“When it comes to him, his brothers, yes.”
“You know all of them?”
“Yes, I do.”
He sucks his teeth and nods. “We’ve got enough to worry about right now, so I won’t make the tension even worse. But yeah, it’s personal and he has some explaining to do.”
“I don’t want to hear any more. You can take your grievances up with him when he gets here.”
He barks out a humorless laugh. “You think he’s going to come here?”
“For me, his Binder? Yeah, he’ll come. I just have to get him here. How long until they let us out? And will the block on our powers be lifted as soon as we’re out?”
“His what?”
I snap my fingers in his stunned face. “Come on. Get it together. I’m trying to work out a plan here. You know what a Binder is.”
He blinks at me repeatedly.
“Yeah, I do, but never thought he’d be someone to get one.” He holds his hands up at my sneer. “I get it, you don’t have to bare your teeth at me like some savage animal.”
I cut my eyes at Yemi’s laughing, then back at him. “I’m glad we got that straight quickly. Now, answers to my questions.”
“Not long. The start times for the fights depend on the crowd. I can imagine there’s going to be a packed audience because of Dimitri. No one has made it this far in a long time. You’ll be without your power until we step into the ring.”
Fuck.
“So we’re going to have to fight long enough until he gets here.” I turn toward the noise that slips out of Yemi, and I lower my voice again. “No hiding your power down here. I’ll do everything I can as soon as I can, but until they get here, you’ve got to use it and protect yourself.”
“I will.”
We whip our heads forward when the lights only in our cell come to life. Sevryn turns his body around to block the view of us, but I make out the guard—I suppose that’s what he is—standing there.
“Sevryn, a word.”
He isn’t hesitant with his steps. He walks up to the bars without a lick of tension in his shoulders and even nods to the man as though they’re familiar with one another. I slow my breathing, focusing hard on the conversation.
Their muffled whispers barely reach me, but I manage to make out the last words the guard says before he walks away.
“I wanted to tell you before they announce it in the rings. Good luck.”
He’s far more subdued as he makes his way back to us. His eyes never leave the small parchment he has clutched between his fingers and his head shakes, almost denying whatever it is that he’s reading.
“What is it?” I ask.
He slowly rolls up the paper and puts it in his pocket. The calm that he had when he approached his guard buddy is long gone now.
“Who are you two?”
“Us?” Yemi asks, waving her thumb between us.
“Who the fuck else would I be asking?”
“First off, watch how you speak to her. Second, don’t take whatever news you just got out on us. We haven’t done a damn thing to you.”
“It sure as shit doesn’t seem that way.”
“If you’re going to be a cryptic asshole, then go fuck off and sit in a corner. If you want to tell us what’s actually going on, then drop the attitude and accusations.”
