“I’m not leaving without the money,” I said, standing tall and towering over him as he sat at his fancy burgundy desk. Nellie stood as well, mirroring my movements. “Can you send a messenger to the Spring Court? Princess Lorelei will vouch for me.”
At least, I hoped she would.
He sized me up, his beady-eyed gaze traveling up and down my body. “You’ve mentioned Princess Lorelei thrice now, and yet you do not wear the Spring Court armor, nor do you have a letter with her signet.”
I growled softly. “My clothes got ruined by the river of black oil back in the Fall Court. Send a letter to Princess Lorelei, and I promise you she will vouch for me.”
“I could,” Donahue said, standing and tapping his long, crooked fingernails on his desk. “But that could take days, and I’m guessing you need this money fast?”
The sly glint in his eye put me on alert. He was about to offer me something I couldn’t refuse—I could feel it. “I do.”
“How tall are you?”
“Why?” I ground out through clenched teeth. The more he spoke, the less I liked him.
“Ever fought in hand-to-hand combat?” he asked.
That was unexpected.
My powers negated the need to fight in hand-to-hand combat, but I enjoyed the workout, so I’d trained in boxing and wrestling for years as part of my regular exercise.
“I’ve been known to win a few fights,” I told him, thinking back to when Stryker and I used to spar as kids. We had a no-magic rule, which made things particularly fun.
The fae grinned, ear to ear. “Tomorrow night, there’s a little competition. Each business owner sponsors one champion in an underground fighting ring. The prize is two hundred gold coins to be split with the fighter.”
Two hundred gold coins—one hundred for me. That was decent. It would be enough to pay the healer. With what was left over, I could probably buy us a horse to get to the Spring Court faster. And Nellie would get those sweets I promised her.
Next to me, Nellie shifted from one foot to the other anxiously. “You want him to fight for you?”
Donahue nodded. “My current champion is decent but not nearly as big as Master Zane here.”
Master Zane. He was already fluffing my ego.
A thought struck me. One that would make it impossible for me to fight and keep my identity secret.
“Is this a magicless fight?” I asked. If I used my magic, everyone would know I was from Ethereum. Nellie, a twelve-year-old child, had figured it out within seconds of meeting me.
His eyes lit up, and he leaned forward. “Of course. Why? Do you have magic? What kind?”
His eagerness made me wary. Perhaps magic was rare here, so I didn’t want to give anything away.
“No. Just making sure I know the rules before I agree.”
He nodded. “It’s five fights. No magic, no rules. Occasionally champions die, but—”
“Die!” Nellie gasped. “No way. He’s not doing that.”
She reached for my hand and tried to yank me out of the office, but I stood strong. I caught her gaze. Her eyes were filled with tears, and something tender tightened in my chest. She’d lost her nana, and even though she barely knew me, I was now her lifeline. It felt like a lot of responsibility and not something I wanted to mess up. I crouched down to her level.
“Trust me,” I whispered. “Death will not come easily for me.”
She frowned and crossed her arms over her chest, clearly unconvinced. “You’re too confident. You’re probably not as strong as you think.”
I smiled. “And you’re a lot cheekier than you think.”
“Cheekier,” she said.
Straightening, I turned to face Donahue and extended my hand. “I will fight as your champion for a fifty-percent cut of the winnings, but I want twenty gold coins in advance to heal my sick friends.”
