Chapter 13
Sagan
“This is bullshit and not what we agreed to,” Myriam snarled at the manager of the other club we’d agreed to change to after all the drama of the first one.
So of course they’d pulled a fast one.
“Take it or leave, tiger,” he mocked. “You want to walk out there and tell everyone a Metcalf’s word is shit? Or that your fighter doesn’t have the goods? The deal was for—”
“Don’t bullshit us,” I said, my voice cold. “This wasn’t what the contract said and you know it.”
He smirked at me. “Then call the cops.”
I smiled back evilly. “You first.” I moved faster than any of them could keep up with and dragged his ass out to the ring. I had him in the cage with the door closed before his security could even react, the large crowd going quiet when they realized something big was going on.
“Are you crazy?”
I snorted. “Are you? Fucking with someone who can turn you into a pretzel without breaking a nail?”
“You’re going to—”
“The contract said we will hash out any issues in the best way possible,” I purred before looking around at the crowd. “Who wants to see us hash it out with our fists? Who wants to see this fucker get shown he’s not the big man around here like he thinks he is?”
Apparently everyone.
Like every fucking person.
I couldn’t even hide my amusement. “You’ve pissed off a lot of people over the years, huh? Yeah, I called that right.”
The ref didn’t give him a chance to wiggle his way out of it, counting it down and making it clear this was happening.
The moment it was allowed, I slugged the guy so hard that I felt most of the bones in his face break… And my dragons were annoyed that we didn’t get them all.
Fine, I was too.
“Okay, you’ve really been holding back,” Avior grumbled from next to Myriam.
“I always said you were smart,” I purred before glancing around. “Who’s the assistant manager and willing to be reasonable instead of this crazy of a clusterfuck madness that anyone can do anything to me or I’ll never fight in Nerthus again?”
Things went better after that, but it was still bullshit. Like bullshit.
After Myriam learned the manager of the place I was fighting at had given Avior demands to find out who I was and abduct me so the owner could drug and sell me, things had been less than friendly.
Understatement of the year. But he’d basically told us there was nowhere else for us to go and make money.
Fuck him and Myriam had called his bluff, but Thovudin was so damn sexist that even the illegal gambling and fighting dens were out of control. The new place promised more fighters and the contract said—I’d read it. It was a clause about unlimited fighters and potential.
Basically, not locking us into one fight or only fighting with them.
They’d turned it around to a fucking free-for-all and open challengers on a Friday night. And somehow they’d been publicizing it behind our backs through connections that left even Myriam fucking clueless. Avior as well from the rage I was getting from him.
“So what’s the play?” I asked Myriam.
“You’re not getting any more for each fight. This is fucking bullshit. It’s—”
“But we can keep betting, right?” I checked. “Each fight will have its own ten minutes to gamble and lock in bets?”
“Yes, but they won’t be as much,” Avior answered. “A lot of these guys are unknown. You could have hundreds and—”
“Right, but only if they decide to be stupid and stick around,” I chuckled darkly. “Is there anything in the—I can just bail anytime, right?”
“There’s no number. Only if you lose do you give up all the winnings of the night, and that can be read as gambling winnings too,” Myriam warned.
I turned to the assistant manager. “How much trouble would it cause if I walked out of here now?” I didn’t wait for him to answer, knowing it. “You will facilitate this with honor going forward and I will save your ass so you can take this fucker’s job. Got it?”
“Deal.” He blocked me when I went to turn away. “And I only knew about the five from out of town. This—this is bullshit. You’re a real fighter. He’s pissed he lost so much money betting against you. It was supposed to be so much for each of the five.”
I nodded that I heard him and it wasn’t his call. Still… Best to just move on. I gave Myriam a look basically telling her to brace for impact and she swore under her breath. I understood her upset, but there wasn’t really a good way to handle any of this.
I was backed into another corner and my dragons were tired of that. They were tired of us getting fucked over or people trying to fuck us—underestimate us at every turn. More than just fighting and it was constant. The police chief debacle was worse than we knew and all right under Father’s nose.
So that was more for me to clean up and people would blame me and my damn breasts again. The high priest wasn’t backing down and even doubling down that this was all because I wasn’t confirmed by the elders as was tradition and things were going wrong in my rule because of it.
How did that even work? The chief of police of Nerthus was corrupt and breaking the law because I didn’t cave to the elders and let them puppet me? Because they didn’t physically put the crown on my head at the fucking coronation?
How did no one else seem to hear how insane that was?
But other temple leaders were starting to back him instead of distancing themselves like at the start. More were now saying they wanted to have one-on-one weekly meetings with the prospective candidates for my mating.
That didn’t scream that the elders had found the right people to bribe to put pressure on me to get their positions back or in retaliation for what I’d done.
And the high priest announced them like it was all set up and being facilitated by the temple.
Someone leaked the list to him and he held a press conference naming most of them right around dinner.
I was… Pissed didn’t even cover it. I had said I was going to do that with June on Sunday, especially since there were a few areas that hadn’t decided yet.
Those Alphas were less than happy and had left me messages saying they wanted to discuss options.
Mine was currently to put the high priest in the ground, sooooo someone might need to come up with something else. Really, they might need to on this one.
Basically, I’d been looking forward to having multiple fights to get my aggression and upset out. I wanted to have some fun and get a good workout in—make the money I needed to finish paying off my parents fucking debts. Seeing and talking with Velle had poured salt in that wound.
Yes, I’d been sympathetic and was glad to help her. Full stop.
I was beyond glad that I could call in an easy favor and make it go away even if I didn’t have faith she would be much use to Myriam.
But someone had been able to do that for her. I hadn’t had that. I was at an illegal underground fighting ring being fucked over yet again dealing with the mess my loving parents had left me. She got to tell people the truth and they were sympathetic to her.
I had to hide it and quietly clean it up, carrying that on my shoulders like… It was all too much.
And I was tired of it all being too much.
You don’t have to behave. Let it out.
“Really?” Eloise checked after we changed into our third form and the first fighter was coming in. “You get mad when I do and want a show.”
Not this time. This time they’ve pushed too far. Show them you’re the best and hurt the bad men. Make it painful and that way we won’t have to bother with the stupid ones.
She was beyond thrilled doing the silliest happy dance ever.
And she immediately knocked out the first fighter. I checked that bets were locked in, already having made sure Myriam placed extra bets about how fast I would win—the whole spread.
They wanted to fuck with us?
Fine, but they had no clue who they were fucking with.
The whole place went dead silent. It was one thing to knock out the manager with one punch, but this was a legit underground fighter with a bio and years of experience. He’d traveled from… I didn’t care where, but far to try and take me on.
Myriam broke out laughing, probably from relief because I’d about felt the ulcer forming from the stress when I’d pushed her to place such risky bets. I hated for her to deal with that, but I still couldn’t tell her that I had two dragons.
And even if I was fighting as Eloise, it meant I had the strength of two dragons. Also, the royal bloodline.
So yeah, I was probably the most powerful dragon in the history of Thovudin. It was why my parents couldn’t hide their horror most times at what their darling daughter could do.
I was a freak, and even if it was out of fear that freaks ended up dead… They were always horrified.
I winked at Avior. “Think every little idiot will come in here now when I can do that to him?”
He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. Right, male pride and tiny egos.
Fair enough, but it shouldn’t be too bad still.
No, I was wrong.
Really wrong. Every fucking dipshit and—men were disgusting. Fine, not all men, but it was always a man who went there and to those extremes.
It was dozens. Dozens of men that had signed up and couldn’t think that while I beat so many others, they would be one of the ones I beat.
And they went into the pile I knocked out.
No, there was a literal pile of dragons I’d knocked out in the back corner of the warehouse now.
“This is boring, Sagan,” Eloise complained when our hands actually started to ache from busting faces in.
Yeah, it really was. And taking too fucking long.
“Okay, seriously, start grouping these fools or it will take all weekend,” I bitched at the assistant manager after we hit twenty-five.
“I have a life and this is…” I gestured to the line.
“This isn’t entertaining to anyone anymore and the bets are shit.
” The crowd was bored, and at least they had all gotten smart that these guys weren’t going to win.