“I don’t need anyone to fight my battles,” she hisses at me. “You have no idea what I’m capable of.”
“Yeah, right, Princess. You ready to go a round with Heinz, then?” I ask, shaking out my hands to get the blood to start flowing.
“Don’t be ridiculous. Obviously, I can’t. But I’m not a prize to be fought over.”
I nod, my gaze locked on the giant. “Too right there, Princess. You’re not a trophy. Right now, all you are is a massive pain in my ass.”
Her eyes flare, and she actually spits at my feet.
“Give it a rest,” I grunt, circling my arms to loosen my shoulders. “You can thank me later. Or not.”
I wonder for a split second if she’s got a dragon hiding inside her like her brother. I doubt it. If she could shift, this place would already be a pile of smoking ash.
Shit. Here we go.
Heinz doesn’t wait for a signal. He charges like a bull. Wisely, the heiress scrambles out of the way just as the mountain slams into the space where she’d been standing.
The German is fast for a man his size, but I’m faster. I drop low, letting his fist whistle over my head, then drive my own into his ribs. It’s like hitting a brick wall.
The yard erupts. The Diggers scream my name while the Guild bays for my blood.
Heinz swings again, a wide hook that would take my head off, but it only glances my temple as I catch his wrist. I use his own momentum to pull him forward, sending a knee deep into his gut. He snorts, his arms wrapping around me in a bear hug that threatens to snap my spine.
Nope.
I slam my forehead into his nose.Crunch.A warm spray of blood hits my neck. As he staggers back, I launch a chop to his throat.
The big bastard barely blinks. He recovers faster than I expected, catching me with a heavy punch to the ribs before I can reset.
Shit.I feel the snap in my chest, but I can’t let it slow me down.
He lunges again, connecting with my jaw. My cheek splits open on my teeth and my mouth fills with blood. This is getting annoying.
I sweep his leg, using his inertia to send him crashing sideways. Fucking finally. This has been a very long five minutes. Dropping onto his chest, I put every ounce of my weight into a fist driven straight into his temple.
His eyes go wide for a second, then roll back. He’s out.
Pulling myself up, I spit a glob of red into the dirt. My knuckles are throbbing and my vision is swimming, but I turn to Dimitry and put on a posture of unbothered arrogance.
“She’s mine.”
A buzzer sounds to signal the end of yard time. On the catwalks, the COs level their rifles.
I turn to Aurora Drakeward. She’s staring at me, her lip curled in pure, unadulterated defiance. “I don’t need a savior, and if you think this means…”
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I don’t have time for a debate. I hook an arm around the brat’s waist and hoist her over my shoulder like a sack of grain.
Fuck.The movement sends a spike of pain through my bruised ribs.
“Put me down, you bastard! I’ll kill you! I’ll kill you too!” She starts kicking wildly, her cheap slippers flying off as her toes drum against my chest and fists beat against my back.
“Keep it up, Princess, and you and I are going to have words,” I growl.
I carry her toward the Digger block, acutely aware of the murmurs following us. My boys hate Elites more than any other flavor of magical, and bringing one into our block is a dangerous move. But fear and respect are a potent mix; they move aside for me anyway.
It’s a relief when I finally reach my place. It’s a double-wide cell tucked into the far corner, mostly undisturbed by the guards. The previous tenant made some… custom modifications. The wall between my cell and the next was knocked down andreplaced with reinforced bars, creating a private cage within a cage.
Occasionally, I’ll throw someone in there if they’ve pissed me off.
