Fallon gave a chuckle, her smile bright but her eyes hard. “Do either of us evoke easy?”
No. Fallon didn’t bother to pretend to be anything other than a warrior, and while Laire tried to hide her own power and strength under an outfit reminiscent of cotton candy and a girlish voice, more than a moment in their presence gave lie to easy in any sense.
What group were they part of?
Did it matter?
“And my mother’s ring?”
Laire had deposited the ring in her pocket and made no move to take it out. “That’s a bit of a problem. That ring should never be allowed in the general population, kind of like Fallon when she’s in a mood. Or really ever.”
“What Laire means is you’ve felt the magic. You know something altering can be found in that ring, a power that shouldn’t be used.”
Bitter bile rose in her throat. Of course. What the hell else had she expected? Since when did justice figure into anything? “What is it the ring does that’s so bad I can’t have it back?”
“Can’t tell you, sorry.” Fallon shrugged her shoulders and gave the most insincere apologetic smile Nalah had ever seen. Sorry? What sorry?
Fucking bitches. They were strong and she was weak, and it didn’t matter if you lived in this shithole or not, the strong kicked you to the side and maybe fed you scraps if you were useful. Fuck them. She’d join her brother before she’d take their offer. Nalah spoke, the same anger churning through her that caused the breaking of the magic. “For all your talk about your superiority over that douche, you’re as much a thief as he was,” she said, pointing at the rubble. “We both know I can’t fight you, so go back to your group and shove your offer up your ass. I’ll never be that desperate.”
Shocked silence reigned for a moment, before Laire doubled over in a peal of laughter. “Ah hells, we’ve just been schooled. Thank gods Aislynn didn’t see that.”
“Yeah, we’d never hear the end of it,” Fallon said, voice low and without any of the humor Laire saw in the situation. She released Nalah’s wrist. “Fine. Let’s modify the offer. You come with us, and after we teach you, after you understand what that ring is, if you still want to take it, it’s yours. You take it.”
“You won’t let it go.”
“Just said I would.”
Nalah stepped around this mental minefield with careful movements, feeling for the trap that had to exist. “That easy?”
This time there was no chuckle, and Fallon’s eyes were hard enough to pulverize stone. “Taking the ring would be easy. Living with the consequences, not so much.”
Nalah bit back a retort, the anger flooding her veins giving her a kick, but the undertone of weary and numb remained.
Why not? The question kept circling her mind, despite the ping in the back of her mind that said making any decisions now would be a bad idea – and said in the voice she often used to try to stop her brother from making an insane decision. Now, she used it on herself.
Because she was alone.
Well, there was Es–
NO! Not him. Never again him.
She was alone, and why not? Get out of here, train in her power, maybe be useful in some way. Why not?
“Why not?” Nalah said.
Laire came over and patted her hand. “That’s what I like to hear.”
Chapter Two
‡
“Please, Nalah, please! They’ll kill me. Gods honest truth, they will rip me apart. Nalah…please, you gotta convince him!”
SNAP. The crunch of bone carried loud and clear through the stands, the sound still echoing when the corresponding roar of pleasure rose up. Men of various races on their feet, cheering the carnage. Almost all men, and the few women who were without a male escort were limited to the groupies and the ring workers. And her.
Five years she’d been away from this crap, since that day she walked with Laire and Fallon, neither telling her where she was going. Five years, and seeing the fight now, it was as if not a moment had passed, as if she had just risen from her ringside seat, cheering him because of another win, consoling her brother over a loss or draw.
She’d grown up with the matches in all their forms, from midnight fights behind garbage bins to private fights in rich people’s mansions. Since joining the Guild, there was the thought, the expectation maybe this was no longer her world. Tonight proved that wrong. Wherever her life led her, this would always be where part of her belonged, and that part would be comfortable nowhere else.
Not that she was comfortable here, not with this job. She should go back and tell Fallon to shove it, though fat chance the words would work. No matter what the swordswoman said, there had to be another way than this path that had her skidding down memory lane and breaking through all the STOP signs along the way.