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Kerrigan made a point to not look away. After a few moments, he stabbed his knife into the table, got up, and left.
“Good riddance,” she mumbled under her breath.
Cordon followed Myron’s disappearing back. “Don’t rile him.”
“I didn’t do anything.”
“Besides steal his match.”
“He would have died in there,” she argued.
“Yes,” Cordon agreed. “Most likely. But now, he’ll never know.”
She sighed heavily. “There’s nothing I can do about that.”
Cordon nodded. “You shouldn’t worry about him anyway. You have more important things to deal with than a petty grudge. Constantine won’t go easy on you.”
“Let’s not worry about my father right now,” Danae said. “He’s not going to pull her from the tournament after training her for a week.”
Cordon raised an eyebrow. “You sure about that? I’ve seen him do worse, and he has an alternative plan if this fails.”
Kerrigan’s mood darkened at that. “Well, that alternative plan isn’t okay with me, so I just plan to beat him tonight.”
“All hail the great and mighty Theo!” a voice called down the hall.
The gladiators shot to their feet as Theo flounced into the room, carrying a bag of money and a gold medal about his neck. He had a black eye and bruises up and down his chest and arms, but his smile was radiant. The gladiators thumped him on the back and congratulated him. Some asked if he was paying tonight when they went out to the brothels along the Liber River. He agreed wholeheartedly and then swept through the crowd to Kerrigan.
She’d risen to her feet to greet him. He picked Kerrigan up round the middle and swung her in a circle.
“I’m a winner now,” he said with his same ridiculous smirk. “I’m but a humble man …”
“Humble,” she scoffed as he set her down.
“But I will offer you my whole world.” He sank to one knee. “Marry me.”
Kerrigan laughed. “Have you already started drinking?”
“Maybe,” he said with a sly wink. “Does that mean you’ll think about it?”
“I don’t think you can afford her,” Danae muttered.
Theo chuckled as if none of that mattered. He took her hand and pressed a kiss to it. “Does that mean you’ll think on it?”
“Go bed a whore, Theo,” Kerrigan told him with a pat on the cheek. “You’ll have more luck there.”
The gladiators crowed at her words, but Theo just put a hand to his heart. “You wound me, love.”
She shook her head as he fell backward into the row of gladiators, and they pushed him out the exit. He had some sort of affection for her, but so much of it was a grand show. It made her sad and ache for the real thing.
Fordham was here in Carithian, and she hadn’t seen him since that night when his owner had taken him away from her. Six months. She closed her eyes around the horrible news. All she had wanted was to find him and run away from all of this, but they had endured being separated before, and they could endure this too.
“Any news?” Kerrigan asked Danae.
She had confessed what had happened at the party with Fordham and what he was … or had been to her. Their mating bond had snapped, but she still loved him with every inch of her body and soul. She would need to find a way to get him out of here as well once she won this tournament.
Danae frowned and then tipped her head away from Cordon. Kerrigan followed her to the terrace, and they huddled together out of the harsh, direct sun.
“I asked around about Fordham with the staff. Usually, they have more interaction with other households than I would. No one had heard that name. Though they all knew Augustan and Iris. One woman had come from their house. She was sold for hiding her Andine origins. They only have Domaran servants. And Iris has a fancy for … unique individuals.”
“Like Fae.”
“Like Fae,” she confirmed. “I’ll keep asking. Father is letting me go to your fight tomorrow. So, I’ll see if I can get more information about Fordham then.”
Kerrigan grasped her hand. “Thank you so much. It means a lot.”
“It’s the least I can do.”
“Don’t reveal to anyone what you are though. I don’t want you to risk your safety for me.”
Danae straightened. “I’ll be careful. Just worry about your fight.”
Which was what Kerrigan had been doing all week, and her final round with Constantine was this evening at sunset. The men were already placing bets among themselves to see if she could take the kurios down.
So, when she came downstairs in her pants and loose-fitted shirt that evening, she was surprised to find the training ring empty.
Kerrigan’s hackles went up. Was this another test? Was Constantine going to try to catch her off guard?
But he wasn’t here. No one was here.
She turned in a circle, trying to figure out what was happening. It felt like a trick. Constantine had never left her alone. Not truly.
