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He didn’t currently have a roommate either. His last one just transferred to Chicago to train. Action movie posters and Hawk’s favorite sports teams covered his walls. A pile of clothes collected in the corner, and he’d tossed more on his desk and chair. Coltrane had to reprimand him a few times for keeping old food wrappers and to-go boxes in his room.
I crawled on the left side of his small bed without waiting for an invitation. “I’m glad you didn’t have a chick in here.”
He scoffed and edged under the covers. “You know I rarely bring anyone back to my room. I need my space.” He never seemed to mind me being in here, though. “Did you have a rough one tonight?”
I rested my head on his pillow and stared at the ceiling, following the lines of the copper fixture. “Yeah.” I choked back the memories that tried to invade my brain.
Hawk grabbed my hand and rested it on his chest while he traced the scars on my wrist. “Did it have anything to do with how you got these?”
“I don’t want to talk about it.” Hawk knew the kind of nightmares I had, but I’d never divulged the darker details of my past except for what happened when Coltrane found me.
Hawk reached over and tucked a lock of hair behind my ear. “Are you ever going to tell me, Tate?”
A noncommittal shrug was my only answer.
He sighed and pulled me closer. “You know you can talk to me, right?”
“I know.” I choked back the lump rising in my throat. “You’re my best friend.”
An unrecognizable emotion flashed in his velvety brown irises, but it was gone before I could decipher it. “Get some sleep, Tate. I’ll be here when you wake up.”
* * *
My knuckles burnedas I slammed them into the punching bag, trying to wash away the nightmares that kept me awake all night. After slipping into Hawk’s bed, he quickly fell asleep while I remained alert, staring at the ceiling. I was too afraid of falling back into another horror fest.
Eventually, I gave up on getting any kind of peace and tiptoed back into my room where I changed into black leggings, a pink sports bra, and a cropped t-shirt. The gym was still empty at four on a Saturday morning.
Training kept my mind focused, and I wanted to remain in top shape. Any fight with a nightworlder could become an epic battle, especially in a demon city.
Unlike Chicago, where all three doors to the other realms existed—Underworld, Illyria, and Faerieland—Savannah only had a gateway to the Underworld. Bonaventure Cemetery held more than macabre statues, intricate headstones, and sprawling oaks. The door to the demon world was created there long before the Bonaventure plantation burned and before anything more than wilderness prevailed in that part of Savannah.
After demons, shifters made up the second largest population here followed by witches, vampires, and then fae.
I rolled my shoulders and shook my arms before returning to the punching bag, the long column jerking from my hits. Training mats, punching bags, and fighting gear filled the large underground sparring gym. Smaller rooms contained weights and exercise equipment, and we had other areas for weapons training.
No one walking by the historic mansion would ever know it trained dozens of killers.
Sweat trickled down my temple, and I wiped it away with my shoulder. The door clanked open as a rumpled Hawk stumbled inside, wearing gym shorts and a t-shirt.
“Why are you up so early working out?” He yawned and dragged his hands through his mussed, dirty blond hair as he stopped on my left.
“It’s five thirty.” I jerked my chin toward the clock on the left. “It’s not that early.”
He scoffed and unenthusiastically struck the bag. “I bet you’ve been here for at least an hour.”
I averted my gaze to my hands sheathed in black wraps. Actually, it had beenoveran hour.
“Did you get any sleep last night?” he asked, holding the bag for me while I struck it with a combination of punches.
“Of course,” I lied, but I was used to running on fumes.
Hawked yawned again. “Well, since my partner insists on being up before the crack of dawn even when we don’t have to, I’ll have to learn how to survive on no sleep.” He grinned, unleashing those dimples. “Can we at least spar with each other? I might fall asleep if I have to exercise on a bag.”
I laughed. “I’ll definitely keep you awake.”
After Hawk quit stalling and finally became alert, we sparred with each other, losing track of time. He darted away, his sneakers digging into the black mats. Sweat glistened on him, and he brushed back damp strands of blond hair.
“Come on, Strawberry Shortcake.” He shuffled back and forth. “Are you having an off day? You’ve only taken me down twice. Or am I just getting better?”
