The wind whipped through my hair as I ran, taking deep breaths as I continued to push my body on. I was at mile four and a half with the finish resting at mile six. It was so close that I could practically taste it on my lips as I willed my aching legs and lungs of fire to keep moving. Grinding my jaw, I turned along the bend of the trail as sunlight sparkled in my eyes.

The forest here was beautiful and I'd never seen anything like it before. Blue flowers coiled around gigantic trees, thick curtains of leaves and fireflies swarming the air. Soft, lavender moss and dark green ivy devoured the forest floor to make a nice carpet.

Birds of every color of the rainbow nested in the top branches of sturdy trees, each singing its own unique song while bees buzzed near the patches of flowers growing in dots of sunlight breaking through the canopy. The atmosphere was peaceful, and I felt as though on every one of my runs I broke the peace with my heavy footsteps.

Ultrona had never had thick forests like these, only open plains of tall grass and rocky hills like the one that held up the city. It was prairie land, and I'd never seen a forest as grand as the one in Gabrian ever before.

Something jumped into my path as I skidded to a halt, a fluffy, brown bunny looking up into my eyes as its huge ears stood pricked to attention on top of its head. With a thump of its foot and wiggle of the tail, it disappeared into the ivy and was gone from my sight.

I slumped against a tree as I took deep breathes, stopping only making the feeling of exhaustion worse. I was so close to being finished, and I needed to push to complete the trail instead of distracting myself with the fuzzy wildlife.

Something else was moving behind me, the resounding echo of footsteps as I turned around. I about doubled over as I saw the top of Finn's head emerging from the bottom of the hill I'd just climbed.

And he was shirtless.

My mouth went dry as he came closer into view, his eyes glancing up to meet mine as an almost shy look overcame his features. He took his shirt that laid across his neck off, slipping it over his upper body as he came to a walk.

"Morning, Kate." His voice was deep and rough, a soft panting at the end of each word that did strange things to my body especially as he said my name. "I thought you were running the other trail."

"I told you I was running this one." I offered him a smile. "You said yesterday that I could."

He shook his head with a deep intake of air as he stopped to stand close in front of me. "I guess I forgot which one you said. How much longer do you have to go?"

"A mile and a half. I about kicked a bunny so I ended up taking a break." I bit my lip, my heart beating fast in my chest. "And now you're distracting me."

He chuckled as he cracked his knuckles, "I'll finish with you then."

"We should do something else together. Afterward." I added without another thought, Finn's blue eyes looking into mine as I felt butterflies in my stomach. Well, good work. Subtle.

"Really?" The look on his face made me want to melt into the ground, that smug smirk on his face that I wanted to kiss off his lips. Wait, what?

"Something fun. Please? I have my freedom now, and you get to decide what I do. Also, we need to keep working on that whole best friends thing so why not do something just... you and me?" I pulled that out of my ass. Shit, the whole best friends thing is the exact opposite of what I want.

Finn nodded his head, biting his lip as he began to think before a lightness captured his features. He looked rather pleased as he smiled. "Let's make a deal."

"You sound like every evil guy from any story."

"I'm your guardian. Come on now, you know I wouldn't trick you."

I made a humming sound as I narrowed my eyes, tapping my chin as I pretended to contemplate. "I'm not so sure, Mr. Shay. I don't feel like signing away my soul to you today."

This only made him smile wider. "You'll only have to do that if you lose."

"What?" I raised an eyebrow with surprise.

"If you win, I'll take you somewhere very fun, which is an offer you can't refuse, Ms. Stratton. If you lose, your soul is mine." He gave me a playful wink. "All you have to do is outrun me."

"Outrun you? For a mile and a half?" I shook my head "That is absolutely..." And I turned and took off down the trail with a huge smile on my face. Head start for Kate.

"Kate Stratton!" I heard Finn yell as I laughed, dashing around another curve as I heard his footsteps behind me. "I believe that is cheating!"

"I was raised as a thief! What else would you expect?" I called back to him, "and I'm very good at outrunning the authorities so get ready for me to kick your ass!"

I'd made a deal with the devil, and now by legality, my soul belonged to Finn. He was over the moon with his new conquest as I laid in the grass out of breath. He was the fastest person I'd ever seen in my life.

What the hell did they feed him that they were hiding from me in the kitchen?

"Kate, it's time to get up." Finn joked as he squatted beside me. "You gave your best effort."

"I had the head start! You were running backwards for part of it, and I still lost!"

He chuckled, "you were doing great at the start. You were so fast, like a blur in the trees."

"And then I about hit a tree." I smiled before laughing as I took his extended hand to help me to my feet. As our fingers laced together, the warmth of his hand in mine made a heat rise to my cheeks as I felt the rough surface of each finger.

It was his hand, unique with the inner pad of his palm soft to the touch while the tips of his fingers and outer rims of his hand were rough, not callous but worn. Each of Finn's knuckles were stiff, battered with age not from time but with every battle he'd ever fought. They were strong hands, and I wanted to hold them for as long as I could.

One of his wrists hung differently than the other as I took it in my hand after I was on my feet. My fingers traced along the bone as he stiffened before I looked up into his eyes. "Did you break it?"

"I did when I was 10, maybe 11 or 12. I don't remember when but I shattered it. I had it wrapped up for a very long time and it still never quite healed right." He flexed his fingers, giving me a small smile. "It doesn't bother me in the slightest."

"I believe it." I laughed, as I crossed my hands across my chest while changing the subject. "So, owner of my soul, what are we doing today?"

Finn stuffed his hands in his pockets as he watched me play with my hair. "I'll still take you do the fun thing if that's what you're asking."

"Oh, I know I sold my heart over to the right person!" I laughed as I took a step closer. "What are we doing?"

"Hm..." He bit his lip, pausing for a moment. At that second, I realized that I'd said heart instead of soul, gut-wrenching fear filling my chest. Except, it was all gone as Finn kept talking and the worry evaporated instantly. "It's a thing that we aren't supposed to do."

My eyes widened as I held in a breath. "Now you have to take me so we can do it!"

"Hush, keep your voice low." Finn stepped closer so that hardly any space remained between us. "You are sworn to secrecy."

"Hm... ok!" I blurted, his close proximity and sweet smell making my brain freeze for just a moment before I could reply.

"We're going to the Mimic." He gave me a boyish grin as he stepped back, raising an eyebrow with mischief in his eyes.

I tilted my head, "the Mimic? What's that?"

He raised a hand, pointing up across the hill. I sucked in a breath as I realized where our next destination lingered. No fucking way! He was going to take me in there?

"The obstacle course? The multi-floor, extremely cool and very dangerous final guardian test!" I nearly squealed in excitement. "Seriously?"

He placed a finger over his lips and I clamped my mouth shut. I was being loud. "Indeed. Remember, you are sworn to secrecy. And it won't be dangerous because it won't be programmed to be too difficult. I'm not taking you somewhere perilous. What type of guardian and soul owner would I be?"

I gave him a smile as I raised my hand, making the gap between two of my fingers very small. "Just a little bit of danger? It will add to the fun, and I can show off my thief skills which Raphael tells me are 'stupid, childish, and have no use besides satisfying my juvenile distain for authority'."

"He has a way with words." Finn commented as we started to walk up the hill towards the dining hall. "We're going to take a detour through the hall and head out the back door to sneak around to the Mimic. Just follow me and be quiet. You can say I'm being an ass if you want to your friends."

"But you aren't an ass."

This only made me him smile as he glanced to me, "oh, they have a very different opinion. I'm a mean instructor, ruthless and a major pain in the ass as I've heard a few individuals quote. I don't play around; I make them earn my respect."

My eyes widened involuntarily, the thought of Finn ordering them around slightly intriguing. It actually sounded kind of hot, his badass side. The Commander, hey? "I see. Are you going to do the same to me?"

"I don't plan on it. You aren't my student and I prefer it that way." Finn kept his eyes forward as his expression dried. He was putting on his game face, and I found it surprisingly very hot.

"I can't imagine you being... ruthless." I shook my head, "I guess I don't have evidence. Maybe I can come watch you teach?"

"Can't allow that. I wouldn't be able to focus." He opened the door to the dining hall, holding it wide for me to step inside as heat rose on my cheeks. Did that imply he'd be watching me? Thinking about me? Thinking about me watching him?

A few of the older guardians were scattered among the table, eating snacks and laughing about some inside joke before it went ghostly quiet as all eyes turned to look at us. I felt a hollow in my stomach; they were all staring at me.

I followed Finn sheepishly, keeping my eyes locked on his wings and shoulder blades as he led me towards the other doorway. One of the guardians was trying to mouth something to me.

'What'd you do?' I finally picked up her words as I shrugged my shoulders.

'He's being an ass.' I said in return

'Typical' was her response, making me smile in amusement. I guess Finn wasn't wrong about his reputation.

"Stratton!" Finn's voice fluctuated through the entire dining hall with a sharp snap in the air, nearly making me jump in surprise as he held open the second door. "Pick up the pace immediately, and the rest of you, know that I do not take disrespect lightly." His eyes were dark and stormy in a way I'd never seen before, his voice completely foreign and similar to Raphael on one of his bad days. One guardian nearly fell out of his seat as all the rest of their faces paled.

Shit, he really could be cruel.

I scurried through the door with a hand over my mouth as he shut it behind me. I looked into his eyes as his face lightened, "enough evidence for you? I keep them on their toes."

A smile broke out over my face as I laughed, "holy shit, you are an ass! What a dick! You yelled at me."

"Don't think I'm unaware what you were doing." He replied with a laugh of his own. "Traitor."

"You said I could, and I was just seeing if you were right, which you were. Fates, you really can scare the crap out of them, can't you?"

"They aren't hard to frighten especially if they know they have to spar with me later." Finn turned as he walked along the side of the building heading towards the Mimic, and I hurried after him.

"We haven't fought yet either."

"We won't."

"You said we would, and are you afraid?" I hurried in front of him so that I walked backwards to face his eyes, licking my lips as I made to fists while bringing them up in front of my face. "Scared I'd give you a black eye in front of your students?"

Finn only chuckled, his eyes dancing with amusement. "Not the best thought, thank you. And, no, I don't want to fight you. Raphael's teaching you currently and that's how it will stay."

"Fine. When I finish training, you better watch out, Finnigan Shay. I'll be knocking on your door." I punched the air in front of his chest with a laugh, making him smile wide as well.

"I'll be terrified waiting for the day. You're going to make me paranoid from now on worrying if I'm going to get my ass kicked." I stuck out my tongue before I tripped over a rock, Finn grabbing my hand in an instant as his other hand gripped my waist to keep me from falling. His breath was close to my ear as his hold on me was tight, the sudden closeness between the two of us blowing my mind. He'd grabbed me so fast... "Are you alright?"

"Yep. I'm so good that I about kicked my own ass by falling on it." I giggled nervously as he released me, stepping back as he licked his lips. Fates, what was with with me and my inability to say anything that wasn't stupid? The warmth of his hand on the curve of my waist felt like it was still there, burning into my skin as he nodded.

"There it is." He said and I turned, looking up into the shadow of the biggest building I'd ever seen in my life that practically touched the clouds. "Ready for the fun?"