“Uh, yes Sir. It's just that, uh, I don't really know....”
“What the fuck do you mean. You don't know!?" I interrupted, feeling outraged.
She was shuffling her feet and she shook her shoulders helplessly. The slight expression of fear appearing on her face brought me back to my senses and I calmed down somewhat. I took a deep breath.
“Okay. Tell me what happened." I managed to make my voice sound calm, even though I was still seething inside and wanted to punish her for the shock she caused me.
“I.., uh.., woke up here. On the sofa. Just now, when you shouted my name. I'm really sorry Zack, uh, Sir, I mean.”
She looked mortified but carried on.
“I'm so sorry Sir, I must've been sleepwalking or something.”
Ah, okay. That was a different matter, and I wasn't quite sure how to deal with it straight away. However, I couldn't have that happen again, and I was annoyed with myself for not noticing last night. I would have thought I would've woken up if she'd been wandering around at night. I must have been letting myself relax enough not to be as alert as I normally am. That was no good.
Eliza looked at me waiting for a response.
“Give me fifty push ups for calling me Zack and making me worried. We'll talk about how to deal with the sleepwalking later.”
I had to have a think about how to contain that myself first. Eliza's face was thunderous but she did start her push ups straight away. She looked so much stronger already, even after only the few weeks she'd been training.
During breakfast I told her what I had in mind to deal with her little nightly escapades. I would put my bed across her door so she'd have to climb over me to get out. That would wake me, no doubt. She looked a bit dubious at my solution but accepted it, at least for now. I wasn't sure if she would bring it up again later and I wouldn't put it past her to be honest. I could tell she didn't think it was necessary and she thought I was overreacting, but she wasn't going to tell me that today. She had learned something alright; picking the right time to broach a topic and choosing your battles wisely.
CHAPTER 33
I knew Zack thought that I thought he was overreacting with the whole sleepwalking thing. He wasn't cloaking his feelings as well this morning as he has been doing the past days. He was preoccupied with this afternoon's meeting with Markus and so was I. I let Zack's ridiculous solution slide and would bring it up later. I really didn't need babysitting like that. The worst that would happen is that I would fall asleep on the sofa or on a chair.
I might try and creep in his bed though, I thought, mortified. Probably even more likely if he parks his bed right by my door! Grrr. Why did I have to start sleep walking again. So annoying. Usually, it was a sign that I was worried about something, just like my nightmares used to happen at stressful times. So, not really that surprising, as I was definitely stressed and worried about the upcoming meeting with my father.
How on earth I would pull off what they wanted me to do was a mystery to me. To get the information out of him without raising any suspicion would be nigh on impossible with my father's skills of using his gift. I doubted he wouldn't see straight through my intentions and just run. If he was doing things because people were controlling him, he probably would want to keep me away from them to keep me safe. If, on the other hand, he was choosing to work for these people he won't want me to know about it, and would vanish as well. In both cases I would have failed my mission and I wasn't looking forward to that one single bit. I would've let everyone down and I'm not sure if I could face Zack, Markus or any one of our community ever again. Failing was just not an option.
The exercises Zack made me do were a welcome distraction. I never thought I would actually enjoy exercise and being pushed to my limits, but I'd absolutely grown to love it. Every ache I felt in my body I attributed to becoming stronger, and that felt good. Zack was really pushing me again this morning, barking orders at me constantly and making me work insanely hard.
I spotted Zaphire out of the corner of my eye, sweat pouring past my eyes. I did not imagine myself making a pretty picture, but Zaphire clearly thought differently. Her pheromones penetrated every pore in my body. Right up until I saw Zack looking admonishingly at her. He had noticed too. And as if by magic, anything I felt, smelled or thought I saw had dissipated into thin air. She was still there but she had obviously been made aware what she was emanating and she had instantly turned off the tap.
“Is there any time to do some self-defence?" she asked Zack.
He looked reluctant. Probably annoyed at her obvious feelings for me that she had failed to hide.
“If there was, would I be wise to give her to you Zaphire?" he asked icily, not expecting an answer back from her.
She didn't give up without a fight though.
“Very wise indeed, brother," ignoring his alluding to her temporary lack of self control.
“She needs practise and we don't exactly have a lot of time left before she might have to put any of it to use.”
She knew she had won him over already. She knew his worry about the lack of time and she tapped into it unashamedly. I so admired her, I had never met anyone like her.
So Zaphire got her way and we practised some more techniques for an hour or so. No further
