Page 21 of Deathless
We unwrapped from each other, and Torr turned to Santos. “Keep our girl safe, man.”
“You know I will.” Santos held out his hand with a smirk. “I’m still the Butcher.”
Rather than take his hand, Torr grabbed him in a rough, back-slapping embrace. Santos returned the affection just as Devin came out of the frat house.
The fighter was annoyingly breathtaking as usual, his hair up with a few small braids running through it. Some of his knife collection was holstered over his shirt, but I knew there were plenty more that weren’t visible. And why was that knowledge so hot?
“Hey, we match!” Val grinned, pointing at Devin and then her own hair, which was done up in more of a Viking braid style.
He gave a small nod and uneasy smile to her before looking at me. “I assume Tezca told you I was coming?”
“Sure did. Almost got my hand bitten off for asking why.”
He gave a nervous laugh but seemed more relaxed. “Yeah, I almost lost my ankle.”
“Hudson gonna be okay with you gone?” I blurted the question out before thinking.
Devin shrugged. “He’s gonna have to be, I guess. Malik’s working with him. He’ll survive.” Then almost defensively he added, “I’m not sure why you’re asking. Hudson doesn’t need me for anything.”
You two are totally fucking.I kept that thought to myself as I nodded. “Alright. Well, you can grab another loaner bike if you feel comfortable riding on your own.”
As everyone got situated and mounted up, I spotted Astarte on the apex of the garage roof. The dove and I only stared at each other. I didn’t even have to ask a question. She knew I was wandering into something blind and wouldn’t give me a clue as to what it was.
Remember what I said,were the only words of wisdom I got.
I could only imagine what she’d be referring to. The goddess had said plenty of things to me over our time together. What stuck out to me in that moment was what she had told me in a dream the night before all the nightmares started.
This will be the hardest battle you, or any living human, will have to face. And you cannot afford to lose it.
With that happy reminder, I began a slow acceleration down the driveway. Once I confirmed my team was behind me and the open road in front, I hit the throttle and tore out with a roar.
It was all I knew how to do.
7
TORRANCE
Rori’s dust had barely settled by the time I started checking my phone for updates. Logically, I knew it was pointless to worry. She wouldn’t be Rori if she couldn’t handle herself. With Santos, Val, and LJ with her, there was nothing that could stop them.
All of this, I knew to be true. But what I couldn’t shake was the sight of her in bed this morning. Watching her struggle to breathe, thrashing around like she was trying to escape a captor. The only time I’d been more scared was when I saw that she’d gotten shot.
My woman was strong. But was she strong enough to fight a god? One who was wearing her down and depriving her of sleep? Who knew what those cult elders could do once Rori came upon them?
Not to mention that weirdo, the Saint, made me uneasy as all hell. She was trying to keep an eye on him, see if he was up to anything nefarious, but I still didn’t like him in her proximity without me around.
“Astarte and Tezca better be putting in some overtime,” I grumbled, walking back up the gravel driveway toward the houses.
I’d drive myself crazy with worry if I didn’t keep myself in check. And the best way for me to do that was to hit the weights.
The workout areas in the courtyard were pretty much cleared out, most of the guys bullshitting elsewhere or having lunch. They’d be getting antsy soon. We needed a real ride, some kind of battle plan after Rori got back. These fighters, whether they were born that way or molded into it, wanted blood. Our one rescue mission was nowhere near enough to sate that desire.
A thought hit me as I changed into workout shorts, leaving my shirt off to keep cool, then headed back out to the courtyard. I wondered if the Sisterhood was arming themselves, getting ready for battle, or if they expected their goddess to handle everything. We already knew some of them were armed, but the vast majority were not.
Another thing to talk to Rori about when she’s back,I thought as I chalked up my hands. Either situation needed to be dealt with carefully. The cult members needed to be dealt with, but we’d never stoop to the level of massacring a bunch of unarmed people.
I began with squats, the most difficult and taxing of all lifts. Always best to get them out of the way. I started with sets of lower weights to warm up, gradually adding more to the makeshift barbell. Eventually, I found the perfect mental zone of focus. Or rather, it found me.
That was how lifting always was with me. Once I hit a certain threshold of weight, the mental fortitude snapped into place like a suit of armor. If it wasn’t there, I’d be likely to hurt myself.
