Page 155 of Return of the Nine

She only had to keep herself contained for four days and they would be on their way.

Chapter Five

She ran until she felt the full-body rush of adrenaline in every cell. Once she was done with the track, she headed to the weights and quickly learned how to set them. She slid onto the bench and set to work.

“How are you lifting that?” Derion stood just in the corner of her vision.

She grunted and kept pressing, focussing on the weight and the steady burn of her muscles.

After a few minutes, she felt pleasantly tired and set the bar back in the holders over her head. She sat up and looked around. “Is there some way to clean the machines off?”

He nodded and pointed to the sidewall where a towel dispenser and a container sat.

“Thank you.” She sprayed the bars with the antibacterial spray and carefully wiped off all traces of her grip before she did the same on the bed of the machine.

She returned the container back to where she had picked it up and then she sprayed the cloth and rubbed the container down as well. “Where can I dispose of this towel so it won’t cause any issues?”

Derion walked over and pointed out a small chute. “It will immediately be in a cleansing solution so no worries. You are good at removing traces of yourself.”

She wrinkled her nose and shrugged. “It was practice. You can’t hunt if you leave your scent everywhere you go.”

“My father mentioned that you were expert at surviving. I thought he was simply trying to make an introduction by piquing my interest.”

Ianka snorted. “No. He was impressed when I explained to Apolan and Daphne how I had survived the last few years. I didn’t have a chance to tell him that I had a lot of practice. There is nothing extraordinary of the practicing of an existing skill.”

“I believe he was amazed that you had gained that skill to begin with. Even if your tracking ability is as extraordinary as he says, it has still taken willpower to hone it. That is worth admiring.” Derion was speaking directly to her, his red-on-black gaze was looking into her eyes and the sincerity was on his blood-red features.

She blushed and rubbed the back of her sweaty neck. “Um, thank you for the observation. Can you show me back to my quarters? I think I need a shower to take care of the rest of this.”

He inclined his head and smiled. “I can and I will also send the message that the others can resume use of the facility.”

“Thank you. If the facility can be spared for about an hour per day on the ship, that would be great. I only need the track and the weights so it doesn’t take that long.”

Derion nodded. “Right. I shall pass that on to my father.”

They left the gym and Ianka was feeling much better. Her body was humming with energy and earned fatigue. She couldn’t sleep if she didn’t exercise, so she should be able to rest well that evening.

There was a tension on the way back that wasn’t out on the way there. She chuckled. “If you are this talkative now, I can only imagine how chatty you will be on the trip to find the survivors.”

To her surprise, a small smile that flitted over his lips. “I am lost in thought. I thought you were something else and I have begun to see that my supposition was mistaken.”

“Were you reading reports on my sister?” Ianka smiled. It happened frequently on Gaia that folk had met Vida and assumed that Ianka was just as frail. It seemed that the physical strength had gone to one twin and the mental capabilities tothe other. Ianka was always happier when she could act and not think.

“I may have heard rumours about her being physically frail before she arrived. You seem a little more... fit.”

Ianka wanted to howl with amusement. “Again. Thank you for that observation.”

He looked like he wanted to say something else, but a cluster of Fury members approached them and something extraordinary happened the moment one of them looked at her. Derion got bigger.

He didn’t just shift his arms and legs, he went from six and a half feet tall to nearly eight feet with a corresponding increase in width as he snarled at the men looking her over.

Two of the men responded in kind, and while she stood there, there was a clash of fists and skin in the hall as they fought. There were claws, teeth flashed and bodies thudded to the ground. Ianka stayed out of the way, smart enough to know males in rut when she saw them. The other two males of the Fury stepped back and watched from the other side of the fight.

Security rushed to the scene and waited while the men sorted themselves out. One of the officers gestured for her to ease out of the potential damage area, but she shook her head. Instinct told her that if she moved, Derion would switch his focus and that might not be a good thing.

He sent one of his opponents skidding across the floor and the other one shifted and knelt at his feet, head down. It was a very formal pose, and Derion paused, stood straight and then cuffed the other male lightly on the side of the head.

They both shrank back to normal size and Ianka blinked. Their clothing had remained intact the entire time. The tailors of the Fury knew their stuff.

---