Present Tense (Out of the Fire #3) - Candace Blevins Page 0,45

get rid of some of this excess energy. I don’t know how I’ll do in a forest, or on hills, but I suppose there’s only one way to find out.”

This pleased him. Fabio ran with him in the evenings, but getting the cat up in the mornings just made him grumpy. Collosa didn’t really run. It was more of an ambling, plodding jog unless you pissed him off, and it’s never a good idea to anger a grizzly.

Kelsey had fed from the deer shifter before she’d been brought back to the house. She had plenty of energy and was looking forward to stretching her legs. She wasn’t usually a fan of running, but a run through the forest sounded nice.

She donned shorts, exercise bra, and athletic shoes. Etta wore running shoes with her dress. Did the woman own jeans?

“You’re running with us?” Kelsey asked Etta.

“Your former master was correct to require you to run. Any outlay of energy can only make you stronger. I no longer need to find ways to use power and energy. My job description requires it. Today, it would seem my job description requires I run.”

“Your physical body doesn’t need to be kept in shape?”

“No, and neither does yours under normal circumstances. It’s your magical abilities that must be used, but until you have reason to do so, running taxes them.”

“Magic propels me,” Kelsey reasoned. “So running is exercising my magic, not my body.”

“No one made you work this through before?”

Kelsey shook her head. “Why must you come? It’s just a run. It isn’t like I’m going to attack him and rape him on the trail.”

“One never knows what will happen. You could come across a human who sees you running and gets a hard on.”

“And I’d have to either ignore the energy, or work hard to take it in after it’s fully separated from the human.” Neither of which was easy. However, taking it directly from the human happened as if it were reflex — it took intense work not to do it.

Eunice looked Kelsey over, standing in their outdoor room under the deck. She was wearing a cutesy running outfit with matching shoes, and it was all he could do to keep from rolling his eyes at her. How could someone with her brain look like this? It annoyed him enough he felt he needed to step back and figure out why he was so bothered. It didn’t seem logical.

The other vampire made him want to pull a sword and take her head off, though she’d given him no reason to do so. Something about her set his nerves on edge. Ironically, the dress and tennis shoes made him want to like her.

He focused on Etta’s chin. “You’re our security, I suppose. Any instructions?”

“Technically, since my eagle guard will not be coming with us, you’re my security and I’m Kelsey’s security. As for instructions, just run. I’ll keep up.”

Without further ado, Eunice took off and assumed the vampires would follow. He didn’t buy for a second that he was Etta’s security. When she was awake, she didn’t need anyone to keep her safe.

His trail took them up the ridge, along the top of it about a quarter mile, and then dipped off the other side in a too-steep decent that got his thigh muscles burning and tested his core. A short run along the bottom, and the trail climbed back to the top, down the other side, ran along the base a short distance, and then ran halfway up the ridge and remained there until shortly before arriving back home.

He had to slow a few times on the way up the ridge because Kelsey was too far behind him. When they reached the top, she shot ahead of him, and he had to run as fast as he safely could to try to keep up with her. The trail was well marked and easy to see, so there was no danger of her going off it, so he didn’t say anything to her. However, he realized at the last second that she wasn’t slowing before heading down the other side.

Whether his shouted warning came too late, or whether she chose to ignore it, he couldn’t be certain, but by the time he made it to the steep descent, she was out of control and plummeting straight down the precipitous slope like a bowling ball. No, like bumper pool in a billiards hall. Fuck. He watched helplessly as she hit trees on the way down,