Lord of Chaos (The Dragon Demigods #7) - Charlene Hartnady Page 0,9
me, looking lost in thought. “Arthur is sure he bolted her kennel door.”
“Mistakes happen.” I shrug.
“That’s true.” Gretchen still has her eyes on the dog at my feet. “We have an eight-foot perimeter fence, though. Her escape makes no sense.” She pulls in a breath. “I guess where there’s a will, there’s a way.”
“I guess so.”
“We’ll need to be more careful. Can’t have an animal like this walking the streets.” I want to defend the dog, but the words get stuck in my throat. Gretchen is right. She frowns at me. “You were saying something about a new development?” she asks.
“It might not just be men that she doesn’t get along with. She wasn’t too fond of a woman last night either.” I play it right down, even though I probably shouldn’t.
“Oh, no! What happened?”
“Just some snapping and growling,” I play it down some more. “It might have been the individual.” I’m wearing long sleeves to cover the bite, which is red and angry. It’s healing slower than normal.
Gretchen nods. “We’ll have to get her evaluated. It doesn’t bode well at all.” She tsks a couple of times.
Fuck!
How the hell are they going to find a home for this blasted dog? How? They’re not! There’s no way in hell. It isn’t my problem. I have no time for a dog. My life is complicated as it is. All I need is a dog who has a shorter fuse than my own.
It won’t work!
It can’t!
I pull a few more hundreds out of my wallet and hand them over to Gretchen. “Get a lock for the cage. Get the dog some help…please,” I force out the word. “Give her a chance,” I add.
“Are you sure—?”
“I’m sure!” I try not to snap.
Gretchen takes the leash from me, and I walk out. I jump into my car and head straight for Manny’s boxing gym. Ten minutes later, I pull up into the parking lot.
I head inside.
Manny is helping one of the youngsters from the youth program Night runs. He’s showing the kid how to take up a defensive stance and running him through some boxing footwork drills.
I start with a series of warmup stretches. Before long, I’m pounding into the bag, working on both my punches and my kicks. I’m sure to work my body equally on both sides. The sweat is dripping off of me by the time Manny comes over. It looks like he’s done helping the kid, who is nowhere in sight. The gym is fairly quiet at this time on a Sunday morning. There are two other guys here, and that’s it. Suits me just fine. I enjoy the solitude.
“Rage,” Manny says as he gets to me. “What did that bag ever do to you?” He smiles.
I must say, I envy his easy way. It’s probably why we get along so well. He isn’t a big talker, and he’s an all-around nice guy without being a pushover.
“I need to stay fit,” I say, giving the bag a high kick.
“I can see that.” Manny smiles.
I grab my towel and wipe it across my face. “Do you have any fights lined up?”
Manny laughs. “Easy, Tiger. It’s only been a week. Nothing worth your time or effort.”
I make a grumbling noise. “Last week was a waste of my time.”
“You won!” He looks animated.
“It was a hollow victory, and you know it,” I say.
“I’m still not sure why West threw in the towel.” He rubs his head. “I’ve never seen anyone come close to matching your natural talent in the ring.”
I do. West is also a dragon demigod. He was using his superhuman strength during our bout, which was pissing me the hell off. Things started to get a little out of hand when West’s second threw in the towel. I can’t believe that was a week ago. I’ve since found out that I have a half-brother. “Natural talent…huh…I work my ass off, and you know it.”
“So you’re the MMA fighter Manny’s always boasting about?” Some meat-head saunters over. He’s not as tall as me, but he’s built like a brick shithouse. There is such a thing as being too big. You tend to lose speed and agility. Still, he’s huge for a human; I respect that.
I nod. I don’t feel like a conversation. “Take care, Manny, I’ll see you—”
“How’s about a couple of rounds?” He touches the side rails on a nearby boxing ring.
“No…thanks.” I look back at Manny.
“Come on!” he pushes. “You scared of losing?” He grins at me.