I shivered.
“Rule number three, you show up for your training hours every week,” Captain continued. “I’m not interested in anyone who isn’t taking this seriously.”
“It’s not that bad,” Chancey told me. “You can come down whenever you want to get your hours in.”
“Oh,” Captain added. “And you’ve gotta win your fights and keep your stats up. I don’t take pussies. You get three fights to prove yourself, and if I spy any signs of a losing streak, you’re out.”
“What if I don’t take the offer?” I asked, just to cover my bases.
“If you walk right now, nothing will change,” Captain said. “The guards will treat you the same as always, and your pathetic bank account balance will waver on the negative. You’ll receive a memory-wiping potion, so you’ll forget everything you’ve seen here today. So… what will it be? Will you take the offer and join the club, or will you walk away?”
It wasn’t even a question. I needed to be able to get away with stuff inside the Institute, so I could investigate the prophecy and protect my precious pidge and my Familiar. Four years of winning fights could give me enough cash to actually get a fresh start when I graduated. This fight ring was my one chance at having a future beyond the Institute.
And I’d be damned if I didn’t want to kick ass while I was here.
“There’s no reason to waste any memory-wiping potion on me, Captain,” I stated confidently. “I’m in.”
Chapter Four
Ava-Marie
It was rare I didn’t have much to say, but on days like today, the words just wouldn’t come. My thoughts slipped away as quickly as I conceived them.
“Pidge, you okay? You’re really quiet.” Charlie’s voice broke me out of my stupor.
I blinked and realized I was in the Villain’s Den. I sat on one of the couches, my legs flung over Charlie’s lap, while Kallie and Marcus sat on the floor across from us. Marcus was working on a drawing. Kallie, strangely enough, was playing with Rishi. Weird. I thought she hated that cat. Oberi lay across Charlie’s feet as a husky, snoring loudly as he took a nap.
I knew it was just past lunchtime. We’d gotten done eating and must’ve come to the recreation room to chill out before class.
Problem was, I couldn’t remember the walk from the cafeteria to the Villain’s Den, or sitting down next to Charlie. The last thing I recalled was walking through the double doors of the mess hall.
Shit. If I was forgetting simple things like walking across the school, that wasn’t a good sign.
I shook my head. “I’m okay, Charlie. Just a little distracted.”
My brain slipped from one thing to another. I could watch in my mind’s eye as ideas fluttered by like birds, winging from this way to that. My head followed them as they zoomed back and forth. A couple people passing by watched as my head tilted from left to right, then whispered to each other that I was crazy.
I knew I was crazy, but people needed to mind their own damn business. Unfortunately, I was the talk of the prison ever since Charlie had gotten into trouble. He’d beaten the crap out of some guy for threatening me— rumor was, he’d nearly bitten off the guy’s ear.
Okay, it was kind of sexy, thinking about Charlie going psycho on some asshole. I knew I was messed up for being attracted to violence, but hot damn, Charlie was like an uncaged animal when he lost control. It made me wonder if he was as much of a beast in the bedroom as he was when he was fighting some douche for my honor.
Charlie told me he’d gotten off with a warning, which shocked me. I was certain he’d get in big trouble for starting a fight, but I guess the guards let him off easy. I couldn’t imagine why, but he got lucky. Who knew why anything happened around this joint?
Chancey passed by and stopped in his tracks. “Well, hello there. Aren’t you two a sight for sore eyes?”
It was almost one o’clock in the afternoon, but still too early for Chancey’s endless flirting. I would’ve liked it to happennever. His eyes flickered from me to Charlie, like he was sizing both of us up. Kallie looked upward at us, but Marcus’ eyes narrowed, like he was annoyed.
“Oh, stop bothering us,” I said, half-playfully, and half-irritated. “We’re not interested in being your next conquests.”
“I’m the kind of guy who likes a two-for-one,” Chancey swooned. “And you two look like a couple that could really ruffle my feathers.”
Charlie choked, before he forced out, “Not really what we had in mind.”
“Don’t forget I already got you in on one sweet deal, Charlie-boy,” Chancey said. “I’m just the grand prize.”
Charlie frowned, and my interest grew. What was he talking about?
“Can’t you do this someplace else?” Marcus complained from the floor. “We’re right here.”
