Page 43 of Countdown to Murder
I was willing to bet Mira had never received either in a romantic setting. But she didn’t like chocolate, so maybe a fruit assortment? I used the phone Ryan had provided to look for a florist. There were none listed in town, but I’d seen flowers in the grocery store, and I remembered a sign saying they delivered. A handful of texts later, I’d arranged for a grocery delivery, and had Ruth — who I now knew owned the house we were renting — agree to accept the delivery, put the groceries away, and put the flowers and fruit on the kitchen island so they’d be pretty when we walked in,andto put the roses on the bedside table in the bedroom. She was more than happy to help.
And yes, I’d just gone to the grocery store, but now that I was thinking of romantic foods, I realized there were things I should’ve picked up. I’d put three lasagna pans together before we left, so all we’d have to do when we got home was stick them in the oven for an hour, and we’d be ready to eat. Now we’d have apple pie and vanilla ice cream for dessert. I also ordered root beer, so I could introduce Mira to a root beer float. She was supposed to be experiencingallof life’s pleasures, after all.
“I don’t suppose there’s a boxing gym in town?”
I’d been watching our surroundings, making sure no one approached unnoticed, and I swung my gaze to Mira’s. “Do you want me to check?”
“I’d love to be able to tear into a heavy bag before we go back — balance the meditation with some violence. It’ll have to be in a slayer business though. Human heavy bags fall apart with one kick.”
I texted Ruth to ask if there was a workout place with a heavy bag we could pay to join for the week, and she gave me an address and told me who to talk to when we arrived.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Mira
It turns out, we were sent to a Slayer training facility, and the director said we could use the facilities all week with no charge if we’d both spend an hour that day, and an hour a few days later, training and sparring with their teen slayers-in-training.
The thing about supernatural politics is that it’s often more about who you know than what is happening, or has happened. Every connection you make might be leveraged later on. Help someone now, and maybe they’ll be able to help you later.
So, of course, I agreed to teach two classes.
Enough adults were in the room, it seemed clear they were near in case I lost control. I wanted to be offended, but I didn’t blame them.
“Five teens?” Panda asked, “In the whole county?”
“Five that happen to be here today. We’ll bring more in when the two of you return.”
Panda looked at the teens and met their gaze one-by-one before finally saying. “I’ll show you how to fight a lion in warrior form, but I’m doing so because I trust you’ll only try to take down the ones who are a danger to you or to humans.”
One of the young ladies looked to Mira. “And you? You’ll show us how to fight a snake?”
“I’ll show you how to fight a vampire, since that’s my specialty. I’ve never been trained for how to fight another snake.” I looked at the man who seemed to be in charge. He hadn’t introduced himself, so I didn’t ask for his name. I’d find out and would address him appropriately the next time I saw him. “If there’s a heavy bag that can stand up to supernatural abuse, I’d like to start there. The kids can watch my routine, and when I finish, I’ll break it down and explain why it helps me stay in shape to take down even the fastestold-ones.”
I warned them it’s a three-and-a-half-minute routine, and told them I usually go through it two or three times without stopping, but that I’d only go through it once before I stopped and broke the first minute of it down for them.
Honestly, there’s nothing like hitting and kicking a heavy bag with your full strength. Thethplatof my shin against it, the shock of the top of my foot impacting, thesolid feel of my fist striking and the shockwave going up my arm and into my torso.
When I finished going through my routine once, Panda said, “In Kung Fu Panda, there’s a scene where Tigress talks about hitting a tree every day, building up the bones in her hands so she can hit anything without worry of injuring herself. Most humans don’t understand what it takes to turn your body into a warrior. Even most warriors don’t understand how much they are pulling their punches to keep from injuring themselves. Can you strike that bag as hard as Mira just did without hurting yourself?”
No one answered, likely because they all knew they couldn’t.
I meant to take fifteen minutes breaking down the first minute of my routine, but the kids asked good questions, so we spent nearly twice that before I finished and took a seat so Panda could teach them something.
“I’m not sure I can show you as much as Mira did.” He looked to the adults. “I learned a few things. Did any of you know everything she just taught?”
No one said they did, and I tried not to look surprised.
He talked to them about fighting a lion in warrior form before he led us to a sparring area andchangedinto his warrior form. Each child got a few minutes sparring with Panda, and the adult slayers stayed on the edges of the room, watching without interfering. Panda kept his mouth human and closely supervised the kids once they startedsparring each other using the tricks he’d just taught them, which was good because I had no idea how to keep them from hurting each other. Panda was great with the kids, and it made me like him even more. I had no idea why, but it did.
By the time we left, I felt good about our evening. I’d meditated, I’d gone all-out on a heavy bag — once with an audience and then later without one — and I’d hopefully given future slayers some training that might keep them alive.
“You’re hungry.” Panda didn’t ask. It was a statement.
“I am, but it’s under control. I’d like to eat something when we get back, and then maybe put the lasagna in the oven and go for a swim in the ocean, so it’s ready when we return.”
“It isn’t a programmable oven, so we’ll have to keep an eye on the time, but it sounds like a nice plan. I had some more food delivered today. We’ll have dessert after the lasagna.”
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