Chapter 13 #4
“I’ve definitely not gotten anything like that,” I mumbled.
Brit punched her fist into her palm. “Unless Cayden’s destroying them…”
Cayden shook his head, though he looked like he wanted to.
Brit let out an unhappy grunt. “Then, the Architect’s blocking your mail. Why do I see so much good, yet everything’s different when it comes to you, Quinn?”
I fingered the teardrop pressing into my navel. On some level, everyone in this room knew I was different, even if they didn’t know why, and accepted me anyway.
“Because I’m different.” It wasn’t everything, but it was also the first time I had admitted the obvious.
Brit and Everly both looked at my tunic-covered stomach.
Brit whistled. “Bring it here, let me see it again.”
Fear, tension, every emotion that held me back, released. My friends didn’t push. They just accepted and moved on. How had I found such amazing people?
I wiggled out of Cayden’s arms and revealed a little of myself. Everly had put in the piercing, and Cayden healed it. The mixed metals covered the surface of the teardrop like a chaotic cracked mosaic, and the diamonds from my past filled the center.
We oohed and ahhed over it a few times before Everly jumped up. “Quinn, this means you can use your magic now.” She clapped excitedly. “And we must do something to celebrate. Something daring and fun!” She let out a squeal and rushed into her bedroom.
The delicious smells of pasta and cream sauce curled through the room. My stomach growled, but not from starvation, only from the good smells.
We sat quietly, enjoying the sounds of cooking. The song changed to “Like a Virgin,” and I pulled Brit up to dance, singing along. Once the song ended, I refocused my thoughts on Intentions.
“Have you ever gotten an Intention?” I asked Brit.
She waved us back to our seats. “I’m not fertile, and my family’s gone.” Her expression grew hard. “I bring noth’n to the table and stay out of games I can’t win with my fists.”
“What do you mean your family’s gone?” I asked.
Brit grimaced, but Everly, bursting back into the room, saved the ex-pit fighter from answering my question. The music instantly changed to thumping drums. Cayden jumped, shielding me as if we were under attack. I batted him off of me, giggling, while he flushed with embarrassment.
Everly strode forward with her long hair up in a topknot. Layers of matching facial hair hid her features. Thick makeup toned down her eyes, giving her the appearance of an aged, weathered man. She flung open her coat, revealing handmade pants and a thick wool tunic that flattened her curves.
I laughed and clapped. “Maybe you should have been hiding your gender instead of me.”
“We’re all going in disguise.” Everly pulled four glowing tickets from her pocket.
“No.” Brit grinned. “How’d you find out? It’s one match.”
Everly shook her head. “I can’t believe you thought we wouldn’t find out. The great Brit, back in the ring for a special round.”
“I’ve not retired yet.” Brit quirked her lips. “My transition out of The Pit be more tedious than I expected.”
“You’re not going to a pit fight dressed as a man!” Hero sliced a steaming spoon through the air. “If you must go, we can contact the family and get a box.”
Everly rolled her eyes. “I will not be contacting the family and getting a box. I’ve been to a pit fight in a box. I live in a box! This is my year.”
“I don’t actually know what a pit fight is,” I added.
Brit’s face lit up, and while the twins argued, she filled me in on something that sounded like mixed martial arts fights with all the drama of wrestling.
“I’m going!” Everly stomped her foot, and a wad of clothing, and what looked like a dead fox, flew at me.
Cayden caught it before it hit me in the face, scowling. “I don’t like this.” He dropped the pile on the floor. “I can also afford boxes.”
I looked at Cayden and the simple, unadorned trainee uniform. None of the jewels and finery he arrived with were on display. “Can you?”
Tension filled my friend’s body, and his lips became a line on his face.
He left his family and had no plans to go back.
In some ways, Cayden was as na?ve as I was.
I wasn’t sure he truly understood what it meant to have no resources.
Starvation or bumming free meals wasn’t a way of life I could picture him in.
“It’s not about what anyone can afford.” Everly put her hands on her hips. “This is about living! Seeing Brit’s world like she does.”
Brit blinked. “I’m not poor. Are you implying I’m poor?”
“You can’t afford a box for your own fight, Brit. You’re poor.” Everly waved her hand at Brit dismissively.
Brit rolled her eyes but didn’t argue.
“Look, I’ve taken every precaution.” Everly pulled out a handful of jewelry.
“These will even hide our body odor.” She squeezed the jewelry.
“And Quinn can get practice activating them! Please, I need this. I’m going to be pregnant within a year.
My mom has eighteen kids. She was pregnant for thirteen years! Think about that. Because I am.”
Eighteen kids. I honestly couldn’t imagine it. I shot to my feet. “We need to do this.”
Brit pumped her fist into the air. “When you put it like that, we do. I know a few lads. They’ll keep an eye out.
” She stepped to Everly and gripped her shoulder.
“But you still must be careful. Those tickets are ringside. Standing room only. It’ll be packed.
Don’t draw attention to yourself. Riots start over spilled beer. In for my fight and out.”
Hero tossed his hands in the air. “I said no, and she’s not going without me at her side.”
Everly chewed on her bottom lip. “I mean.” She looked at me. “Quinn’s got a few men she could ask.”
I flushed, and Cayden’s gaze whipped to me.
“Rowan’s exiting his contract.” Everly batted her eyes at me. “The Moores are trying to keep it quiet, but everyone knows. It can’t be a coincidence that he kissed you, right?”
I groaned, wishing I hadn’t told Everly about that evening.
Cayden stiffened next to me, and guilt flushed my stomach, but I pushed it away. Cayden knew I liked Rowan, and he liked me back. I hadn’t done anything wrong.
Everly gasped. “Sorry, so sorry. I thought you told Cayden… because. Well, you tell him everything.” She patted her chest. “I’m the only one who knows about the kiss. I’ve not told a soul.”
“Oie,” Brit put her palms in the air, clearly Everly told her as well.
Everly didn’t blink. “It doesn’t matter when they were told. Everyone knows now, and that’s what counts.”
Cayden’s unfocused gaze lingered on my back. He didn’t reach for me as he processed. But he shouldn’t have anything to process. He set our boundaries. Not me.
I smiled at Everly. “I would kill for a fraction of your confidence.”
A pair of sunglasses zoomed toward me. They hit me in the forehead and dropped onto my lap.
Everly clapped excitedly. “You’ll need those and to wear a hood. Everyone knows what you look like, especially with your new hair.”
Hero let out a frustrated groan. “Even if we brought an army with us, I wouldn’t be okay with this.”
I turned to Cayden, our voice of reason, sitting too silently.
The room stilled, waiting on him.
Finally, the focus came back to his eyes. “You shouldn’t be kissing anyone.” He scowled. “And you don’t need to call ‘more guys.’ We’ll be careful.”
Everly whooped while Brit shot to her feet and did a little dance.
“Maybe more excitement will help you focus on what’s important.” Cayden tugged the sunglasses out of my fingers. “We don’t need Rowan or anyone else.” He slid the plastic frame onto my face, darkening my world.
Everly took Brit’s hands, and the two spun. Everly’s beard promptly landed on the floor. “I’ll fix that.” She giggled. “Tonight’s the test run.”
Brit and I laughed. With Hero angrily stirring sauce and the drums beating in the background, we rolled out a map of the venue and made a plan.