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13
Raven
Gym was justas awful as I remembered it. Coach Miller was like something out of a horror movie. His upper body was that of a man who worked out way too much. Bulgy and veiny in a too roided out to be attractive kind of way. His lower body was a massive, coiling snake tail. He even made a slithering sound when he moved.
The mere sight of him made my skin crawl.
“Six more laps, ladies,” he called.
I picked up the pace, grateful for the excuse to round the curve on the track and be farther away from him.
The sexist prick had the girls working out on the track, running laps, while the guys were over on the other side of the gym pushing giant tires and whipping ropes around. Apparently, gym at a magical school was exactly the same as the gyms the rich people paid hundreds of dollars a month for. Except for the whole coached by a dude who might swallow you whole.
Panting, I waited till the coach had slithered away before I slowed down to a walk. All the other girls sped past me, not easing up on the running. Who knew magic academy students were in such good shape?
“You shouldn’t stop to walk,” a pale, fair-haired girl said as she slowed to join me. She glanced to her right then looked back at me. “If he catches you walking, he’ll make an example of you.”
“Why are we running so much? Isn’t the point of having magic so you don’t have to run? I mean, can’t we just shoot fire at the bad guys?” I asked.
She laughed. “Well, maybe you can, but us vampires can’t actually turn into bats and fly away.”
“Oh.” I wasn’t sure what else to say. I’d never met a vampire before. Shit, I’d never met anyone or anything magical before today so that wasn’t a surprise.
“I take it you’re a mage,” she said.
“Yeah,” I said. “Guess it shows?”
“The whole throwing fire at them gave it away,” she said.
“Right.”
“Look, coach is an asshole, but he’s right that we need to be stronger. Magic takes a lot out of you so the stronger your physical body is, the easier it is to recover when you use it. Even for the undead.” She laughed. “We’re not really dead. That was a joke.”
I forced a laugh. What the hell were vampires if they weren’t dead? Everything I’d learned from horror movies and books was wrong. So very, very wrong.
“I know I’m not seeing walking on the track,” Coach Miller called.
Quickly, I started jogging, the vampire matching my pace. “Thanks.”
“You’re welcome, new girl,” she said.
“I’m Raven,” I said.
“Violet,” she said.
The two of us jogged next to each other until the coach blew the whistle. I followed her off the track toward the locker room. As we walked, a familiar creature caught my eye, and I held my breath.
Luka stood in front of the entrance to the men’s locker room, a grin on his handsome face.
I stopped short of the door to the women’s locker room and stared at him.
“I’ll leave you two alone,” Violet said, then she disappeared through the door.
“You survived your first day at gym,” he said.
“Barely,” I said. “I’m sure I’ll be paying for it tonight. I’m going to need to test out that giant tub.”
“Want me to join you? I’ve been told I give the best back rubs.” He winked.
