Page 15 of Poison

“Are you feeling calmer?” Ajax asks with a frown as he tips his head to the sky.

“Yeah, I am actually,” I say, wrapping my arms around myself. “Why?”

His brows scrunch together into a frown as he openly stares, and an uncomfortable feeling washes over me as I watch him right back. He continues to stare for what feels like a lifetime before looking off to the side.

“Nothing, I’m just overthinking, that’s all.”

I watch him suspiciously as he rubs at his ear and avoids making eye contact with me. He looks conflicted and that has my anxiety spiking. I want to ask what’s going on, but I get the impression I’m not going to get anything out of him at the moment.

“Are you planning on finishing your run, Poison?” Mr Haims inquires as he steps to the side of the Vasi leader. “Or are you planning on trying to get out of it?”

“No, Sir,” I reply between my teeth. “I’m just trying to work out what has Ajax so quiet.”

“Nothing that concerns you,” Ajax says, his tone sharp enough to tell me to not answer back. “Now get your arse moving.”

My spine snaps straight at the command he has given, even though I’m not a shifter and I can’t be forced into something with an alpha command like others can. It’s ingrained in me from my life with my aunt—even though she could control me by pressing her will—I always had to follow her commands being the good girl, all the while me being a dud was such an inconvenience to her.

I take off at a slow jog, my legs making it known how much it hurts to do so—I guess I am finishing my run.

It doesn’t take long for my breathing to become heavy again as I concentrate on trying to put one foot in front of the other to keep moving. I can see Rico still pushing forward in front of me, he must have carried on after Ajax interrupted my feeling sorry for myself. I still have my feeling of calm, it motivates me to push myself. Pumping my arms and pushing my stride faster I manage to catch up to him, his eyes widen a fraction when they spot me and I smile.

“I feel like I’m dying,” he whines. I have to hold back the bark of laughter at the look on his face. His cheeks are bright red and sweat drips off him like he is standing under a waterfall.

“Me too but we need to finish this,” I say with more determination than I felt at the start of the run. “Plus, do you want Ajax chasing us down to get us to move?”

We both look over our shoulders and I can see the fear in his eyes when he sees both Ajax and Mr Haims deep in conversation. “Yeah, good point,” he says with a snort.

Our strides match perfectly as we both run, and I get lost in my own thoughts trying to work out what the hell happened back there. The rain cleared my sweat away once, but now beads of it run down my face like I’m standing under the shower. The rain has stopped, which is weird because it came on so quickly, but other than our clothes and hair sticking to our skin, no one would believe there was a storm not so long ago.

“So you’re a Draken?” Rico pants.

“Yep.” I pop the P. My skin buzzes with anxiety. “But you wouldn’t think it.”

“Why’s that?” he asks, keeping his eyes forward but moving closer to me.

“I’m the dud everyone’s been raving about,” I bark, getting it out of the way and mentioning it myself rather than letting myself fear what he could say. “The first one in the Draken clan to be born without any sort of shifter or magic ability.”

“Seriously?” he asks with a look of shock. “How is that even possible?”

I purse my lips, pumping my arms and legs faster to pick up the pace. I would rather get through this than try and explain that whole thing to someone that I don’t know. Because then the next question that always follows is, what am I going to do?

“Poison, slow down,” he pants as I push the pace even faster. Eagerness to cross the finish line is my only driving force now. Rico is trying his best to match my pace, and I throw a look over my shoulder, my eyes widening.

“Rico!” I bellow. “He’s coming.”

He looks over his shoulder and yelps, his pace picking up at the huge Vasi leader charging in our direction. That’s all the motivation he needed as he takes off. I burst out laughing and push myself, my brows hitting my hairline as Rico overtakes me like hellfire is burning his arse. I yelp, fear consuming me when I hear heavy footfalls getting closer.

“Move your arse, Poison,” Ajax bellows, and I try, but my limbs can’t physically move any faster. “You don’t want me to catch you.”

Rico cackles at the fear on my face and I stick my tongue out, which has him laughing harder and pisses me off. With gritted teeth, I do the unimaginable and manage to find another gear. My legs are moving so fast it barely feels like they’re touching the floor, even a couple of the trainees’ eyes widen. The finish line is a foot in front of me, where Rico’s collapsed into a heap on the floor. The hairs on the back of my neck stand on end and I throw myself forward with the last bit of energy I have. Ajax’s booming laughter fills the air as I roll across the grass, crashing into Rico.

“Oh my god!” I exclaim, managing to roll over so I’m not squishing Rico. I breathe a sigh of relief when he laughs even though he’s glaring at me. “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s all gravy, baby,” he says with a laugh. “Plus, I’d dive across the line too if I had that behind me,” he says, nodding his head to Ajax who’s watching me with a shit eating grin on his face.

“You’re an arse,” I growl as I push up off the floor. I glare at him and try to wipe some of the mud off me. It’s no use though, I’m covered in it. It looks like I’ve had a bucket of the crap tipped over me. Ajax barks out a laugh and I narrow my eyes on him further. Wow, he can be an arse. My chest is heaving but I can breathe easier than I could when I first started running. My brows scrunch together in a frown when I realise even my muscles aren’t aching like they were.That’s weird.

I do an internal evaluation of myself and I can’t believe it. Considering my veins are buzzing with electricity, no one would know that I’ve just ran what feels like a million miles. It’s like I’ve had numerous cups of espressos, and I feel like I could run all over again. Iwantto do it again, and see how much more I can put my body through. I’m bouncing from foot to foot, and Rico’s eyes widen as he stares at me. I smirk as I run on the spot, the adrenaline pulsing through my veins is euphoric and I never want it to end.

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