“Hunter,” Coby said as soon as the door closed behind Kellan. “Please don’t do this.” She started to follow me into my room, but then she remembered Coco and stayed in the living room. “What if someone hurts you?” she called out.
“Then try to imagine why I accepted Ocean’s offer.” I didn’t know what constituted training, and I didn’t have much to choose from, so I started dressing in the same outfit I wore to the shooting range. “I’m terrified someone will hurtyou. You’ve seen how busy Ocean is, how often he’s gone. You’re in a treacherous world surrounded by strangers. You need someone who can be there when he can’t. I was already willing to take a bullet for you, and I know you’d do the same for me, so what’s really changing?”
Dressed now, I walked back into the main room with Coco warmly nestled inside my jacket to see Coby wringing her hands. “Does this mean you’ll stay even after the wedding?”
I didn’t trust that look in her eyes like she was hoping I might stay for other reasons, too, so I grabbed her hand and started for the door without answering. “We should probably hurry. I don’t want to be late on my first day.”
The main house was a vast, opulent maze that made me feel like a fish out of water. Coby and I followed Kellan through the long hallways while I tried my hardest to focus on creating a mental map and not gawking at the marble statues and busts, the high ceilings, and the glittering chandeliers. While we walked, Coby told me all about Glainne—Ocean’s penthouse in the city, which was nestled at the top of that onyx tower she’d always wondered at.
Coby already seemed to be at home since she’d been basically living here. My brief encounters with Ocean’s mom had beenpleasant. Coby already loved her, so I told myself it was all that mattered. It’s not like Effie was going to be my mother-in-law.
Our first stop was a room with tall, solid doors; behind them was a study. Kellan left Coby there to wait for Ocean before motioning me to follow him.
I thought the house had only two levels until we descended a spiral staircase into a sub-level too intricate to be a basement. The floor opened into a circular room with stone walls and low lighting. The air was dank and drafty with an earthy scent that said we were deep underground.
Perfect for a dungeon or torture chamber.
I followed Kellan through the doorless threshold and kept close when I noticed the floor was a maze of dark corridors, impossible to navigate without getting lost.
Eventually, we reached a gym of sorts, but it looked more like an underground dojo with black mats covering the floor and various equipment scattered throughout—striking shields, freestanding bags, ground bags, slip bags, teardrop bags, long bags, free weights, and other shit I couldn’t name.
Abel was already waiting for us.
I couldn’t deny how handsome he was. His deep, dark skin glowed beneath the fluorescent light, but his hazel eyes were watchful, without his usual distrust.
“You’re late,” he scolded.
“I don’t own a watch.”
Abel clenched his jaw and gestured for me to step on the mat.
I reached for Coco, who was still cradled in my jacket, and set him on the ground, but Kellan quickly scooped him up. “I’ll take that. Have fun.” With a grin and a wink, he was gone with Coco.
Exhaling, I slowly approached Abel, who cocked a brow at me. “You ready?”
“Sure.”
Hours later, I was kneeling on the mat, breathing heavily, clutching my side, and dripping sweat.
And I’d never felt more alive.
The muscles in my arms trembled as I held up my hand for mercy I didn’t want. It was just my natural self-preservation kicking in while the much darker, esoteric part of me that needed to be examined by a psychologist demanded more.
“Had enough?” Abel questioned.
“Not even close.” I coughed and spat out blood.Oh, Lord.I hoped I still had all my teeth. “Just give me a minute.”
“You can take a punch, and you’re fast, but you have no endurance,” he informed me coldly.
Abel hadn’t warmed a single degree, not even when he was kicking my ass from one end of the room to the next. I could tell he was enjoying himself, too. At his request, our session started with me showing him what I knew.
Nothing.
I knew nothing.
And he wasted no time making that blatantly apparent.
For hours, Abel had me attack him repeatedly and hold nothing back, but each time, I’d quickly go from the offensive to the defensive until I was eager to learn everything he knew.
