Donn grinned. “Exactly. Predators,” he repeated. “They announce it openly.”
“It’s a name.”
“It’s bold, honest,” he decided with a clasping of a fist over his heart.
“I was offered elevated experience seating,” Donn said as we sat close enough to the ice that I could see the condensation on the glass, close enough to hear the skates carve the surface. “The nosebleeds.”
“And?”
“While I appreciated the optional violence, I thought the softer touch was more appropriate for tonight.”
I snorted before I could stop myself. Poor Donn, thinking nosebleed seats meant actual nose bleeds.
A player slammed into the boards directly in front of us, the impact echoing like a gunshot. The crowd screamed with delight.
Donn leaned forward, eyes bright. “Ah. The optional violence add-on experience. I paid extra for this.”
“You paid?” I hissed.
“I value immersion.”
The puck dropped. Chaos erupted, and Donn followed the movement with rapt concentration, gaze tracking the players like prey animals. When the Predators scored, the arena exploded.
Donn clapped once, a satisfied smirk on his face. “Excellent strike. Clean. Minimal suffering.”
I stared at him. “You’re enjoying this.”
“I approve of honesty in violence.”
A fight broke out. Gloves hit the ice. Bodies collided… and the crowd lost its collective mind.
Donn rose to his feet, delighted. “Yes.”
A referee skated over and escorted a player off. Donn gasped. “They have a designated shame enclosure,” he breathed as the ref sent the player to the sin bin. “Public isolation. Reflection time. Consequences.” Another Predator soon followed, and Donn pumped his fist. “They have both earned their time for their crimes.”
What was happening? How did I get here? Was it too late to opt for the candlelit picnic surrounded by the dead?
When the penalty ended, his expression soured. “Too short. Growth requires extended discomfort. They won’t learn if the consequences aren’t real. A broken bone or two should underscore the point.”
“Please never run a justice system,” I muttered. “But now that we’re on the topic of what is owed, I need to hurry this power removal along.”
“Impatience is a sin,” Donn advised.
I scowled at him. So was watching the world go up in flames.
“You severed your bloodline with Eloise,” he said.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because she was leeching power from the Roberts magic, and I wanted to cut her off.” True, but not the whole truth.
He hummed. “It’s unexpected, and changes how this is going to work, Cora.”
“How?”
“That power has to go somewhere.”
