Page 53 of False Comeback

Holt pursed his lips. “Next question.”

“Huh?” They flew down to land on a corner ring of the training post, wobbling a little. “Why?”

“The Beast has asked me to keep his identity a secret,” Holt said smoothly, inspecting his fingernails and clearly loving the mystery.

“Whaaat?” Gabe was getting excited. “Is he famous?”

Holt snorted. “No, he’s not famous.”

“But you can still tell us what he is though, right?” Carl asked curiously. “I mean, we’ll figure it out when we see him anyway.”

“Unlikely.” Holt tossed back his hair. “He’ll probably be wearing his mask.”

We all looked over at him, myself included.

“Why?” Kit asked again, looking confused.

Holt huffed. “Because that’s what makes him comfortable. Just be respectful, you dicks. He’ll share what he wants to share. I’m sure plenty of you have secrets.”

“What?” Kit looked around. “Who has secrets? I don’t have secrets. What are people’s secrets?”

I noticed Vince and Dan exchange a quick look, which made me stiffen.

What secrets did they have?

“I want to know people’s secrets!” Kit was whining.

“Then they wouldn’t be secrets, you dink.” Gabe’s brows twitched into a frown. “But I don’t think I have any secrets from the rest of you, either. I’m an open book. I mean, I’m pretty sure you’ve all even seen my butthole at some point over the years.”

“That is unfortunately correct,” Val said flatly.

“Ooh, wait, I know who has a secret!” Kit exclaimed, then—making my entire body stiffen—turned and pointed at me. “Crossbody does.”

“No, I don’t,” I said quickly, forcing my eyes not to dart over to Vince.

Did they all know? Did everyone know?

“Yeah, you do. None of us know your real name.”

A blend of utter relief and total dread simultaneously flooded my insides. Everyone was looking at me now. Holt—who did, in fact, know my real name—raised his brows at me and pursed his lips.

Instead of answering, I turned back to face the wall and increased the treadmill’s speed to a sprint so the pounding of my feet on the belt gave me a legitimate excuse to ignore any questions.

“Like I said,” Holt piped up hastily, “no one is obligated to share anything they’re not comfortable sharing. That includes all of you and our new wrestlers. Don’t be assholes to the Beast. Or any of them.”

“I wouldn’t be an asshole,” Kit said sulkily. “I just wanna know what he is.”

“Knowing or not knowing won’t make a difference. He’s here to do a job, just like you, and if he wants to wear a mask while he’s doing it, he can. Any other questions?” he added, his tone sharper now.

“What are they all like?” Susan asked after a few seconds of silence.

“You’ll find out in a minute. In fact…” He glanced back as the door opened behind him and Larkin poked his head through. “You’ll find out right now. Bring them in, Lark.”

The young fae looked excited. He held open one of the doors while Seb appeared to grab the other. I quickly turned off the treadmill and snatched up my towel to blot my face as five unfamiliar figures filed into the room.

La Dame Blanche led the group, walking gracefully in a way that hinted at her being a professionally trained dancer. Ballet, most likely. She gave us a small but confident smile, her lips painted deep red and her eyes even bigger and more eerily dark in person.

She was quite beautiful, I noticed. Elegant. And she was dressed well, in a pair of grey woollen cigarette trousers and an expensive-looking but casual cashmere sweater.