Their Warrior Luna
Chapter 98

Lennon:

“Come on, one more!! You got this!!” I was pushing my guts out the leg thing again, and I couldn’t have been more thankful when the doorbell rang, and Knox let me stop before leaving to answer it. I flopped onto the cold mats covering the floor like I had yesterday. Knox and the guy I can only assume is his friend started back into the basement, but I was too tired to get back up. I grunted when Knox grabbed me by the band of my shorts and sat me back on the leg machine.

“Stop slacking, princess. You still need that one more that was left.” I let the weights loose and pushed harder before locking the thing and flopping my sweaty a*s back into the floor.

“Are you trying to kill her, Knox?” I followed the voice to see who had said what I was thinking.

My eyes traveled up and up, and even though he wasn’t as tall or built as Knox, he was intimidating as hell. He walked over to me and stuck his hand out. I took it and stood. He shook his head, taking in my entire body quaking.

“You can’t kill her. She’s already dead. Besides Ace, I need to teach her how to feed, and I can’t until she is strong enough to access The Nothing. Which is why you are here. I need to know everything you know about soul eaters.” Knox shrugged his friend off and put weights on the bench things bar.

“Rest, and we will jump back in, in like five.” He patted my shoulder, and I flopped back down on my a*s this time. He walked over to the bar where Knox stood and took two weights off the bar on each end.

“I want to see what is easy for her before we move on to what is hard for her.” The guy he called Ace said.

“Why do you need info on soul eaters?” his eyebrow was crooked at Knox.

Knox looked in my direction, and then so did Ace.

“You are a soul eater!? WOW! I’ve never seen one before. You look so normal! I was expecting like….” I cut his words off there with my response.

“A dementor from Harry Potter? Cause same.” I laughed at my own expense.

“Yes. Like a dementor.” Ace eyed Knox, who looked away quickly.

“Come on, tiny. Let’s see what you can do.” Ace waved me over, but I just looked at Knox, who nodded.

I laid onto the bench, replaceing it much easier to lift what Ace had wanted, and by the third one, I put it on the notches.

“I don’t think that’s enough,” I told Knox.

“I told you.” He smirked at Ace popping the clamp things off and adding back the two weights Ace had taken off.

Once those weights were back on, I fought through the struggle of lifting them, but I liked it better when that burn started aching in my muscles.

We went through the same routine as last time until, finally, I heard the magic words.

“Go shower. I’ll make you some coffee.” I wiped the sweat from my brow with an excited expression that he clearly picked up on because he laughed after telling me I was free.

I shuffled on my aching legs to my room, grabbed my suit, and toddled to the bathroom. I showered, put on the bathing suit, and sank into the hot tub with a sigh in just minutes.

“I’m impressed that Knox let you back here. This is his place.” An unfamiliar voice came from the shadows of the yard that had me jumping from the hot tub and wrapping my towel around myself.

“Knox!” I became frustrated that the one word I tried to scream came out in a shaking whisper.

A tall, broody man stepped from the shadows with a smile.

“I didn’t mean to scare you. I’m a colleague of Knox’s. I’m the one who has been collecting for him. I just came by to give him the ones who hadn’t moved on.” He held up a bottle that, to me, sparkled like a meteor shower in the dead of night. The bottle had been secured tightly in a leather belt strap and swayed back and forth like a pendulum begging me to fall under its trance. The smell radiating from the darkness in the yard was making my mouth water, and that ache gnawed at me.

“You look… famished.” His growl snapped me back into reality, and I hadn’t even realized he was so close to me. Just mere feet. I had let myself get distracted and let someone get too close again. How could I have been so stupid?

He snapped the cap off the bottle, and the sounds of tortured souls surrounded me. I felt terrible for a second because those aren’t sounds you can easily forget, but it wasn’t until the smell hit me that I realized the bottle wasn’t sending me into a fever. It was him. I could smell the sins wrapping around him like barbed wire on a fence.

“Back. Get back.” My voice sounded stronger this time. But it didn’t matter. He was closing in on me and fast.

“I can feed you, soul eater. Imprint with me instead, and I will make your wildest dreams come true.” He had attempted to make his voice sound sexy, but it only made me cringe. He reached out to grab me by the waist, and before his disgusting hands could touch me, he was gone. He just… disappeared.

“Lennon, are you okay?” Ace’s voice snapped me out of my trance, letting the night’s sounds pour back into the yard.

Knox was on top of the creep beating his face in. But I still couldn’t move.

“Did he touch you?” Ace’s eyes were black. Even as curious as that made me, I couldn’t take my eyes off Knox.

He pulled the guy to his feet, dragging him before me. The stranger’s proximity made me back into Ace, and I barely recognized Knox because of the b***d splatter kissing his handsome face. And his eyes, his gorgeous piercing orange eyes, were like hell fire glowing in the night.

“Did he touch you, Lennon?” Knox’s voice was more animal than man. I managed to shake my head no before he shook the guy awake.

“Apologize to her, Venny.” The guy couldn’t stay awake to do anything, so Knox turned to face him before sucking the soul from his now limp body. He dropped the guy to the ground with a thud and made his way to me. His body was rigid, and his face was dark. This is Death, and he is backing me against the wall. My heart tried to escape my body as he quickly blocked me in. His hand settled on the wall beside my head, and his other hand gripped my chin, making me look him in the eye. He fed me the soul of the man who had scared me so badly, but not before he beat him to death. He had kept his promise.

Once he was done feeding me, he scooped me up and sat me back in the hot tub. He snatched my coffee from Ace and handed it to me, his face was regular again, but his hands shook as badly as mine.

“I’m going to step inside and get cleaned up, and then Ace and I will join you. Do you feel safe if Ace stands by the backdoor with you while I step inside or do you want to come with me?” I opened my mouth to answer him but couldn’t replace the words, so I just nodded at Ace.

He patted my head before stepping inside, and as my nerves and the commotion died down, I sat back into the bubbling water, trying so hard to fight the thought that had popped into my head about Knox.

No, I can’t go down that road again. He is my friend, the only one I have ever had, and I won’t jeopardize that or my shattered mental health. He took up for me because he thinks that I am his responsibility. Nothing more. Both finally came to the hot tub, sinking into it with relief like I had. I was thankful they had come because my thoughts were getting the best of me. Knox still looked mad as hell, and his knuckles were bandaged. Ace looked like this was a typical Saturday for him and seemed entirely unphased by the whole thing.

I opened my mouth to apologize for causing trouble, but Ace beat me to the punch.

“Are you coming to the party on Sunday? Cas is coming back home, and we’re celebrating… Lily will be there.” He smirked at Knox.

Knox looked between us for a minute before settling on me.

“Do you want to? If not, we will stay home. No harm, no foul.” His question took me by surprise. Ace had asked him if he was coming. Not us. I wasn’t expecting to meet his friends, but the thought of meeting Lilith made me overly excited.

I smiled…

“He said Lilith would be there.” My fangirling took over again, and I fought the squeal threatening to escape me.

“I will take that as a yes.” Ace chuckled, settling deeper into the steaming water.

“Wear your suits. The ocean will be perfect tomorrow.” He g*****d as the bubbles relaxed him the same way they had Knox, who was still staring a hole through me.

“I’m sorry… I don’t know what happened; I couldn’t… I froze. Are your hands okay?” I watched the water bubble, unable to look him in the eyes until he said nothing back. Slowly, I let my gaze wander to him to replace his usual cocky smirk plastered across his face.

“No need to worry about me, princess. I’m as right as the rain.” I rolled my eyes at him and settled down to drink my coffee before I stuck my foot in my mouth.

The three of us sat there for some time, chatting and laughing like regular friends. I was almost sad when it was over. After Ace left, Knox and I made our way down the hallway stopping at our doors. I felt like I needed to tell him I was sorry again. Or try to make up for his constant need to feed me. I feel like I am stealing his life from him. His time and his job, and his friends have all been put on hold because of me.

“Good night, Lennon.” His words were soft. I turned to tell him what was on my mind, but he had closed the door already.

“Good night, Knox,” I called out before closing my door. Something tells me sleep won’t come so quickly tonight.