Page 24

RUNNING YOUR MOUTH DOESN’T COUNT AS EXERCISE

ELIAS

Watching Sydney run was impressive. She could use a bit more endurance, but if I know the guys they picked to be our trainers, she’ll get what she needs in short order. I’ve been moved around some since the Sweeps, so I met them during stays in places other than my most recent home in Inferno Seven. Now we’re working on weight training, and I think she could use a lot more work in this arena. Her legs are fairly strong, but her arms are weak—something common in people who train for cardio to escape but not for strength to break free.

I will help her with that myself.

“Sydney, come lift with me,” I say as she studies the various machines in puzzlement. “I will help with your regimen.”

She looks at me for a moment, then shrugs. “I suppose since you’re built like a tank, you know what you’re doing.”

“Exactly.”

“Sweet pea, Thad and I are plenty good with weights. You don’t have to?—”

I give the demon a wry look. “Huck, you are not even half my size. I am not saying you are deficient; I am suggesting I might have the advantage in this one skill set.”

For a second, I think he’s going to protest, but the bear steps in. “He’s right, Huck. I’m big, but not like him. Hell, we could all use his expertise.”

That was very humble, and I appreciate supes who know their limits.

“Thank you,” I reply as I walk over to a bench press to set it up for Sydney. “It will be much easier to maximize our combined knowledge if we are not always at war with one another.”

“Damn it, he’s right,” she grumbles. “I hate when men are right.”

“Said like someone who believes it’s infrequent,” Stormbringer says from his spot doing bicep curls. “I see how you are, Vicious.”

She rolls her eyes at him, then turns to me. “Okay, big guy. Tell me what to do.”

“First, we will test the weight of the bar. You seem to have neglected this aspect, so you will do three sets of ten reps with just the bar. It will tire you out, but starting small is the best way to build a foundation.”

I wait for her to comply, watching the first few before I move to a leg press where I can work as I keep my eyes on her. She learns quickly, but I was right about her being unbalanced. I’m barely through my first few sets before she lets out a groan. She’s paused with the bar down, breathing slowly.

“Already, little Rebel?”

Giving me an annoyed look, she shakes her head. “Brief rest. I’m not cooked.”

The corner of my mouth lifts and I go back to my presses, my gaze skirting the room to see how the rest of them are doing. Rory obviously knows what he’s doing, and so does the vampire. The bear is strong, but he’s not pushing himself enough. I will have to address that with him. His added bulk is very advantageous to our team, and we should not waste it. Huck is playing at the weights, but I know that’s because his powers are far more useful when he’s in demon form, and that does not require this sort of work.

I’ll let him piddle around until I know what his other skills are; if they are not up to snuff, I will push him.

Pleased with my assessment, I finish the leg press, slurping down some water as I wait for Sydney to complete her sets. It takes longer than I’d prefer, but once she does, I repeat the process of setting up the machine and showing her the leg press, then switch to the bench. My tolerance is far greater, so I put as much weight as I can bear on the bar, then settle in. I won’t have a spotter in our team—not for this kind of heft—so I whistle loud enough for Brick to hear. He strolls over, giving me a knowing expression as he stands by the bench.

He and Lancaster might be good allies, but I have to be certain before I engage in any conversations that could hurt our team. They were angry and younger when we met; I don’t know how beaten down they’ve become in the past four years. They could have chosen to come here to get away from their captivity, or they could have assimilated into the FHSA’s brainwashed supes. I won’t be able to tell from this limited exposure. It will take time, and sessions where Krista isn’t in the corner on her phone.

I assume she’s not going to follow us to every single thing forever, but who the fuck knows?

“Leveled up since we last crossed paths, mmm, Dante?”

Nodding at Brick, I wait for him to get in position, then grunt as I lift the enormous weight and hold it up. It’s not too much, which is good, so I continue my reps slowly. My eyes stay on our rebellious leader, making sure she’s still doing okay, but my body goes on autopilot—up, down, up, down, repeat.

“She seems like she’s pretty tough.”

I snort. “So far, I’d agree.”

“ She can hear you assholes,” Sydney replies. “My ears work just fine, guys.”

“Actually her hearing is spectacular ,” Thad adds. “It’s very annoying.”

Good to know. Perhaps someone should do some research on the supes with excellent hearing.

“You two are just loud. You yammer on about dude shit and I get bored. It’s not my fault you can’t take objective criticism.”

“Objective?” Sebastian pauses his quadriceps work to snort at her. “Somehow, I don’t believe you.”

“As if I give a shit what you think.” Syd sniffs, then goes back to the leg press, gritting her teeth. It’s probably starting to burn, but she’s not done yet.

“Children,” Lancaster says as he pushes off the wall. “Bickering will not rocket you to the top of this thing. At least, not in unrecorded pre-training sessions like this. It might be useful later on; audiences love pathos.”

Oh, great. He thinks he’s a fucking director, too. Just what we needed .

The rest of the physical training went quickly for me, as I worked with our trainers to help the rest of the team develop a program. In lockdown, there’s little to do besides work out and sit around playing whatever broken down game is available, so we’re all very familiar with the concept. It seems the rest of the sectors basically send the supes for education and sometimes, work details, then they amuse themselves until bedtime. They aren’t encouraged to keep themselves fit or develop anything other than resentment.

It’s no wonder the three friends in our group are brimming with anger and frustration—all they’ve ever done is focus on survival.

We’re sweaty and tired when the session ends, and thank the swirling sea gods, Krista is gone when we head for the elevator. Sydney is particularly exhausted, and I feel for her. She doesn't have full supe abilities and physicality yet, so this regimen is very tough on her human body. Despite that, she hasn’t complained about the hardship once, only stopped when she had to rest, then resumed without a word. I’m slightly impressed, but I doubt she’d appreciate anyone commenting on it. She’s allergic to people commenting on her lack of supe powers and this is no exception.

“Are we eating in the suite this evening?” Thad asks as he punches the button.

The girl in my thoughts gives him a withering look. “Yes. I’m disgusting. We all smell and look like wilted cabbage. I doubt that presents an intimidating picture to all the other teams, so what’s the point of being in public?”

“Good point.” I nod as we walk into the carriage, positioning myself at the back. “We should be thinking about our appearances at all times, as the humans have instructed.”

Huck makes an annoyed sound and I turn to face him, waiting for his commentary. “I don’t know about y’all, but it chaps my ass to do all this simpering bullshit. Being from the South, I’m fairly good at hidin’ my disdain behind a thin veneer of politeness, but I’m fairly certain this is going to stretch that.”

“It definitely is,” Sydney mutters bitterly. “I’m not good at masking how much these people disgust me. I admit, I’m worried about how well I’m going to survive when cameras are actively following us rather than just side-stepping the Enforcement Zones.”

The bell dings, and Rory holds the doors open as we all file out, heading for our suite. He squints at the other end of the hallway curiously. “Don’t you guys wonder who’s at the other end? And how they’re hosting all these teams but some have what are obviously nicer accommodations?"

“It crossed my mind,” Sebastian says as he swipes us into the room. “My assumption was that the tests they conducted to pair teams lead to a presumptive ranking that determined where each was placed and who they received as their coordinator.”

“That means Krista is likely a top-tier coach,” Thad says, his voice full of surprise. “Damn.”

Sydney strides into the room, her braid whipping behind her as she makes a frustrated sound. “And we’ll have to listen to her, then. Fuck me.”

Rory opens his mouth and I shoot him a death glare to keep him from adding the stress. “Yes, we will.”

“ That chaps my ass,” the vampire says drily. “She makes my fangs ache.”

“Finally something we agree on.” Sydney turns to look at us as the door shuts. “Now I’m going to get my shit and shower first again. You should consider that standard operating procedure. Once I’m out, we can talk about dinner.”

“Who made you the Queen of the Bite Club?”

She gives Sebastian a baleful look, shaking her head. “The vagina I was born with, blood sucker. Now be a good little boy and toddle off with the rest of them until I’m done.”

I have to smother a chuckle at his outraged expression as she exits to her room on that line, slamming the door behind her. “You heard her, fang face. Move it along.”

Rolling his eyes, the overgrown mosquito does as instructed—likely because he knows I could take him without breaking a sweat. Vampires don’t have a lot of competition among the supes except mythicals and the Fae. Their fancy tricks work on shifters and humanoids like magic users, but Fae blood is a drug to them and mythicals have powers that come directly from the gods. The lesser supes do as well, but it’s been diluted for so long that the power shift between rare races and more common ones is significant. That might be part of why we ranked so highly—a demon and a dragon, plus a wild card like Sydney, make our team an especially tough bet.

I look at the others as we settle in to wait for her, considering the possibilities. Thaddeus is pure brawn with smarts, and his bear will be fast once it gets moving. He’ll make an excellent tank to clear the field. As a vampire, Sebastian will have the usual speed, strength, and bite, but depending on his lineage, he could have a wide array of powers in addition. It makes him a good ‘Swiss Army knife’ of competitors. I don’t know how vast Stormbringer’s magic is—which will need to change—but he will make an excellent long range, ‘area of effect’ player. My own powers lie in flight, water, magic, and armor, plus many unknown royal traits that will be useful. But Sydney… she’s the real question mark. If she unleashes something powerful, it will tip the scales entirely.

“We should discuss strategy tonight once we are clean. Knowing what powers we possess before they put us in the supe arena is crucial. It would be very much in step with the humans’ behavior to drop us in a scrimmage battle with lax rules to see what we can do. Without knowing what we are holding back, we may give them their own ideas about how the challenges should go.”

And I’m not willing to allow those motherfuckers to put their fingers on the scales of justice once again.