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I laughed with him, and the laughter felt good.

“Your mother’s a raging asshole,” said Holden. “Wherever the fuck she is.”

“Agreed,” I said wholeheartedly. “Now… tell me about Kyrkos.”

I felt him stiffen. Saw his expression change, going all serious again. Whatever was there, it ran deep. As deep as my resentment for own shitty mother, and possibly even—

BANG.

It was a low sound, and not very loud. But it was very distinct. Very noticeable. Almost instantly Holden let go of me.

“Hey, did you hear—”

The rest of my sentence died on an empty room. Holden was already gone, slipping out of the office with dangerous efficiency in the direction of the noise.

Moving quickly and silently, I followed him.

Twenty

ANDREA

The gym was eerie enough at night; a mostly open expanse of muted darkness with even deeper shadows. I saw only a faint trace of movement ahead. Holden, creeping stealthily along the wall, toward the

front end of the building.

“Holden…”

He hissed at me instantly, making a silencing motion with his hand. I felt foolish, but I kept moving. Kept on coming.

That’s when my foot caught on something…

Shit!

… and a random chunk of debris skidded across the floor.

CRASH!

Something flew from the wall ahead, knocking into my lover with a loud expulsion of air. It hit him hard enough to knock him sideways, but not before he grabbed his assailant as well.

“HOLDEN!”

I looked on in horror, as the two of them went sprawling to the floor. In the shadows they looked like a swirling mass of arms and legs. I ran up to find them rolling, pummeling, fighting…

“Stop! I—”

Someone punched someone, and someone groaned. I saw an elbow fly, and heard the sharp crack of teeth clacking together.

I was caught between action and inaction. Between the desire to jump in and help, or run off to wake up Randall.

Reaching back, I grabbed the nearest thing I could find. It was thick and heavy. Cold in my hands…

“Holden…”

I moved within striking distance, but it still too dark to see. The fight was moving too quickly to know who was who.

Another flurry of punches. Another series of twists and turns. The two men — and I could tell from the grunts the assailant was a man — writhed in the dirt and filth of the abandoned gym’s floor. Dust flew everywhere. I started coughing…

SNAP.