Page 104 of Lunar Desires
Who knew I’d take to boxing so easily. I liked how it got my heart pumping, my body sweating, and put my mind on pause. Nothing but the pow, pow, pow, and the releasing of building tension.
Fae woman.
Dead uncle.
Dad.
Growing dangers.
Every punch helped keep them from freaking me out to the point of overwhelming.
“Doing good there, sir,” April encouraged.
Isaac and I had been training in the gym with the siblings for the past hour. I felt energized, ready to take on the next slice of crappy cake.
Considering I ran on five hours sleep, I was pretty spry at seven in the morning.
My brother hit the treadmill hard, practically sprinting. He looked over while I took a pause, giving the okay sign.
Aaron worked the skipping rope, while Alice pumped weights—the most ripped of the Brambles—while April supervised the session today.
Alice enjoyed hitting the gym the most, while April’s passion was for cars and cooking. Aaron would rather be gaming or solving some mathematical problem while snacking on crumpets. But put them together, and they were the best collective trainers you could ask for. Always on your side, totally loyal to this house, and all skilled in combat.
I pummeled the boxing bag some more.
As glad as I was to hear of Uncle Jonathon’s demise, I’d have liked to be the one scratching a line through his name, which left a bad taste in my mouth.
Sometimes the darkness was just darkness. Human hatred I couldn’t bleach out now I’d let it in.
Oh well. I guess sometimes I just had to embrace hate. Because some arseholes didn’t deserve anything less.
I slammed another punch into the bag.
We were still clueless, though. Still one step behind. Targets rather than equals. The Kingwoods on one side, this fae woman on the other, and whole load of mystery in the middle about my dad.
I jabbed at the bag, hopping from foot to foot, working out my frustrations. Wishing for clues wouldn’t help, but getting out there would. We were scheduled to patrol later, being part of the hunt for the Kingwoods before they made good on their threat against Coldharbour. And possibly take down shades with our new abilities.
Good. I’d rather be outside than stuck inside twiddling my thumbs.
After the physical training, the siblings left me and Isaac to flex our powers. I pushed and pulled boxes and weights around the gym under the blaze of Isaac’s sunlight.
“How are you this morning?” I finally got to ask him.
“About the same.” He shut down his sunshine. “You?”
“Pissed off. Smitten.”
“Smitten? Do tell, even though it’s painted all over your face.”
“It is?”
He rolled his shoulders. “Please. You’ve got that ‘I’ve just been bent in half’ afterglow about you.”
I giggled. “Well, no bending in half as such. But we’re officially boyfriends now.”
He beamed at me. “Utterly adorable, little brother. I’m so happy for you.” He picked up a towel, wiping his sweaty hair. “So, everything’s good between you?”
I divulged all the details.
