“Well then, that makes one of us.”
Her gaze snapped to his.
He held out a palm. “Scalpel.”
She smiled, the expression transforming her from a trained fighter into something innocently soft and sweet. “Which one?”
Minx.
He inhaled to respond just as the door burst open. Ignacio, the gladiatrix trainer, barreled inside.
“How is she? Will she live? Jovan’s going to kill me.”
Felix whirled on him, ready to reprimand his intrusion.
“I am fine, Ignacio,” the Amazon slurred, settling back against the cushions. “But if Jovan wants to kill someone, might I suggest the imbecile who interfered with my fight?”
Ignacio went to her side and frowned. “That might be easier to accomplish if that man wasn’t so rich.”
“What a shame.” She closed her eyes.
Felix peeled back the bandage and bared the cut. He dabbed at the blood, probing the edge of the wound with his thumb. She needed to eat more. The school carefully curated their fighters’ diets to put a thick layer of protective fat over the muscle, keeping most wounds superficial. Hers was deep, slicing through skin, fat, and into the muscle. She’d be out of the ring for a while.
“The gladii should not be kept so sharp for staged fights,” he muttered.
“You didn’t answer the question,” Ignacio pressed, leaning over the woman to peer at the injury. “How bad is it? Is that bone?”
“No.” Felix poured amber liquid onto a cloth and dabbed at the cut.
Her muscles tensed, hand curling into a fist.
Felix took the warning and stepped away, lest he end up with a bruised jaw like Sergius. Wouldn’t that be something to explain to hismaterthis evening?
Ignacio raked his hands through his black hair, stiff and standing on end. “When will she be able to fight again? The client is requesting a rematch. Pro bono. His wife is upset. Apparently, she was promised no blood on her floors.”
Felix strung a needle with thread. “You’ll have to find another gladiatrix. Your Amazon isn’t fighting or training for a while.”
“No.” The Amazon struggled to sit up and both Felix and Ignacio pressed her shoulders back down. She resisted. “We have matches against the Dacian School next week. I have to be there.”
Felix shook his head. “You’ll be lucky to lift your shield by next week. Now stay still.”
She begrudgingly obeyed, slouching against the cushion as Felix adjusted the lamp and pinched the sides of the cut together.
“Jovan will not be pleased to hear that,” Ignacio muttered.
Felix pressed the needle through the skin, drawing the linen thread into neat lines. The Amazon’s muscles quivered beneath his hand.
“Does that hurt?”
“I thought you were an idiot before, and this confirms it.” She ground the words between her teeth.
“You could simply say yes.”
“Where is the amusement in that?”
“Ah, yes, I forgot how you love to tease.” He stopped and set the needle down beside her. “Don’t move.” He turned back to his worktable, grabbing a jar of numbing salve instead of mixing another draught of the painkiller. What Sergius had given her earlier should have been enough. Or perhaps the elder medicus was mistaken. Without knowing for certain, he would take the route of caution.
“Here.” He dipped a rag into the liquid and smeared it across her arm. “It may burn at first, but it will numb the pain eventually.”
