Page 21 of Horn in My Side

JASMINE

“Three . . . two . . . one . . . And we’re done!” Erik the spin instructor called out from the front of the class as the music changed and the flashing lights slowly faded away. “You all were amazing. Give yourselves a round of applause.”

“Whew!” Jasmine took a swig from her water bottle as she wiped her forehead with a towel. “Finally.”

“Was that only forty-five minutes?” Leila, the girl on her right, panted. “Felt like hours. I don’t know if I’m cut out for this. I could barely keep up with the routines.”

“Don’t worry, Lei,” Tracy, who was on the other side of her, said. “It gets better after a few more classes.”

Thursday was Jasmine’s weekly spin class at the Jotunn Gym and Fitness Studio, but she hadn’t attended the last three weeks, being so busy with the shop.

However, when Tracy had messaged her this morning asking if she was ever coming back, Jasmine decided to go, plus she’d already paid for the classes anyway.

So, she took the bus to the strip mall in east Dewberry Falls where the gym was located and met up with Tracy, who brought Leila to the class.

With her petite stature, pointy ears emerging from a nest of wavy brown hair, and pearlescent skin, Jasmine had immediately recognized her as a pixie, even with her wings tucked away under her exercise clothes.

She had a friend back in high school who was a pixie, and she said they only unfurled their wings when they needed to fly because they were so big, but also extremely sensitive.

“It’s tough being the newcomer.” Jasmine patted her on the hand. “I’ve been doing this for six months, but I improved after, like, three weeks. After my first class, though, I thought my legs would fall off.”

“Let’s cool down, shall we?” Erik called. As the house lights above turned on, the blue glow from his eyes disappeared. His pure white hair was slicked back with sweat, though because he was a frost giant, the tips of it were flecked with little ice crystals. “Okay, stretch those arms up . . .”

Jasmine slowed her legs and followed the cool-down routine.

She was exhausted, but in a good way. She looked forward to this spin class every week, not just for the cardio, but for the duration of the entire class, she didn’t have to think about anything else.

It was her “me” time and stress relief. Besides, ever since she’d moved to Dewberry Falls, her life for the most part revolved around Fantastic Tails.

She loved managing the shop, but all she did was wake up, go to work, come home, go to sleep and do it all over again the next day.

It was actually Vrig who suggested she take up a hobby or exercise, as he was worried she was getting too stressed out.

Oh, Vrig.

Grief was a funny thing; Jasmine had never known her mother and even though she was sad about not having her around, it didn’t quite hit her as hard as the loss of Vrig.

The pain of her grandmother’s death, however, remained fresh in her memory, though over the years, the pang didn’t hit as often.

Vrig was probably the first friend whose death she’d experienced, and with it being so recent, she would still think he was sitting at home or inside his office before she was reminded that he was gone.

At least, though, for the first time since he passed, she didn’t quite have that sense of foreboding that left her on tenterhooks all the time.

In fact, the last two weeks had even felt, well, normal.

Though the initial boom of sales from the assembly and their sudden social-media success had died down, sales were still steady.

In fact, they’d made more money in the last week than they had the same time last year, plus gaining more followers and hearts on their posts, thanks to Mal’s cooperation.

While she avoided posting pictures that objectified him, his photos still garnered the most attention.

It was hard to believe how much had changed in the last month since he’d arrived.

And now he only had five more months before he had to go.

A different pang hit her in the chest, one that she desperately wanted to go away.

Despite her best efforts, she was still crushing on her boss.

How could she not? They were together for six days a week.

Plus, she spent the last couple of days watching him hammer and saw and drill, his sweat covering his brows and bare forearms as he built that tank for her.

Yes, Jasmine, I’ll build you a hatching tank.

Not build a tank, but build you a tank.

She shook her head mentally.

I’m putting way too much meaning in his words.

Besides, it was just an ordinary tank, at least from the bits and pieces that she’d seen.

He had most of the area sectioned off and hidden with a special soundproof barrier so as not to stress out the animals with the construction noise.

Jasmine was reluctant to go inside or take a peek, lest Mal think she was micromanaging him, plus he was doing this as a favor, so she wanted him to have the freedom to do what he needed without interference from her.

“Unclip yourselves from the pedals,” Erik instructed as he swung his legs over his bike and landed gracefully beside it. “Bend down, stretch out, put your hands together as you rise and take a deep breath and expel it, pushing out all the stress and worries from your body.”

Jasmine shoved thoughts of Mal aside as she followed the frost giant’s instructions.

When she inhaled, she gathered all her troubles—the fear of losing everything she had built here in Dewberry Falls—and expelled everything out.

Last night she’d started on her business plan for the shop, not to mention that she’d managed to live so frugally in the last four weeks that she’d already saved a big chunk of money.

Erik clapped his hands. “Goodnight and thanks, everyone. See you next week.”

“I am beat,” Jasmine declared. “I need a shower and bed.”

“Shower and bed?” Tracy’s nose wrinkled. “But what about our post-workout drink?”

“You know I can’t, Trace.” She was the manager at the credit union where Jasmine was hoping to get a loan. “I’m on a budget.”

“You’ve already missed the last three weeks,” she whined. “Please? Just one drink?”

“Ooh, I could use a drink,” Leila piped in. “Can I join?”

“Sure, but Jasmine’s being a party pooper and wants to go home.”

“Please come, Jasmine,” Leila urged. “We don’t have to go anywhere fancy. There’s a new place on Main Street. I heard they’re doing half-price drinks for ladies on Thursdays to get people in.”

“Is that the one with the hot gargoyle bartender?” Tracy asked.

Leila chuckled. “That’s the one. C’mon, Jasmine, you can do one drink. You deserve it.”

Jasmine paused. “You know what, you’re right.” She’d been making her own coffee every day, taking her own lunch to work, eating instant ramen for dinner every night, plus she’d cut down on her streaming subscriptions. Having one martini—half price, at that—wouldn’t break her budget. “One drink.”

“Hooray!” Leila raised a fist in the air triumphantly.

After a quick shower, all three girls piled into Tracy’s car and drove down to Main Street. Jasmine told herself that she was also saving on bus fare, as she could walk home after.

“Here we are,” Leila announced as they entered through a door with the sign “Cedar Grove Grill” above.

After telling the hostess they were only coming for drinks, she directed them toward the back.

They made their way across the modern-looking dining room, past the sleek black tables and elegant lighting fixtures, to the bar where a small crowd had already gathered.

“Looks like we’re not the only ones who’ve heard about the half-off specials,” Tracy said.

“Or the hot bartender.” Leila nudged Jasmine with her elbow and pointed to the bar, where a tall figure held up a metal shaker in his hand.

Though Jasmine couldn’t make out his face from here, from his gray skin, the large horns poking out of his forehead, and of course, the clawed, bat-like wings protruding from his back, he was definitely a gargoyle.

“Half the women in town seem to be here,” Tracy muttered. “We’ll never get close enough to grab a drink.”

“Maybe we can go somewhere else?” Jasmine suggested.

“Aww, c’mon, the line is moving.” Leila pointed at the crowd. “Why don’t you girls wait here? I’ll try to wiggle my way to the front.” She gave a dramatic shake of her long locks, sending shimmery dust flying all over.

“You don’t have to—”

But the pixie was already gone.

Tracy rolled her eyes. “Sorry about that. She can be like a dog with a bone when she wants something.”

“No worries, she seems really nice.”

“Yeah, Leila’s cool overall. Listen, would you mind waiting for her here? I need to go to the bathroom.”

“Sure, go ahead.” She waved her friend away, then took her phone out of her purse to do some work.

First, she checked on the shop’s social media sites to make sure she didn’t miss any urgent direct messages.

Then she opened the app for the security cameras inside the shop to check on the creatures.

She was scrolling through the second-floor live camera feed when she heard a familiar voice.

“Jasmine?”

She looked up from her phone. “Mal?” Yup, sure enough, there he was, towering above her. “What are you doing here?”

“Dinner. Just finished.” He raked his claws through his mop of messy hair. “And you?”

“Er, I went to my spin class, then my friends wanted to get a drink.”

Mal’s purple eyes darted toward the bar—and the bartender—his lips thinning. “I see.”

Jasmine cringed inwardly. She couldn’t even deny that she was here to see the gorgeous gargoyle. What would he think of her?

Ancestor spirits , she prayed. Do you guys do time travel? I’d really like to go back to before I agreed to come here.