Page 42

KNOW WHEN TO HOLD ‘EM

HUCKLEBERRY

Our girl’s rapid departure from the locker room wasn’t shocking. In the time I’ve known her, I’ve only detected her cycle once, and I suppose it was some kind of early decline of whatever method she’s using to keep herself from being fertile. Thad said nothing that day, so I followed suit. Nothing about it is shameful; in fact, much like the vampire, it smelled like heaven in liquid form to me. But my sweet pea grew up without a mama and a father so concerned with keeping them away from the rest of the community that he failed to support her.

It’s not shocking that she’s so tightly wound about sex and the other mechanisms of procreation.

“You know, if that bastard wasn’t dead, I’d gladly ring his neck.”

The words come from the mage’s shower stall, and I hum my agreement. None of us want to press the issue, but Syd’s hero worship of a borderline neglectful father is a bitter pill to swallow. It doesn’t take a fancy degree to see that his rhetoric and paranoia damaged her in ways she hasn’t even figured out yet. As her only friends in the camps, the bear and I didn’t see the need to bust that bubble she lived in if it helped her survive our daily bullshit.

Now it’s vital that she accept a lot of hard truths about the world and her past that she’s not had to face. I hate that, especially because I know it’s hurting her and it won’t get easier along the way. But we need to survive, and I’ll be damned if I’m going to let some tinfoil hat whack job who’s been dead for years keep us from achieving what his rebels couldn’t. This ragtag group of supes is going to start, lead, and finish the revolution that will end these fucking prisons, that I guarantee.

“Agreed, Stormbringer, but we cannot push too hard.”

I feel Thad’s bear prickle from the next stall and it makes me smile. His voice is rumbly when says, “Sydney is strong—stronger than she thinks, even. She’ll be able to get through all of this… new reality… if we give her time and space. I don’t think I’m over-assuming when I say that we’ve come to terms with almost everything she never dealt with. Other than her shitty dad, of course.”

“Hmmm,” Sebastian replies. I hear the water turn off at his end and the slap of wet feet on the tile. “That may be true, ursa, but we have precious little time to get her up to speed. We have no idea how long they plan to ‘train’ us, and the minute the actual competition begins, her blind spots become weaknesses. We can be respectful, but we also must be realistic.”

The dragon makes an annoyed sound that is somewhere between a huff and a growl. “I dislike forcing people to face things they are not ready for. It is not our way, mosquito.”

“Mine, either,” Thad admits. “Though I suppose the vampire and Huck are more inclined to do it by their nature. And Rory is just pushy.”

“Hey!” the mage says indignantly. “I’m not pushy, but I know how to convince someone when needed. That’s what I did the other night, and you assholes didn’t complain. Don’t hate the player, hate the game, buddy.”

“Do you think Sydney would appreciate being called a game?” The vampire tone is amused and I hear him rifling through his stuff to get dressed. “I’d put money on ‘no’ being the answer.”

Bets? Now, that’s my kind of action.

“Dependin’ on how much you’re willing to lay down, I’ll?—”

“For fuck’s sake. Betting is no better than using the term ‘game’. Stop being so juvenile.”

Elias thumps his big fist on the wall of his stall and I swear the damn lights shake in response. Probably best not to upset the storm dragon, I suppose. Sighing, I concede before he shorts out the electric and leaves us wet in the dark. “You’re right. I was only joking, anyway—about betting on sweet pea, anyway. I enjoy the fuck out of wagers otherwise.”

“Unsurprising,” Sebastian remarks drily. “However, I suggest what we say between us stays between us as long as it is not detrimental to Sydney’s progress and the team. If we are to bond in a group setting, some friendly interaction like this may be necessary.”

“Why do you sound like such a damn robot?” I shake my head and turn my shower off, exiting into the small dressing area to pull on our ever-present uniform. “You need to lighten up as well, Whitmore. If your ass gets any tighter, it’s going to shit out a diamond the next time you hit the head.”

That gets a laugh out of the rest of the guys, and I grin to myself. The bloodsucker isn’t wrong in his assertion, but he needs to say it in a less formal way. We do need to bond as guys and as a full team with our girl. Otherwise, the plan will not work, and neither is the suspicion I have about where this is going. None of us can hate one another forever; that much, I’m completely certain of.

Trick is, Syd can’t hate us, either, and right now, she’s probably hoppin’ mad.

We leave a spot for her between the mage and me in the back row of the lecture hall. Krista is at the front with all the other coaches, and I can’t help wonder what in the merry fuck this session is going to accomplish. There are too many cooks in the kitchen down there and way too many groups of suspicious supernaturals looking at one another as if a poison dart is going to materialize out of thin air.

Everyone is fixin’ to get ugly, no matter what their beauty sessions accomplished earlier this week.

The room is just barely filled when I feel Sydney enter. I turn, looking for her gaze at the back of the large hall, and when she sees me, she hurries over to slide in between Rory and me. Our girl doesn’t say a word, but I notice her scent is drowned under a lot of perfumes and sprays. Of course, she likely doesn’t realize that most supes can scent her underneath that mess, and I sure as hell don’t say a word. Her face is a bit pink as it is, and her discomfort is radiating from her frame.

“I didn’t miss anything, right?” she mutters as she pulls her tablet out.

Wisely, the jokey magic user doesn’t comment except to say, “Naw, Vicious. You got here in time.”

My eyes cut over to the vampire on the far end, then the dragon, and finally, my chosen brother bear. I try to communicate the need for discretion to each, hoping we can hold this shit together in the last class of the day. If I were a bettin’ demon—and I am—I’d say our girl will make a beeline for the doctor’s bay after this. The only way we’ll be able to convince her to let someone come along is if we behave here and now. Otherwise, she’ll fight us and waste a lot of time that could be better spent re-fueling and knocking out our damn ‘homework’.

“ Attention, competitors! ”

The voice from the front isn’t our cheery coach. My head whips around to see which one projected that well and I roll my eyes when I see them using what has to be an infused item to accomplish that range. Humans hate all of us with every fiber of their being—enough to imprison or kill every supe they find in this country—but they sure as shit love using our powers for their own gain. It’s infuriating, and I want to throw a ball of terror at the jackass doing it to teach him a lesson. I can’t, though, so I slouch in my chair and pull my hat brim down so I’m unlikely to be called on by this tool.

“ Thank you for attending our first Intrigue & Socialization seminar. ”

“As if we had a choice,” Syd mutters in the lowest tone I’ve ever heard from her. Her shoulders hunch as she keeps her eyes on the tablet, waiting for the dummy to say something she can add to her notes.

My lips curve up at her indefatigable spunk. It’s my favorite part of this woman and has been since we first met. No matter how angry or upset or happy she is, Sydney Jolie always has that sharp edge. She doesn’t tone it down for anyone or anything, though I’ve seen the softer side peek out occasionally. Her sarcasm makes her funny, but it also makes her real, and I adore it whether it offends others or not.

Leaning in slightly, I murmur, “Easy there, filly. Don’t want to start a brawl we can’t finish.”

She frowns at her screen, but nods quickly. I know she’s embarrassed about her period starting unexpectedly in the locker room, but getting control of her more volatile emotions is important for this stupid training. I tilt my head, considering her behavior since we were chosen, and it occurs to me that since her powers—whatever the hell they are—started emerging, she’s been like a yo-yo.

That might be a side effect of emergence, but I’m uncertain what it means. Shifter like her dad possibly?

I yank my device out of my bag, turning it on. The others need to know my thoughts about the ups and downs of Syd’s moods, and I will not say it out loud.

“ This class will address both friendly and not-so-friendly interactions between the teams competing in the Games. You should seek to form alliances, as they may be needed, but also to gather information that might be used as leverage as well.”

Their advice is contradictory and I can’t imagine that anyone listening hasn’t figured that out. Every one of these sessions will be a huge fucking waste if this is what they’re ‘teaching’. I might as well use it to take notes on the teams and individuals based on their reactions. But for now, I’m going to hit up the other guys via this lovely technology they provided—carefully. I open the chat function, creating a room titled ‘Dude Bros’ and swallow the chuckle before it escapes. Adding each of them from the pre-populated list, I consider how I’m going to say this in a way that won’t give away our shit if someone is actively monitoring this shit.

DocHolliday: I believe I’ve discovered a foundation for the roller coaster.

I wait for one of the others to respond, hoping they get what I’m trying to say. After a few minutes, the bubbles on the screen turn into words and I sigh in relief.

VladtheImpaler: Discuss.

DocHolliday: Perhaps it is linked to the rising sun.

I know I’m being cagey as hell, but I don’t trust the humans pitting us against one another for sport as far as I could throw them.

YogiBear: That may be accurate. It wasn’t common in the past.

MrWizard: Also, the new information.

PufftheMagicDragon: Both are likely.

DocHolliday: Clues to origins?

VladtheImpaler: Multiple, not singular.

YogiBear: Probably. Unusual.

Their agreement makes the wheels turn in my head for a few minutes and I’m totally absorbed until a sharp elbow hits my ribs. I automatically click my screen closed as I look over at the woman sitting next to me. She’s finally meeting someone’s gaze after the incident in the shower, so I wait for her. I don’t want to spook Sydney, so she withdraws again.

“I… I have to go to the doctor.”

Nodding, I scratch my chin. “Okay, darlin’. No problem.”

“Will you go with me, Huck?”

I blink, a little surprised by the request. The dumbass upfront is still droning on about how to socialize with other teams and when we’ll be tasked with doing so, but I couldn't care less about that. I figured she’d tap the mage because he’s been doing so well of late. “Well, of course, I’ll come, sweet pea. You know I’d walk through Hell barefoot if you asked.”

Her nose wrinkles as she whispers, “You’re a demon, Huck. You can walk through Hell bare-ass naked and it wouldn’t hurt you.”

“Ah, but the thought still counts.”

She rolls her eyes, then shrugs. “Okay. But I won’t ask you to drink holy water or whatever. Just come with me, so no one gets worried and sit outside the med bay until I’m done.”

I grin, pushing my hat back a little so I can see her better. “Absolutely. Nothin’ I’d rather do.”

That might not be exactly true, but anytime I spend with Sydney is better than every other minute I spend without her.