Kneeling on the ground, I held my arm to my chest, wincing in pain. I glanced up just in time to see the male who had attacked me round the corner. It took effort to stop myself from lashing out with my magic and alerting the whole town to who I was.
“A fellow fighter trying to take out the competition,” I told her as I ran a hand carefully over my wrist.
Her eyes went wide as she gripped the handle of her broom and shook it at the empty street. “You better run away, you coward!” she yelled at the fae, who was no longer in sight.
She turned back to me, frowning as she examined my wrist. There wasn’t any blood, but it was already starting to swell. Holding it in front of me, I gingerly tried to bend my wrist. Pain shot up my arm, and I sucked in a sharp breath.
“You can’t even bend it?” she asked.
I shook my head.
“If you can’t bend it, then you certainly can’t throw a punch. And if you can’t throw a punch, you can’t fight.”
I glanced up at her concerned little face. “I have powers youdon’t know about,” I told her. “One of which is fast self-healing. I’ll be fine. I just need several hours.”
She sighed exasperatedly. “You don’t have several hours.” She chewed on her lip. “I’ll be right back.”
After stepping inside, she returned without her apron and broom and helped me over to a bench on the other side of the street. By this time, my wrist had swelled to twice its size, and I was panting through the pain. I could move it a little, but was there any possibility it wasn’t broken? I didn’t think so.
Nellie was right. I couldn’t fight like this, at least not without my magic. But I needed that prize money.
Nellie grasped both sides of my face. I looked into her deep green eyes and was captivated by the compassion I found there. She was such a good kid—a loving kid—whom I’d somehow become the temporary guardian of, and I had no complaints.
“Remember when I threatened to kill you with my power?” she asked.
I chuckled despite the discomfort. “I’m assuming you don’t have power? Which is okay. There’s nothing wrong with—”
I sucked in a sharp breath as the pain in my wrist flared tenfold and then disappeared. Dropping my face, Nellie broke into sobs, clutching her arm to her chest.
“It hurts,” she cried.
I sat there in shock, wide-eyed, as I watched her rocking back and forth on the bench in agony.
“Nellie. What did you do?” I asked, suddenly becoming frantic with worry when my gaze landed on her now-swollen wrist.
She looked up at me with tears streaming down her face. “I’ma healer, Zane. But the worst kind. I have to take someone’s injury into my own body in order to heal it. My mother was a Spring fae, but my father was from Fall, so my powers work differently than full Spring fae who have healing magic. My nana said there were ways to help lessen the side effects, but she never got around to showing me how. I was too scared to try it on Elida for fear I’d die.”
I grabbed her shoulders, held her steady, and found that my wrist was totally healed. No more pain. No more swelling.
“Give it back. Give me back the injury.” I’d take that and more to never see her sweet face full of tears.
She shook her head defiantly. “We gotta go now. You’re gonna win those fights, and then we can help the princess.”
“Nellie. I command you to give me back the injury. Now.” I tried the stern voice my father had used on me and my brothers when he meant business, but she just shook her head.
“My magic doesn’t work like that. It’s mine now. It’ll heal in a few days.”
A few days!
A knot tightened in my chest. I picked her up, being careful not to jostle her wrist. Cradling her against me, I walked toward the inn we were staying at. I’d leave her with Evander and Elida and then collect her after the fights. A brutal underground fighting ring was no place for a young girl like her, especially with a painful wrist injury.
Anger swirled inside me at what she’d done without my permission. She was just a sweet kid. She shouldn’t have to live with that kind of agony, even if only for a few days.
“The second I win this fight, I’m tracking down Percy andpaying him to heal you. And if you ever do something like that again, I’ll—” I let the threat hang in the air because I didn’t know what to say. “Don’t ever do that again.”
“Okay. Geez,” she muttered but rested her head against my chest.
I walked a few minutes before I said, “And thank you.”
