females.”
“Help?”
“Yep. Her words.”
Angel sighed. “It’s not about being helpful; it’s about having a chance to impress them and spend time with them. Seriously, when are the people over there going to wake up and see that?”
“I think, on some level, they already know. They just don’t want to acknowledge it.”
“The dinners aren’t enough, then. We need to do more.”
“Like what?”
“Are you two going to spend the whole time talking, or are you actually going to try to improve some skills?” Brenna asked.
“Hold onto your tights, Robin Hood,” Angel said, already waddling forward. “Your merry women need breathers.”
“Breathers or snack breaks?” Brenna asked.
Since Angel had just finished a single serving sized bag of chips, Brenna and I both knew the answer to that question. At least, for Angel. The break suited me for other reasons.
Even after all the running around I’d done with Tor, who’d been a great sport about it, I’d still had a hard time falling asleep last night. I hadn’t realized how aware of or comforted I’d been by Merdon’s once obtrusive presence until it was gone. His absence had crawled into my dreams, twisting the memories into a hopeless cycle that had woken me twice before I gave up the pretense of sleeping.
I stifled another yawn and stepped forward to take my turn at the lumpy, rainbow target.
We worked on archery for a bit then switched to the knives and hand to hand when more fey started to gather. With so many shouting out tips and encouraging us to move faster and work harder, sweat coated my upper lip and exhaustion had me watching the progress of the sun.
While I wanted nothing more than a nap, I knew I wouldn’t give in to one when I got home. I just hoped all the practice would pay off later tonight.
We called it quits just before lunch.
“My arms feel like they’re going to fall off,” I said to Eden.
She agreed with a groan. “Whose dumb idea was it for me to join fight club?”
“Yours,” I said with a laugh. “At least you have someone at home willing to rub your aches.”
“Yeah,” Brenna agreed. “I’d kill for a massage right now.”
There were a few startled looks from the fey.
“She doesn’t mean that literally,” Eden said.
“No,” Angel said, looking thoughtful. “But it’s a great idea.”
“Um, you think killing someone for a massage is—”
“Not that. Getting massages. We’re lucky because we have fey willing to rub us down whenever we want. There are a lot of other people out there who aren’t so lucky.”
I knew where her mind was going.
“I volunteer as a sacrifice,” I said quickly. Anything that required my time helped keep my mind from dwelling where it shouldn’t. And if I happened to relax while doing it? Well, that was just a bonus. Especially if I could arrange for the practice massage just before bed.
Several of the spectating fey started vehemently denying my offer, dashing my dreams, while more still stepped between me and Angel.
“You cannot kill Hannah, Angel. Killing humans is wrong,” Shax said. “You know this.”
Angel nearly peed herself with her laughter, and it was up to me to explain.
“I wasn’t suggesting that she kill me. She was suggesting that we teach you all how to give massages so you can offer them as a service to the people in Tenacity. In order to do that, you need to learn how to give a massage correctly. I was offering to be the person you can practice on.”
The no’s quickly changed to a bunch of yeses. Except for Shax, who called for quiet.
“Hannah is Merdon’s.”
Angel dried her tears and patted Shax on the chest.
“Actually, I think we four girls are the perfect volunteers to start because we belong to someone else. The fey who are learning will be more aware and respectful of how they are touching us.”
Shax was already shaking his head.
“The type of massages I’m suggesting wouldn’t be like the massages you give me. No happy ending, okay? Just gentle pressure to relieve stress and tension like when I work too hard after these practices.”
He grunted and seemed to calm down.
“We will talk more about this at home.”
I was a little bummed I wouldn’t be able to get a massage right away but waved my farewell and told Angel to “call me” when she was ready. She laughed and promised she would.
Emily was in a flurry of activity when I got home, and the house smelled like heaven.
“The fey found yeast,” she said without preamble. “A