Page 47 of Awaken the Dragon
That was pretty much what she’d told her mother when she was on the phone with her earlier.
“It will be over soon,” she had said to Ejaita.
“That is not what I asked. I want to know how you like it there.”
She had held the small phone in her hand, glancing up at the ceiling and praying for forgiveness; lying to her mother was not something she did often. There were things she couldn’t tell her, but that wasn’t the same as blatantly lying to her.
“I am adjusting.” That was not a lie at all. She was adjusting to the fact that Warrick was a vampire, and Theo was a dragon who made her feel more passion than she could have ever imagined.
“You will be a wonderful wife,” Ejaita had insisted. “You are kind, loyal and beautiful. A man is counted lucky to have you at his side.”
“I have never thought of being a wife.” The words had slipped from her lips, but the comfort of her mother’s tone had set off a bout of homesickness Shola had never experienced. “Of all the thoughts of my future, being a partner to someone was never a consideration.”
And that was still true, or at least it should be, because there was never going to be a marriage. Her purpose in this life was not to be a partner or even a friend, it was to be a savior.
“You learn how to cut down trees by cutting them down,” Ejaita had continued, her voice a familiar whisper that reminded Shola of nights she would awaken from a bad dream and her mother would come running into her room. Always with an old proverb or story that would make Shola laugh and sometimes a glass of warm cider to soothe her soul and chase away the darkness, Ejaita had been the best mother a girl could have wanted. And Shola was proud to have been given to this strong and compassionate woman.
“I will do what I came to do,” Shola had said at the end of the conversation.
Ejaita thought her daughter had come to be married. All the time that Shola had spent training with Oya, her parents had thought she was studying, swimming at the river or, with a spurt of pride, training to become part of the guard. After the backlash from telling those she thought were her friends, it was Oya’s advice not to tell her parents. They would know all when it was time, is what the goddess had told her. Shola knew that no nuptials were ever going to take place.
None of them could imagine the weight Shola had carried on her shoulders most of her life. So they couldn’t possibly understand the battle she’d fought these last couple of days with her failure. But today was a different day. She wasn’t going to sit in this room thinking about what she’d done wrong another second. After dressing, she paused at the mirror, staring at herself for seconds that stretched on in silence.
Knowing her destiny and walking the path to fulfill it had been two totally different things. She hadn’t thought it would change her, but the person staring back at her through the mirror with sheer determination and a refusal to wallow in what was done, was not the same person who’d boarded that plane a week ago. With a nod to herself and a tiny smile, Shola decided that was just fine.
She’d been running for a while, going down to the clearing that would lead to the river and then turning to circle back toward the western end of the mountain. Shola inhaled the fresh air and enjoyed the overcast day. It was warm, but not uncomfortably so, and when she’d become a little winded, she’d stopped on a brilliantly green patch of grass and began stretching.
With her legs spread apart, she leaned forward, touching her palms to the soft blades of grass and holding that position for a few seconds. She came up and leaned to one side and then the other. Repeating the set, she went down again, waited while wiggling her fingers over the grass and then came up. But instead of leaning to the side this time, she gasped when she met Theo’s intent gaze.
He stood a couple feet from her, his legs spread slightly, hands pushed into the front pockets of gray sweatpants. She immediately thought back to two nights ago, when he wore black sweatpants and nothing else. Today he had on tennis shoes and a matching gray T-shirt. But his eyes were the same—that elusive blue that she now knew could turn a brilliant sapphire hue.
“Hi,” she said because the silence seemed as loud as the pounding of her heart.
“Hi,” he replied. “I’ve been looking for you.”
“Today?” It wasn’t her intention to sound sarcastic. “I mean, I have been here, on the property.” She hadn’t run away again is what she wanted to say, but decided she’d actually said enough.
“So have I,” he replied.
She wondered if he were implying that she should have sought him out in the past couple of days. The thought had crossed her mind a time or two but being alone worked out better. It had given her time to reconcile things with herself and to find her balance once again. Besides, he was the one being paid to guard her, not the other way around.
“Why were you looking for me?”
“I thought we should talk. And before you say why or about what, let’s walk. You need to keep stretching your muscles after such a long run.”
He knew how long she’d been running?
Shola nodded and let him lead the way. She fell into step beside him, moving toward the eastern side of the mountain and not down to the river. It seemed they were both avoiding that location for the time being.
They walked a couple minutes before he spoke again. “Do you work out regularly back home?”
She nodded. “I have been training twice a day since I was eleven years old. It began in the early morning before I went to school and in the evening just before dinner. Once I was older and finished with my studies, my regimen and schedule changed.”
Why did it seem so easy to answer this question with him? Perhaps because it was the first time she could actually talk about it freely. Whenever someone in Mobo had asked why she was always down by the river or in the fitness facility in town, she’d attributed it to spiritual and physical wellness, not being trained for a mission to kill.
“You trained to condition your body for what? Battle?”
“I trained my body to host my power. If I do not possess the physical strength to harness enough power to do what I have been called for, that would be disastrous.”
