Chapter Two
Coral and Kalin made their way through the gritty twilight of the slums. Each of them had a mind that was full of concerns. Mostly, Coral was caught thinking about her brother. Kalin, on the other hand, was concerned about the upcoming match. Kalin was involved in a club that met once a week. He and his Clan were not the only members of the club. Other Clans and hardcore athletes were all aware of the clubs existence. Every week, the members would get together and play a ruthless form of street hockey. There were no prizes. Only bragging rights and even those changed from week to week.
Kalin had been involved in the club for years now. He knew exactly how things worked.
Don’t expect anything, because your expectations will fail. Also, training was imperative if you wanted to keep your edge. It was taken for granted that shifting would happen in the course of the game, though the Shifters knew that their human form would maintain the greatest amount of dexterity. To play, you had to have a hard body and a sharp mind.
The Bear Clan trained on a daily basis with one another, because they knew that to do otherwise would mean failure. They trained because it helped them to feel alive. They trained because those with power need to direct their energy. The entire point of the club was to get close to the edge of reality every game night. Each player did their best the entire week to prepare themselves. The only test which would prove that they were doing their best was complete participation.
Blood and sweat flowed in this dark underworld. There were few spectators. The game was kept pure because bets were not allowed. Abuse was also not the goal, which meant that the players were mutually encouraged to keep the club in existence. The goal was to play your heart out, and commune with other Shifters within a world where being different could get you in a lot of trouble. Once you were in the club, you tended to stay put. As cultural events go, the underground street hockey club was the cream of the crop.
Kalin had never entered a match after being wounded from a street brawl. He had come in tired and at times, unprepared. But at least each time he had arrived, he had been ready to play. If a player wasn’t prepared for their scheduled game, the team could reschedule. Nobody rescheduled, though. There was a code amongst participants.
You put your best foot forward each time, no matter how bruised.
Knowing that he needed to commit to the game, Kalin prepared in his mind for the match. He wasn’t thrilled to have Coral along. In fact, he had hoped that she would be on her way as soon as he had rescued her.
That’s what I get for putting my nose in where it doesn’t belong, he thought.
He looked over to catch a glimpse of her. She was pretty, even if she had gotten him shot. He shook his head. With a game coming up, he didn’t have time to check out women. She would need to stay out of sight when they got to the club. He wasn’t sure that her being there would be much safer than if she had just gone home.
Better than finding a dead body on my way home tonight, he reasoned.
The door to the club was red. A small, inconsistent light hung over the door frame. Coral seemed uncomfortable and hesitant. Kalin shrugged his shoulders as if he was completely comfortable. With a creak, the door opened. The doorman was an ugly looking guy. He was all muscle and no charm. His face was brutally scarred. Tattoos covered his chest and a fat bar pierced his nose.
“Kalin,” he said without a smile, “Who’s the girl?”
Kalin shook his head.
“You going to let me in or not?” he asked.
The doorman seemed hesitant. Clearly, he wanted an explanation. After a moment, he decided that he had better let Kalin inside of the club. Tonight was a big night for Kalin, after all.
“She stays out of the way!” the man called out.
Kalin had already been walking toward his Clan room. Coral was at his side. He didn’t bother turning around to acknowledge the doorman. He only raised a hand, dismissively. Kalin tried not to pay too much attention to anyone in the club except for his Clanmates. The doorman was no exception.
Coral walked through the crowd with her eyes wide. She was in amazement at all of the beautiful bodies in the room. She had never seen so many rugged men in her life. Her heart quickened and she felt fear. In spite of her fear, she continued to look. There was a desire inside of her that longed for strong men. She wanted to be held and protected. Coral also knew how volatile brutish men could be. The attraction to strength was a double edged sword.
The two of them entered a narrow hallway. The walls of the hallway were full of chipped paint. It was impossible to know the age of the warehouse.
Just a matter of time before the place falls apart, she thought.
Coral ran a finger along the walls. She felt each of the paint chips as they walked toward the Clan room. Several chips fell off and scattered on the floor behind them. The floor was smooth and made of concrete. Coral felt like many people had walked along these hallways. The memories of the traffic had been etched into the stone.
After a walk to the other side of the compound, they found the Clan Room. Each of the groups that participated in the weekly games was given a room. The Clan Room was used as a meet-up place before the game began. The room was also used to heal injuries. Sometimes, the room was used to sleep, when a Clan member had nowhere else to go.
“Kalin!” said a heavily tattooed man with a beard. “Who’s the tramp?”
“Shut the fuck up Sean,” another responded. “That’s no way to talk to a lady.”
The second placed himself quickly between Sean and Coral. He bowed to introduce himself.
“Ryder is the name,” he offered.
Ryder held out his hand to grab a hold of Coral’s hand. His grip was gentle, but firm. She could see his muscles clearly all the way up to his bare chest.
“Ever the ladies’ man,” a third responded.
“Thomas, you’re just jealous," Ryder responded. "Not my fault your favorite philosophers were better at math than at picking up women.”
Ryder’s eyes didn’t leave Coral’s gaze while he spoke. She got the distinct impression that he had perfected this graceful form of pick-up artistry over the years. She was genuinely flattered and was not able to hide her emotions.
“See,” Ryder smiled, “The lady likes it.”
He stood up and winked at her before walking back over to the card game he was playing with the fourth member of the group.
The man at the card table had long brown hair which hung on either side of his face. His jaw looked square and his eyes were stern. He surveyed Coral with a studied glance and then returned to his card game with the same intense expression.
“Your turn,” the man said, setting his cards down on the table and raising his gaze to look at Ryder.
“Crux,” Ryder replied, “You know I’m just going to beat you again. Why carry on toward the inevitable?”
“You got distracted,” Crux replied. “I might have a chance.”
Ryder shook his head and sauntered over to the card table once more to sit with his brother. There were five Bear Clan members in all. A moment after Coral had entered the room, Ryder and Crux were back into the game. Thomas had gone back to reading his book in the corner. Kalin had walked over to the locker and began dressing his wound more thoroughly. Only Sean’s eyes remained focused on Coral.
“You know the rules,” Sean said. “Women are a distraction from the game. If you keep them, then you do it outside of the Club.”
“Fuck off, Sean,” Ryder said, without looking up from his cards. “Don’t be pissed, cause Kalin bagged a hottie. Besides, if you had thought of it first, which one of us would be whining at you?”
Sean glared at Ryder and then at Coral. Kalin continued to bandage his arm.
“Got hit?” Crux asked.
“Just a stray,” Kalin replied. “He was a bad shot, and too scared.”
“Lucky,” Sean offered. “She had something to do with it, no doubt.”
“Ever the perceptive one, brother,” Thomas replied. “Next, you’ll be telling me that we’ve got another gang war on our hands.”
Thomas turned the page in his book, looking somewhat bored. Sean's eyes flared along with his temper.
“What happened, Kalin?” he asked. “Spill it!”
“Nothing really,” Kalin replied. “The girl ran into some trouble on her way home and I helped her out. No big deal.”
Kalin was wrapping his shoulder with medical linens. The wrap was tight. He obviously had tended street wounds before. Coral noticed how efficiently he dressed his wounds.
“Right Coral?” Kalin said, turning toward the woman.
Coral thought about the encounter with the thugs on the street. She thought about her brother and wondered if he was alright. She thought about how she should answer, but her process took too long.
“That’s not good,” Ryder said.
He set his cards down on the table and turned around in his chair. With one leg straddling either side he cocked his head at Coral.
“You’re taking too long, hun,” Ryder continued. “The correct answer to that question is ‘That’s right.’ Go ahead, say it for me.”
“… That's.. right,” Coral offered.
Sean hung his head.
“I’m not dealing with this shit right now,” Kalin said.
Kalin bent down and began to wrap his shins.
“I don’t know why you even bother,” Sean commented. “You always lose your cool in the first ten minutes. With her here you might blow your load even sooner.”
“Sean,” Kalin said, grabbing a hockey stick from his locker. “If you’re so concerned about the rules, why don’t you make sure she doesn’t break them?”
“I’m not missing out on a game because you want to get lucky,” Sean replied.
“Big Tough Guy,” Ryder commented. “‘Killer’ is going to go out there and play with a busted shoulder.”
“Oh my God…” Coral exclaimed.
The gravity of the situation was finally dawning on her.
“Holy shit,” she said. “Do you shift during the game?”
“Lookie here,” Ryder said, smiling at her. “Princess finally realized something special about her knight in shining…”
“For Gods’ sake, would you shut the hell up?” Sean yelled, obviously stressed by the situation.
“I’m watching,” Coral said positively. “There’s no way I would miss this.”
Kalin left, shaking his head. But he didn’t make any attempt to stop her.
“I quit,” Crux threw down his hand of cards and began to pick his fingernails.
Thomas ignored everyone and turned another page in his book. Thomas’s indifference, along with other factors of the situation caused Sean to punch an open locker door. Sean’s fist connected with a sharp clang and the door slammed shut. Cautiously, Coral looked over to see a huge dent in the sheet metal of the locker.
“Maybe he won’t be so bad off?” Coral offered.
“You’re out of your element,” Sean replied.
“I’m out,” Ryder said. “One on one pre-finals… No way I’m going to miss this.”
He threw his cards down on the table and walked out of the room. Coral caught a wink on the way out, followed by two Shifters who completely ignored her presence. Alone in the room with Sean, she sat down at the table. When she looked at the cards, she saw that they were tarot cards, of an old French variety. She didn’t understand the game they were playing, but the symbols caught her eye.
Sean was frustrated because Coral’s involvement portended bad things for his brothers. He took a deep breath. Finding out your brother had holes in his body because of some woman was never a good way to start the night, especially a game night. Resigning himself to his fate, Sean let out a deep sigh. He glared at Coral for a moment. Then, he decided it wasn’t worth the trouble to be upset.
“When we go, you stay behind me,” he instructed. “And whatever you do, keep your mouth shut.”