Zia … 1st Floor Dragofin Lair

Saturday Morning

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Zia’s breaths came too fast.

“Keep jumping. It’s only been a minute. You have three more to go.” Hildy’s command cut through the noise of activity. “Zia, move your damn feet.”

“I’m trying to. I can’t breathe.”

Dark expresso-colored eyes peered at her as Hildy stopped and stood to consider her words.

“Then how are you talking to me now? Zia, you must build up your heart strength and endurance. What if something happens while you’re out and you need to run?”

“I bribe bake them with cupcakes?”

“Nah, with your current ability, you’d get your ass handed to you or worse. Quit making jokes. There’s nothing funny about any of this.”

“Why are you so tuned up about me working out?”

“Zia,” Hildy let out what Zia could only explain as a sigh. “The threat on your quality of life is real. By proxy, that means there’s a threat to the Dragofin Clan. We’re family, and we take care of our own. There’s no way we let anyone get hurt, not without a fight to the death. The least you can do is put in some real effort and stop half-assing around. This is serious, and you need to be too.”

“I am—all the time. I was just trying to keep things light to keep my mind off that other shoe I keep waiting to drop.”

“Do that by getting yourself strong and able to defend against attacks. Trust me. There’s no time for foolery. Today, not next month or next week, you’re going back to the place where someone made a deal with demons to snatch you up and turn you into a human bus station. Keep playing. You gonna end up casket-pretty if you don’t respect the bullseye glued to your ass.”

“That’s crass.”

“No, that’s real. Zia, this isn’t a good look. You conk out on taking the stairs. Girl, you too young for that.”

Zia wouldn’t argue with the truth, but she would try to hedge a bit.

“No more half-assing, promise, but I need to work up to this jumping thing. I know, how about you let me catch my breath, and I do two-minute sets instead of four-minute sets to start?”

“And she still tries to negotiate with me, unbelievable.”

Zia refused to punk out and get Greg involved. She cut a glance over to where he worked out with some of the other guys. She almost drooled when he did a calisthenic pull up that made every muscle in his back pop to attention.

“Quit lusting after your mate and give me six sets of two’s.”

“Dammit, Hildy!” Zia saw too late that the woman had gone over to the box with the big red calculator-looking numbers and reset her program to start in… eleven seconds!

“What’s with that face? That counter set cycle is what stands between you and that. The rest of us are just about finished. And we will start without you.”

Zia’s eyes followed to where Hildy pointed. Cardboard boxes held containers of food. It was her fault. Zia had allowed her big mouth to get her into this the other night during their movie gathering.

She’d been a little too relaxed when Hildy had slipped in the invitation—order to start working out with everyone in the mornings. Zia wanted to fit in and be a true part of the Dragofin Clan. What she didn’t want is to be able to feel each inch of her insides in a painful announcement as she jumped rope.

“I don’t care. I can’t do this. I don’t remember jumping rope to be this much torture.”

“Do you remember any exercise? You have the muscle tone of a, well a cupcake with a lot of fluff.”

“Don’t go there, Hildy. I told you, I’m not answering to that or going there.”

“Then you better start jumping. That’s the warm-up. You see those two?” Zia saw Quinn and Wren doing what they called lady-body busters, “They sucked when they started as well. Now, they can bust out those burpees like nobody’s business. Now, jump!”

Zia heard the box of doom buzz and flashed the two-minute countdown. She jumped, and so did her breasts. If she made it through the next eighteen minutes, she’d go right to the store and buy the sturdiest workout bras. Her breasts were going to take a beating otherwise.

She was on the third set when Greg came over, grabbed one of the big boy intimidating weighted jump ropes and posted himself in front of her.

“You ready to finish up?” he asked as that damn box counted down the one precious moment she got between the two-minute sets.

“Yes.” She huffed out, not sure she could say much more.

He looked over at the box. “How many more do you have left?”

She held up three fingers as she walked around in a tiny circle to catch her breath.

“Good, that’s less than ten minutes. We’ve got this.”

He flashed a smile that would have caused her to melt if her insides weren’t already burning. Each intake of breath sizzled like meat on a hot grill.

The buzzer wailed the announcement of her continued torture as the last ten seconds before the two-minute mark sounded. Zia cut an eye over to the long tables that began to fill up with bodies. Bodies that had cheese danishes and other goodies hanging out of their mouths.

“Zia, eyes on me. We start now,” she heard her mate say.

The buzzer sounded again. Zia jumped and watched as Greg jumped twice as fast with the lightest feet. He skipped around in front of her, putting her intermittent hops and stops to shame.

When he jumped high enough for the rope to make two rotations, she forced herself to close her mouth and keep jumping.

“See, we’ve got this,” he said, voice as steady as an easy stroll. “Keep going and look at me, not the timer.”

She did. Greg made rope-jumping look like an art form as he continued to do complex foot combinations and feats of agility that didn’t seem plausible with his size and weight.

“Woohoo, show ‘em how it’s done, Greg,” she heard his brother, Matt said.

“Not now, this is for Zia.” To her, he said, “Come on love. We do this together,” not taking his eyes off of her.

The buzzer went off to signal another one-minute break. Zia almost collapsed. Greg kept going, never missing as the rope looked like a blur of an arc.

Zia gulped down stinging snatches of air as her mate continued to jump at a perfect pace. His form was light and almost seemed to skip and glide over the floor in an easy effort. Not fair.

Buzz.

Zia shot a dagger at the timer but didn’t complain as she started to jump again. This time she concentrated on finding a groove instead of the start-stop approach.

“That’s it. You’re getting the hang of it,” Greg said.

Bolstered to keep going, she found her rhythm and had so many consecutive jumps without the rope getting caught on a foot or body part that Zia stopped thinking about it so hard.

“Woot, get it, Zia!” the onlookers hollered and cheered. Loudest among them being Wren and Hildy.

To her astonished awe, Zia finished the last two cycles without feeling like she was on the verge of dying in a puddle of vomit. For his part, Greg had continued to jump, never stopping until the last buzzer sounded.

No one could say his physique was manufactured. Zia had seen him fight and now produce solid gym work. Her man had earned every gorgeous and perfect muscle on his form.

When her heart slowed down to ensure her she wouldn’t have a heart attack, she walked over to her mate and blew him a kiss.

“Thank you for that. I don’t think I could have done it without you.”

His smile was perfection as he looked down at her gasping form. “I’m so happy you’re joining me for workouts. You’ll get stronger with time, but you showed tenacity and grace. Your heart got a workout today, but you’ll thank yourself in the coming days.”

“You made it look so easy. I’m sort of jealous.”

His laugh was low and sexy, “Don’t be. I had the easy part. You’re jumping for two.”

The realization hit. “Hey, that’s right. Hildy, did you hear that. I’m jumping for two.”

The other woman’s filled mouth reply was, “Don’t care, Mommies work out too, hashtag fool-with-me-and-next-time-you-do-burpees-like-the-other-mommy.”

Zia shut up and walked over to the table with her tail tucked.

Lucien came down from his office that was on the mezzanine level in time to grab some breakfast. Quinn patted the chair next to her as he sat with a platter full of food.

He looked at his mate and said, “Quinn and I worked on a preliminary plan for today’s Cookout. We’ll go over it and allow you all time to give your input and feedback.”

He gave them all a look and nodded for Quinn to speak.

She spoke up. “We’re allowing up to four hours to be at the event. We have the twelve of us here going. We’ll be in teams of four when it comes to surveillance and proximity while we’re there. Like before, we’ll use communication buds. Please remember to identify yourself when you speak. If you’re in a location where all eyes aren’t on you, identify your location by direction in relation to Zia’s apartment building.”

One of the twins raised a hand.

“Yeah, Rylan?”

“This is Kylan, Quinn, but that’s okay. I want to remind you that we don’t have everyone’s cell numbers either. I noticed that the other day. I would like to program the new one in and set up shortcodes for our phones in case something happens to the comms while we’re in the field.”

Quinn gave him an appreciative look. “That’s a great point, thanks for bringing it up. Yes, please, everyone lets get Zia’s number updated into our phones. That reminds me, Zia,” Quinn gave her a look that was without expression, leaving Zia disoriented on where this was going.

“Yes?”

“Would you mind carrying a phone that operates through our cell network? The Twins have created a secured network that isn’t on any of the normal networks. That device would cut down on any possible hacks or tracing technology.” Quinn let that possibility hang in the air to give Zia time to see how her phone was a security risk. “Of course, you can carry your old phone today, if you like, but some of the things Kylan is talking about is standard with a Dragofin Clan issued phone.”

Zia saw this for what it was, another opportunity for the group to see if she was truly a part of their family yet. She wanted to make as smooth of a transition as possible into the way the group operated. Greg deserved to have the best mate. She might not have an expressed superpower gift like the others, but she could for damn sure be the best mate.

“Yeah, that’s fine.” She looked at Kylan, “Not sure if it’s possible but is there a way to port my contacts over and allow my parents’ numbers to be forwarded to the new phone? Until I know for certain they’re not in any danger from that crazy person, I’d like for them to be able to reach me no matter what.”

Kylan looked at Quinn and Lucien and then at her for a minute. He stared not completely focused as if his mind was occupied with something and then gave her a nod.

Quinn spoke up. “Twin, will you be able to get Zia’s phone ready before we leave?”

“Which one of us are you talking to?” Kylan asked, mirth in his tone.

“The one who just spoke will do.”

“Touché. But, so you know, we never wear the same clothes and don’t look that much alike. I’m the pretty one.”

“And you know it, too. Big headed much, Kylan?” Quinn stressed his name before looking over to her clear favorite, Blaise. Even Zia wanted to roll her eyes when Quinn smiled at him and then said. “Blaise, you’ll be with Lucien and me, plus one more.” Her lack of enthusiasm for their fourth team member was typical Quinn, but Zia was learning to appreciate that the woman meant no harm.

Hildy’s voice rose to take the stage. “For our team, I’d like for Ajax and me to be paired with the Twins if they don’t mind. I would like to focus on the perimeter and aerial surveillance as we’ve done in the past.”

“You all can choose your four-person groups as you see fit. It’s almost eleven. We’ll leave here at noon and take the vans again.”

“That works for the team and time. We’re good with Hildy and Ajax, and are used to how they work,” Rylan said of the couple. “That also makes it easier for Kylan and me to scan the area for wireless activity and possibly electrical and digital threats without having to worry about mingling.”

“What? You don’t like all the female attention you two get when you’re on the surface?”

“Believe it or not, Quinn, it’s no fun when you look but can’t touch.”

“I could see if the Triplets would like to come along. You can touch them without worry.”

The identical twins looked at each other, made some invisible pact and said in unison, “Works for us.”

“Hey, that’s selfish.” Nolan seemed to be the shit starter from what Zia had seen of his antics and how the others dealt with him. “You know the Triplets only have eyes for me.”

“In your dreams,” Ajax said. “How about you focus on learning how not to make any female want to punch you within two sentences out of your pie hole.”

“There’s no need for the animosity, Jax. I know you’re getting close to joining with your Dragon, but I’m still able to punch you with or without any words coming out of your mouth.”

“Oh yeah, bring it,” Ajax looked as if he was smarting for a fight with how high strung he was today.

“There will be none of that. Are we good, Jax? Or, do you need to go out back and work off some steam before we leave?” Lucien eyed his youngest brother and waited.

“I’m good.” The youngest brother threw a dagger look at Nolan as he slunk down in his folding chair.

“Any other team requests? If not, we’ll assemble once we get there. Zia is the star today, so we’ll all be on the lookout for any activity or danger where she and Greg are concerned.” Quinn opened up her trusty notebook, read a page, and then looked back up. “Please, designate a person from each team to check in over the comm every fifteen minutes. I know it’s a lot, but this is the site where there was a large Egolar infestation, the presence of two Imp class demons, a mysterious man with poisoned dust, and possibly more unknown dangers. We’ll have daylight on our side, but don’t rely on it. You all know what to do when we’re surface side and among the natives. I know I don’t need to say this, but I will. No occurrence that strikes you odd should go unreported. If anyone sees any strange activity, report and wait for an acknowledgment before pursuing. We leave here together, and we all need to come back here together.”

Quinn reached down by her feet and pulled out a box. “Also, for safety’s sake, please carry a face mask with you. Have it at quick access. We must be prepared for anything. Here, take one and past the box down.”

Quinn took a few of the disposable masks out of the box and passed it. Zia couldn’t believe the precautions they took for her to accept an honor from her apartment community. When the box reached Greg, he took out four and passed two to her.

“I want you to have a backup. I’d rather be safe than sorry.”

She nodded and took the masks.

“If everyone is good with the plan, do what you need to and meet back here at noon, ready to leave.” Lucien stood indicating that the meeting was over.