18. Bree
As the limousine drove away from the gym, I felt like I was walking on water. The night hadn’t been anything like I’d expected. It had been truly and utterly magical.
A fairytale come to life.
Except the prince in my story turned out to be a dangerous criminal from a ruthless dragon family. I wasn’t sure how I felt about that yet, but I didn’t want logic to ruin my night.
My brain could overanalyze it tomorrow. Tonight, I would listen to my heart.
Smiling, I pressed my fingers to my lips. The memory of Dominic’s kisses lingered, a tantalizing reminder of our evening and what could have been that sent electric pulses straight to my core.
If only he hadn’t gotten that phone call.
I opened the gym door, grateful to find it unlocked at last. As much as I wanted to berate Frankie for locking me out of the gym earlier and forcing me on that date, she’d obviously done the right thing. Her reasons didn’t even matter anymore.
Before I stepped inside, a chill spider-walked up my spine. Someone was watching me, I was sure of it. And they were close. I spun around, prepared to fight.
The sidewalk and street were empty.
My pulse pounded in my ears as I searched the shadows for any sign of movement. But other than the streetlights, nothing changed. This late, I was alone.
I waited another minute, assuming I was wrong about the sensation, but also hoping someone would show themselves and prove I wasn’t paranoid for no reason. Unfortunately, it seemed like I was wrong. Paranoia had struck again.
With a final glance up and down the street, I went inside and locked the door behind me. Frankie’s office was the only light on.
Grinning as a rare opportunity presented itself, I slipped off my heels to avoid clacking across the concrete floor. I wanted to scare her as payback. Not only for earlier that day but for all the times she’d gotten the jump on me.
I cradled my sandals in one hand and tiptoed closer. My footsteps were silent as I crossed the empty space and passed the boxing ring, closing in on her office.
Suddenly, Frankie’s voice rang out, and I just about jumped out of my skin.
“You know I don’t have that kind of money just layin’ around,” she hissed.
The fae woman’s usual sarcastic tone was angry and urgent. Whoever she was talking to, the conversation was not going well.
I stopped outside the door, just out of sight. My stomach churned as guilt wormed its way through.
Eavesdropping on something like this wasn’t something I would normally do, but I also didn’t want to interrupt what seemed to be an important discussion. The only way to my room meant crossing her line of sight, and I wasn’t sure how she’d react if she saw me.
“You can’t just change dates like that,” she said, exhaustion evident in her tone. “That’s not the way deals work.”
I heard a scratching sound inside, but I couldn’t tell what was making it.
“Mmhmm, and I’m just supposed to be okay with that? C’mon, man. This is my home.”
She snorted and the sound of her phone slamming shut nearly startled me enough to gasp. Thanks to her lack of tech-savviness, she was one of the few left in the world with an actual flip phone—the original kind.
Her chair creaked. “Fuck me sideways, backwards, and everywhere in between.”
Well, that was a new one.
I peeked around the corner to find Frankie’s head in her hands, her elbows on the desk. A hunting knife lay beside her right elbow, and a brand new “X” had been carved into the wood. It was one of many such designs, a visible outlet for her anger.
“Boo?”
A blade thunked into the doorframe next to my head. I yelped and threw myself sideways, banging into the wall.
“You’re lucky I realized it was you at the last second.” Frankie’s narrowed violet eyes relaxed, and her irises faded back to brown. “Get my knife, will ya?”
Grumbling at her casual remark about my near-death experience, I tugged the still-quivering blade from the wood. “You shouldn’t try to kill someone without knowing who it is first.”
“My motto is maim first, ask questions later.” She took in my outfit with a satisfied smirk, and I couldn’t help the accompanying blush. “Well, well, well. Someone cleans up nicely.”
“Oh stop, this is all your fault.” I dropped the knife on her desk with a clatter and studied her face. She looked more tired than usual, the lines around her eyes deeper. “Who was on the phone?”
A fleeting look of resignation passed over her features. “What’d you hear?”
I sat across from her. “Enough to know something’s changed. I wasn’t trying to listen, I just didn’t want to interrupt.”
She waved a hand dismissively. “No need to fret, my pet. I’ll figure it out.”
“Frankie, what happened?”
Leaning back in her chair—which protested with a loud, drawn-out groan—she kicked her boots onto the desk. She was trying hard not to show the worry that was all too evident in her gaze. “The collection date’s been moved up.”
“To when?”
“Three weeks sooner.”
Shock surged through me, and I jerked my head back as if I’d been slapped. “What? But we won’t earn enough from the massages in a week.”
“I know, kid, I know.” Shaking out a cigarette from the box on her desk, she lit it and took a deep drag before exhaling. “Don’t worry. I’ll figure it out. You know I always do.”
An uneasy feeling crept into the pit of my stomach. Smoking and Frankie went hand in hand like seagrass and krill jam, but never in her office. An ashtray lay within reach, and it was full of fresh ashes. She kept the gym smoke-free, which meant this situation was way more serious than she was letting on.
There was an easy way to fix our problem, but it meant letting the land world know exactly what I was. Possibly even who I was. My throat constricted, stealing the oxygen from my lungs.
Was I ready to out myself like that? To put my sister in danger again?
Without lowering her boots, Frankie leaned forward and plucked a picture frame off her desk. She flipped it around to show me, a grin on her face. “Remember that day? You two were so green to bein’ landlubbers.”
I knew the picture like the back of my hand. It was the three of us—Frankie, Marissa, and me—getting ready to take the Metro for the first time.
Well, technically it was our second, but I’d been too filled with fear to appreciate the first time. And Frankie had practically grown up on them.
The happy grins on our faces were stupidly contagious, but I’d gripped Marissa’s hand like she was about to disappear. I would never forget that first experience with Frankie since it was the closest I’d come to feeling like I was swimming through the ocean waves again.
I glanced at my boss, who studied the photo with a loving expression. She was like a mother to us, though she’d hate for me to say it. Maybe just an older sister.
Maybe I was feeling overly confident after the date, but I had to do this for her. For all of us.
“I’ll do it.”
“Do what?” She took another drag of her cigarette and rubbed her thumb across a smudge on the picture frame.
“Fight.”
Her thumb stilled on the glass, and she slowly blew out the smoke in thick rings. “Don’t say shit like that unless you’re serious.”
“I am serious. This is my home thanks to you. Thanks to your unwavering generosity. I owe you this much.”
She set the frame down and met my determined gaze. “Let’s get one thing straight. You don’t owe me nothin’, girl. You’ve worked your ass off here. I probably owe you.”
I smiled. “Yeah, probably. But I’m serious. I’ll do it.”
Her eyes narrowed as she studied me, probably trying to figure out if I was actually being serious. Finally, she dropped her feet to the ground and put out the cigarette.
“Okay, then. I ain’t above takin’ your charity. But we’ll set it up right, kid. Only one fight, I promise.” Her voice grew more animated as she continued. “We’ll get the big names in here to watch and ramp up excitement, charge at the door, take a percentage of any bets.”
As I listened to her rattle on with a tense smile plastered on my face, my thoughts tumbled as tumultuously as an ocean storm. It was obvious she’d thought about this before—a lot.
Terror and guilt vied for my attention, both of which had a death grip on my stomach. One told me to flee before it was too late while the other demanded I protect my home and family.
Was I doing the right thing? Would Frankie protect me and Marissa if things went sour?
Couldshe even protect us?