by Leela Ash
“I didn’t expect you to actually come,” Quinn said, grinning at him and stepping away from the small desk she had been perched at in the corner of the lobby. “But it’s great that you’re here.”
“I didn’t expect you to be here,” he managed. “You know. Because you said that this was your parent’s place.”
“Yeah,” Quinn said, smiling brightly. “So, what brings you out here?”
“Oh…” Apollo glanced over his shoulder toward the van, where he could see Frank and Mike bickering over something that was probably fucking stupid. Wolf shifters and bear shifters rarely got along. There had been quite a stigma between them for several decades and he was just now realizing how complicated things were going to be if he wanted to get anything done with any semblance of efficiency.
“Well… turns out I need three rooms… or…”
Apollo glanced back outside uncomfortably. It didn’t look as if they had rooms here so much as individual cabin areas.
“You have a party of three?” Quinn asked, smiling kindly.
“Worst party I’ve ever been to,” Apollo muttered.
Quinn laughed. “Well, fortunately we have quite a lot of space here because we need to do a lot of renovations.”
“I can see that…”
Apollo regretted the words immediately. He had been shocked by what a dump the place was when he had arrived, and the other shifters had seemed less than enthusiastic about it. But it was secluded, out of the way, quiet, and private. Everything they needed.
“Well, it’s a work in progress. My parent’s labor of love, so to speak.”
“There’s just one other thing,” Apollo said, sighing heavily. “I’ve got a daughter.”
Quinn looked surprised for a moment but did a hell of a job covering it up with a quick, accepting smile. “Oh, a daughter?”
“Yeah, she’s not here yet but… well, do you guys offer a daycare service? Me and the guys are here on some personal business and I anticipate being busy working a lot. I don’t want my daughter to be getting into any trouble or making it harder than necessary for us to do what needs done, if that makes sense.”
“A daycare…” Quinn’s brow furrowed as she considered the idea. “We don’t actually have a daycare service here, though it’s an idea I would love to bring up to my parents. I know some people in town who might be willing to take her during the day for a few hours, but a lot of the daycares have waiting lists… still, I could talk to them for you.”
“No.”
The firmness in his voice clearly caught Quinn off-guard, and she looked up at Apollo in concern.
“No?”
“I want her to be close by. I don’t trust anyone around here, especially if she’s going to be far away while I’m working. Just no.”
“Oh…”
Apollo sighed, nearly frustrated enough about the whole thing to just storm off and tell everyone to forget it. He was just going to collect Vera and go to some random cave and raise her in the wild where nobody would ever bother him again.
But he couldn’t do that. He needed someone to watch his daughter. Somewhere close by. Someone who could roundhouse kick an asshole in the face without batting an eye.
“What about you?” Apollo blurted.
He had barely even considered the idea before he heard it being spoken out loud. This time, the surprise on Quinn’s face was completely visible.
“Me?”
“I’ll pay you.”
“Apollo…”
“Look, it’s clear this place needs a lot of help. I’m willing to help. I’ll give you as much as you need to really turn this place around. Money isn’t an object at all. I just need someone here with my kid. Someone I know is trustworthy.”
“And how do you know that I’m trustworthy?”
Apollo paused for a moment, searching himself for any explanation.
“I just do. You roundhouse kicked a guy in the face.”
Quinn inhaled deeply. “And those guys give me a lot of trouble. I wouldn’t feel right watching her and knowing they could be right around the corner.”
“They give you a lot of trouble, do they?”
“Yeah, but…”
“And if I took care of that minor problem, would you say yes?”
“You know I teach yoga, right?”
“You can take her with you if you have to, right?”
“Well…”
Apollo shook his head. Enough talking. He scribbled a number on a piece of paper and slid it to Quinn.
“I can give this to you and help with those thugs and even with some of the renovations if I have time. Please just say you’ll watch my daughter.”
Quinn took the paper, and when she saw it her eyes widened.
“This is too much!”
“Not for what I need. So, you’ll do it?”
Quinn was quiet for a moment, taken aback by the number on the paper. Finally, her warm eyes met his, and with an unsure air, she nodded.
“All right, Apollo. I’ll try.”
“Great. I’ll be in touch with you tomorrow.”
“Okay…”
Apollo strode out the door and gave a whistle. The two other shifters caught his eye. “Stay put, we have some shit to do.”
***
“I can’t believe you used to bone her, man.”
“Yeah,” Isaac said, stretching out over the hood of his car. “She was hot in the sack but just not my type. Had to drop her for being too much of a damned crybaby.”
“A crybaby? I bet you had her crying all night long.”
The men cackled.
Apollo could hear snippets of the conversation from about a hundred feet away and rolled his eyes at the other shifters.
“These guys are giving the lady at the bed and breakfast a tough time. She’s a pretty nice woman and we can win her favor by taking care of these thugs for her. Then nobody will have to babysit. Everybody wins. What do you say?”
Frank and Mike exchanged looks.
“I think I could let off some steam,” Frank said.
“Same here,” Mike agreed.
“Good,” Apollo stated. “Because we don’t want to leave any thoughts in their heads about coming near this woman.”
“I can’t stand it when guys like this pick on women,” Frank exclaimed. “Don’t they have anything better to do?”
“Apparently not,” Mike grumbled. “But we’ll take care of that.”
Apollo grinned to himself. Things were off to a good start. The guys were already talking like a team.
“Okay then. Let’s head over there.”
The thugs were gathered in a parking lot that was part of a complex of old, rundown buildings. None of them were aware of the three shifter men walking up on them. And it was better that way.
“Look what we have here, boys,” Apollo said, his voice booming. The thugs scrambled to their feet in surprise and Isaac glared at Apollo.
“Oh, it’s this joker.”
Apollo raised his brow. “Joker, huh? You weren’t talking so tough after the yoga teacher kicked you in the face. Looked like you were the crybaby then, tough guy.”
Frank snickered and Isaac’s lackeys stood quickly and started closing in on them threateningly.
“You probably don’t want to do that,” Mike cautioned. “Especially not if some girl can knock you on your ass.”
“That was nothing. We just had our fun with her and had better shit to do,” Isaac said.
“Yeah! Just like Ike here had fun with her all night long back when she was less of an uptight bitch.”
Apollo knew he shouldn’t take any of what these idiots said seriously, but the words spurned a fury deep within Apollo. Who the hell were these guys thinking they could just talk about Quinn that way? They had no fucking respect. But that was okay. Apollo was about to teach them some.
Suddenly, Isaac’s body was flying toward the windshield of the car he had been lounging against. It shattered and Isaac let ou
t a yelp of pain before slipping into unconsciousness. Apollo gave a nod to the other two shifters, who quickly took their cues and laid in on the men closest to them until they were all writhing in pain on the ground.
“You might want to watch your fucking mouth if you ever want to use it again,” Apollo growled, unballing his fist. Ouch. That one had actually stung him. “And you should do yourselves a favor and never go near Quinn or her yoga studio again. Understand?”
The men gave as much of an acknowledgement to the words as they could muster, and Apollo regarded the other Champions again. “All right, I think they’ve about learned their lesson. It’s time to get going. We have some dinner to get.”
“Finally!” Frank exclaimed. “Though I have to admit, this was pretty fun.”
“I enjoyed it” Mike agreed.
“Good,” Apollo said. “Let’s get some food.”
He led the way back to the van, feeling a little bit proud of himself. It had done him a little bit of good to blow off some steam like this, and it had apparently been an effective way for the other Champions to do the same.
Tensions were high enough, there was no reason they had to be taking it out on each other. If Apollo could just keep them all focused on the task at hand before everyone started getting at each other’s throats, then everything was going to work out fine. He would just have to keep them all busy. No problem.
As they headed back to the bed and breakfast, Apollo couldn’t help but think of Quinn. What the hell had she seen in that fucking guy? He was a scrawny little chickenshit nobody. Ugh. She was so much better than that. And one day, hopefully, she would know it.
He drove the thoughts out of his head. Not that it mattered. There were other things to attend to, and they were far more important. He would get it all figured out eventually.
7.
“Tomorrow morning around seven, okay?” Gavin’s wife sighed. She was genuinely distressed about the whole mess. Who could blame her?
“All right, I’ll see you then. And… thanks for taking care of my kid.”
“It’s nothing, Apollo. I’m just sorry we couldn’t keep her longer. She’s a sweetheart.”
Apollo couldn’t help but smile. Sure, she was sweet as could be. But he had heard for himself the kind of hell his little girl had been raising. They would probably be relieved to be rid of her.
“Well, you just do what you have to do. We all are.”
He hung up with Gavin’s wife and sighed heavily. He was going to see his daughter the next day. That meant that he had at least that day to work with the Champions. Maybe they could get to know each other better.
“All right troops, gather up.”
Mike and Frank seemed to prickle but they congregated around Apollo anyway.
“Now that we’ve all been properly fed and showered, maybe now is a good chance to build up some team morale. What do you say?”
“Look, just because I’m here doing what needs done doesn’t mean I have to sit around getting chummy with someone who stinks like wet dog.”
Apollo was surprised to hear such a negative statement come from Mike, who had been pretty peaceful on the ride back from the train station until Frank had started in on him.
“Wait a minute. What happened? Why are you suddenly miserable?”
“I’m not miserable,” Mike countered. “I’m angry. I went to talk to Frank about what he knows about our mission and he acted like he’s the only one with a brain around here. He’s too condescending, I can’t work with him.”
“Well I won’t work with someone who doesn’t understand the concept of working as a pack.”
“Bears don’t have packs, idiot,” Mike growled. “And I don’t want to do things your way because it seems way more dangerous!”
“Wait, we haven’t decided on any way to do anything. You guys don’t even know the first order of business yet!”
Apollo stepped in right there before things could get any more heated between the two Champions. Why hadn’t he foreseen a power struggle so soon? They were all alphas here. It was only natural that they would clash. But they didn’t have time for that.
“I need the both of you to let go of whatever it is you think you’re doing here and listen to me for a minute. We must find the Portal Room. We have a lead. Gavin is sending a device to us with his wife. We’ll have it tomorrow morning once I pick up my daughter. That is what’s going to tell us where to go. We already have an idea about the energy of this place, or we wouldn’t be here. Now you two need to get your shit together before the enemy, who is hot on our fucking trail, ends up jumping past us and usurping the portals. If that happens, it’s game over, understand?!”
Mike and Frank grumbled their understanding, but neither of them would look at each other, or even at Apollo. Both were still livid, and the tension between them was giving the air around them an uncomfortable suffocating feeling that pissed Apollo off.
“All right, why don’t the two of you go cool down. This is fucking ridiculous. I’ll be back tonight with some maps. You two will need to familiarize yourself with the area. Tomorrow we’re getting straight to work, early. Got it?”
“Yeah,” Frank mumbled. He was already turning away, heading to his cabin. “See you.”
“I can’t believe him,” Mike grumbled, hoping to catch Apollo’s eye, but Apollo wasn’t having any of it.
“I don’t want to hear it, Mike. Go calm down. I have some shit to do.”
“All right. Good night Apollo.”
“Later.”
The dragon within Apollo was fierce right now. It wanted nothing more than to go on a rampage and destroy the enemy forces in a single blow. But that wasn’t possible. And now with Vera coming he was going to have to set his cabin up to be child friendly and pick up some of the essentials. So, it looked like an impromptu visit to town was in order. Ugh.
He glanced at his watch, minorly concerned that the pain in his chest might very well stop his heart. Quinn would be at her studio soon. Maybe giving yoga a shot wouldn’t be so bad after all.
***
“Apollo! You really came!”
“I did,” Apollo said, shifting uncomfortably in the doorway of the studio.
“Well come in, don’t be shy. I’m not teaching a class at the moment, considering most people aren’t actually interested.”
“Oh, so I should go then,” Apollo said, relieved to have an excuse to leave.
“No way! I can show you the basics. Actually, I’m really glad you’re here.”
“Yeah, well I didn’t really expect me to come either,” Apollo murmured, squinting at the strange foam blocks, and rolled up mats propped neatly in the corner.
“I’m afraid I don’t have a whole lot of students,” she said apologetically. “Or a class scheduled for this timeslot. I was just here getting some of my paperwork done. Did you want to try a practice session? Private, nobody else here to make fun of you if you fall on your ass?”
Apollo hadn’t expected the jab and let out a short laugh before he even felt it coming on. “I guess it wouldn’t hurt. I think you were right about being too tense and everything. I’ve been having a rough time.”
“Ah, yeah,” Quinn said. Her intelligent eyes radiated kindness and understanding, and Apollo found himself lost in them briefly. But she soon stepped away from him and pointed to the yoga mats.
“You should pick out one of those,” she said, her eyes twinkling. “I doubt you brought your own. And don’t worry, I don’t think anyone’s ever even used most of them. I don’t get a lot of people here who aren’t already interested enough in yoga to have supplies of their own. It’s disappointing, really.”
Apollo shrugged. “Just means you cater to a niche market,” he said. “Nothing wrong with that.”
He walked awkwardly to the collection of yoga mats. They were all different colors, some vibrant while others were more lackluster and neutral in hue. He squared his shoulders, trying to fight away his panic. Which was the
manliest one? Green? Maybe blue? No, the blue had a flower on it. Better go with green.
He grabbed the mat and stuck it under his arm quickly, looking around to make sure nobody could tell how out of place he felt. But the only person in the room was Quinn, and she was still wearing that same serene, gentle expression that made him feel totally at peace. What the hell was that? Did she learn that in yoga school? Weird.
“Okay, I can see that you’re a strong guy but I’m going to start you off simple and slow. We need to be able to ease into the more challenging poses so that…”
Apollo bristled. “No, give me the hard stuff. I train all the time; I can take it.”
He winced inwardly at the dragon-prompted hubris and cursed under his breath as Quinn’s brow quirked in amusement. She had an impish look now and he immediately got the feeling that he was going to deeply regret that statement. She wasn’t the kind of woman to go easy on him for being macho. That much was clear in her expression.
“I can do that,” she promised.
“Uh…”
But it was too late. She had already turned her back on him and was marching toward the stereo in the corner. She set it up to play a soothing but upbeat melody that reminded him of something he had heard in a bad Chinese movie one time. Was that seriously supposed to relax him?
“I need you to stand up straight and do exactly what I tell you to do, you got it? Otherwise you might hurt yourself. But don’t take my word for it, I know you’re big and manly and all that. Wouldn’t want to insult you.”
She was mocking him. Wasn’t she? He should be pissed off, right?
So why did he kind of like it?
Apollo shook his head. He wasn’t going to read too much into this. It wasn’t like he could do anything about it even if he did like her a little bit. He had a billion things on his plate already. How was he supposed to just shove them aside and enjoy a casual date? Walks on the beach and romantic candle-lit dinners? No way. All he could focus on was getting his mission accomplished as quickly as possible so he wouldn’t let everybody down. They were all counting on him to become the great leader that his elders believed him to be. He had a job to do. And he was going to fucking do it.