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Other than Norman panting in the back seat, the air in the car had gone silent between us.
Everleigh cleared her throat and rubbed her hands on her yoga pants. “What do you think about another forward?”
“What do you mean?”
She shook her head. “Nothing. I shouldn’t have said anything.”
“Are you trading someone?” My mind immediately started to race. Who would be on the chopping block, and which player would be worth disrupting our top-notch first line for?
“Gunnar.” Everleigh threaded her fingers through mine. “I’m already breaking one rule. I shouldn’t have said anything. You know that I can’t talk to you about that kind of stuff.”
She was right. “Temporarily breaking one rule. After today, you’re off the hook.”
Her nod was subtle. “Right, of course. So are you.” She clapped the top of my hand with hers and then turned to pet Norman. “It’s not too much longer, Pupper.”
Everleigh had made some calls and told me that she had someone who could look at Norman right away. I knew that we were heading somewhere upstate, but as we got further and further away from civilization, I wondered where the hell she was taking me. The answer came as she directed me to pull off onto a long, winding driveway with a huge iron gate that opened as we arrived. The gate had a fancy gilded K over a crown. “Is this your family’s country home?”
“What gave it away?” She laughed.
Across the meticulously-maintained grounds, a brick mansion loomed large along the horizon. “Do they train wizards or mutants here?” It reminded me of some kind of academy for teenage vampires or something.
“Both.” She laughed. “There.” She pointed to a split in the driveway and we followed the pavement to a huge barn.
After I parked, Everleigh hopped out of the car. “I’ll be right back.” She disappeared into the barn, reappearing less than a minute later with three people wheeling a stretcher.
“Where’s the dog?” the older man asked. Everleigh pointed to the back seat. I had gotten out of the car to open the rear door for the team.
“Gunnar, this is Dr. Wise.”
I extended my hand and shook his. “Thank you, Dr. Wise.”
“Don’t thank me yet.” It was clear the man didn’t want small talk. He ordered the two younger men to lift Norman onto the stretcher.
Once Norman had been wheeled into the barn and I’d given Dr. Wise as much of Norman’s medical history as I could, I tried to follow him into the barn. But Dr. Wise held out his hand, stopping me. “You don’t need to come in.”
“But—”
“Let me do my job. I don’t need you in there getting in the way.”
I narrowed my lips. “I think he’d be more comfortable if I was there.”
Everleigh strode past both of us and opened the door. “Dr. Wise. This isn’t one of my thoroughbreds. We’re coming in.”
“As you wish.” The vet didn’t look put off by Everleigh. He simply nodded and strode into the barn.
“Thank you,” I mouthed as we followed behind. But the vet was right. His team had sprung into action, and after a few basic tests Norman had been whisked into another room for Xrays and an MRI.
“You have all of that stuff here?” The room that we were sitting in was state of the art, and bigger and cleaner than any vet’s office I’d ever been to.
“We prefer to look after our horses on the grounds here. And with the new horses, we were spending a fuck ton of time transporting them.”
I hacked out a laugh. “You weren’t kidding about the F-word.”
“Buckle up, Hardwood. You’re in for a fucking ride.”
Out of anyone else’s mouth it would’ve sounded crass. I’d grown up in a non-swearing house and sometimes even the locker room talk was a bit much for me. But coming from Everleigh, it almost sounded like poetry. I shook my head. What the heck was wrong with me?
Before I could respond, her eyes lit up. “Speaking of ride, do you want to go meet my horses?”
