Page 1 of Tamhas

1

Keira

There was something so damned satisfying about a puddle of sweat.

It practically poured off me by the time I finished my workout, every muscle burning, breath coming in sharp gasps. I leaned forward, hands on my slightly bent knees, watching as a pool formed directly beneath my forehead.

I was careful to wipe it up before leaving the second bedroom I’d long since converted into a home gym, toweling my neck and shoulders in between stretches to help cool down my burning, aching muscles.

How anybody could question whether or not exercise was a drug was beyond me. Even after kicking my own butt, I couldn’t stop smiling. Thanks, endorphins.

The world outside my window was still pretty quiet—quiet for Brooklyn, anyway, it being a Sunday morning and all. Three days of steady rain didn’t exactly bring people out. It was pouring buckets when I checked, the gutters overflowing. Good thing I’d decided on an in-home workout over going out for a run.

The perfect day to take a little break, I decided as I walked down the hall toward the bathroom. As I went, I peeled off piece after piece of clothing until I was naked by the time I reached the shower.

It had been a long few months, what with training for a fight which had taken place earlier in the week and closing up a case for the private investigative agency I freelanced for on the side. Really, my side job was what paid the bills—that and bounty hunting. Life as an MMA fighter didn’t exactly help rake in the dough, even with my record.

The bruises on my legs and ribs were still visible, though healing. I was careful with them as I washed up, before turning my back to the spray and letting it run over my long, sweat-soaked, blonde hair.

With the fight behind me and my latest case closed up, I had a little bit more mental bandwidth—and because of that, something which had bothered me a hell of a lot before I used my training as an excuse to avoid thinking about it came rushing back to the forefront of my mind.

A quick check of my email once I was dried off confirmed my disappointment.

Still nothing from Tamhas.

Why did I keep hoping? I wished I could forget him. He was just another guy, somebody I met online and formed a weird friendship with. Nothing more than that. We’d never even met in person, though we had talked about it once or twice.

Which was why his sudden disappearance bothered me so much. The fact that we’d talked about possibly meeting up after emailing and eventually chatting on Skype for nearly a year.

I wasn’t exactly the internet dating type, and I had never taken an online friendship offline. But with Tamhas, it had seemed like the natural thing to do. Like, sure, let’s hang out in person so I can get the chance to see if the rest of you is as impressive as you are from the shoulders up.

He’d dropped off the face of the earth after his last email. Months had passed with nothing at all.

I thought about it as I dressed. He never said anything about going off the grid, taking a trip, nothing like that. The most I knew about him was he spoke with a Scottish accent which, thanks to my hormones, made him insanely attractive.

That and the fact that he was intelligent and easy to talk to. Even if he was a little old-fashioned in the way he phrased things sometimes. But compared to the morons I’d known pretty much all my life, he was a refreshing change.

I was so sure he’d reach out at some point during my training, with a story about a sudden move or a crazy family emergency. Something. Anything.

By the time I was finished dressing and had dried my hair, my mind was made up. I went to my laptop, open on the bed, and forwarded the last email he’d sent me to Emelie. If anybody could find out where he’d sent it from, she could. She’d helped me more than once on cases for the agency.

Can you tell me where this email was sent from?

I asked, adding no further information than that. She didn’t know anything about him, though she was practically my sister. We’d shared everything from the day we first met in a foster home when we were both barely out of kindergarten.

But I hadn’t told her about Tamhas. Sometimes, it was nice to have a secret.

When my phone rang with a face chat request from her, maybe thirty seconds later, I wasn’t surprised.

I sank into the armchair by the window before answering, propping the phone up against a stack of books on the sill. “What?”

She was seated at her computer, as always, looking like she’d just pulled one of her legendary all-nighters. “Who is this? Why do you wanna know?”

I shrugged. “Since when do you ask me about things like that?”

“Since this email was sent directly to you and it sounds pretty personal. Not work-related.” She took off her thick-rimmed glasses to rub the bridge of her nose, squeezing her eyes shut as she did. “Spill it.”

“He’s just a guy. We were emailing for a while, but I haven’t heard from him since way before I started training for the last fight. I’ve sent him a few messages since then, but no answer. It’s just not like him, is all.”

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