Strays

Chapter 7 *Edited*

Our first night at TDN worked out better than I expected. The tasks Elton assigned us weren't particularly fun, but the disgusted looks that crossed Theo's face kept me entertained most of time. There was something about watching him clean a public toilet that I found so inexplicably satisfying. It was like seeing a king shoved off his golden pedestal and forced to mingle with the commoners. He attempted to quit four times but when I asked him if he'd rather live out of a landfill for the foreseeable future, he quickly grabbed a mop and went back to work.

I only visited the fourth floor twice and both times, the Hex & the City studio was empty. I wasn't actively avoiding her, but that didn't mean I wanted to run into my mother either. We hadn't exactly left things on great terms.

At the end of the night, Betty handed us both an envelope full of cash and asked if we'd be returning the following night.

We both answered yes.

The walk home was unnerving. I could handle the usual criminal activity at night — really, I'd like to see any human come at me with a gun — but Oxford Street was Michael's territory. His threat lingered in the air, a second heartbeat pounding in time to my footsteps.

"I will kill you."

When we finally reached the Thames, I breathed an audible sigh of relief.

Theo and I fell into a routine after that night; for the first few days, we both slept in until noon, then I'd attempt to clean the apartment and whip up enough food to feed a small, human army. Meanwhile, he'd binge-watch TDN shows and complain when I forced him to help. But even as we both started to grow comfortable in our new situation, a part of me was hyper conscious of the fact that we were both still unaffiliated.

I wanted to take Theo out onto the roof to begin his training, but I couldn't risk getting injured before the fight den on Thursday. I might have come through a war but I knew better than anyone that when some of the opponents involved in a fight den had nothing to lose, they were almost impossible to beat. And I needed to beat them. I needed to come out on top, not just place, if I wanted to bargain for Theo's position, too.

I did what I could to prepare, stretching and practicing offensive manoeuvers in the underground garage beneath our apartment building in the afternoons while Theo watched and ran laps. I taught him what I could without physically touching him, but it wasn't much.

I was feeling cautiously optimistic by the following Wednesday, but when we left for work that evening, something bad began to creep up the length of my spine.

I quickened my steps after we crossed the Thames and Theo followed suit. He'd grown attuned to my sudden movements over the last few days and he barely batted an eyelid when I crossed the road, taking a longer route around to our destination.

"Do you see something?" he murmured.

"No," I said warily, "but I have this feeling..."

My eyes swept over the opposite side of the street. I couldn't see — or smell — anything out of place, but I couldn't shake the feeling that everything wasn't quite as it should be.