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“Yeah, of course,” Ezra says easily. “I’ll meet you both after. I’d much rather run than learn about the body. Come on, I’ll walk you to the med bay.”
They walk me to my physical, and I have to convince them both to leave me alone to wait for it. Combat is starting in a few minutes, and after Nico’s snappy speech earlier about being late, I don’t want them to be late for the first session.
It’s only a few minutes of waiting before the door opposite me opens, and I assume the woman coming through it is another member of staff, what with not noticing any in the induction. I’m looking up expectantly, waiting for her to call me in, but she goes to walk straight past. At the last minute, she looks down, doing a double take as she sees me sitting here.
“Harlow?” she asks in surprise. I’m surprised myself, for a second, until I realize I’ve met this woman before—when she came into The Grind with Nico.
“Oh, hi,” I say dumbly, not able to remember her name.
“Clara,” she reminds me, and I smile politely. “How are you doing?”
“I’ve been better,” I mutter as I look pointedly around the room, and she nods.
“I get that. Sorry about all this.”
“You don’t need to apologize.” It’s her brother that should be doing the apologizing, but he doesn’t seem to see the need. “What are you doing here? I didn’t see you in the orientation.”
“Perks of the family ties,” she drawls sarcastically, and I guess her brother being the leader would give you that.
“So, are you a participant, then?”
“Not exactly,” she explains. “I’m more just here for the training.”
“Oh,” I say with a frown. Why would you come here for that? Surely Nico could give her the rundown outside of the actual sessions? He was teaching me for so long, but maybe his time is too occupied these days.
“What’s your extra session?” she asks, and she doesn’t seem surprised when I say ethics. “Figures. Me too.”
Just then, the door reopens, and a doctor in a fancy white coat calls my name. “I’ll see you around,” Clara adds quickly. “I’m pretty sure we’re the only two women here. We should stick together.”
I’m not sure how keen I am to start bonding with Nico’s sister now I know he’s an asshole of the highest degree, but I don’t get the chance to agree or disagree either way. Clara walks off, and the doctor glares at me impatiently. Guess I’m up.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Sawyer
Combat is the only session we all have together, which is what kicks off our training schedule. My focus isn’t great with Harlow around—I keep wanting to check she’s okay, and for some reason, that’s worse when I can see her and watch for her reactions. That’s why instead of sparring with Ezra, we’re standing to one side, watching Harlow spar on the other side of the room. Although watching her now, I feel pure pride. She’s confident as she prepares to spar with someone easily twice her size.
Nico is here, and although there are multiple trainers leading the session, I know Nico’s given Harlow the smallest guy he can. Considering this is a group of trained fighters, that hasn’t made much difference. Even so, I know she’s going to be better than loads of the guys here. She’s been training for years—even before we knew about The Games. I’ve been teaching her bits on how to defend herself since I learned them myself. This might be her chance to show Nico what she can do.
Harlow falters against the guy’s size, a tiny misstep, and Nico calls time once again, screaming at the guy who’s just trying to do what he’s here to do—to train her.
“This is just fucking practice, Cane, how many times do I have to tell you?”
He’s barely touched her, but Nico is clearly on edge. He’s angry, jittery, and does not take his eyes off her—a stark contrast to how he blatantly ignored her in the induction room. Not that Harlow seems to care. She storms up to Nico and says something to him, waving her hands around, before stomping back to the mat. The whistle blows, but again, the second Harlow goes down onto a knee, Nico’s ending the round. Harlow glares at him before walking off toward the door.
“You’re not done,” Nico calls after her, but she ignores him, pushing the door so hard it slams against the wall before swinging closed behind her. Nico follows after, and I clap Ezra on the shoulder.
“I’ll take this one.”
I follow them out, and Harlow is already laying into him when I join them in the corridor.
“What’s the point of me being here? You’re going to put us at a disadvantage by not letting them train me properly, so I’m not doing it.”
“You need to be prepared,” he grits out.
“Why? You’re clearly not going to let me do any of it, so why am I wasting my time? Trust me, I’d much prefer to not have a hand in this.”
“Youhaveto be here.”
