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ChapterOne
TANIA
Owning a gym and being a five-foot-six-inch-tall woman who weighed over two hundred pounds was always going to raise eyebrows.The fact that I was also a witch… well, that would have set tongues wagging if they knew.
It was a real shame that us supernaturals were banned from exposing ourselves to the human population.My gym was fifty/fifty supernaturals and humans, and I would have loved for some of the humans who sneered down their noses at me to know that I could easily turn them into fat, ugly toads.
I would have been doing the world a favor and making their outsides match their insides.
“Hey Tania,” George called out as he swiped his membership card at the front desk.
“Hi George,” I greeted a long-time member walking in to train, then frowned at the black eye he was sporting.“What happened there?”
He shrugged his massive shoulders.“I was having a drink with my girl on Saturday night, just chatting and having a good time…”
I groaned.“And some asshole picked you out for a fight?”
Like most of my clients, George was a power lifter.He was huge.Six foot two and about three hundred and fifty pounds.
He grinned at me.“You know I never start those fights.”
I couldn’t help the laugh that bubbled up out of nowhere.“Yeah, but you always finish them.”
He chuckled and headed off into the main section of the gym.The music changed the moment he stepped into the room.George’s choice today, like always, was Ramstein, the heavy metal bass and German lyrics bouncing around the walls of my gym.
I turned to yell out at him.“George!”
His laughter was the only response, and I heaved a pretend-dramatic sigh.George wasn’t just a friend and a long-standing patron.He was also a warlock, and liked to play DJ with my sound system when he was here at the gym.
I didn’t bother making a correction.The music he chose suited the lifting he did, and that inspired most of the guys around him.It was good for morale, and I didn’t mind Ramstein.Not at all.But I liked to pretend it annoyed me.
The door opened and a blonde chick flounced in, her bare midriff and long ponytail making me instantly prickle.This wasn’t the sort of gym that did aerobics classes.
“Hello,” I greeted her with a practiced smile.“I’m Tania, the owner.Can I help you?”
If I’d been tempted to admonish myself for judging her too quickly, her next words silenced my inner judge completely.
“Youown this place?”she asked, her gaze raking over my body with a downturn of her lips.
I flicked my long brown hair back over my shoulders and straightened my spine.“Have done for over ten years now.Most of my clients here are power lifters and compete in strong-man or strong-woman competitions.Although you’re welcome to train at any capacity, we don’t offer classes, boxing or aerobics.”
The woman struck a pose, crossing her arms over her chest.“I was told you did.”
Stay calm.
I forced myself to take a breath and keep the smile plastered on my face.“You’re probably looking for the women’s-only gym down the block.A hundred feet that way,” I pointed to my right.“You can’t miss it.It’spink.”
The woman’s eyes flared with a hatred I’d put up with since I was a teenager.Good-looking popular girls didn’t like big girls like me.
Especially ones that put them in their place.
“Thanks.”She pivoted on the balls of her feet and flounced right out again.
The cackling sound that came in the door following the blonde’s departure signaled that my best friend, Jaydy, had arrived.She was a power lifter and sometime-trainer here at the gym.She was also a powerful witch.
We had known each other through school and the friendship had only strengthened since then.
“How long did it take you to get rid of her?”Jaydy asked as she stepped in the door, work-out bag slung over her right shoulder.
