Page 36 of Dark Knight

I clasped my hands behind my back, squeezing my fingers until I had what was probably a white knuckle grip on each hand. It kept me focused and helped me to explain, "I wanted to ask you about self-defense. Hudson suggested that I talk to you. He said maybe you could train me." I nibbled on my lower lip, feeling like a girl confessing her love to her crush, which was stupid.

He turned away from me as he said, "I don't have time to train you. Go ask Hudson again."

"The reason I’m asking is that I found something drawn on the mirror in my bathroom." My voice had this awkward upward lilt to it that I hated. It reminded me too much of talking to the elders when I was part of the Children of Radiance. It sounds as though every sentence was actually a question and needed their approval.

He turned back to face me. "Something was drawn on your mirror?" he asked, suddenly giving me all of his attention. "And you're sure it wasn't done by Dylan or Hudson?"

I shook my head and struggled not to pick at my fingernails as I spoke. "As far as I know, neither of them have been in my room without me being present as well. It's just been me and I guess the maids since I've noticed my stuff was moved around."

"So you've had your things moved around and something drawn on your mirror, and this is the first time you're mentioning it to us?" He was exasperated with me, and we'd only been talking for a couple of minutes. I didn't know why I triggered this guy so badly, but I did.

"I don't know what goes on here. I didn't want to worry you when it was just my stuff. But the heart and arrow freaked me out."

"Show me." Theo stood and put his bass on a stand that sat just next to his desk, leaving the headphones on the top of his amp. He carefully scooted the desk chair into place under the central monitor and turned to face me. "Lead the way, princess."

I turned to walk out, and once we were out of his room Theo walked beside me. I couldn't help but sneak a few glances at him. I thought he hated me, yet he was giving me a cutesy nickname. Though, there was a possibility he said it with sarcasm, as an insult. Reading him was next to impossible since we hadn't had a chance to actually talk to one another until now, so I wasn't sure.

We walked back to my room where I led him through to the bathroom. I pulled the curtain aside and twisted the silver handle to turn the shower on while Theo closed the door so it could get steamy again. The silence that descended as we waited was more than a little awkward.

"When did you notice your stuff was moved?"

"I don't know, a couple days ago." I chewed on the inside of my lip.

"And there's been nothing between that and the heart?"

"Not that I can think of. It's not like I have stuff for people to steal, unless they want some leggings and lingerie."

His cheeks stained red, and he wouldn't look at me for a second. Did the idea of me wearing lingerie freak him out? Did he think it was disgusting? I had no idea.

I found him curious, though, with his bleached hair, his piercings, and the jewelry he wore. I was willing to bet that he had tattoos as well, just maybe not as many as Hudson.

All of it seemed to scream rebel and defiance, giving the finger to the man or whatever. Yet he didn't like to look up. He used the shaggy cut of his hair as a shield, letting it fall in front of his eyes sometimes.

Finally, the steam reached the mirror, and although it took a second, the faint outline of the heart became visible along with the arrow that was heading toward it.

"Well, fuck," Theo muttered to himself.

I desperately wanted to ask what it meant for him to react like that, but before I could, he was walking out of the room.

18

Evie

As he hurried out of the bathroom, Theo blurted, "Meet me in the gym in two hours." With that, he rushed from my room like he was the one being stalked or maybe like I was going to hunt him down. I mean, I guess I did track him down in his room, but still, it wasn't like I had left any threatening messages on his bathroom mirror.

Some people might assume a heart with an arrow flying toward it was not threatening. I, however, saw the opposite. The only thing in my mind when I thought about the mirror was a threat, one which I wanted to be ready for. It was why I had been so stubborn about learning some kind of self-defense, and why giving Theo the two hours he’d asked for was torturous. Five minutes before the two hours were up I started making my way back downstairs and headed to the gym.

The treadmill and elliptical machines had been pushed to one side, leaving big, blue mats covering the floor.

"Do you run?" Theo asked as soon as he saw me.

"Not really." I shrugged. "I mean I was active before, but the whole being kidnapped and held in a basement dungeon thing kind of put a damper on my workouts."

I was trying to be funny, but he didn't get it. All he said was, "Okay. Walk two miles on the treadmill as quickly as possible to warm up."

"Two miles? That's going to take me like a half hour." I didn't want to be whiny, but I also didn't like wasting people's time.

"Fine, just do one mile. I just don't want you hurting yourself."

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