The elevator doors open to a floor that looks just like so many businesses around town. It’s white on white on white, a stylish front desk sitting in the center with a white, shaded pane of glass behind it, mostly shielding the rest of the room from my gaze. There are spaces on either side to walk past, but one look at the woman manning the desk and I know better than to try without permission.
I smile brightly and head for her. She’s a curvy Black woman with a shaved head and bright-purple lipstick. She’s also got the cold eyes of a killer. I stop just short of touching the desk. “Hi, I’m Aurora. I was hoping you could point me in the direction of the gym.”
She eyes me for a long moment. “Down one more level.”
I wait for some kind of warning not to go farther, but she just stares at me as if she can read my mind. No doubt this place has security cameras in every conceivable location, though I didn’t clock any in Malone’s apartment. I don’t know if that’s incredibly reckless of her or simply an indication that she doesn’t need her security team in order to protect herself. Somehow, I can’t help thinking it’s the latter.
I keep my smile in place as I back into the elevator and wave. “Thanks!”
On the next floor down, I find a tall white woman waiting. She jerks her chin at me. “This way.”
I was barely in that elevator for twenty seconds after talking to the woman upstairs. Allecto would be hard-pressed to match a time response like this to adapt to someone’s movements. I follow the woman through a door and down a long hallway. She motions to a few of the doors we pass, rattling off what they lead to. Pool. Sauna. Locker room. Racquetball court. At the end, there are three doors. She glances at me. “Weight room, general fitness, or sparring?”
I had fully intended to jump on a treadmill and run for a bit, but the option of sparring perks me up. You shouldn’t. I shouldn’t…but I want to. “I have no one to spar with.”
The woman gives a slow smile. “Not yet.” She leads the way through the third door and into a large room with thick, blue mats and an honest-to-god boxing ring. She catches my look, and her grin widens. “Most of us like to have this sort of thing in our regular lineup.”
“I see.” Except I’m not seeing anything but the pair of people moving around the middle mat, almost too fast to follow. I recognize the tall Maori person with their long, black hair braided back and tattoos covering both arms. Sara.
The other is Malone.11MaloneI catch sight of Ivy walking through the door, Aurora behind her, and almost get Sara’s massive fist to my face for my distraction. I throw myself back, but even then I can feel the air displacement from their strike. Sara really isn’t capable of pulling their punches, which is part of the reason I prefer sparring with them. It keeps me sharp.
Or it would if Aurora hadn’t just walked into this room.
I go on the defensive, moving around the mat, dodging Sara’s attacks, so I can get a look at Aurora. Foolish. In a real fight, it’d likely mean my death. Knowing that doesn’t stop me. She’s wearing a cute little outfit that shows off her body, and I recognize it as one of the ones I purchased for her before this assignation started. Why is she here?
I duck under Sara’s next attack and come up quickly, using all my strength to drive my fist into their stomach. Sara’s breath releases in an agonized groan, but it’s not enough to put them on the floor. No, they’re made of tougher stuff than that.
“We have guests.”
Sara nods, but they curse a bit under their breath. “I almost had you.”
“Yes, you did.” There are many reasons why Sara is my second-in-command; their deadliness in a number of arenas ranks high on that list.
I stride to where Aurora and Ivy stand and accept a towel from Ivy to wipe my face. “What are you doing here?”
Aurora is looking at me like she simultaneously wants to knock me on my ass and devour me whole. “You’re fast.”
“That’s not an answer.”
She shrugs. “I have too much pent-up energy. I need to run it off somehow.”
“Then obviously I haven’t done my job correctly,” I murmur.
She looks away. “She said there would be people to spar with.” She jerks her thumb at Ivy. “I don’t see anyone else.”
“Shift change was two hours ago. Most of them have finished up and gone home.” Why am I telling her this? I should send her back to the penthouse, or at least to another room. I suspect I’m not going to be able to concentrate properly with her here, and that’s a recipe for a black eye when sparring with Sara. I have absolutely no intention of walking around with a marked face because I was distracted when I shouldn’t have been. “Go find somewhere else to run off that energy.” I motion to Ivy.