3. TALIESIN #2
Dimitry waits for me, his arms crossed. “You challenge for her?” His voice is a low, dangerous rumble. “I don’t think so. She just neutered my second-in-command. I want justice.”
I pull a fresh cigarette from my pocket and light it, acting like I have all the time in the world.
It’s pure theater, but status in Quo is built on theater.
“I issued a challenge. You know the rules, Dimitry. The fish is fair game until a gang takes them in. She hasn’t been taken yet. ” I blow a plume of smoke to the side.
“She’s a witch. An Elite,” Dimitry scoffs. “I thought the Diggers were ‘humans only.’ Your boys won’t be happy, Bevan.”
“The Digger code is not your concern,” I reply, but in the back of my mind I already know the ranks are going to be pissed.
Dimitry pauses, then shrugs. “Very well. Who do you nominate to fight for her?”
“I’ll fight myself.”
The murmurs turn into a roar. Bosses rarely fight their own battles, but if this is the dragon’s sister, I want control of what happens to her.
“Your funeral, Bevan.”
Dimitry clicks his fingers, and a mountain of a man steps forward from the dark blue ranks. “Heinz will represent the Guild,” Dimitry sneers.
Of course he’d choose Heinz.
The beast is dumb as pigshit, but also six-foot-eight of solid German muscle.
The fucker hasn’t lost a yard fight in the three years he’s been in Quo.
The giant cracks his knuckles, and inclines his head. “Meine Ehre, Konig Dmitry.”
“He says it’s his honor to fight for me,” Dimitry translates, his eyes sparking with malice. “And indeed it is. So, we proceed. Unless the Boss of the Diggers wishes to withdraw his challenge?”
That doesn’t even warrant an answer. I kneel on the concrete, tying my sneaker laces into double knots. One of my boys runs over, surreptitiously offering me a shiv, but I shake my head. If I use a blade, this becomes a blood feud. I need to win this with my hands.
The Drakeward girl looks between me and the giant, her ice-blue eyes glaring with contempt, and perhaps a touch of panic.
“I don’t need anyone to fight my battles,” she hisses at me. “You have no idea what I’m capable of.”
“Yeah, right, Princess. You ready to go a round with Heinz, then?” I ask, shaking out my hands to get the blood to start flowing.
“Don’t be ridiculous. Obviously, I can’t. But I’m not a prize to be fought over.”
I nod, my gaze locked on the giant. “Too right there, Princess. You’re not a trophy. Right now, all you are is a massive pain in my ass.”
Her eyes flare, and she actually spits at my feet.
“Give it a rest,” I grunt, circling my arms to loosen my shoulders. “You can thank me later. Or not.”
I wonder for a split second if she’s got a dragon hiding inside her like her brother. I doubt it. If she could shift, this place would already be a pile of smoking ash.
Shit. Here we go.
Heinz doesn’t wait for a signal. He charges like a bull. Wisely, the heiress scrambles out of the way just as the mountain slams into the space where she’d been standing.
The German is fast for a man his size, but I’m faster. I drop low, letting his fist whistle over my head, then drive my own into his ribs. It’s like hitting a brick wall.
The yard erupts. The Diggers scream my name while the Guild bays for my blood.
Heinz swings again, a wide hook that would take my head off, but it only glances my temple as I catch his wrist. I use his own momentum to pull him forward, sending a knee deep into his gut. He snorts, his arms wrapping around me in a bear hug that threatens to snap my spine.
Nope.
I slam my forehead into his nose. Crunch. A warm spray of blood hits my neck. As he staggers back, I launch a chop to his throat.
The big bastard barely blinks. He recovers faster than I expected, catching me with a heavy punch to the ribs before I can reset.
Shit. I feel the snap in my chest, but I can’t let it slow me down.
He lunges again, connecting with my jaw. My cheek splits open on my teeth and my mouth fills with blood. This is getting annoying.
I sweep his leg, using his inertia to send him crashing sideways. Fucking finally. This has been a very long five minutes. Dropping onto his chest, I put every ounce of my weight into a fist driven straight into his temple.
His eyes go wide for a second, then roll back. He’s out.
Pulling myself up, I spit a glob of red into the dirt. My knuckles are throbbing and my vision is swimming, but I turn to Dimitry and put on a posture of unbothered arrogance.
“She’s mine.”
A buzzer sounds to signal the end of yard time. On the catwalks, the COs level their rifles.
I turn to Aurora Drakeward. She’s staring at me, her lip curled in pure, unadulterated defiance. “I don’t need a savior, and if you think this means…”
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I don’t have time for a debate. I hook an arm around the brat’s waist and hoist her over my shoulder like a sack of grain.
Fuck. The movement sends a spike of pain through my bruised ribs.
“Put me down, you bastard! I’ll kill you! I’ll kill you too!” She starts kicking wildly, her cheap slippers flying off as her toes drum against my chest and fists beat against my back.
“Keep it up, Princess, and you and I are going to have words,” I growl.
I carry her toward the Digger block, acutely aware of the murmurs following us. My boys hate Elites more than any other flavor of magical, and bringing one into our block is a dangerous move. But fear and respect are a potent mix; they move aside for me anyway.
It’s a relief when I finally reach my place.
It’s a double-wide cell tucked into the far corner, mostly undisturbed by the guards.
The previous tenant made some… custom modifications.
The wall between my cell and the next was knocked down and replaced with reinforced bars, creating a private cage within a cage.
Occasionally, I’ll throw someone in there if they’ve pissed me off.
Guess who the lucky resident is today?
I march inside, ignoring a particularly sharp elbow to my kidney, and dump her unceremoniously onto the cot.
When I step out and slam the gate shut, I narrowly miss getting a finger bitten off.
Fucking wildcat.
“You can’t keep me in here!” she screeches, gripping the bars and her pale face furious.
Turning my back on her, I take a washcloth and start wiping the sweat and blood from my face. My whole body feels like it’s been run through a meat grinder. I’d kill for some industrial-strength painkillers, but in Quo, you make do with tepid water and a clean uniform, if you’re lucky.
Shucking off my coveralls, I look at the girl.
She’s still glaring at me through a tangled mess of blonde hair.
“Look, Princess. I just fought a giant so you wouldn’t get gang-raped by the Guild. You’re in my cell, in that cage, so no one can touch you. Not even me.” I lower myself onto my cot. “So can you shut up and try to stay out of trouble for ten minutes? I need a nap.”