Danger is in the Unweaving by Michael Anderle

Author:Michael Anderle [Anderle, Michael]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Vampires, Suspense, Contemporary, Fantasy
ISBN: 9798893542653
Publisher: LMBPN Publishing
Published: 2024-10-21T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Elana slammed her fists into the punching bag and imagined it was Mary Reynolds’ face. Uppercut. Right hook. Left jab. Sucker punch.

She tucked her chin and battered the sand-filled bag until she couldn’t feel her knuckles anymore, which wasn’t hard because she was so deeply in her thoughts that she almost nailed Gustav in the jaw when he appeared in her peripheral vision.

The sturdy Russian trainer caught Elana’s fist and twisted it aside. When he let go, Elana shook out her hand and hissed in slight pain as her mind reconnected to her body and she realized how hard she’d been hitting the training apparatus.

“Sorry.” She blushed and averted her eyes. “Thought you were someone else.”

Gustav arched an eyebrow. “Do you make a habit of attacking colleagues outside of the sparring ring?”

“Well, no…”

“Then who were you expecting?”

The blush on Elana’s cheeks deepened. “No one.”

Gustav narrowed his eyes. “You are not a good liar, Miss Bishop.”

Elana huffed and stalked over to the wall, where she unwrapped her hands and stretched her fingers. When Gustav followed, she pursed her lips. “It’s dumb. I need to get my head in the game, that’s all. I’ll do better.”

Gustav leaned on the wall. “I agree you need to get your head in the game, but dismissing your troubles out of hand will not fix them.”

Elana threw him a look. “You gonna tell me your last career was in psychotherapy?”

The trainer chuckled. “No. I have been fighting all my life. I am glad I get to do it in a gym now instead of on a battlefield fighting for my life. The safety allows me to appreciate the art of battle far more effectively. Also, I like teaching.”

“Because you can pound your students into the dirt?”

Gustav sighed and shook his head. “You are in a mood today. No, Elana. You know me better than that. Training comes with discomfort and occasionally pain, yes, but a sadist conditions their victims. A trainer builds their students.”

He snagged a pair of badminton rackets from the wall—which Elana had honestly thought were decorative until that moment—then foraged in the cupboards in front of them until he came out with a solid metal birdie. “Come with me. We do something different today.”

Gustav led Elana out of the main training room and down the hall to a set of closed-in courts with lines on the floor and rails for nets in the center of the walls. After he closed the door behind them, he offered her a racket. “Do you know the rules?”

“Yeah. I played badminton in high school.” She eyed the birdie. “That looks like a lethal weapon.”

Gustav grinned. “That’s the idea. Sometimes it shoots lasers.”

“I cannot tell if you’re joking.”

“You will find out.”

He jogged across the room, pausing to tap the rail holding the nets. The net completed its descent to the correct height as he reached the other side of the court, and he bounced on the balls of his feet while Elana took her place diagonal to him.

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