Page 86

. . .

The gym Danny worked at—FangFitness—was, admittedly, a dirty fucking hellhole.

The smell of sweat hung mustily in the air despite the massive glass panels lining the back wall, open to the winter chill. Like no amount of airing out the cinder block building would be enough to rid it of decades of blood, sweat, and, after a couple of extremely harrowing boot camp classes—tears.

I lingered by the changing rooms waiting for my sibling, studying the chipped hand-painted mural of a bat holding a barbell over its little furry head that sat between sets of lockers.

If I’d had it my way, I never would’ve left the couch today. But I’d already committed to swapping my kickboxing class time now that I worked nights. It was a bit tricky to make a 7 p.m. class when I was busy mixing cocktails and flirting with half of my co-workers.

Wait, Ren and I weren’t just co-workers anymore, right? I mean, I was the only one who said the wordgirlfriendyesterday—twice—but come on! Jewelry for Valentine’s Day? Baseball tickets? Wehadto be official.

Yeah. We were totally, definitely, absolutely?—

“Ready?” Danny asked, appearing through the swinging door and interrupting my internal freakout not a moment too soon. “I don’t think there will be many people here today; the daytime class is usually pretty quiet.”

“Not really a bad thing.” I said, pulling at the sleeve of my hoodie down on instinct, even though only a small scar was visible after Ren fixed it up, it still felt... vulnerable.

Danny’s dark eyes—a mirror of my own—tracked the movement.

“You sure you should box today, sis?”

I shrugged. “It’s been healed, so it’s fine.”

They leaned in close, a hand gently resting on my arm at the crook near my elbow. “Do you want to talk about it?”

I’d filled them in, briefly and with as few details as possible, on the drive over but we weren’t really a ‘talk about it’ family. We were a ‘hope it goes away’ family. But I knew that they cared anyway… Especially when they were trying like this.

My eyes flicked away from my sibling to find my own pale face in one of the many mirrors affixed to the walls. Unable to look at the dark, exhausted circles under my eyes, I shook my head, my gaze moving to the high open ceiling, metal beams and ducting visible from the rubberized floor below.

“I’m all good, D,” I assured them, patting their hand with my own.

For the most part it was true, even if it still sounded a little hollow coming out of my mouth.More than anything, I was tired from all the adrenaline… And maybe a little anxious about going back to O.

But I wasn’t going to trouble Danny with that. I knew that they had enough going on with the gym and school. I didn’t want to burden Danny with what had happened and with my insane theory that I’d been bitten before. Especially when I didn’t have any evidence to show for it.

No, it was easier—for both of us—if I just accepted Valentine’s Day as an unfortunate accident and tried to move on with my life the best I could.

“Then why don’t you tell me about tall, dark, and butch kissing you outside Kaylee’s this morning?”

I groaned as they led me through rows of weight machines, treadmills, and ellipticals toward the open space at the far side of the gym. “Ren just happened to be picking up coffees for the coven. You know, this is why I never tell you anything! You gossip worse than Grandma. Please tell me you didn’t call Mom.”

“Not yet. I figured I should find out if it was a one-night stand or not first,” they teased, nudging me.“That kiss tells me it wasn’t…”

“As if it’s any of your business,” I quipped. “But no, she’s not a one-night stand. Her name is Ren.”

Dannyooohed excitedly. “The bartender? The one Kaylee showed me on her phone? The one whowasn’tyour girlfriend?”

“Yeah.”

“But now you’re kissing and…”

The prospect of discussing my sex life with my older sibling was too horrifying to allow this conversation to continue, leaving me hunting for a change of subject.

“She’s taking me to a Nightwalkers game.”

“Fuck off,” Danny said with an excited grin. “She’s a fan?”

“Yeah, bought you a ticket too—way better than the seats we usually have.”