“We’re not together anymore,” he said. “You don’t get a say in how I act or what I do.”
“Mr. Kurt,” Annabeth said. “If I could ask you to also leave, I’m trying my best to mend your trainees hands and you’re distracting him.”
Relief wet the back of my neck, although I wished I’d been the one to come to my own rescue, but having someone else do it was nice too.Donovan left, but I could feel his presence looming around the corner, probably torturing River no doubt.
“Sorry about that,” Annabeth said. “A lot of the people here think they’re too big or too strong, and just assume they’re the biggest and best in whatever room they’re in.”
“I hope that’s never me,” I mumbled. “I just want to help people.”
She paused, pursing her lips slightly as she stared at me, as preparing to say something. “I think your hands will survive,” she said. “You can use this salve on your palms for the next two days.” She handed me a white unbranded tube. “Don’t let anyone else use it, and don’t let it leave Sanctum.”
“Ok, I won’t.”
“Good,” she said, pulling her gloves off.
“Can I ask why?”
“Property of Sanctum,” she said with a shrug. “They make this stuff on-site, if it leaves, people might reverse engineer it or—something. Sorry, I know I’m trained to answer that question.”
There was still so much to this place I didn’t know. “They have a lab?”
“Of course.”
“Duh, obviously, how else are you running blood samples,” I said, shaking my head. I looked to the side wall, it was all white. She’d be given the tube from a deliverable slot. I wondered what else they would give out.”You mentioned cramps.”
“If you’re experiencing them, it could be a sign that you’re low on sodium or electrolytes,” she said. “But I know there are sports drinks in the canteen. You know, the ones that are unnatural blue or neon. They’ll help you right.”
“And headaches?”
“Water,” she said. “What are trying to get?”
“Nothing, just trying to make sure I address everything before I leave.”
“If you do need pain killers, we can run full body scans, but if it’s not something debilitating, Mercy will call it a waste and bill you directly,” she said. “So, it’s probably best just to ask for what you need.”
Donovan appeared in the doorway. “Training hasn’t stopped,” he said. “Come on, we’re going to watch some hand-to-hand combat.”
Annabeth chuckled. “Sounds fun.”
“I hope so,” I mumbled. “Just watching?”
He had a wicked smile—I used to love it, but now, I wasn’t to keen.
***
A wide room—seemingly endless with shadowy darkness between the spotlights illuminating sparring zones. Standing in the crowd as a man and woman were in a metal cage, no gloves, no protective gear, they were just going at it.
Donovan grinned, grabbing at the front of my t-shirt as he pulled me through the crowd to get a front row view of it. “This iswhere you’ll be,” he told me. “If you don’t do well. You’ll end up in the cages.”
“No, I don’t—” I had to tell myself to stop being so precious. “When?”
He smiled. “That’s the right question,” he said. “Don’t worry about it. I’m not forcing you in here. But I think it’s important you see how ruthless people are. This is the one area where you can actual beat someone else’s ass, and they’ll pay you for the privilege.”
The metal cage clanged as the man’s face was thrashed against it. Yanked back the metal square had left indentations on his face.
“What do you mean?”
“These are sanctioned fights, people bet, people put money on the line, most of it from those two fighters themselves. The cages.”
