“You held back on me because I’m blind,” I realized.
I was met with silence, which was nothing short of a confession. “You can’t do that, Ez. Not in here. If someone picks a fight, you give it all you’ve got, okay? You have to do whatever you can to protect yourself in here, you hear me?”
“Yeah, I hear you,” Ez grumbled. “You make it sound like I’ll be getting in a fight every other week.”
I smirked. “If you want to.”
“I don’t,” Ez practically snapped.
I sensed something in his tone— guilt, perhaps. I didn’t think he felt sorry for what he did to John, just sorry that he got caught. If you asked me, the kid was a fucking hero. I’d beat that motherfucker’s ass too if I ever ran into him.
Ez quickly changed the subject. “What do you say we run a lap?”
“You sure you want to challenge me? I might beat you,” I teased.
Ez laughed, sounding in a better mood. “We’ll see about that.”
Ez took off running toward the track, and I immediately bolted after him. I heard the sound of his shoes hit the pavement, then felt the soft grass shift to hard asphalt as I joined him on the prison yard track. I took note of the sound of a basketballthwackingagainst the concrete nearby to gain my bearings, then turned my attention to Ez’s heavy footsteps ahead of me. I sprinted after him, but he was quick. For fun, I shifted the air currents around us so that the wind came at my back and a gust blew in Ez’s face.
“Nowthat’sunfair!” he shouted, already panting hard.
I laughed as I passed him. “I didn’t know there were rules.”
“You’re still a cheater!” Ez called after me.
I kept close to the edge of the track, so I could easily follow the curve of it through my magical senses. I sensed trees ahead with my Earth magic and knew the first turn was coming. Ez’s footsteps were long behind me, but I pushed forward anyway. I loved the adrenaline rush of the race and the rush of endorphins that came from working out.
I heard the familiartwangof the basketball and voices of players up ahead, and knew I was coming to the end of the track. I slowed as I completed my first lap, then waited for Ez to return. The kid must’ve given up, because he’d started out fast but took forever to complete the lap. I must’ve been waiting a full minute before his footsteps approached.
“Okay, so I cheated,” I admitted. “At least I didn’t give up.”
“I… didn’t… give up,” Ez said through heavy breaths. He coughed loudly, practically hacking up a lung, and I heard him drop to the grass. His body gave a heavythumpas it hit the ground.
My stomach lurched, and I immediately knelt at his side. “Ez, you okay?”
He lay on his back and sucked in deep breaths. “Fine. Totally fine.”
“You don’t sound fine,” I pressed. “What’s wrong? Did you pass out?”
I reached out for him, but he shrugged me off. “No,” he insisted. “I just haven’t worked out in a while.”
He took another few breaths before adding playfully, “If you didn’tcheat, I could’ve kept up.”
I frowned, because I sensed there was more to it than that. I could feel the air moving in and out of his lungs, and it was more labored than it should’ve been. I worried about him, but it didn’t help to press. I was all but certain he’d lost consciousness.
Whatever it was, Ez didn’t want to talk about it.
“We’ll run laps another day,” I offered. “Let’s move on to push-ups.”
“Yeah, sure,” Ez said, rolling over onto his stomach in the grass.
I positioned myself in a plank position and began doing push-ups. I made myself look busy, but really, I had all my attention on Ezekiel. He tried to hide the strain from his voice, but I could sense it in his breath. I used my Earth magic to feel the grass beneath him, and he barely made it to the ground before it seemed like he was about to collapse.
I got to my knees. “I think that’s enough for today.”
Ez breathed a sigh of relief, and I heard him rise to his feet. “Sounds good. I—”
Ez stopped dead in his tracks.
