Connor and Mia were in the lobby, and they waved when they spotted us.
“We heard from the police about the storage facility,” Mia said. “They found nothing.”
“I’m shocked, I tell you,” Connor said. “Shocked.”
“It probably took them so long to get there that MDG was long gone,” Mia said.
“They may not even be all that motivated to catch MDG,” Connor said. “If you know what I mean.”
Edan and I looked at each other, confused.
“Connor’s always going on about conspiracy theories,” Mia said with an eye roll. She gestured at the door to the bar. “Are you coming?”
“No, we’re headed to the gym,” Edan said. “We’ll see you guys later.”
They headed into the bar, and I followed Edan outside. “Is there a reason?” I asked. “For not drinking?”
“My mom’s an alcoholic,” he said. It was sunny, but still a bit cool, and he wore a red hoodie with his black track pants. His hair was soft, not shaped into its usual perfectly messy style. It made him look younger than usual. “And I only have a few memories of my dad, but they all involve alcohol, so I’m guessing he was not about the moderation.”
“So you just avoid it totally.”
“For now. Maybe that’ll change in the future, but for now it feels like something I can control. It’s my choice. People sometimes act like you’re doomed to be exactly like your parents. I felt that way for a while.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah. Like how people always talk about the cycle of abuse and how kids who are abused are likely to become abusers themselves. And how you’re more likely to be an alcoholic if your parents are. That felt sort of terrifying to me a few years ago. But after I left home . . .” He shrugged. “It’s all my choice, you know? I’m not going to wake up tomorrow and start beating the shit out of people. I think my mom’s parents were even worse to her than she was to me, but it just feels like an excuse. If anything, you should be less likely to hit your kids, because you know firsthand how it feels.”
“True,” I said quietly. I wondered if Laurence felt that way. I’d worried about becoming like Mom sometimes, too forgiving of Dad’s behavior, too willing to pretend like everything was fine when it wasn’t. Did Laurence worry about becoming like Dad?
We turned into the alley and walked through the gym doors. The woman at the front desk waved for us to go through.
The gym was nearly empty, except for a couple guys working with a scrab dummy in one of the smaller rooms. The gym consisted of three rooms—the big one in the middle with a boxing ring, and two smaller ones with scrab dummies and other fake weapons. We grabbed gloves and headed into the ring.
“I need to work on my uppercut,” I said. “Julian says mine is weak. How do you feel about that?”
“Fine.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah. He’s right, you should work on it. Noah can throw an uppercut that knocks a scrab off its feet. Gage can do some serious damage with his uppercut and those spiked knuckles of his.” His eyes lit up. “Oh! We had a heart-to-heart, by the way.”
“You had a heart-to-heart with Gage?”
“I told him that I did not appreciate him using my face as a punching bag during sparring practice, because my parents were abusive. He was weirdly nice about it. He apologized and said that he was so terrified when we started training in Paris that the only way he could deal was by yelling and punching people.”
I gaped at him. “Seriously?”
“Yeah. And now he feels bad because everyone hates him. Except Zoe. I think they’re sort of a thing.”
“Ew.”
“Agreed.”
“But he really just told you that? He said he was terrified?”
“He sure did. It was like he felt like he had to tell me something personal because I’d confided in him. It was kind of nice, in an awkward way.”
“And you don’t mind? That he knows? I wouldn’t trust Gage with secrets.”
“Eh, it’s not a secret. It’s too much work to lie about it. For me, anyway.”
“I guess,” I said. It all felt like work, honestly. “Uh, let’s get started, then.” I avoided his gaze and raised my gloves. “Move a little slower for me?”
“Sure. Can I make a request?”
“Of course.”
“Don’t pull your punches too much.”
“Seriously?”
“Don’t hit me with your full strength, but I think it’ll help if you knock me around a little. I trust you.”
I trusted him too, I realized. I trusted several members of team seven—Patrick, Laila, Priya, Noah—and I was a little surprised to find that he fit firmly on that list.
“Gentle knocking around. You got it.” I smiled at him. “Let’s go.”
Edan shrugged on his hoodie as we walked out of the gym a couple hours later. “You cool with taking the subway out a bit? Or—the Tube. Connor made fun of me yesterday for calling it the subway. I found a good place a few stops away.”
“Sure. As long as you know how to get there.” We walked down the steps of the Underground entrance. “You did really good today. We should try to get Julian to pair you with someone other than Gage. You’d kill it with a partner like Madison or Noah. Someone fast.”
“You’re pretty fast,” he said as we tapped our cards and walked to the crowded platform. “And you’re getting faster. You’re going to give me a run for my money soon.”
“Yeah?” I smiled. “That’s nice to hear. I was always considered pretty good in my high school combat classes, but Grayson’s training is so much more intense. I always feel like I’m failing at it.”
“You’re definitely not failing at it. But my high school combat classes were a joke. We mostly just sat around and talked. When I went, anyway. Which wasn’t often.”
“Why’d you drop out?”
“I got a job that was offering a lot of hours, and at the time it seemed
