She could feel it travel down her throat and rest in her stomach. It wasn’t unpleasant but it didn’t feel nearly as comfortable as she would have liked. She carefully sipped a little more water and let her body get used to actual food.

She then took a small bite of butter chicken and ate it as well. This time it was a little easier but the food rested no more comfortably in her empty stomach than the Naan had. Again, she waited a few minutes and sipped a little water.

She continued eating in this careful, slow, deliberate way for almost half an hour eating only a small handful of bites before her stomach felt full. She then cut a small piece of her desert, Gulab Jamun, and chewed it slowly. It was the sweetest thing she had ever tasted. She felt like a little girl again enjoying a well-earned treat. After the small bite she sipped some more water and pushed herself away from the table.

Then she sat there, letting her body process the real solid food that she had just ate. It had been over a year since she had eaten solid food. She thought about how her body would react to dealing with it again, and all the horrible things that would happen if it didn’t. But she had at least some time before that happened, if it happened. The last thing she could afford to lose was precious planning time to gastric distress or some other bodily revolt against the sudden change in diet.

She cleaned up the kitchen, carefully wrapping her food in some plastic wrap that she had found, and she threw away the used containers.

When she was done, she sat down in a chair and placed her elbows on the table. She thought back to what had happened that evening. She had not gotten any real information from the vampire. That had not been her intention, she would have to push a little more for him to be more open with her. Then again, it may be that he really didn’t care about House Himura being attacked all of a sudden. If he really wasn’t concerned, then he was a bigger fool than she had originally thought.

Even if he was a fool, she was still his prisoner, for now. And he was the best link for her to finish her mission and get some solid information back to the Mountain. If Kenneth was able to track future shape shifters, and hunt them down before they were reborn, then surely the other Houses were also able to do it. It wouldn’t do House Dukart any good to keep that kind of information secret from the other Houses, it served no advantage. If the vampire Houses agreed on anything it would be the combined effort to destroy the Shape shifters.

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She glanced toward the office. It would be too dangerous to call Jason again, but she needed some way to communicate with the outside.

She glanced at the pulled drapes and the heavily darkened windows that they covered. Even if she could get a copy of Alexander’s door key, it would be incredibly dangerous for her to go outside. She could be seen by any number of people. And any number of them could be agents of House Brandt, Dukart, or Himura.

She stood up and walked around the apartment, filling it with her scents as she had done the night before. Alexander was proving to be far more resistant than she had anticipated but she did have some control over him, control that she wanted to expand.

She stopped in front of the full body mirror on the closet doors inside the bedroom. She looked at her unhealthy, scrawny body. She would also have to regain her strength. Now that she had food in the house and her body hadn’t protested terribly to the food in her stomach, it was time to start reclaiming some of what she had lost.

She stripped down to her underwear and began slowly stretching her body. She took a spread legged stance and bent down to touch the feet of each. Her bones creaked and her muscles protested. Even though to her mind the exercises and stretches were familiar, her body had forgotten them and was protesting at every new movement.

She began one of her most basic dance warm-ups, slowly and deliberately going through each motion, testing both her balance and muscle stamina. Even though she lost her balance several times as her feet and ankle muscles could not hold the once well practiced angles and movements, she continued.

The she dropped down to the carpet. Her body was covered in a thin layer of sweat already. She laid down flat on her stomach and pushed up her body into a straight perfect pushup. She held the form for three seconds before her muscles gave out and she collapsed to the floor.

Breathing heavily, she lifted herself up again. She was able to just lock her elbows, before her arms gave out and she collapsed again.

She laid there on the ground breathing hard as her body was openly sweating now. She drew her knees to her chest and raised herself to a kneeling position. She stood up slowly, using the bed to help her to her feet. She stood for several moments, trying not to teeter. When she was confident enough to walk again, she made her way out to the kitchen and drank a few swallows of water, from the glass she used at dinner. Leaning heavily on the kitchen island she breathed deeply and tried to calm her heart, which still thudded loudly in her chest.

The exercise session had not gone as well as she had hoped. She was as weak as a newborn. At least she knew where she stood and she could only improve. After a few hours she would try to eat again. The two things her body would need most were protein and rest. Her circadian rhythm would be thrown off, one because of the internal lighting of the apartment, but also, she didn’t dare sleep too soundly, or too long, when Alexander could walk in on her at any moment.