Chapter 11 #3
"Sorry, I can't say the same." Val turned back to the fight as the Gadius entered the ring and dragged the larger man out. Alamax stood and disappeared back into the darkness.
Loki approached and handed her a drink. "Did you talk to him?"
"Yup. Our fight is coming up soon." She downed her drink and then took his second one and downed it as well.
"Wait, what?" Loki looked at her.
"What, what?" she asked. "That's why you got me here, right? For us to fight?"
"Well... yes, but I thought you were going to try and talk him out of fighting and into something else."
“Like what? Sex? No, thank you.”
He growled. “That’s not what I meant.”
She stared at him. "Good. Though offering you up to him wasn’t off the list.”
He frowned, making her chuckle.
“I’m kidding. I’d never let him have you. And not fighting was never my plan."
"Then what did you need to talk to him about?" The strain in Loki's voice grew intense.
She wasn't sure she wanted to tell him the deal she'd made.
Mostly because if Loki knew what she'd agreed to, he would try to stop it any way possible.
But she didn't want to stop it. She'd made a promise to protect Elle, and if that meant she needed to sacrifice herself to keep her safe, then that's what she needed to do.
No matter the cost to herself. No matter what Surtr might do to her.
No matter that it meant she would have to leave Loki behind.
The only person she'd ever... loved? No.
She'd loved people before. Just... not the way she loved him.
Shit. Did she love him? He'd said he loved her.
And in that moment, she realized that she did love him.
How the hel had that happened? When had it happened?
They'd known each other for less than a week!
"We talked about the terms of the fight. As you said, if he wins, he gets his ransom. If he loses, he tells Surtr we aren't here."
Loki studied her face for deceit. He wouldn’t find any. What she’d told him was the truth… technically.
The bell rang on the match at hand, and Val turned to look in the cage. Damn. The last fight hadn't even lasted five minutes. She’d hoped to have a bit more time with Loki before her possible relocation back to Muspelheim.
"Guess that means I'm up." She downed the second drink and stood, stretching her arms. A twitch of fear skittered over her, but she shoved it down like bile. She was not scared of Frat Boy, Alamax.
She reached into her boots and removed her knives, handing them to Loki. He looked at them and placed them inside his jacket. She reached for her blade on her back, but he stopped her and shook his head.
"Not that one. Keep that one. In case you need it."
“Isn’t that against the rules?”
"I know, love, but I'll be honest. I hadn't expected you to fight him. I thought you would use your unnerving charm to make some kind of a different deal."
"Unnerving charm? We've met before, right?"
Loki stood and cupped her face. "You can't trust Alamax. He may not use any powers, but that doesn't mean he'll play fair. He's known to do whatever it takes to get what he wants."
She scanned his face. "You don't think I can beat him."
"I didn't say that."
"Then what are you saying?"
He blew out a breath and then kissed her. "I'm saying if anything happens to you, I wouldn't want to exist anymore."
Her chest squeezed. She closed her eyes and lay her forehead on his. What did she say to that?
She blew out a breath of her own and said, "Then I'd better win."
Loki looked at her, and his eyes turned ice blue. "I won't let him take you and Elle. Thor won't either. No matter what deal you made with him, he didn't make a deal with us."
"That's not exactly fair. Aren't you worried about your clientele?"
"I don't give a crap about my clients. I'm not losing you."
"And Lucifer?"
"Would you go to Valhalla and raise hel with me?"
She chuckled. "As long as I don't have to fan you all day and bring you ale and shit."
"Well, you're not a virgin, so I don't think you have to worry about that."
She punched him in the gut.
He grimaced. "I wasn't complaining."
"Val, you're up," Gadius called.
Val nodded and kissed Loki. "I got this."
"I'll be waiting right here. Well, no. Actually, I'll be right down there at the edge of the cage making sure you are okay."
"Sounds good. Just promise me one thing."
"What's that?"
"No matter what happens, you won't stop the match."
"Signe-"
"Promise me, Loki." Her voice came out stronger than she'd anticipated.
Loki sucked in a breath and nodded. "I promise."
She gave him a tight smile and then turned and headed down to the cage. Alamax already stood in the middle of the ring. Shirtless and in nothing but workout shorts and bare feet. She wondered what his fighting skills consisted of.
Val ascended the stairs into the cage and walked to the middle opposite Alamax.
"I want you to know I'll take no pleasure in hurting you," he said. "I'm not that kind of demon."
"Don't stress it. I'm going to take a lot of pleasure in kicking your ass."
He shook his head. "I really wish I were taking you out instead of taking you to Surtr."
"Again, don't stress it. I'm spoken for anyway." Why the hel had she told him that?
His eyebrows rose. "Really? Anyone I know?"
"Are we fighting or chatting like long-distance sisters?" Val steadied herself, her muscles tensed as she faced off against Alamax. Dark energy swirled around him, a chilling presence that sent shivers down her spine.
He smiled, revealing his pointed teeth, and didn't give Val a chance to prepare before he leaped forward and kicked her in the gut, sending her flying into the cage wall and dropping to the floor, winded.
So that’s what Loki meant by he fought dirty. Fair enough.
Val pushed to her hands and knees as he plummeted next to her and kicked her in the stomach again.
Val rolled over and hopped to her feet, trying desperately to suck in a breath.
But Alamax wasn't going to give her a chance.
With another burst of speed, Alamax lunged forward and aimed a swift kick at Val's midsection.
She deftly twisted to the side, narrowly evading the blow.
She retaliated with a fierce jab, aiming for his exposed ribs.
The impact reverberated through her arm as she made contact, but Alamax barely flinched.
Damn. He moved as fast as any enemy she'd ever fought. He swung at her, and Val released her wings, shredding yet another shirt, and rose two feet above his head, giving her time to gulp down air.
Alamax looked up at where she hovered and smiled. "In the air works too."
Black feathery wings sprouted from his back, and he met her where she hovered.
A fallen angel. Alamax was a fallen angel. Damn. That explained a lot.
Again, he didn't give her a moment to recover, and instead, he charged her. She spun out of the way and kicked him in the back. He smashed face-first into the cage, bounced off, and flew straight at her, fist raised. Val launched into a flurry of strikes and kicks, each movement calculated and precise. Muscle memory kept her moving without having to think. All the decades of battles flowed back through her like she’d been through them the day before.
Alamax countered with equal skill, their bodies moving in a deadly dance of combat.
The fight intensified as they circled each other, their movements fluid and controlled.
Val ducked under Alamax's sweeping punch and spun around, delivering a punishing kick to his side.
Before he could react, Val closed the distance between them and unleashed a rapid series of strikes, her blows landing with unrelenting force.
Alamax grunted in pain, his defenses faltering under her relentless assault.
He tried to spin away, but grabbed his wing and slammed her fist into his joint.
He cried out as the wing retracted and he dropped to the floor of the arena.
The crowd erupted in cheers. Even Loki yelled her name, but she didn’t have time to think about him.
She dove down and landed where he should have been, but he’d disappeared and reappeared on the opposite side of the arena.
“Cheat!” someone yelled. “No magic allowed.”
“Cheat,” someone else cried out. “Forfeit. He forfeits.”
No. She couldn’t let him. She had to win on her own. He’d never keep his word if he were forced to forfeit.
“No,” she yelled. “I can still beat him. No forfeiting.”
“But no more magic, either,” yelled Loki. He flicked his fingers at Alamax, and silvery bands laced up Alamax’s arms.
“You can’t bind me. Then it’s not a fair fight.”
“I’m only binding your magic. Nothing more.” Loki looked over his shoulder, and Val followed his gaze to see Odin sitting in his chair.
When had he gotten there?
“I’ll allow it,” Odin declared. “The magic binding stays. If you try to cheat again, you’ll deal with me.”
Alamax’s eyes blazed with golden fury as he turned back on Val and raced forward. She went to roll away, but he caught her leg and yanked her back before kicking her in the gut again.
Her drinks from earlier threatened to come back up, but she refused to allow them. While on all fours, he lifted her head and slammed her nose into his knee. Blood gushed from her face, splattering the ground.
Loki roared behind her. “I’m going to kill you!”
Alamax laughed. “Guess I know who you belong to.”
Val fought against the pain skyrocketing through her skull and got to her feet, grabbing him by the balls.
His eyes bulged out, and his mouth opened in a silent scream.
“I belong to no one.” She slammed her fist into the side of his head, dropping him to the ground, but he staggered to his feet as she wiped the blood from her face and spat on the floor. Val's focus narrowed to a laser-sharp point as she pushed herself to the limit. She needed to end this.
Val delivered a decisive blow, sending Alamax crashing into the cage wall again. She advanced and punched him over and over. Face. Gut. Shoulder. Kidney. Other kidney.
Alamax struggled to keep up with her relentless onslaught, his once-confident facade crumbling under the weight of her determination.
He cried out as she grabbed one of his wings and yanked it backward, snapping it.
He shuddered, and his wings retracted as he crumbled to the ground and curled into a ball, but Val refused to let up.
She kicked him with her heavy boot. He kicked out with his legs trying to trip her, but she lifted off the ground, and he missed.
He rolled on his back, and she dropped onto his chest. The cracks that emanated told her she'd broken his sternum, collarbone, and ribs with one brutal stroke. Alamax screamed and fought to suck in a shallow breath, but couldn’t.
"You're not like any opponent I've faced before," he admitted.
Val knelt over him, her fist above his face. "Concede and tell Surtr you couldn't find us."
Alamax coughed up blood. "I've never once not fulfilled a contract," he choked out.
"I can keep beating you until you pass out, but I'm giving you the opportunity to save face."
He tried to laugh but ended up coughing and spitting blood. "You think throwing in the towel is going to help me save face? You don't know the kinds of beings I work with. The only way for me to save face is for you to knock me out. Killing me would be better."
She shrugged. "If that's what you wish."
"Just so you know, I'll tell Surtr I couldn't find you. But that doesn't mean one of my siblings won't go to him and make a deal."
Rage erupted inside her. "You promised-"
"That I wouldn't tell him. I can't say the same for my siblings. I have a lot of them. And we're all in the bounty hunting business."
Val's mind reeled. What did she do? They had a deal, but he was breaking it.
Loki had told her not to trust him, and she should have listened.
Her fists rained down on Alamax like thunder from above.
Over and over, she punched him in the face.
He tried in vain to push her off and to protect himself from her blows, but he'd become too weak.
"Tell me you'll keep the deal and make sure your siblings do the same," she shouted.
Alamax laughed, choking on his own blood as she continued to pummel him. Finally, he stopped laughing, and his eyes rolled back in his head.
She shook his shoulders. "Keep your end of the bargain. Keep your end!"
Loki ran into the cage. "What's going on?"
"He lied. He said he wouldn’t tell Surtr if I won. But now he said he couldn't promise his siblings would do the same."
Loki lifted her to her feet.
She peered up into his face, her body a cacophony of rage, pain, and fear. "What the hel good was all this if we are still going to be hunted?"
"I'll take care of it."
"How?" she demanded. "How are you going to take care of it? Do you want me to fight all of his siblings?"
"No," Loki said in a calm voice. "You made a deal with him, and he has to keep it. It's possible his siblings don't know about the contract. It's not like they are all shary shary. I’ll talk to them. I'll take care of it. I promise. All right?"
She nodded as the cyclops entered, grabbed Alamax by his arm, and dragged him out of the arena.
"I gotta get out of here," she said. "I just... I can't..."
"Come on," he said. "I know what you need."
She groaned. “Not this time. I’m too angry.”
Loki led her away by the hand. “That’s not what I had in mind.”
He headed straight for the exit and stepped out onto the darkened street.
"Where are we going?" she asked.
Loki looked at her and winked. "My place."