of this?”

He shrugs, his eyes scanning the room of people working at their assigned stations. “When you can’t leave a building for two years, you’ll do anything to get out of the apartment. I wound up here or the Guild Hall most days when I needed to get out. And one of the Guild members who was around in the beginning was a personal trainer. He taught me the right way to use each piece of equipment without causing more harm than good.”

“What happened to him?” I ask, assuming it had to be something if Dane and Aiden were the ones running these sessions in the exercise room .

“Nothing bad. He just moved out of state.” Dane checks the timer. “After your next jog, we’ll switch you to weights and then finish out with the box.”

He leaves to do another sweep through the room, adjusting members or switching up their exercise or equipment they’re on. He gets me through the rest of my session at a steady pace. Each exercise gets my heart rate up and creates an almost pleasurable burn in my muscles without pushing me so hard that I’m ready to drop.

Until the box burpees.

Fuck. Those.

I lie frontward on the mat, one side of my face sticking to the plastic as I struggle for air in my lungs. Each breath is accompanied by a sharp pain, like a tiny needle jabbing me in the chest.

Dane crouches beside me, his smirk dripping with arrogance. “Was that too tame for you, too?”

I’d swipe at him, but everything hurts. I know I’d been making comments all morning about not being worked hard enough. Okay, maybe they were more like complaints , but still…no one deserves punishment like that. All I can manage back is a groan.

“Come on. Let’s go for a walk.” He offers me his hand, and I glare at it.

“You’re joking,” I manage, my tone flat.

He chuckles. “Nope. I’m not. You need to walk a bit and then stretch before you’re done.” Dane holds up a chilled bottle of water in his other hand. “You get to drink all of this a little bit at a time, too.”

Oh, goodie .

By the time Dane releases me for Kellan’s session in the main gym, I have a smidge of energy back. It’s nowhere near where I started this morning, but at least I won’t be lying on the floor.

Guild members and Pits fighters gather in the large space, a quarter of the numbers from the initial training day, but still a decent-sized group. I stay at the back, too tired from what I thought would be my easiest session to stand out at the front.

The whispers begin almost immediately.

I ignore them at first, assuming it’s some circulating gossip within the Guild that I’d have no clue about until I make eye contact with a couple of the whisperers and realize it’s about me.

Wonderful.

I have no idea what I did this time to be at the center of gossip, but based on the nervous and angry glances I get, it can’t be for something good.

It never is.

It reminds me of the cafeteria on the island with Gordon. When everyone was too afraid to sit with or speak to me. I thought the Guild would be different, especially with Aiden in charge.

Two guys from the primary group break away, setting their sights on me as they walk closer so it’s clear they plan to say something to me.

I’m too tired for this shit.

They stop out of arm’s reach, which I notice because any normal person having a conversation wouldn’t be so obviously distant while trying to talk to anyone. The one on the left with short brown hair crosses his arms, putting the myriad of scars riddling his arms on full display. But it’s the curly blond on the right who sneers and speaks first.

“You the GE spy they found who flipped sides?”

Damn, word travels fast. It’s probably for the best that Aiden hasn’t let Harvey go if we did trust him more.

Even if that trust is still questionable, I don’t like complete strangers going after him. Any potential for me trying to be nice vanishes, and I raise an unamused brow. “Who’s asking?”

The one on the left’s face twists like he bit into something sour, but it’s the blond who talks again. “Like we’d give you our names, GE scum.”

My gift is a flicker of heat in my gut, reacting to the subtle trip in my temper.

I smile at them, doing my best to channel Jackson into it. Their expressions falter when they see it, and I try not to admit that affecting them with a simple smile makes me cackle in my head. “What can I do for you, boys?”

It takes them a second to remember that they’re trying to be intimidating and regain that composure. The one on the right answers, and I wonder if the other guy is just his hype man. Or emotional support buddy. “We’re warning you to leave before things get messy. We came here to get rid of scum like you, not work with you.”

“Mm…well, I don’t think that’s up to you,” I counter.

“We saw you kill those GE guys the other day. If you could turn your back on them that easily, then we’re not letting you stick around to stab any of us in the back when you change your mind again. ”

There are a few things wrong there, but one of them has my full attention.

“I’m sorry,” I say, trying not to laugh. “Not letting me? Which of you thinks you’re going to stop me if you saw my gift?”

“Spoken like a true villain,” he spits out.

My chest squeezes at that word, hating it and the memories that come with it. But I’m not letting that man have any more control over me.

I’m finally accepting that I’m not a villain, and I never was.

But that doesn’t make me a saint, either.

I fist my hands, readying a retort, when Kellan looms behind them, his dark fury freezing the words in my throat.

He yanks them to their heels by the backs of their necks, snarling, “Did you just threaten my girl?”

His usual grin is replaced by drawn brows and a sharp glare. His fingers tighten in their necks, creating visible indents. The muscles in his arms are tight and accentuated, pulsing with the strength of his grip.

A crowd circles us, eager to watch the show.

The one who’d done all the talking tries to pry Kellan’s hand from his neck unsuccessfully. “Sh-she said she was the GE spy. She—kkkk.” His words cut off, his eyes bulging.

“She’s not. She’s done more to fight GE than this entire building combined, so I’ll stop that filthy lie right now. You’re new here, so I’ll give you my first and last warning. She’s mine . Threaten her, or even disrespect her again, and I’ll gut you from your shriveled dick to your throat.” He releases them, and they both drop to their hands and knees. “If you can’t accept that, then leave right now. We don’t have room for spineless punks here.” His hard gaze sweeps across the crowd. “The same goes for all of you. We’re here to take down GE, not gang up on or threaten our own people. If I hear so much as a whisper of that happening, you’re gone.”

The two idiots on the ground make it to their feet and start to leave, one of them bumping into Fabian, who blocks the way. Silas stands next to him, a shit-eating grin on his face when he warns, “You forgot to apologize to her.”

They freeze, then mumble a quick “sorry” before Fabian steps aside to let them pass.

“Partner up!” Kellan shouts, stalking to the front of the room and oozing violence. Well, this will be a fun training session.

I’m expecting everyone to steer clear of me after Kellan’s threat, but Evie instantly joins my side. “Care to be my partner?”

I offer her a smile, reminding myself that there are good people here. “Sure.”

She smiles. “Those were Pits fighters, by the way. No one at the Guild would have ever acted like that.”

Kellan yells out the next set of instructions, so I nod to her and then get into position for our mock fight. “It’s alright. I actually thought the whole thing was funny up until Kellan threatened everyone in the room with a gutting. I’m not sure if that’s going to help or make things worse.”

She chuckles and crouches into her own ready position. “Well, we’ll quickly see who’s fine and who needs to go then, won’t we?”

Guess so.