Darius put the car in park, and had my door open pretty quickly. He helped me ease the blanket off, and offered me an arm that I took silently and gratefully.
"Thank you," I whispered.
"Any time." His voice was light, but I could see his concern.
"Grayson will give me more of his shadows when he realizes what condition I'm in. I can pretend to be fine until then," I murmured.
With a glance away from my feet, I realizedDarius had parked right in front of the stadium that always hosted these fights for the throne. I could see the entrance from where we were, and on my other side, I could see the parking lot.
Leaving your vehicle there definitely wasn't legal, but my family and I didn't particularly care about legality. Anyone who came to tow us would realize who the vehicle belonged to and back away slowly.
"You sure about this?”he asked me.
"Positive."
"Alright, I'll see you in there.Darke is going to be even more obsessed with you after this, so keep your chin up. If you look confident, everyone will believe it."
I let out a quiet breath. "I will be the face of confidence."
Dare grinned. "Just channel the rest of us. We've got enough to get you through anything."
Rae slipped out too. “Save me a seat, Scorch.”
He flashed her a grin. The expression met his eyes, for once. “I will. You'll be in my magic's splash zone, though. Might not be able to resist me."
She rolled her eyes. "I can resist you just fine."
Dare's grin widened, but wisely, he didn't say anything else before he turned on his heels and strode toward the doors.
I followed him and the Wraith into the stadium, fighting like hell just to keep it all together.
I could handle this, even if I didn’t feel like it.
eleven
GRAYSON
I'd been waitingoutside the cage to meet whichever bastard thought they deserved my throne more than I did for nearly ten minutes, when the announcer finally apologized for the technical difficulties.
My baseball cap, grappling gloves, and shorts were all I had on. The hat would go, when I entered the cage.
I flashed the announcer a look.
Technical difficulties?
There was a cage, a couple of lights, a microphone, and a shitload of people. What technical difficulties could they be having? The stadium was pretty much idiot-proof.
The spotlights far above the cage I stood outside of brightened and shifted, sliding across the room until they were shining down on me. I gave the nearest camera an obligatory grin that I didn't allow myself to feel any way about, inwardly focused on this moment.
The crowd didn't matter.
My opponent didn't matter.
I needed to hold the throne if I wanted a shot to get my family out of the penitentiary, and I couldn't allow anyone to kill me when it would cost Merrily her sanity.
Given the blood loss I was currently trying to manage, along with the half-healed bruises scattered across my body, it was going to be a rough fight. I had to assume Leon was behind the whole thing, which meant whoever I was fighting would be really fucking good. It was going to take everything I had to keep myself alive yet again, but I'd figure it out.
The announcer winked at me before raising her voice again. It echoed through the speakers nearby, loud but not deafening."On his home turf, we have our reigning champion fighting for his throne!"
